It was thought that an indifferent season at club level, where he lost his place to England aspirant Adam Johnson would cost Shaun his World Cup chance – even with Beckham and Lennon were injured.

The Tottenham flier returned just in time, but Walcott’s indifferent form culminated in a shocking 45 minutes against Mexico. It was like watching Shaun at his worst – pace used to run into defenders rather than round them, and never finding a teammate with a cross.

On came Shaun to continue a run of decent cameo performances as an England sub where, crucially, he was willing to do whatever job the manager assigned him. This appears to have won him a place as back-up to Lennon and impact sub.

If Beckham had been fit, or Walcott showed a degree of form, then Shaun would have missed out. He deserves his luck after missing out in 2006.

Joe Hart

To make the final squad despite such limited international experience is all credit to Joe. No-one would normally suggest the number one slot at a World Cup for a keeper who has yet to make a competitive appearance in the national side. Such was Joe’s form for Birmingham, and his confidence in the friendlies against Mexico and Brazil that a case can be made.

However, with David James making a timely return to form, and Rob Green looking steady during the qualifiers, the odds will be against Joe. Italian coaches generally value experience and Fabio Capello doesn’t come across as a risk taker.

It makes perfect sense for Joe to be given the experience of attending a World Cup, even if it’s ultimately just preparation for future tournaments where he will be the number one.

Gareth Barry

It’s one of the peculiarities of football where being injured can improve your value. Never more so than with our Gareth as the ever injured Hargreaves, woeful form of Carrick and Milner’s inexperience as a defensive midfielder made Barry indispensable.

Capello waited, and was rewarded with sufficiently positive medical reports. After spending a season watching Nigel de Jong do the real shielding work at Eastlands, City fans may wonder whether Gareth is quite the defensive midfielder the nation thinks.

On the plus side, Gareth’s cultured left foot is a valuable asset in the England side, and the less frenetic pace of international football does suit his game.

Adam Johnson

The so called wildcard. Do experienced Italian managers do wildcards? We should have known the answer.

When Beckham, Lennon and Joe Cole were all injured, Adam came into the manager’s reckoning. The return of Lennon and a decent showing from the experienced Joe Cole against Japan probably did for Adam’s chances, regardless of how good he looked in training.

It was still disappointing to see him overlooked. A winger with more ability to beat an opponent and who retains possession better than Walcott, Wright-Phillips or Lennon appears suited to the international arena.

Adam’s certainly a better right-winger than Wright-Phillips is a left-winger. However the left flank became less of an issue with the return of Joe Cole, the overlapping Ashley Cole, and Barry who frees up Gerrard.

If he maintains his City form, then we can expect to see Adam in an England shirt before long. In the meantime, he could do worse than spend his Summer with Stephen Ireland’s fitness coach and improve his stamina levels to last a full ninety minutes.

• How do you think City’s player’s will fare?

John Cross, Daily Mirror:

“Playing on the left wing, he terrorised Liverpool veteran Jamie Carragher and rained in a string of pinpoint crosses.”

Henry Winter, Twitter:

“#England training…obvious strengths: Rooney’s finishing, A Johnson’s left-footed crossing, Hart’s shot-stopping & Gerrard quarterbacking”

This may come as a slight surprise as crossing is a feature of Adam’s game which appeared to need the most work. At Middlesbrough, Stewart Downing was considered the better player on account of his superior delivery.

City have struggled for good crossing all season, and Mancini appears keen to improve on it both in training and with new signings. It’s never been a strength of Shaun Wright-Phillips nor Craig Bellamy, who has always been primarily a striker.

Mancini’s efforts to improve the situation in training were noted here, where those of us who remember him as a player could afford a wry smile.

Neil McNab’s Tash, Blue Moon forum:

The last group Mancini had were pure attacking, crossing and finishing and sadly as I have said before Mancini was the best crosser on view. Good to see AJ working from the left for quite a while but early on with him and SWP crossing Mancini stopped it, walked over took one himself which was perfect fro RSC to power a header in. So simple and he demonstrated very clearly what he wanted.They simply don’t have the natural ability the boss has.

James Milner may have come of age in central midfield this season, but he has always been known as a good crosser from the flanks, and this could have influenced the thinking of Mancini and Marwood in deciding to persue him.

Angel di Maria is another noted for his quality of delivery, though the rumuor-mill currently suggests he’s more likely to end up at Real Madrid. That remains to be seen. His lack of tracking back was notable when Benfica played Liverpool. Hardly a quality likely to endear him to Jose Mourinho if the Portuguese takes over at Real.

With none of our current first choice full-backs able to find a consistent delivery, any new additions in these positions also need to offer a better attacking side to their game.

Quality of crossing is an area where we lag behind all the other top teams in the Premier League, and it’s to be hoped an improvement by Johnson, which may require him playing on the left, is augmented by the right signings.

• What do you think of the crossing by City last season? And who’s likely to improve it?

Fabio Capello:

“Adam Johnson [has caught my eye this season]. He’s come up from the Championship at Middlesbrough, where he played in a different position, and he’s done well with Manchester City. Now it’s important he gets some international experience.”

The winger’s good form for City has seen his England prospects talked up, though most thought he was one for the future rather than the upcoming tournament. Capello doesn’t come across as a manager to gamble on untried players, as we have seen with his desire to have Bridge back in the fold rather than take Stephen Warnock or Leighton Baines to South Africa. So why Johnson?

Beckham getting crocked is one reason, and Aaron Lennon’s failure to recover from injury is likely to be another. Lennon was supposed to be back by now, and Capello may have decided he needs to look at alternatives.

Capello is surely wary of banking on Walcott with his fluctuating form, and that leaves Wright-Phillips, who can’t get in the City team because of… Johnson.

Adam has shown he can perform on the bigger stage since coming to City and, importantly for Capello, is comfortable on both wings. England lack a quality out and out winger with both Joe Cole and James Milner looking better in the middle.

It’s interesting to note that Johnson now seems to be ahead of Stuart Downing. Boro fans said Downing was the better crosser, and this remains a valid point. Adam has the skill and technique to make it at international level, but his final ball and decision making could be improved.

He’s still been an excellent signing who has won over City fans in no time. Our upcoming games will be a big test, and if he can continue to perform, then he’ll warrant his World Cup chance.

• Do you think Johnson is ready for England?

With Mancini looking to play two defensively strong midfielders at any one time, he has been of the view that we need alternatives to Gareth Barry and Nigel de Jong. Nobody who saw Barry’s performance against Portsmouth would deny he needs to be rested. There’s also talk he’s been carrying an injury, and this might explain recent performances.

The defensive qualities of Stephen Ireland in a midfield pair don’t appear to have convinced Mancini, while Vincent Kompany hasn’t played well in midfield since he came back from injury earlier this season.

With Vieira yet to prove his fitness, the hunt has been on for another central midfielder. Flamini on loan was an early target, but with first team opportunies at Milan opening up, he decided to stay put.

Gago and his agent were up for a move out of Madrid as the player sought first team action in the run-up to the World Cup. Unfortunately Madrid wanted him as cover unless City were willing to reduce their bank debts by paying over the odds. A reported 13 million euros was turned down as Real hung on for 17 million.

Attention then turned to McDonald Mariga and everything looked dandy. Parma were happy to sell him in return for cash and Bojinov, while the player was up for the move. Everything seemed agreed by the end of last week, but we had to wait until today to get the work permit.

To City’s evident surprise, this was turned down despite the player having appeared in 75% of Kenya’s internationals. Unfortunately this only counts for countries with a Fifa ranking of no higher than 70, and Kenya are in the 90′s. City’s immediate appeal was also turned down.

No more appeals could be heard today, and it would be the next transfer window before we can sign the 6′ 2″ Kenyan. However, it now appears that Inter Milan have nipped in and signed Marigo so that’s the end of that.

Expect City to be furious, and rightly so. If a player is good enough for Inter, then how come he isn’t good enough for a work permit in this country? Plenty of other exceptions have been made to the rules, and there are plenty worse overseas players granted work permits.

With only a few hours of the transfer window remaining, there appears to have been an attempt to revive a deal for Gago, possibly in the form of a loan. However time ran out and the Argentine is left to fret over his World Cup place.

I expect Mancini will be hugely disappointed that one of these deals didn’t come off and there will be questions asked of Brian Marwood, our Football Administrator.

A replacement for Robinho, and a central midfielder appear to have been our only targets as there doesn’t appear to have been major attempts to strengthen the defence.

Along with the upturn in Micah Richards form, the recent performances of Nedum Onuoha have made the case for an additional right-back less pressing. This may be why the Motta loan deal was allowed to drift after reported complications.

The excellent form of Kompany and Boyata has likewise made alternatives to Toure and Lescott appear less essential.

We now need players to step up to the plate alongside de Jong in central midfield. Barry needs to regain his form and consistency. Vieira needs to prove his fitness. Kompany needs to find his midfield form of last season, and Ireland may need to show more defensive discipline.

All these players are now going to be needed if we’re to maintain a bid for fourth place and the FA Cup.

The signing of Adam Johnson in a last minute deadline day deal has echoes of Robinho, but that’s where the similarities end. Johnson is no more a galactico than Middlesbrough is Madrid, but that doesn’t mean he won’t be a success. The fee was undisclosed, but talk is of £6 million initially with more dependent on his success at City. This sounds about right after City were believed to have initially bid £4m while Boro wanted £9m.

The Wearsider is naturally a left-winger who has done a job on the right and will hopefully be happier about it than Petrov. Whether he can make the transition from star of a struggling team to performing at the top end of the Premier League remains to be seen. He has pace, skill and an eye for goal, so we should look forward to seeing him.

Finally, despite being linked with and speaking to about half the clubs in the bottom half of the Premier League, we might still have Benjani. One other player that did move was Javan Vidal who joined Derby on loan until the end of the season.

• What’s your verdict on City’s transfer window? Will missing out on Marigo and Gago prove costly?