Sven plays it too safe

England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson has named the 23 players he wants to take to Euro 2004. But has the England manager been too conservative in his selection?

Sven-Goran Eriksson isn't known for taking risks - in his professional life, at least. But with his England squad for Euro 2004 the Swede is playing it particularly safe. Too safe.

To name only four strikers is overly cautious, especially when one of them is Emile Heskey - the last person England fans want to see coming off the bench if we need to chase a goal.

Heskey's record of six goals in 40 England games is, frankly, laughable. The only other alternative, assuming Owen and Rooney start, is Darius Vassell - hardly prolific himself with only nine Premiership goals this season.

Barren midfield

The lack of striking options is even more worrying when you consider that attacking midfielder Paul Scholes hasn't netted for England for the past two years.

Surely one of the eight defenders could have been sacrificed to accomodate Jermaine Defoe? The diminuitive striker has a keen eye for goal, looked extremely comfortable on his full England debut and offers something that no other member of the squad does - the element of surprise.

England's opponents will have done their homework on Owen, Rooney, Heskey (need they bother) and Vassell - but Defoe may well have slipped off their radar. They wouldn't know how to deal with Defoe, and he may have caught teams out in the same way Owen did at the 1998 World Cup.

Weak links

The wide selection of defenders is even more baffling when you consider the paucity of talent available.

Ledley King is inexperienced at international level and can't even force his way into a rickety Tottenham defence. Jamie Carragher is a Jack of all trades, master of none. And Phil Neville remains a liability in big games - lest we forget it was his poorly-timed challenge that led to the penalty which sent England crashing out of Euro 2000.

Why one of these bench-warmers couldn't have been sacrificed for Defoe baffles me. Cross your fingers that Michael Owen stays fit - or Sven's selection could look very short-sighted.