SVEN-GORAN ERIKSSON'S 23-man squad for Euro 2004 contains few surprises.

Ledley King or Jamie Carragher were the closest we came to a shock inclusion, but both were widely tipped to be in there so in the end it was not particularly startling.

Anyway, who reckons, hand on heart, that this squad stands any chance of winning the tournament? Behind all the blind patriotism and unkempt optimism, is Sven's strongest 11 really going to set Portugal alight?

Could that defence halt the likes of Thierry Henry and Francesco Totti? Could Emile Heskey taunt Fabio Cannavaro with touches of genius? Could Joe Cole nutmeg Luis Figo? And could Jamie Carragher do up Zidane's laces?

That aside, let's take a step back from either singing the praises of this squad or tearing it to shreds - and let's look instead at whether there is anything better out there.

Could this TKO alternative 11 threaten Sven's men?

In goal there is Nigel Martyn, the evergreen former Leeds stopper who this season has kept England wannabe Richard Wright out of the Everton side while being voted the Toffeemen's player of the year.

David James has the size, agility and shot-stopping prowess to claim England's number one shirt, but he isn't nicknamed "Calamity" for nothing.

Assuming we go with Sven's usual 4-4-2 formation (with or without the lauded diamond), we could have at right-back Danny Mills, who had a decent World Cup two years ago, and on the other flank there's Jay-Lloyd Samuel, whose flaw as a full-back is that he's probably a little too skilful.

At centre-half Jonathan Woodgate and Rio Ferdinand could well be England's first-choice but for injuries and, in Ferdinand's case, the small matter of a drugs test blooper.

In midfield, TKO would dump the diamond formation and instead go with a diamond player, Manchester City's Shaun Wright-Phillips.

Providing the balance on the left is Alan Thompson, who has regularly proved his worth for Celtic and has experience of big European matches.

In the centre, you couldn't look much further than Scott Parker. Charlton's season has tailed off since he left for Chelsea and he has fitted in superbly with the egos in the Blues' changing rooms.

Picking the other central midfielder is a bit tricky, and this is where TKO throws in its biggest surprise.

Instead of Liverpool's Danny Murphy and Newcastle's Lee Bowyer, who haven't had the best of seasons, TKO would look to the future and plump for Manchester City's young gun Joey Barton ahead of withered old heads Steve McManaman and Ray Parlour.

A bit hot-headed at times, Barton has the drive and determination to annoy opponents - and he's a clone of Steven Gerrard.

Up front has to feature (former) Leeds hero Alan Smith. Okay, shooting your side to relegation is not the best line on anyone's CV, but it's fair to say Smith is one of the few players in the United line-up who deserve to be at the other end of the table.

And alongside him, who else but the great Alan Shearer, who still resides at the top of the Premiership goalscoring charts.

So there you have it, the alternative 11... Martyn, Mills, Woodgate, Ferdinand, Samuel, Wright-Phillips, Barton, Parker, Thompson, Shearer, Smith.

Of course, had TKO faced the same problems as Sven then we would be without Martyn, Woodgate, Ferdinand and Shearer due to a combination of international retirement, injury and that drugs test blunder. So who next?

Richard Wright takes the gloves - even though he has hardly played all season - and in defence comes the dodgy duo of Birmingham's Matthew Upson and Man U's Wes Brown (assuming Gareth Southgate is unfit), while up front lively upstart Jermain Defoe, first reserve under Sven, just pips Premiership plodder James Beattie.

Meaning the team would be... Wright, Mills, Upson, Brown, Samuel, Wright-Phillips, Barton, Parker, Thompson, Defoe, Smith.

What chance this side of lifting Euro 2004? Er, not much methinks.

If anything, this little experiment proves one thing - you could sing their praises or tear them to shreds, but Sven's side are clearly the best we've got.

TKO was written this week by Peter Martini.

Updated: 10:19 Tuesday, May 18, 2004