Why all the doom and gloom?
GK - Gomes (Pletikosa) hopefully better back up than Cudicini
RB - Corluka
CB - Gallas/King. the experienced head at the back
CB - Dawson/Bassong. quality near an experienced partner
LB - Bale. Hard to defend against a LB, could be Cashley Cole like with a long enough stint
RM - Lennon. No longer the 1 attacking threat going forward, double teaming should occur less
CM - Huddlestone. Potentially the Xabi Alonso of England according to some journalists
CM - Van Der Vaat. Another great passer of the ball, a lethal shot, dead ball specialist & good dribbler IIRC.
LM - Modric. IMO played his best football cutting in from the left, will also work well with an attacking LB like Bale
ST - Defoe/Giovanni. These two have to be preferred to Keane as the "little" striker
ST - Crouch (Pav). With the quality in midfield long balls shouldn't be the norm. Both are decent enough but in a perfect world an upgrade would come in.
Bench has quality all over it. Pletikosa, Bassong, BAE, Bentley/Giovanni, Sandro/Palacios, Kranjcar, Pav
Can see Sandro/Palacios coming in for Defoe for tricky away games.