Gary Neville questions Glen Johnson and Jamie Carragher in World Cup 2010 squad

Gary Neville has questioned England manager Fabio Capello's decision to pick Liverpool's Glen Johnson as his sole right-back for the World Cup.

Neville (r) is not convinced Carragher is the man to cover the right-back position

Johnson has established himself as England's first-choice right-back under Capello, but suffered an injury-interrupted second half of the season.

And Neville said: "I'm surprised there is only one right-back in the squad."

Neville also labelled attempts to lure Paul Scholes out of international retirement "a bit desperate".

Despite failing in his attempt to bring Scholes back into the England fold, Capello did persuade Liverpool's Jamie Carragher to return to the squad three years after his own international retirement.

"I wouldn't say I'm overly disappointed not to be named in the initial 30-man squad, although I did think there was maybe a chance I could get in," added Neville, who made 15 Premier League starts last season but failed to add to his 85 England caps.

"I'm probably more surprised Wes Brown isn't in the 30, to be honest."

Scholes, who retired from international football in 2004, appeared set for a return of his own before eventually rejecting Capello's overtures.

And Neville admitted that courting Scholes made sense, even if it was unlikely to succeed.

"I'm not surprised Capello tried to get him out of retirement because if there's one player I would try to pull out of retirement it's Scholes," Neville said of his team-mate and fellow 35-year-old.

"Capello maybe got a bit desperate at the last minute and wanted Scholes because he's still probably the best midfielder in England, but Scholes decided to stick to his guns."

author : bbc
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