So today 3 managers have said they would be interested in the England job with Harry Redknapp, Steve Bruce and Sam Allardyce all declaring that they would be interested in taking the job – a job that, at the moment, is going to have a manager in place until 2012 anyway.
So why are these managers putting themselves forward now? Well this is, as usual, mainly the fault of the media and there not so secret campaign to oust Capello in favour of an English manager – you don’t hear managers in other countries asked if they’d be interested in a national team job that is becoming available in 2 years time so why do we do it? If a young, incredibly talented manager is around and asked ‘would you be interested in the England job at some point in your career?’ like the Portuguese media ask Mourinho who obviously has a long list of trophies so young is understandable but not boot the England job in 2012 around with these managers is just pointless.
Yes none of them have had a crack at a big title winning team but there’s a reason for that – because they aren’t on that level when it comes to management. The media, and it seems the F.A, have become so blindingly obsessed with having an English manager it seems that the whole question of whether they have the ability and skill to take England to the next level now doesn’t matter – and isn’t that how England ended up with a foreign manager in the first place?
If the job became available in 2012 and Jose Mourinho said he wouldn’t mind having a go at it does anyone think that the media would say thanks but no thanks, you’re not English? Of course they wouldn’t, they’d all fall over themselves to have him appointed because he’s a media darling and also happens to be a half decent manager. The FA couldn’t even decide on whether the next manager should be English or British, the only difference being Martin O’Neill would be eligible under the latter, with Club Wembley and F.A chiefs arguing over this technicality. Nationality should not matter, no one knows what the situation will be in 2 years and if Jose wants the job it would look very foolish if he couldn’t get it because of the F.A’s silly statement. It would be as foolish as trying to appoint Luiz Felipe Scolari the new manager only for him to turn it down because of the media pressure and watch the media squirm as they try to blame everything else but them.
When you look at the likely candidates none of them are likely to reveal themselves to be tactically astute motivational geniuses, Harry has got a chance at Spurs to test his hand in the Champions League however I think he will struggle to get his players to adapt to this level, he was incredibly naive with his formation and team selection for the first leg against Young Boys Bern. His record is not really one that justifies a manager of a national team that is still highly thought of in the footballing world, he also enjoyed his wheeler dealer reputation until recently, and it won’t go away no matter how much he swears at interviewers because he encouraged it in the past, but now his name is mentioned with England he wants to be taken seriously and not seen as a wheeler dealer character – enhancing this image with a well past the deadline day £8m deal for Van Der Vaart only hours after saying he wasn’t bringing anyone in. The incident with Robbie Keane and several of the Spurs players that went away for Christmas in 2009 also shows that maybe he doesn’t have the discipline and respect that he needs over the England players.
The only other English manager of note is Roy Hodgson who is facing a torrid time at Liverpool with recent stories about RBS taking a more aggressive stance with Liverpool’s debts and the owners, if Hodgson can perform some sort of miracle and get Liverpool in to the top 4 then that will seriously reinforce his claims to be given a chance and he does have experience in both European football and International football as well however in 2 years time he might not want the job because he feels a duty to Liverpool, or they get some mega rich investor that will give Hodgson a chance to be the man to take the league back to Liverpool, or it could also go downhill and see him not really take the club anywhere but just slide into mid table level but we shall see what happens, although this further proves the point that talking about a manager now for 2012 is a pointless as many things could change.
Until Sam Allardyce or Steve Bruce do something like win a cup or develop a good team then their names shouldn’t even be mentioned with the England job, have they really done anything between them to be considered? Fabio Capello has won 5 Serie A titles, 2 La Liga titles and of course the Champions League but Bruce or Allardyce are more qualified to do the job because they are English. Sounds a bit stupid really put like that, there is no way either of those 2 are more qualified for the job so why should it make a difference?
The fact of the matter is that for the next 2 years, finishing with Euro 2012, Fabio Capello will be the England manager and the whole country, media and fans alike, need to get behind what we currently have and stop being too extreme with reactions of ‘oh we could win the thing’ or ‘our national team is so rubbish’ and other responses that get trotted out because at the end of the day it makes it sound like were paying Capello £6m for 2 years to just baby sit the team until he goes and an English manager comes in, is that really what the England job as been reduced to? Any English manager that will be linked to this job wouldn’t be able to compare their club record to Capello’s and the only reason they’d be considered is because they are English.
These 3 managers have been pushed now, by both the media and themselves, because they understand that now an ‘English manager of England’ is the hot topic and if they can force the issue now then it they can keep it going, imagine if Capello masterminded a Euro 2012 victory (and I’m not saying for 2 seconds he will), would the press care then about the fact that he’s Italian? Would anyone care? Of course not, the FA would probably make a last ditch attempt to keep him on because when it comes down to it nationality doesn’t really matter.
Steve McClaren was English and look how that went......
Showing posts with label England. Show all posts
Showing posts with label England. Show all posts
Friday, 10 September 2010
Thursday, 9 September 2010
England results & thoughts
England recorded a comfortable 4-0 against Bulgaria last Friday in what ended up being a good opening qualifying game and exactly the sort of response England needed after the calamity that was the World Cup.
When the team was announced I thought they’d line up in a standard 4-4-2 as Capello gave his critics two fingers and showing that he’s still in charge and within 3 minutes England took the lead after a beautiful through ball from Rooney to Cole on the left hand side of the box Cole cut in and, 2nd time round, got a cross from just outside the 6 yard box to Defoe who volleyed home and set Wembley rocking. The first half was a display from England of what they can do but the Bulgarians were especially poor, they had no natural shape when England had the ball and there were frequently huge gaps between the defence, midfield and attack which the England players found themselves knocking the ball around in big spaces with no one really pressing them or rushing them. The gaps left Wayne Rooney lots of space to help him come deep to get the ball when he needed to and it gave him time to run at the Bulgarians or give him time to pick out a pass but the main thing was he was given time and he started to look dangerous again for England.
As the first half wore on it became clear that England were playing a mix of 4-2-3-1/4-4-1-1, Milner probably wasn’t forward enough to be called a full on 4-2-3-1 but Rooney was dropping deeper this game, like he was in a controlled free role, and he linked up well with Ashley Cole down the left hand side. The first half wasn’t all England knocking the ball about like Spain though with Bojinov having a great chance but Jagielka managed to catch him before he pulled the trigger and put in an excellent tackle. Glen Johnson also tried his hardest to bring Bulgaria back on level terms, nearly side footing a Bulgarian cross into his own net but Joe Hart was alert to it and managed to save it. England looked more solid at the back, Dawson & Jagielka settled well although Dawson did make a slight slip that let the Bulgarians through but they shot wide, however moments later Dawson’s game ended when he twisted his knee and ankle but fortunately he’s only out for weeks and not months. This gave Gary Cahill a chance to come on and it was good to see a younger, more mobile player being given a chance over the usual players like Matthew Upson who, in my opinion, is lucky to still be anywhere near the England team and Cahill justified his call with a terrific block less than 10 minutes later. On the hour mark England sealed a second and it was reminiscent of the counter attacking football Germany used to devastating effect on England, Joe Hart blocked a powerful shot blasted straight at him and in 14 seconds Rooney had the ball, slipped it through to Defoe who rifled the shot home and sealed the game for England. It was excellent link up play between Rooney & Defoe and showed just why Capello picked these two players, but they weren’t done there and Capello decided to make a change bringing on Johnson for Walcott who failed to hit top gear again for England but still looks a threat with his pace.
Johnson had a chance not long after coming on but a weak shot was saved well however the next time he found himself in the same situation he unleashed another shot and this time the ball found the back of the net for his first England goal, but England weren’t finished yet and Defoe managed to seal his hat-trick after a Rooney run ended with him sliding the ball into Defoe’s feet for a great finish, although he injured himself in the process and was taken off to be replaced by Ashley Young for the last few minutes.
It was a very solid performance from England who managed to keep the ball well, create a fair few chances as well as looking a livelier unit than they have done for a while, although this was a very poor Bulgaria team they were facing. The centre of defence looked a little shaky as you would expect with 3 inexperienced players at this level not having anyone with real experience alongside them but the few times Bulgaria did sneak through Joe Hart looked more than up for the task, at one point putting on his own little juggling show with the ball. It’s great to see an English keeper with so much confidence and belief and getting an established run in a team however I hope the media don’t build him up to silly heights so we can just knock him down, I read an article saying that Peter Shilton established himself around the same time so Hart could break his appearance record, we should just be worrying about him on a game by game basis, a keeper’s confidence can be shattered with 1 mistake and its stupid to be talking about him setting any records yet.
Capello has been criticised for not moving the team on and sticking with the same old names, but with a defence that has a structure of Hart, Jagielka, Dawson & Cahill this is moving on from the usual line up of James, Terry, Rio & Upson even if the 2 centre backs have missed out due to injury but the fact is they aren’t getting any younger, injuries are making them less mobile which is becoming a massive problem for them. Remember Terry’s heroic diving header at the World Cup, the only reason he had to launch himself was because he dived in for a tackle that he got wrong, scuffed the clearance which fell to a Slovakian player and couldn’t recover in time so had to launch himself to try and stop the shot that came in as a result of his mistake. This isn’t heroic defending, this is suicidal last ditch defending that you don’t need at international level least of all during a must win World Cup game. Maybe it’s time to look at younger more mobile defenders as an established pair and not rely so much on our over 30’s defenders who can’t get around as much anymore and I’m sure part of the reason Terry won’t get dropped is because of the fear of reaction from Chelsea fans if there brave hero gets dropped.
Of course there was still the much trickier game to face in Switzerland, the team that beat eventual World Cup winners Spain in the first game of the World Cup. First shock was to hear Lescott playing alongside Jagielka however they did play well together when they were at Everton and Lescott has a bit more experience which Capello clearly felt was needed in this area. Jagielka’s display was assured and confident, he defended well and kept it simple when he had the ball which was good to see and Lescott didn’t make a mistake either also defending well and although it was against a weak attack the confidence boost will do both defenders well.
The first goal was very well constructed, 10 simple passes that unlocked the Swiss defence with a lovely ball down the wing by Walcott for Johnson to run on to who hit an inch perfect cross across the 6 yard box for Rooney to slot home, understandably his celebrations were muted to say the least, leaving England 1-0 up and looking good in the game although it came at a price with Theo Walcott being stretchered off after being injured as he collided with a Swiss player as he was running into the 6 yard area although this meant the early introduction of Adam Johnson in to the game. Just like in the Bulgaria game England waited about an hour to score their 2nd goal, a lovely through ball by Gerrard splitting the Swiss defence and leaving Johnson to run round the oncoming keeper and slot the ball home, although as with the 1st goal this was tainted by a player being stretchered off injured with Defoe leaving via a stretcher and Darren Bent coming on to replace him. Moments later however the Swiss player Xherdan Shaqiri, who was linked with quite a few top clubs over the summer, scoring a lovely 25 yard shot he cut in from the right and was given a little too much space and tucked the ball away in the top left corner with his left foot leaving Hart with no chance. England still had enough time to bring a smile to Capello’s face when they scored a third goal, Cole with a lovely through ball for Bent to smash home with his left foot from about 15 yards leaving the score at 3-1 and England leaving all there doubters and critics disappointed as they took 6 points from 6.
Again England looked comfortable in what was perceived to be there toughest test, away at the team that’s expected to come 2nd in the group, although I think Montenegro away could be a pretty tricky match and there is certainly no room to become complacent and Capello will know this but after such a terrific start to the campaign with 2 comfortable wins he must be wondering to himself if maybe the absence of Lampard & Terry has anything to do with this. Terry especially over the last 12 months or so has not looked like the player he once was, and with Rio’s injury problems there is no guarantee that either of them will be around for the Euro’s, so why not try and build a central defence on younger more mobile players? We all saw Terry’s press conference and whilst you can never doubt his loyalty to the shirt or his fierce pride in playing for England you can doubt if his ability is what it once was and you can certainly doubt if he is a positive influence on the dressing room or behind the scenes.
Frank Lampard is another interesting one, for years all we’ve heard is ‘How do we get Gerrard & Lampard to play together’ and it seems the answer is we don’t. Gerrard again excelled without Lampard alongside him and below are some stat’s from @OptaJoe on how England play when only one of the 2 are playing -
1 - England have lost just one of their 17 competitive games with Gerrard starting without Lampard, winning 13.
Played 9, Won 7, Drawn 1 & Lost 1 in competitive games with just Lampard starting.
7 - S.Gerrard has assisted the most England goals (7) under Fabio Capello, followed by W.Rooney and G.Johnson (5 each).
So it seems both have good records for England when they play just on their own however it also appears that Gerrard is the more productive of the two so far, so the inevitable question is with England playing so well in the last 2 games, as well as looking better in the 2nd half against Hungary when Lampard was taken off, is it time for Lampard to take a role as a ‘squad player’ instead of a ‘nailed on to start’ player?
Lampard had one of his best ever seasons last season for Chelsea and certainly excels for his club but year after year he has failed to turn this into international performances, especially in Germany 2006 & South Africa this year and by the time its Euro 2012 he will be 34 and one important lesson we learnt at the World Cup is that you need to have mobile midfielders that can get up and down the pitch easily which is something that Gerrard does a lot better than Lampard. Gerrard is in possession of the shirt and has a better all round game than Lampard I feel so why disrupt things? Why try and fit Lampard in to the team and move Gerrard around? Surely a better performing Gerrard is better than an underperforming Gerrard/Lampard partnership? Gerrard has put up with being shunted around the midfield to try and accommodate the inflexible Lampard and maybe now it’s time for Gerrard to have an uninterrupted role in the middle alongside a player that doesn’t hold him back. Let’s not forget that part of the reason Paul Scholes retired from England because he was sick of being out on the left whilst Lampard played in the role he preferred so rather than carrying on putting in sub slandered performances he moved aside, Gerrard has stuck at it but we’ve never really seen the best of him for England so maybe now it’s worth a chance in 2012 he’ll be 32 and it will probably be his last chance to put in a good shift in an England shirt.
I’m not saying Lampard should be dropped from the England team completely, he’d certainly be a good player to have around the squad as he always seems to get on with the players and has a lot of experience he could pass on to the younger players but more importantly he would be an excellent ‘Plan B’ if he was needed. I do however think John Terry should be kept away from the England squad until he’s back to his best and he has his ego under control. One thing England has never been short of is good quality centre backs and with people like Phil Jagielka (28), Gary Cahill (24) and Michael Dawson (26) in the squad we seem to have another generation coming through and peaking so to speak at the right time and they are certainly more mobile than Rio & Terry and the perfect time for them to get experience at this level is through playing more games so it might well be time for them to be given a chance as well. This would of course mean no room for Rio and I think after his recent injury problems this will be the right decision, the few games he’s played over the last few seasons he hasn’t looked the same and certainly has lost a bit of pace as a result of these injury’s but I think that like Lampard he should be kept around the squad because of his experience.
The next match against Montenegro should show what Fabio’s mindset is, if Rio, Terry & Lampard are all fit and picked for the next squad and start it will show that either Capello is very stubborn or hasn’t learnt anything and although I think the latter isn’t the case at all I do worry that maybe part of Fabio wants to prove he can get Lampard & Gerrard to play together but I hope I’m wrong.
When the team was announced I thought they’d line up in a standard 4-4-2 as Capello gave his critics two fingers and showing that he’s still in charge and within 3 minutes England took the lead after a beautiful through ball from Rooney to Cole on the left hand side of the box Cole cut in and, 2nd time round, got a cross from just outside the 6 yard box to Defoe who volleyed home and set Wembley rocking. The first half was a display from England of what they can do but the Bulgarians were especially poor, they had no natural shape when England had the ball and there were frequently huge gaps between the defence, midfield and attack which the England players found themselves knocking the ball around in big spaces with no one really pressing them or rushing them. The gaps left Wayne Rooney lots of space to help him come deep to get the ball when he needed to and it gave him time to run at the Bulgarians or give him time to pick out a pass but the main thing was he was given time and he started to look dangerous again for England.
As the first half wore on it became clear that England were playing a mix of 4-2-3-1/4-4-1-1, Milner probably wasn’t forward enough to be called a full on 4-2-3-1 but Rooney was dropping deeper this game, like he was in a controlled free role, and he linked up well with Ashley Cole down the left hand side. The first half wasn’t all England knocking the ball about like Spain though with Bojinov having a great chance but Jagielka managed to catch him before he pulled the trigger and put in an excellent tackle. Glen Johnson also tried his hardest to bring Bulgaria back on level terms, nearly side footing a Bulgarian cross into his own net but Joe Hart was alert to it and managed to save it. England looked more solid at the back, Dawson & Jagielka settled well although Dawson did make a slight slip that let the Bulgarians through but they shot wide, however moments later Dawson’s game ended when he twisted his knee and ankle but fortunately he’s only out for weeks and not months. This gave Gary Cahill a chance to come on and it was good to see a younger, more mobile player being given a chance over the usual players like Matthew Upson who, in my opinion, is lucky to still be anywhere near the England team and Cahill justified his call with a terrific block less than 10 minutes later. On the hour mark England sealed a second and it was reminiscent of the counter attacking football Germany used to devastating effect on England, Joe Hart blocked a powerful shot blasted straight at him and in 14 seconds Rooney had the ball, slipped it through to Defoe who rifled the shot home and sealed the game for England. It was excellent link up play between Rooney & Defoe and showed just why Capello picked these two players, but they weren’t done there and Capello decided to make a change bringing on Johnson for Walcott who failed to hit top gear again for England but still looks a threat with his pace.
Johnson had a chance not long after coming on but a weak shot was saved well however the next time he found himself in the same situation he unleashed another shot and this time the ball found the back of the net for his first England goal, but England weren’t finished yet and Defoe managed to seal his hat-trick after a Rooney run ended with him sliding the ball into Defoe’s feet for a great finish, although he injured himself in the process and was taken off to be replaced by Ashley Young for the last few minutes.
It was a very solid performance from England who managed to keep the ball well, create a fair few chances as well as looking a livelier unit than they have done for a while, although this was a very poor Bulgaria team they were facing. The centre of defence looked a little shaky as you would expect with 3 inexperienced players at this level not having anyone with real experience alongside them but the few times Bulgaria did sneak through Joe Hart looked more than up for the task, at one point putting on his own little juggling show with the ball. It’s great to see an English keeper with so much confidence and belief and getting an established run in a team however I hope the media don’t build him up to silly heights so we can just knock him down, I read an article saying that Peter Shilton established himself around the same time so Hart could break his appearance record, we should just be worrying about him on a game by game basis, a keeper’s confidence can be shattered with 1 mistake and its stupid to be talking about him setting any records yet.
Capello has been criticised for not moving the team on and sticking with the same old names, but with a defence that has a structure of Hart, Jagielka, Dawson & Cahill this is moving on from the usual line up of James, Terry, Rio & Upson even if the 2 centre backs have missed out due to injury but the fact is they aren’t getting any younger, injuries are making them less mobile which is becoming a massive problem for them. Remember Terry’s heroic diving header at the World Cup, the only reason he had to launch himself was because he dived in for a tackle that he got wrong, scuffed the clearance which fell to a Slovakian player and couldn’t recover in time so had to launch himself to try and stop the shot that came in as a result of his mistake. This isn’t heroic defending, this is suicidal last ditch defending that you don’t need at international level least of all during a must win World Cup game. Maybe it’s time to look at younger more mobile defenders as an established pair and not rely so much on our over 30’s defenders who can’t get around as much anymore and I’m sure part of the reason Terry won’t get dropped is because of the fear of reaction from Chelsea fans if there brave hero gets dropped.
Of course there was still the much trickier game to face in Switzerland, the team that beat eventual World Cup winners Spain in the first game of the World Cup. First shock was to hear Lescott playing alongside Jagielka however they did play well together when they were at Everton and Lescott has a bit more experience which Capello clearly felt was needed in this area. Jagielka’s display was assured and confident, he defended well and kept it simple when he had the ball which was good to see and Lescott didn’t make a mistake either also defending well and although it was against a weak attack the confidence boost will do both defenders well.
The first goal was very well constructed, 10 simple passes that unlocked the Swiss defence with a lovely ball down the wing by Walcott for Johnson to run on to who hit an inch perfect cross across the 6 yard box for Rooney to slot home, understandably his celebrations were muted to say the least, leaving England 1-0 up and looking good in the game although it came at a price with Theo Walcott being stretchered off after being injured as he collided with a Swiss player as he was running into the 6 yard area although this meant the early introduction of Adam Johnson in to the game. Just like in the Bulgaria game England waited about an hour to score their 2nd goal, a lovely through ball by Gerrard splitting the Swiss defence and leaving Johnson to run round the oncoming keeper and slot the ball home, although as with the 1st goal this was tainted by a player being stretchered off injured with Defoe leaving via a stretcher and Darren Bent coming on to replace him. Moments later however the Swiss player Xherdan Shaqiri, who was linked with quite a few top clubs over the summer, scoring a lovely 25 yard shot he cut in from the right and was given a little too much space and tucked the ball away in the top left corner with his left foot leaving Hart with no chance. England still had enough time to bring a smile to Capello’s face when they scored a third goal, Cole with a lovely through ball for Bent to smash home with his left foot from about 15 yards leaving the score at 3-1 and England leaving all there doubters and critics disappointed as they took 6 points from 6.
Again England looked comfortable in what was perceived to be there toughest test, away at the team that’s expected to come 2nd in the group, although I think Montenegro away could be a pretty tricky match and there is certainly no room to become complacent and Capello will know this but after such a terrific start to the campaign with 2 comfortable wins he must be wondering to himself if maybe the absence of Lampard & Terry has anything to do with this. Terry especially over the last 12 months or so has not looked like the player he once was, and with Rio’s injury problems there is no guarantee that either of them will be around for the Euro’s, so why not try and build a central defence on younger more mobile players? We all saw Terry’s press conference and whilst you can never doubt his loyalty to the shirt or his fierce pride in playing for England you can doubt if his ability is what it once was and you can certainly doubt if he is a positive influence on the dressing room or behind the scenes.
Frank Lampard is another interesting one, for years all we’ve heard is ‘How do we get Gerrard & Lampard to play together’ and it seems the answer is we don’t. Gerrard again excelled without Lampard alongside him and below are some stat’s from @OptaJoe on how England play when only one of the 2 are playing -
1 - England have lost just one of their 17 competitive games with Gerrard starting without Lampard, winning 13.
Played 9, Won 7, Drawn 1 & Lost 1 in competitive games with just Lampard starting.
7 - S.Gerrard has assisted the most England goals (7) under Fabio Capello, followed by W.Rooney and G.Johnson (5 each).
So it seems both have good records for England when they play just on their own however it also appears that Gerrard is the more productive of the two so far, so the inevitable question is with England playing so well in the last 2 games, as well as looking better in the 2nd half against Hungary when Lampard was taken off, is it time for Lampard to take a role as a ‘squad player’ instead of a ‘nailed on to start’ player?
Lampard had one of his best ever seasons last season for Chelsea and certainly excels for his club but year after year he has failed to turn this into international performances, especially in Germany 2006 & South Africa this year and by the time its Euro 2012 he will be 34 and one important lesson we learnt at the World Cup is that you need to have mobile midfielders that can get up and down the pitch easily which is something that Gerrard does a lot better than Lampard. Gerrard is in possession of the shirt and has a better all round game than Lampard I feel so why disrupt things? Why try and fit Lampard in to the team and move Gerrard around? Surely a better performing Gerrard is better than an underperforming Gerrard/Lampard partnership? Gerrard has put up with being shunted around the midfield to try and accommodate the inflexible Lampard and maybe now it’s time for Gerrard to have an uninterrupted role in the middle alongside a player that doesn’t hold him back. Let’s not forget that part of the reason Paul Scholes retired from England because he was sick of being out on the left whilst Lampard played in the role he preferred so rather than carrying on putting in sub slandered performances he moved aside, Gerrard has stuck at it but we’ve never really seen the best of him for England so maybe now it’s worth a chance in 2012 he’ll be 32 and it will probably be his last chance to put in a good shift in an England shirt.
I’m not saying Lampard should be dropped from the England team completely, he’d certainly be a good player to have around the squad as he always seems to get on with the players and has a lot of experience he could pass on to the younger players but more importantly he would be an excellent ‘Plan B’ if he was needed. I do however think John Terry should be kept away from the England squad until he’s back to his best and he has his ego under control. One thing England has never been short of is good quality centre backs and with people like Phil Jagielka (28), Gary Cahill (24) and Michael Dawson (26) in the squad we seem to have another generation coming through and peaking so to speak at the right time and they are certainly more mobile than Rio & Terry and the perfect time for them to get experience at this level is through playing more games so it might well be time for them to be given a chance as well. This would of course mean no room for Rio and I think after his recent injury problems this will be the right decision, the few games he’s played over the last few seasons he hasn’t looked the same and certainly has lost a bit of pace as a result of these injury’s but I think that like Lampard he should be kept around the squad because of his experience.
The next match against Montenegro should show what Fabio’s mindset is, if Rio, Terry & Lampard are all fit and picked for the next squad and start it will show that either Capello is very stubborn or hasn’t learnt anything and although I think the latter isn’t the case at all I do worry that maybe part of Fabio wants to prove he can get Lampard & Gerrard to play together but I hope I’m wrong.
Saturday, 28 August 2010
The great Arteta debate
It’s come to light today that Fabio Capello has held face to face talks with Everton’s Mikel Arteta about playing for the England team. The first reaction I’ve read online is Henry Winter and his usual Capello bashing saying ‘Capello’s ludicrous damaging pursuit of Arteta reveals total naivety about England fans reaction...or maybe he's goading FA into a red card’ followed by ‘Capello’s wooing of Arteta is an affront to his FA employers' vital attempt to develop English youth. Does Fabio simply not care anymore?’
A few thoughts spring to mind reading this, the first being that Capello doesn’t have a ‘total’ naivety about England fans reaction – I’m an England fan and I for one wouldn’t mind seeing Arteta in and England shirt, a recent poll on Goal.com showed 89.77% of voters backing an Arteta call up so clearly i'm not alone. Second of all the FA have been banging on about developing English youth for years yet nothing has actually been done by them, Trevor Brooking frequently champions more investment at grass roots and improving conditions etc for kids yet they do very little, the St George’s centre in Burton is still not completed and that was started in 2001 whilst in contrast the French centre Clairefontaine was completed in just over 3 years and is widely considered to be a major factor in them winning a World Cup. Why should it be Capello’s responsibility to bring through young players, some of whom aren’t even regular starters for their club (Rodwell & Wilshere spring to mind) and risk his job on unproven players? Of course Winter is one of many journalists who think that an English manager will fix everything, just like Steve McClaren did in 2006/2007 and the current list of English managers currently in the Premier League - Roy Hodgson, Harry Redknapp, Steve Bruce, Ian Holloway and Sam Allardyce are so over whelming good. No need to panic though, the walking tango man Phil Brown recently said he would be interested in the England job, phew that’s that problem solved then.
I digress though because this isn’t an attack at Henry Winter or the other moronic journalist’s that think they have all the answers (think The Sun on Wednesday) to England’s problems, but a case for why England should call up Arteta. It’s the pig headed attitude of ‘were English, we invented this game, we have morals blah blah blah’ that is the mentality that has lead to so many disappointing campaigns recently. England lacks a creative spark as such in the midfield trio – Gerrard and Lampard, other than not working when they play alongside each other, do not possess the ability to unlock a defence with a key pass or a 60 yard pin point ball on a consistent basis, and if they do they’ve hidden it well from England duty, and Gareth Barry....well I’m not quite sure what he does for England anymore. In fact the last player that was able to do this is Paul Scholes, Capello realised this when he asked Scholes to play at the World Cup and clearly the media realise this with their campaign to get him out of international retirement (after ridiculing Capello for trying to do the same in the World Cup). So why is it any different getting a 35 year old (clearly not looking to the future) to play instead of a person who wasn’t born in this county? Because of his place of birth? Funny how the England cricket team is made of none English players yet people celebrate like Christmas has come when 2 South Africans (KP 2005 & Trott 2009) save England against the Australia and they are hailed as heroes.
If Arteta does play for England it’s not like he’s the first player to represent a country he has no link to, Deco did it for Portugal (as well as the more recently Liedson) and Cacau also did it for Germany and neither of those players had any link to the country except living there long enough to qualify. However if this isn’t enough to justify things then look at the Spain team in Euro 2008, one of the key players was a guy that goes by the name of Marcos Senna. That’s right, a Brazilian by birth who has no link to Spain at all other than living there for long enough to qualify so if it’s good enough for the reigning European and World Champions then why oh why are we so pig headed that this is still a problem for England? Owen Hargreaves has spent more time outside of this country than he has in it and only qualifies because of his English father, but that means more than actually living in the country does it? There are plenty of other recent examples, Eduardo who play’s for Croatia despite being born in Brazil or Amauri playing for Italy despite being Brazilian as well are two more examples that spring to mind.
Of course two of the most famous names in world football both switched nations when they needed to, the great Ferenc Puskas was Hungarian and played for Hungary 85 times before representing Spain and another all time great, Alfredo Di Stefano played for 3 countries! He represented his home nation Argentina 6 times, 4 times with Columbia (although they weren’t a FIFA recognised team at the time) and finally Spain. I appreciate that nationality rules were slightly different at the time, and in the case of Puskas it was off the field reason’s that he stopped playing for Hungary and if it was in recent years he would never have been allowed to play for Spain, but if these players and nations can do it there is no reason why England can’t do it.
Before anyone starts with the ‘we don’t want other country’s castoff’s’ argument, let’s be honest here the only reason Arteta doesn’t make that Spain squad is because they currently have some of the best midfielders, if not players, in the world in Xavi & Iniesta, and the backup player is just some guy called Fabregas so it’s not like he has a huge amount of competition in front of him is it? Arteta’s only flaw is peaking at a time Spain have an overwhelming choice of midfielders that are considered great and that isn’t his fault and if an English player had anywhere near the same level of creativity and passing Arteta posses we’d fall over ourselves to demand he’s called up to the national team. He’s not blocking English development, if anything he’s a short term solution to a long term problem (just like Scholes at World Cup would have been) that might well help people like Wilshere develop, if they were both in the national team Wilshere would have a quality player and a role model to learn from, not someone like John Terry who can’t stay out of the papers for the wrong reasons. If we had youngsters bursting to get in the squad and Arteta was taking one of their places then maybe they should get the nod over him, but the fact is the same players have been trotted out time and time again and failed time and time again to deliver, Arteta would certainly offer something different to Frank Lampard and in a good way because Lampard criminally under performs at international level, yet there is no young player right now that could honestly say they deserve a shot over Lampard because none of them perform at the same level as he does week in week out, they aren’t as key to their club team as Lampard is, but Arteta is.
Arsene Wenger says he was ‘surprised’ that Wilshere was in the U-21’s squad instead of the full squad, why? Against Liverpool he started in a much deeper role than he is used to and lasted an hour before coming off, not really having a good game as he isn’t a defensive player and its far too young for him to try and develop into a multi positional player, let him excel at his natural game of attacking like he did against Blackpool and let him develop. Clearly the U-21’s need good players to progress from the European Championship qualifying stages and Wilshere will be more useful there than he will be warming the bench for the full team and will probably gain more from being in the U-21’s than the full team.
Fabio Capello’s job isn’t to protect the future of English football or to try and develop players for a future manager; his job is win matches using the best players available to him during his time as manager. Did Jose Mourinho worry about Chelsea’s future? Of course not, he simply worried about winning trophies and at the other end of the scale you can look at Arsene Wenger, since he started concentrating on youth development he hasn’t won anything. The job for protecting English youngsters is the job of the F.A, and all they seem to do is get in the way of Trevor Brooking who desperately wants to try and do this, so maybe calling up Arteta would wake a few of them up and realise they need to do something and do it now.
If Arteta is called up it should be considered a ‘one off’ instead of a blue print for the future, when Almunia was discussed as a possible call up I was against this because he was no better than what England had available at the time, but in the case of Arteta I think he can offer something that we lack, a truly creative player that can make something from nothing and offer different options to what we have normally in the squad. In giving Arteta a chance what is the worst that could happen? We defy our beliefs? This is a very extreme reaction, like I said it should be looked as a 1 off because a player of this quality is hardly available all the time and isn’t a blue print for the future, we have an excellent U-21 team developing and given time they will be able to make the full squad, but whilst we are waiting for them Arteta really could solve a problem
A few thoughts spring to mind reading this, the first being that Capello doesn’t have a ‘total’ naivety about England fans reaction – I’m an England fan and I for one wouldn’t mind seeing Arteta in and England shirt, a recent poll on Goal.com showed 89.77% of voters backing an Arteta call up so clearly i'm not alone. Second of all the FA have been banging on about developing English youth for years yet nothing has actually been done by them, Trevor Brooking frequently champions more investment at grass roots and improving conditions etc for kids yet they do very little, the St George’s centre in Burton is still not completed and that was started in 2001 whilst in contrast the French centre Clairefontaine was completed in just over 3 years and is widely considered to be a major factor in them winning a World Cup. Why should it be Capello’s responsibility to bring through young players, some of whom aren’t even regular starters for their club (Rodwell & Wilshere spring to mind) and risk his job on unproven players? Of course Winter is one of many journalists who think that an English manager will fix everything, just like Steve McClaren did in 2006/2007 and the current list of English managers currently in the Premier League - Roy Hodgson, Harry Redknapp, Steve Bruce, Ian Holloway and Sam Allardyce are so over whelming good. No need to panic though, the walking tango man Phil Brown recently said he would be interested in the England job, phew that’s that problem solved then.
I digress though because this isn’t an attack at Henry Winter or the other moronic journalist’s that think they have all the answers (think The Sun on Wednesday) to England’s problems, but a case for why England should call up Arteta. It’s the pig headed attitude of ‘were English, we invented this game, we have morals blah blah blah’ that is the mentality that has lead to so many disappointing campaigns recently. England lacks a creative spark as such in the midfield trio – Gerrard and Lampard, other than not working when they play alongside each other, do not possess the ability to unlock a defence with a key pass or a 60 yard pin point ball on a consistent basis, and if they do they’ve hidden it well from England duty, and Gareth Barry....well I’m not quite sure what he does for England anymore. In fact the last player that was able to do this is Paul Scholes, Capello realised this when he asked Scholes to play at the World Cup and clearly the media realise this with their campaign to get him out of international retirement (after ridiculing Capello for trying to do the same in the World Cup). So why is it any different getting a 35 year old (clearly not looking to the future) to play instead of a person who wasn’t born in this county? Because of his place of birth? Funny how the England cricket team is made of none English players yet people celebrate like Christmas has come when 2 South Africans (KP 2005 & Trott 2009) save England against the Australia and they are hailed as heroes.
If Arteta does play for England it’s not like he’s the first player to represent a country he has no link to, Deco did it for Portugal (as well as the more recently Liedson) and Cacau also did it for Germany and neither of those players had any link to the country except living there long enough to qualify. However if this isn’t enough to justify things then look at the Spain team in Euro 2008, one of the key players was a guy that goes by the name of Marcos Senna. That’s right, a Brazilian by birth who has no link to Spain at all other than living there for long enough to qualify so if it’s good enough for the reigning European and World Champions then why oh why are we so pig headed that this is still a problem for England? Owen Hargreaves has spent more time outside of this country than he has in it and only qualifies because of his English father, but that means more than actually living in the country does it? There are plenty of other recent examples, Eduardo who play’s for Croatia despite being born in Brazil or Amauri playing for Italy despite being Brazilian as well are two more examples that spring to mind.
Of course two of the most famous names in world football both switched nations when they needed to, the great Ferenc Puskas was Hungarian and played for Hungary 85 times before representing Spain and another all time great, Alfredo Di Stefano played for 3 countries! He represented his home nation Argentina 6 times, 4 times with Columbia (although they weren’t a FIFA recognised team at the time) and finally Spain. I appreciate that nationality rules were slightly different at the time, and in the case of Puskas it was off the field reason’s that he stopped playing for Hungary and if it was in recent years he would never have been allowed to play for Spain, but if these players and nations can do it there is no reason why England can’t do it.
Before anyone starts with the ‘we don’t want other country’s castoff’s’ argument, let’s be honest here the only reason Arteta doesn’t make that Spain squad is because they currently have some of the best midfielders, if not players, in the world in Xavi & Iniesta, and the backup player is just some guy called Fabregas so it’s not like he has a huge amount of competition in front of him is it? Arteta’s only flaw is peaking at a time Spain have an overwhelming choice of midfielders that are considered great and that isn’t his fault and if an English player had anywhere near the same level of creativity and passing Arteta posses we’d fall over ourselves to demand he’s called up to the national team. He’s not blocking English development, if anything he’s a short term solution to a long term problem (just like Scholes at World Cup would have been) that might well help people like Wilshere develop, if they were both in the national team Wilshere would have a quality player and a role model to learn from, not someone like John Terry who can’t stay out of the papers for the wrong reasons. If we had youngsters bursting to get in the squad and Arteta was taking one of their places then maybe they should get the nod over him, but the fact is the same players have been trotted out time and time again and failed time and time again to deliver, Arteta would certainly offer something different to Frank Lampard and in a good way because Lampard criminally under performs at international level, yet there is no young player right now that could honestly say they deserve a shot over Lampard because none of them perform at the same level as he does week in week out, they aren’t as key to their club team as Lampard is, but Arteta is.
Arsene Wenger says he was ‘surprised’ that Wilshere was in the U-21’s squad instead of the full squad, why? Against Liverpool he started in a much deeper role than he is used to and lasted an hour before coming off, not really having a good game as he isn’t a defensive player and its far too young for him to try and develop into a multi positional player, let him excel at his natural game of attacking like he did against Blackpool and let him develop. Clearly the U-21’s need good players to progress from the European Championship qualifying stages and Wilshere will be more useful there than he will be warming the bench for the full team and will probably gain more from being in the U-21’s than the full team.
Fabio Capello’s job isn’t to protect the future of English football or to try and develop players for a future manager; his job is win matches using the best players available to him during his time as manager. Did Jose Mourinho worry about Chelsea’s future? Of course not, he simply worried about winning trophies and at the other end of the scale you can look at Arsene Wenger, since he started concentrating on youth development he hasn’t won anything. The job for protecting English youngsters is the job of the F.A, and all they seem to do is get in the way of Trevor Brooking who desperately wants to try and do this, so maybe calling up Arteta would wake a few of them up and realise they need to do something and do it now.
If Arteta is called up it should be considered a ‘one off’ instead of a blue print for the future, when Almunia was discussed as a possible call up I was against this because he was no better than what England had available at the time, but in the case of Arteta I think he can offer something that we lack, a truly creative player that can make something from nothing and offer different options to what we have normally in the squad. In giving Arteta a chance what is the worst that could happen? We defy our beliefs? This is a very extreme reaction, like I said it should be looked as a 1 off because a player of this quality is hardly available all the time and isn’t a blue print for the future, we have an excellent U-21 team developing and given time they will be able to make the full squad, but whilst we are waiting for them Arteta really could solve a problem
Tuesday, 17 August 2010
England ratings
England v Hungary
Player Ratings
Joe Hart – Solid game from the new England No 1, he was assured and confident when coming for cross’s and made an excellent save in the dying minutes from Gera. Was unlucky not to keep a clean sheet but could do nothing to stop the goal that shouldn’t have been given. 7/10
Ashley Cole - Was targeted early by the boo-boys and was probably the one World Cup player that didn’t deserve boo’s (although his status about hating England didn’t help) went forward well early on and kept Hungarian defenders busy with his runs. 7/10
Phil Jagielka – Was a threat early on as England bombarded the Hungarian area with corners, two chances early on he was close to scoring, was unlucky with the deflection that scored the own goal that was wrongly given. Defended well, using his strength to keep the Hungarians off the ball. 7/10
John Terry – Nothing special but made no mistakes either, coped well with the attacking threat and formed a good understanding with Jagielka early on, also played some nice balls out of defence linking well with players in front of him. 7/10
Glen Johnson – A threat going forward however, as usual, looked vulnerable defensively conceding a couple of silly free kicks. Linked play well but needs to improve defensive side of his game. 6/10
Gareth Barry – Should be worried by the threat of a natural defensive midfielder in Jack Rodwell, was tidy but didn’t keep a close on Gera when he should have been closer. If Owen Hargreaves was fit then Barry wouldn’t get a look in, will keep his place by default until Hargreaves is fit or Rodwell plays more. 5.5/10
Steven Gerrard – A quiet first half when alongside Lampard but after half time was a different player, a threat going forward scoring a lovely long range shot we’re used to seeing him do with Liverpool and for the second displayed excellent footwork in beating the players close to him before a lovely finish to seal the win, deservedly picking up MOM award 9/10
Frank Lampard – His automatic starting place has to be under question now after another mediocre display. Misplaced passes and didn’t contribute much in the first half except holding back Gerrard. When he went off at half time Gerrard was freed up and the midfield looked a lot more attacking without him, easily the Flop of the match 4.5/10
Theo Walcott – His pace was always a threat however this match further showed why Capello left him behind for World Cup with his poor final ball & decision making. Once he gets his delivery sorted he will be a real threat to any defence, clearly listened to Capello’s instructions and tried to beat his defender on the outside and get to the by-line. 6.5/10
Wayne Rooney – Again suffered from close attention of defenders but worked well for the team, winning and holding the ball up effectively and drawing fouls. Nearly scored with an excellent run but was just a yard offside, targeted by boo boys and was booed when he was subbed, unfairly so in my opinion as Rooney is a key player and he has to deal with a huge amount of pressure. 6/10
Adam Johnson – Could have scored after 12 mins with a cracking long range effort but was unlucky to see it sail inches over the bar, suffered in the first half as his team mates didn’t find him very often however was much better in the 2nd half when he was moved to the right, could be a valubale asset if he can switch wings during games. 7/10
Substitutes
Kieran Gibbs – on at half time for Ashley Cole and looked very good, very good defensively and excellent going forward as well, linked up with Ashley Young several times and despite being their first game together at senior level developed a great understanding. 7.5/10
Michael Dawson – Came on for John Terry at half time however looked out of his depth, dived in to a tackle that resulted in the Hungary goal, tried to recover and did manage to clear the ball of the loan atoning for his mistake in the build up but ball was incorrectly given as over the line. 6.5/10
James Milner – replaced Wayne Rooney and linked up well with his team mates, provided a couple of good balls to start attacks with and covers lots of positions, not enough time to make a real impact though. 6/10
Ashley Young – On for Theo Walcott at half time and provided a threat from the left by cutting in and crossing with his right foot. Final ball was not great but gave a good account of himself and is an option on either flank, linked up well with Kieran Gibbs to provide good attacking options down the left. If he improves his final ball he will be pushing not only for a squad spot but also a starting place. 7.5/10
Bobby Zamora – In one game showed himself to be better than Emile Heskey at the Emile Heskey role, put himself about the defenders very well causing all sorts of problems and held the ball up well playing in his team mates. Had a ferocious 25 yard shot well tipped over by Kiraly after taking the ball and turning well, only thing against him is being 29 years old for his debut but can do a very good job for England if given the chance 7/10
Jack Wilshere – First impact was to give away a free kick for a studs up tackle and didn’t really have much time to make an impact. However showed some promise with a few neat pass’s and could be a good replacement for Lampard in the future. Rating n/a
Player Ratings
Joe Hart – Solid game from the new England No 1, he was assured and confident when coming for cross’s and made an excellent save in the dying minutes from Gera. Was unlucky not to keep a clean sheet but could do nothing to stop the goal that shouldn’t have been given. 7/10
Ashley Cole - Was targeted early by the boo-boys and was probably the one World Cup player that didn’t deserve boo’s (although his status about hating England didn’t help) went forward well early on and kept Hungarian defenders busy with his runs. 7/10
Phil Jagielka – Was a threat early on as England bombarded the Hungarian area with corners, two chances early on he was close to scoring, was unlucky with the deflection that scored the own goal that was wrongly given. Defended well, using his strength to keep the Hungarians off the ball. 7/10
John Terry – Nothing special but made no mistakes either, coped well with the attacking threat and formed a good understanding with Jagielka early on, also played some nice balls out of defence linking well with players in front of him. 7/10
Glen Johnson – A threat going forward however, as usual, looked vulnerable defensively conceding a couple of silly free kicks. Linked play well but needs to improve defensive side of his game. 6/10
Gareth Barry – Should be worried by the threat of a natural defensive midfielder in Jack Rodwell, was tidy but didn’t keep a close on Gera when he should have been closer. If Owen Hargreaves was fit then Barry wouldn’t get a look in, will keep his place by default until Hargreaves is fit or Rodwell plays more. 5.5/10
Steven Gerrard – A quiet first half when alongside Lampard but after half time was a different player, a threat going forward scoring a lovely long range shot we’re used to seeing him do with Liverpool and for the second displayed excellent footwork in beating the players close to him before a lovely finish to seal the win, deservedly picking up MOM award 9/10
Frank Lampard – His automatic starting place has to be under question now after another mediocre display. Misplaced passes and didn’t contribute much in the first half except holding back Gerrard. When he went off at half time Gerrard was freed up and the midfield looked a lot more attacking without him, easily the Flop of the match 4.5/10
Theo Walcott – His pace was always a threat however this match further showed why Capello left him behind for World Cup with his poor final ball & decision making. Once he gets his delivery sorted he will be a real threat to any defence, clearly listened to Capello’s instructions and tried to beat his defender on the outside and get to the by-line. 6.5/10
Wayne Rooney – Again suffered from close attention of defenders but worked well for the team, winning and holding the ball up effectively and drawing fouls. Nearly scored with an excellent run but was just a yard offside, targeted by boo boys and was booed when he was subbed, unfairly so in my opinion as Rooney is a key player and he has to deal with a huge amount of pressure. 6/10
Adam Johnson – Could have scored after 12 mins with a cracking long range effort but was unlucky to see it sail inches over the bar, suffered in the first half as his team mates didn’t find him very often however was much better in the 2nd half when he was moved to the right, could be a valubale asset if he can switch wings during games. 7/10
Substitutes
Kieran Gibbs – on at half time for Ashley Cole and looked very good, very good defensively and excellent going forward as well, linked up with Ashley Young several times and despite being their first game together at senior level developed a great understanding. 7.5/10
Michael Dawson – Came on for John Terry at half time however looked out of his depth, dived in to a tackle that resulted in the Hungary goal, tried to recover and did manage to clear the ball of the loan atoning for his mistake in the build up but ball was incorrectly given as over the line. 6.5/10
James Milner – replaced Wayne Rooney and linked up well with his team mates, provided a couple of good balls to start attacks with and covers lots of positions, not enough time to make a real impact though. 6/10
Ashley Young – On for Theo Walcott at half time and provided a threat from the left by cutting in and crossing with his right foot. Final ball was not great but gave a good account of himself and is an option on either flank, linked up well with Kieran Gibbs to provide good attacking options down the left. If he improves his final ball he will be pushing not only for a squad spot but also a starting place. 7.5/10
Bobby Zamora – In one game showed himself to be better than Emile Heskey at the Emile Heskey role, put himself about the defenders very well causing all sorts of problems and held the ball up well playing in his team mates. Had a ferocious 25 yard shot well tipped over by Kiraly after taking the ball and turning well, only thing against him is being 29 years old for his debut but can do a very good job for England if given the chance 7/10
Jack Wilshere – First impact was to give away a free kick for a studs up tackle and didn’t really have much time to make an impact. However showed some promise with a few neat pass’s and could be a good replacement for Lampard in the future. Rating n/a
Wednesday, 4 August 2010
Time to build
So, Harry Redknapp has a problem with the England game next Wednesday because it's a 'pointless' friendly. He's not the only person that has had a problem with international friendlies in the past; nearly every Premiership manager has had a go at one time or another especially under the reign of Sven, who turned them in to a complete farce.
However this time it’s different, after all the talk and post mortems from England’s world cup campaign this friendly is a real chance for Fabio Capello to stamp his authority on the team and get rid of the let downs and trouble makers once and for all. Although he will be working towards qualifying for Euro 2012 (his last contracted tournament) really he should be focusing on the 2014 world cup and developing a team that will be at its peak then following the leads of Brazil & Italy, both of whom had disappointing campaigns and have overhauled their squads dramatically in the wake of this, although some of Brazil’s players that have been left out (Julio Cesar & Kaka) will make their ways back in.
My point is though they are using this time to try and test other players that are younger, hungrier and more to the point haven’t let the team down time and time again. People like Ganson & Neymar for Brazil and Balotelli & Cassano for Italy have been called up giving a new, fresh feeling to the team and now England need to do the same with certain players needing to be moved aside to make way for upcoming youngsters.
I know every time England crash at a major tournament we hear the usual ‘more investment in young players, there’s not enough youth coming through’ but the fact is there are some great youngsters coming through, just look at the recent records of the younger teams, the U-17 (winning the European Championship’s in 2010 beating Spain in the final) U-19 (reaching European Championship’s semi finals and losing to Spain) and U-21 (finishing runners up in 2009 also in the European Championship’s losing to Germany) which clearly isn’t the record of a team not producing young & talented players.
If you look at this current generation of players (since 2000) they have all struggled on the national stage, Euro 96 was an excellent tournament for England even if you could argue that home advantage was a factor, but even in France ’98 the team was exciting and only lost on penalties to a strong Argentina team. However after that the record is pretty awful, and the supposed spine of the team (also called the ‘golden generation’) have always failed to perform when it’s really mattered. David James seems to have called time on his career by joining Bristol City but the other players, people like Terry, Carragher, King, Gerrard , Lampard, Barry, Wright-Phillips & both Cole’s all made their names in the team & debuts in and around 2003/2004 so 6 years, or 4 major tournaments (3 as they couldn’t qualify for Euro 08) is enough time for the them to have reached their peak and done their best for England and after reputedly showing us they can’t do it the only one from that list that should still be guaranteed in the starting XI is Ashley Cole. I’m not saying none of them should play for England ever again; however I think there is a case for most of them becoming squad players and bench warmers.
For years we have heard about the Gerrard/Lampard problem and how can they work together and most recently we heard that Capello had solved it by shunting Gerrard out on the left in a 4-2-3-1 formation that had solved the problem, although for a few games (Croatia at home springs to mind) it did seem possible it wasn’t to be as usual they failed miserably in the World Cup, Gerrard having a good half against the U.S then falling silent & Lampard repeating 2006 up till the Germany game when he had one of his best games in an England shirt but no one else really turned up. This discussion has to stop now and Capello has to be the one to stop it by dropping one, if not both, from the England team and making way for Jack Rodwell who can play either as a defensive or attacking central midfielder although after seeing him against Germany (U-21 game, 1-1 22/6/09) in the defensive midfield role I think he could well become the player England needed this summer but of course it’s all down to where he plays for his club as there’s no point in playing him out of his usual position.
I’m suggesting dropping 3 central midfielders so obviously you’ll have to look at other options and another option, in my opinion would be Lee Cattermole. It’s easy to forget he’s only 21 yet was so highly sort after when he left Middlesbrough and again when he left Wigan. Whilst he’s by no means a finished article and certainly has a lot to learn on the pitch I think he is the sort of player England could do with, whilst like Rodwell he’s a defensive midfielder he doesn’t have the elegance or style or Rodwell he certainly is a tough tackling customer who is always 100% committed and works his socks off through 90 minutes and could be the ‘water carrier’ that England have been lacking (except when Owen Hargreaves is fit) almost being the ‘dirty player’ that a team needs like Van Bommel or Busquets both of who did excellent at their ball winning/pass to a better player jobs in the World Cup. Cattermole can tackle with the best of them and is certainly a more defensive minded player that Gareth Barry who was our answer in this role at the world cup, his injury being hyped to almost Beckham (’02) and Rooney (’06) levels of importance for a player that’s average at international level.
The other midfielder I think should be included is Jack Wilshere. Yes he’s only 18 but so what? Age was never an issue with Rooney or with Owen so why should it be with Wilshere? He spent a good second half of last season playing regularly with Bolton and in pre-season he’s been pretty good according to reports and highlights and Wenger has already ruled out a loan deal because he plans on using Wilshere more. He would be the attacking part of the midfield and the creative player adding a bit of the attacking flair that hopefully Wenger will help nurture and develop. I think if Dennis Bergkamp ever ends up on the Arsenal staff he would help Wilshere’s development massively and would hopefully see a player develop to his full potential but that’s all it is at the moment, and I think experiencing the taste of international football right now would only help develop a player who is used to training at that level with Arsenal’s squad and would certainly better prepare him for 2014 when, at 22, he will surely be a member of the squad.
The key thing this footballers have all shown is good footballing brains, Rodwell is able to play in many positions as he’s shown at Everton and for England youth playing as a centre back, defensive or attacking midfielder all to an excellent level whilst Cattermole has developed an excellent reading of the game and has great positioning as a result and can time a tackle pretty well making him a great ball winner whilst Wilshere posses great anticipation of the game around him for someone at such a young age, able to read the movement of both his team mates and opposition very well for someone so young. Whilst I think these guys can all start together against Hungary they don’t have to, and I don’t really expect them to, but starting 2 of them along side Gerrard or Lampard would be a great way to bring them in to international football.
The set up at the back is another area to come under scrutiny for reasons both on and off the pitch. Capello’s decision to bring Jamie Carragher out of international retirement was worrying and he never looked confident or up to scratch at the back and the same can probably be said for Matthew Upson who is a player that can do a job at a certain level but against a truly top team he is exposed and this has been the case to many times. I think Phil Jagielka certainly deserves a call up after allying fears over his fitness since recovering from a cruciate ligament injury, playing the 2nd half of last season for Everton and playing well.
Another name on the defensive side that I feel should no longer be on the list is John Terry who shot himself in that infamous press conference, expecting the support of his team mates by naming them and then being humiliated as they all denied anything to do with it, some reports saying certain players were angry at him doing this, and also seen in some sections as making a play for the captains armband again, an issue which apparently he’s never got over. Other than an OK game against Slovakia (one despairing diving header doesn’t make it a good game) which in hindsight was a game that was given more credit than it deserved doesn’t justify another guaranteed run in the England shirt. Rio is another one who’s time could be limited, depending on what his injuries and form are like in the coming season, although if he plays like last season I think he will have problems justifying his place as he is another one who it could be said has had enough chances. Ledley King would probably be an excellent choice but his injuries on top of his ongoing knee troubles don’t really seem the hassle as his performances in an England shirt have never really justified the trouble. I’d certainly say Dawson is worth a look as a starting centre back, if he can show the form he’s shown at Spurs then he can certainly be considered a starter and I think another one that should be considered is Gary Cahill who was cruelly robbed of the chance to lay his claim to a world cup spot with a blood clot in his arm. Back to full fitness he has become a key player at Bolton and has been linked with top teams, he’s certainly shown a number of times he deserves to be at a team challenging for a European place and I’m sure Man City probably wish they bought him instead of Lescott.
Whilst Ashley Cole is probably the only player that came out of the World Cup with his reputation intact he’s not getting any younger and it might be worth giving a younger left back some experience as well, Kieron Gibbs at Arsenal is certainly worth a call as he can also play on the left side of midfield as well and at 19 has shown a lot of progress so far for Arsenal, and if it wasn’t for injury some say he might have displaced Clichy as left back already.
In goal David James international career has to be considered over, he certainly won’t be in consideration in 2012 at 42 and definitely not 2014 so why carry on with him now? Rob Green will probably only be in the squad as there isn’t anyone else that can lay claim to the 3rd slot except maybe Scott Carson who seems to have under gone a pretty solid rehabilitation at West Brom, although it remains to see how he’ll cope in the premiership. Joe Hart should finally be given the No 1 shirt, if anything to strengthen his case for the City No 1 shirt or at least be allowed to move on if he’s going to be Shay Given’s understudy again and also given that on last season’s form he is one of the best keepers in the EPL, certainly English keeper. Ben Foster should be given another chance in the squad I think, his move to Birmingham should kick start his career and I think being under less pressure at club level will help him develop as well, sadly like most other young English keepers he made the jump to a big club to early in his career and the fact he’s still in the premiership at a top 10 team is a testament to his ability.
Players like Adam Johnson, Theo Walcott and Bobby Zamora should come in as well, Theo will have learnt a valuable and painful lesson from missing out on the world cup squad and I think this will help him improve as a player whilst the same tournament was too early for Johnson now is the time for him to step in to the squad and Zamora would probably have made the squad over Heskey had it not been for his injury. I think bringing these players through now will help set the team up towards the next world cup, and like I said I’m not suggesting dropping all the players I listed at the start, in fact other than James & Terry I think most of them should stay in the squad as their experience could be useful to the other players and they will also help take the pressure off, but we have to move away from this reliance on players that can’t perform at the highest level. My starting XI would play as a 4-5-1 and be Hart, G.Johnson, Dawson, Jagielka, Cole; A. Johnson, Gerrard, Rodwell, Wilshere, Lennon; Rooney
Just as a last thought I still think the idea of Mikel Arteta playing for England shouldn’t be written off, yes he’s not able to get in the Spain team but that’s because the players in front of him are superior and not because he’s a bad player, but that will never happen
However this time it’s different, after all the talk and post mortems from England’s world cup campaign this friendly is a real chance for Fabio Capello to stamp his authority on the team and get rid of the let downs and trouble makers once and for all. Although he will be working towards qualifying for Euro 2012 (his last contracted tournament) really he should be focusing on the 2014 world cup and developing a team that will be at its peak then following the leads of Brazil & Italy, both of whom had disappointing campaigns and have overhauled their squads dramatically in the wake of this, although some of Brazil’s players that have been left out (Julio Cesar & Kaka) will make their ways back in.
My point is though they are using this time to try and test other players that are younger, hungrier and more to the point haven’t let the team down time and time again. People like Ganson & Neymar for Brazil and Balotelli & Cassano for Italy have been called up giving a new, fresh feeling to the team and now England need to do the same with certain players needing to be moved aside to make way for upcoming youngsters.
I know every time England crash at a major tournament we hear the usual ‘more investment in young players, there’s not enough youth coming through’ but the fact is there are some great youngsters coming through, just look at the recent records of the younger teams, the U-17 (winning the European Championship’s in 2010 beating Spain in the final) U-19 (reaching European Championship’s semi finals and losing to Spain) and U-21 (finishing runners up in 2009 also in the European Championship’s losing to Germany) which clearly isn’t the record of a team not producing young & talented players.
If you look at this current generation of players (since 2000) they have all struggled on the national stage, Euro 96 was an excellent tournament for England even if you could argue that home advantage was a factor, but even in France ’98 the team was exciting and only lost on penalties to a strong Argentina team. However after that the record is pretty awful, and the supposed spine of the team (also called the ‘golden generation’) have always failed to perform when it’s really mattered. David James seems to have called time on his career by joining Bristol City but the other players, people like Terry, Carragher, King, Gerrard , Lampard, Barry, Wright-Phillips & both Cole’s all made their names in the team & debuts in and around 2003/2004 so 6 years, or 4 major tournaments (3 as they couldn’t qualify for Euro 08) is enough time for the them to have reached their peak and done their best for England and after reputedly showing us they can’t do it the only one from that list that should still be guaranteed in the starting XI is Ashley Cole. I’m not saying none of them should play for England ever again; however I think there is a case for most of them becoming squad players and bench warmers.
For years we have heard about the Gerrard/Lampard problem and how can they work together and most recently we heard that Capello had solved it by shunting Gerrard out on the left in a 4-2-3-1 formation that had solved the problem, although for a few games (Croatia at home springs to mind) it did seem possible it wasn’t to be as usual they failed miserably in the World Cup, Gerrard having a good half against the U.S then falling silent & Lampard repeating 2006 up till the Germany game when he had one of his best games in an England shirt but no one else really turned up. This discussion has to stop now and Capello has to be the one to stop it by dropping one, if not both, from the England team and making way for Jack Rodwell who can play either as a defensive or attacking central midfielder although after seeing him against Germany (U-21 game, 1-1 22/6/09) in the defensive midfield role I think he could well become the player England needed this summer but of course it’s all down to where he plays for his club as there’s no point in playing him out of his usual position.
I’m suggesting dropping 3 central midfielders so obviously you’ll have to look at other options and another option, in my opinion would be Lee Cattermole. It’s easy to forget he’s only 21 yet was so highly sort after when he left Middlesbrough and again when he left Wigan. Whilst he’s by no means a finished article and certainly has a lot to learn on the pitch I think he is the sort of player England could do with, whilst like Rodwell he’s a defensive midfielder he doesn’t have the elegance or style or Rodwell he certainly is a tough tackling customer who is always 100% committed and works his socks off through 90 minutes and could be the ‘water carrier’ that England have been lacking (except when Owen Hargreaves is fit) almost being the ‘dirty player’ that a team needs like Van Bommel or Busquets both of who did excellent at their ball winning/pass to a better player jobs in the World Cup. Cattermole can tackle with the best of them and is certainly a more defensive minded player that Gareth Barry who was our answer in this role at the world cup, his injury being hyped to almost Beckham (’02) and Rooney (’06) levels of importance for a player that’s average at international level.
The other midfielder I think should be included is Jack Wilshere. Yes he’s only 18 but so what? Age was never an issue with Rooney or with Owen so why should it be with Wilshere? He spent a good second half of last season playing regularly with Bolton and in pre-season he’s been pretty good according to reports and highlights and Wenger has already ruled out a loan deal because he plans on using Wilshere more. He would be the attacking part of the midfield and the creative player adding a bit of the attacking flair that hopefully Wenger will help nurture and develop. I think if Dennis Bergkamp ever ends up on the Arsenal staff he would help Wilshere’s development massively and would hopefully see a player develop to his full potential but that’s all it is at the moment, and I think experiencing the taste of international football right now would only help develop a player who is used to training at that level with Arsenal’s squad and would certainly better prepare him for 2014 when, at 22, he will surely be a member of the squad.
The key thing this footballers have all shown is good footballing brains, Rodwell is able to play in many positions as he’s shown at Everton and for England youth playing as a centre back, defensive or attacking midfielder all to an excellent level whilst Cattermole has developed an excellent reading of the game and has great positioning as a result and can time a tackle pretty well making him a great ball winner whilst Wilshere posses great anticipation of the game around him for someone at such a young age, able to read the movement of both his team mates and opposition very well for someone so young. Whilst I think these guys can all start together against Hungary they don’t have to, and I don’t really expect them to, but starting 2 of them along side Gerrard or Lampard would be a great way to bring them in to international football.
The set up at the back is another area to come under scrutiny for reasons both on and off the pitch. Capello’s decision to bring Jamie Carragher out of international retirement was worrying and he never looked confident or up to scratch at the back and the same can probably be said for Matthew Upson who is a player that can do a job at a certain level but against a truly top team he is exposed and this has been the case to many times. I think Phil Jagielka certainly deserves a call up after allying fears over his fitness since recovering from a cruciate ligament injury, playing the 2nd half of last season for Everton and playing well.
Another name on the defensive side that I feel should no longer be on the list is John Terry who shot himself in that infamous press conference, expecting the support of his team mates by naming them and then being humiliated as they all denied anything to do with it, some reports saying certain players were angry at him doing this, and also seen in some sections as making a play for the captains armband again, an issue which apparently he’s never got over. Other than an OK game against Slovakia (one despairing diving header doesn’t make it a good game) which in hindsight was a game that was given more credit than it deserved doesn’t justify another guaranteed run in the England shirt. Rio is another one who’s time could be limited, depending on what his injuries and form are like in the coming season, although if he plays like last season I think he will have problems justifying his place as he is another one who it could be said has had enough chances. Ledley King would probably be an excellent choice but his injuries on top of his ongoing knee troubles don’t really seem the hassle as his performances in an England shirt have never really justified the trouble. I’d certainly say Dawson is worth a look as a starting centre back, if he can show the form he’s shown at Spurs then he can certainly be considered a starter and I think another one that should be considered is Gary Cahill who was cruelly robbed of the chance to lay his claim to a world cup spot with a blood clot in his arm. Back to full fitness he has become a key player at Bolton and has been linked with top teams, he’s certainly shown a number of times he deserves to be at a team challenging for a European place and I’m sure Man City probably wish they bought him instead of Lescott.
Whilst Ashley Cole is probably the only player that came out of the World Cup with his reputation intact he’s not getting any younger and it might be worth giving a younger left back some experience as well, Kieron Gibbs at Arsenal is certainly worth a call as he can also play on the left side of midfield as well and at 19 has shown a lot of progress so far for Arsenal, and if it wasn’t for injury some say he might have displaced Clichy as left back already.
In goal David James international career has to be considered over, he certainly won’t be in consideration in 2012 at 42 and definitely not 2014 so why carry on with him now? Rob Green will probably only be in the squad as there isn’t anyone else that can lay claim to the 3rd slot except maybe Scott Carson who seems to have under gone a pretty solid rehabilitation at West Brom, although it remains to see how he’ll cope in the premiership. Joe Hart should finally be given the No 1 shirt, if anything to strengthen his case for the City No 1 shirt or at least be allowed to move on if he’s going to be Shay Given’s understudy again and also given that on last season’s form he is one of the best keepers in the EPL, certainly English keeper. Ben Foster should be given another chance in the squad I think, his move to Birmingham should kick start his career and I think being under less pressure at club level will help him develop as well, sadly like most other young English keepers he made the jump to a big club to early in his career and the fact he’s still in the premiership at a top 10 team is a testament to his ability.
Players like Adam Johnson, Theo Walcott and Bobby Zamora should come in as well, Theo will have learnt a valuable and painful lesson from missing out on the world cup squad and I think this will help him improve as a player whilst the same tournament was too early for Johnson now is the time for him to step in to the squad and Zamora would probably have made the squad over Heskey had it not been for his injury. I think bringing these players through now will help set the team up towards the next world cup, and like I said I’m not suggesting dropping all the players I listed at the start, in fact other than James & Terry I think most of them should stay in the squad as their experience could be useful to the other players and they will also help take the pressure off, but we have to move away from this reliance on players that can’t perform at the highest level. My starting XI would play as a 4-5-1 and be Hart, G.Johnson, Dawson, Jagielka, Cole; A. Johnson, Gerrard, Rodwell, Wilshere, Lennon; Rooney
Just as a last thought I still think the idea of Mikel Arteta playing for England shouldn’t be written off, yes he’s not able to get in the Spain team but that’s because the players in front of him are superior and not because he’s a bad player, but that will never happen
Monday, 14 June 2010
Day 2 (written slightly later....)
Day 2's round up of the games, and where better to start that with my tip for the World Cup.....
Argentina V Nigeria
An interesting game, although Maradona seems to have decided on his starting XI the tactical side of things still seems to be open, he was expected to play an attacking 3-4-3 the way the team lined up was slightly strange with Gutierrez starting out of position as a right back and Tevez more out on the right wing than was expected. They looked very rigid in this formation although Messi seemed to thrive in his role behind Higuain, picking up the ball in dangerous areas between the Nigerian defence and midfield and running with relish at the Nigerian defence and he was unlucky not to score having 6 goals on target and forcing 4 excellent saves from Vincent Enyeama. Clearly this is one game into the tournament but if his form carries on like this he will clearly pose a massive threat to anyone and Maradona's idea of running most of the attacks through him could be the best idea Diego has come up with.
The Nigerians managed to contain Argentina very well limiting them to one goal and creating a few chances themselves, although they didn't seem capable of putting the ball in the back of the net and as the game developed the feeling seemed to be when, not if, the Argentinians would score next - this didn't come of course (i tipped a 3-0 win) but i got the feeling that if they needed an extra goal they could have got it. The biggest problem for Maradona is what to do with Tevez, although his usual work rate was there he seemed to drift in from the right leaving Gutierrez with much more responsibility both going forward and covering back, it wouldn't surprise me to see Otamendi coming back and Tevez being dropped allowing Gutierrez to move into his more natural role as a right midfielder but no one can predict what Maradona will do (special thanks to 5 Live for the min by min update on what he was doing all game, clearly a key factor...)
Star Man - Lionel Messi (Argentina)
South Korea v Greece
Its not easy to forget either of these teams recent outstanding moment, with South Korea getting to the semi finals of World Cup 2002 & Greece winning 2004, unfortunately since then Greece have slipped backwards and despite the fact they finished top of there qualifying group they looked disorganised and didn't really pose a threat to the Koreans. South Korea looked there usual organised self's and worked very hard, most of there players covering a lot of the pitch whilst keeping a very disciplined shape and pressing the Greek players well. I must admit that i thought the organisation of the Greeks would be a key factor but they seemed out of shape and lost when compared to the South Koreans.
Both goals came 7 min into each half, the first scored by Lee Jung Soo in the 7th min of the first half and Park Ji-Sung in the 52 min pretty much killing the game off at that point, the Greeks didn't roll over but they just couldn't get back in to the game after that. South Korea could well pose a tough obstacle for Argentina and will be a good early test to see how Maradona responds to an organised disciplined side, i think he may well struggle to over come them
Star Man - Park Ji-Sung (South Korea)
Ok....so....there's one game left from Saturday.....
USA v England
What an excellent start it was for England, a brilliant touch on by Heskey lead to a Steven Gerrard goal and every thing started looking good for the English - but you knew it was to good to be true. The starting XI concerned me, 4-4-2 with Gerrard & Lampard in the center that is proven not to work - Frank Lampard seemed to be a more withdrawn deeper player than we're used to seeing and had echos of the 2006 World Cup with his long hopeful shots and lack of attacking runs. I was also surprised to see James Milner starting on the left having missed training for 3 days but i can understand that his more work man like style was preferred over the attacking flair of Joe Cole, although i could understand this to begin with however once Milner was injured i was a little surprised to see SWP come on and Lennon switch to the left where he is much more subdued.
Around the half hour mark England would have been pleased with their performance, knocking the ball around well although not keeping possession as well as they might have liked but still created a few good chances until the dreaded moment came. Clint Dempsey 'unleashed' a tame 25 yards or so shot that just headed harmlessly towards Rob Green - until he somehow spilled it in to his own net. This clearly shell shocked the England players and for the last 5 mins of the half and at half time they needed something to help them out, but this didn't happen. The closest we saw to inspiration was the sight of Jamie Carragher replacing Ledley King (who is now set to miss the rest of the World Cup) and i for one felt my heart sink, him, Green & Terry was just a disaster waiting to happen. At this point what England needed, and it pains me to say this, was a Jose Mourinho type character in the dressing room, someone to make that clever tactical switch & to help fire the players up again and recover from such a clanger of a goal but this didn't happen. The best chance in the 2nd half fell to *cue loud groans* Emile Heskey who was 1 v 1 with Tim Howard and just hoofed it straight at the American keeper. They game basically died out after this, and although both sides had chances they seemed pretty happy with a draw - well, the USA did anyway judging by their reactions in the media, on the pitch and with the fans
Star Man - Tim Howard (USA)
Bad news for England is Ledley King has damaged an Abductor muscle and could be out for around 3 weeks. Many of the media have criticised Capello for taking him but i still think it was the right decision, this injury isn't related to his knees so it's not one Fabio could have foreseen - the worst news is that Jamie Carragher won't shut up about being given a chance. I for one don't think he should really be in the squad, he reminds me of Totti, happy to play in the major tournaments but won't put in the hard graft for the qualifiers, but when you look at the cover in defence it is very thin - Dawson has no experience and both Upson and Carragher don't look the role.
The other massive problem is, of course, in goal. I've said for months that Rob Green is not an international goalkeeper and this spill proved it, before the game he looked very nervous in the tunnel and after that spill you could see his confidence draining away by the minute, proved by his almost 2nd howler in the 65th min which he somehow diverted on to the bar and prompted ITV's 'experts' to declare it a great save - a few replays later showed it was a regulation save that he made a hash of. I think Joe Hart should be in goal for the next game, blooding him in for the bigger games but i think Capello will revert to the tried and tested David James, he is also error prone but won't be nervous and won't make howlers like that in this sort of tournament, well you'd hope anyway!!
This has to be the end for Rob Green, and yes England can't keep dropping keepers because of one clanger but Green has never been a top class keeper (that's why he's never played for a top team and they've never been near him). Joe Hart should have been given more experience earlier on so that we can have a young keeper picking up big game experience because when James retires & Green rides off into the sunset we're looking a bit thin in this area.....
That's it for today, tomorrow i will post round ups of day 3 & 4 and hopefully catch back up to were we are in the World Cup
As usual leave feedback either below, at twitter (Buster_5265), at hotmail (Buster_5265@hotmail.com) or on my new facebook group 'football fan'
thanks for reading!!
Argentina V Nigeria
An interesting game, although Maradona seems to have decided on his starting XI the tactical side of things still seems to be open, he was expected to play an attacking 3-4-3 the way the team lined up was slightly strange with Gutierrez starting out of position as a right back and Tevez more out on the right wing than was expected. They looked very rigid in this formation although Messi seemed to thrive in his role behind Higuain, picking up the ball in dangerous areas between the Nigerian defence and midfield and running with relish at the Nigerian defence and he was unlucky not to score having 6 goals on target and forcing 4 excellent saves from Vincent Enyeama. Clearly this is one game into the tournament but if his form carries on like this he will clearly pose a massive threat to anyone and Maradona's idea of running most of the attacks through him could be the best idea Diego has come up with.
The Nigerians managed to contain Argentina very well limiting them to one goal and creating a few chances themselves, although they didn't seem capable of putting the ball in the back of the net and as the game developed the feeling seemed to be when, not if, the Argentinians would score next - this didn't come of course (i tipped a 3-0 win) but i got the feeling that if they needed an extra goal they could have got it. The biggest problem for Maradona is what to do with Tevez, although his usual work rate was there he seemed to drift in from the right leaving Gutierrez with much more responsibility both going forward and covering back, it wouldn't surprise me to see Otamendi coming back and Tevez being dropped allowing Gutierrez to move into his more natural role as a right midfielder but no one can predict what Maradona will do (special thanks to 5 Live for the min by min update on what he was doing all game, clearly a key factor...)
Star Man - Lionel Messi (Argentina)
South Korea v Greece
Its not easy to forget either of these teams recent outstanding moment, with South Korea getting to the semi finals of World Cup 2002 & Greece winning 2004, unfortunately since then Greece have slipped backwards and despite the fact they finished top of there qualifying group they looked disorganised and didn't really pose a threat to the Koreans. South Korea looked there usual organised self's and worked very hard, most of there players covering a lot of the pitch whilst keeping a very disciplined shape and pressing the Greek players well. I must admit that i thought the organisation of the Greeks would be a key factor but they seemed out of shape and lost when compared to the South Koreans.
Both goals came 7 min into each half, the first scored by Lee Jung Soo in the 7th min of the first half and Park Ji-Sung in the 52 min pretty much killing the game off at that point, the Greeks didn't roll over but they just couldn't get back in to the game after that. South Korea could well pose a tough obstacle for Argentina and will be a good early test to see how Maradona responds to an organised disciplined side, i think he may well struggle to over come them
Star Man - Park Ji-Sung (South Korea)
Ok....so....there's one game left from Saturday.....
USA v England
What an excellent start it was for England, a brilliant touch on by Heskey lead to a Steven Gerrard goal and every thing started looking good for the English - but you knew it was to good to be true. The starting XI concerned me, 4-4-2 with Gerrard & Lampard in the center that is proven not to work - Frank Lampard seemed to be a more withdrawn deeper player than we're used to seeing and had echos of the 2006 World Cup with his long hopeful shots and lack of attacking runs. I was also surprised to see James Milner starting on the left having missed training for 3 days but i can understand that his more work man like style was preferred over the attacking flair of Joe Cole, although i could understand this to begin with however once Milner was injured i was a little surprised to see SWP come on and Lennon switch to the left where he is much more subdued.
Around the half hour mark England would have been pleased with their performance, knocking the ball around well although not keeping possession as well as they might have liked but still created a few good chances until the dreaded moment came. Clint Dempsey 'unleashed' a tame 25 yards or so shot that just headed harmlessly towards Rob Green - until he somehow spilled it in to his own net. This clearly shell shocked the England players and for the last 5 mins of the half and at half time they needed something to help them out, but this didn't happen. The closest we saw to inspiration was the sight of Jamie Carragher replacing Ledley King (who is now set to miss the rest of the World Cup) and i for one felt my heart sink, him, Green & Terry was just a disaster waiting to happen. At this point what England needed, and it pains me to say this, was a Jose Mourinho type character in the dressing room, someone to make that clever tactical switch & to help fire the players up again and recover from such a clanger of a goal but this didn't happen. The best chance in the 2nd half fell to *cue loud groans* Emile Heskey who was 1 v 1 with Tim Howard and just hoofed it straight at the American keeper. They game basically died out after this, and although both sides had chances they seemed pretty happy with a draw - well, the USA did anyway judging by their reactions in the media, on the pitch and with the fans
Star Man - Tim Howard (USA)
Bad news for England is Ledley King has damaged an Abductor muscle and could be out for around 3 weeks. Many of the media have criticised Capello for taking him but i still think it was the right decision, this injury isn't related to his knees so it's not one Fabio could have foreseen - the worst news is that Jamie Carragher won't shut up about being given a chance. I for one don't think he should really be in the squad, he reminds me of Totti, happy to play in the major tournaments but won't put in the hard graft for the qualifiers, but when you look at the cover in defence it is very thin - Dawson has no experience and both Upson and Carragher don't look the role.
The other massive problem is, of course, in goal. I've said for months that Rob Green is not an international goalkeeper and this spill proved it, before the game he looked very nervous in the tunnel and after that spill you could see his confidence draining away by the minute, proved by his almost 2nd howler in the 65th min which he somehow diverted on to the bar and prompted ITV's 'experts' to declare it a great save - a few replays later showed it was a regulation save that he made a hash of. I think Joe Hart should be in goal for the next game, blooding him in for the bigger games but i think Capello will revert to the tried and tested David James, he is also error prone but won't be nervous and won't make howlers like that in this sort of tournament, well you'd hope anyway!!
This has to be the end for Rob Green, and yes England can't keep dropping keepers because of one clanger but Green has never been a top class keeper (that's why he's never played for a top team and they've never been near him). Joe Hart should have been given more experience earlier on so that we can have a young keeper picking up big game experience because when James retires & Green rides off into the sunset we're looking a bit thin in this area.....
That's it for today, tomorrow i will post round ups of day 3 & 4 and hopefully catch back up to were we are in the World Cup
As usual leave feedback either below, at twitter (Buster_5265), at hotmail (Buster_5265@hotmail.com) or on my new facebook group 'football fan'
thanks for reading!!
Friday, 4 June 2010
Is Rio's injury a blessing in disguise for England?
As everyone has by now heard, Rio Ferdinand is out of the England world cup squad after sustaining a knee injury in what Fabio Capello described as a 'normal tackle' from Emile Heskey (I'm sure the Heskey haters will be using this as further proof he shouldn't have gone but that's just stupid)
Of course its a tragedy that one of the lynch pins of the England defence will be missing but on reflection is it such a bad situation? At least now England have the chance to call up a replacement and there won't be any 'maybe he'll be fit' or 'maybe he's worth the risk' like Beckham in 2002 or Rooney in 2006. It's done and he's out and that is that, but maybe this isn't such a bad thing after all, Rio has only player 13 league games this season (21 in all comps) and in fairness to him hasn't looked the same player he was last year, it could be a bit premature to say that his best years are behind him but at 31 he's not going to get any quicker or develop a much greater understanding for the game and things haven't gone well for Rio since his back problems first started, even in the game with Japan he didn't look the player he once was and him and John Terry both looked a bit lost next to each other. Whilst in 2006 Rio was probably approaching the peak of his game, 2010 could have seen him beaten for pace by some of the faster opposition players that he would face, clearly this is something that has caught Sir Alex's attention at Man Utd, moving quickly to snap up Chris Smalling whilst Rio's injury problems were a major concern especially with something like a back injury that tends to never go away and always takes something away from a player be it outright speed or just basic mobility.
Whilst it is a tragedy losing such a key player as well as an inspirational captain, it might not be the end of the world. In Ledley King, who should be the natural replacement, England have a player that has the potential to be a top quality defender both in Europe and the EPL and could now have the chance to step up and prove this, and this will be something he can relish.
At Spurs this season he probably had his best campaign to date as well and put his body on the line playing key back to back games at a time people doubted his knees could stand it. King has as much pace as Rio, a great reading of the game as well as a great aerial presence and will see this as now another chance to prove people wrong and raise his game even further. Where this season Rio has stuttered and stumbled King has been impeccable, his worst game this season probably being the recent friendly against Mexico and every time a new obstacle is put in front of him he seems to rise to the challange and over come it. If Capello really meant the 'i'll pick players on form not reputation' now is the time to prove it and call King up as the first choice center back, if his knees are an issue he can always be rested in the final game against Slovenia which should be easy enough and then he should have enough of a break between the remaining games to recover. In Steven Gerrard there is also a captain ready to step up and take on the challenge, and whilst his club form has been below par i think he might enjoy the relief of captaining a team where he believes the players around him are as good as him and can all drag the team forward rather than him doing it on his own.
Whilst it is bad Rio will miss out i don't think its as bad as it could have been, but in Ledley King there is a ready made replacement ready to step up and hold the fort and i think he could do a better job than Rio probably could have done at the moment given his record this season.
I'm still working on the World Cup groups blog and will have a review of group A&B up by tomorrow evening and then a review of 2 groups every day after that
thanks for reading, feel free to share any thoughts through the usual means (twitter - Buster_5265 & Hotmail - Buster_55265@hotmail.com or facebook)
Of course its a tragedy that one of the lynch pins of the England defence will be missing but on reflection is it such a bad situation? At least now England have the chance to call up a replacement and there won't be any 'maybe he'll be fit' or 'maybe he's worth the risk' like Beckham in 2002 or Rooney in 2006. It's done and he's out and that is that, but maybe this isn't such a bad thing after all, Rio has only player 13 league games this season (21 in all comps) and in fairness to him hasn't looked the same player he was last year, it could be a bit premature to say that his best years are behind him but at 31 he's not going to get any quicker or develop a much greater understanding for the game and things haven't gone well for Rio since his back problems first started, even in the game with Japan he didn't look the player he once was and him and John Terry both looked a bit lost next to each other. Whilst in 2006 Rio was probably approaching the peak of his game, 2010 could have seen him beaten for pace by some of the faster opposition players that he would face, clearly this is something that has caught Sir Alex's attention at Man Utd, moving quickly to snap up Chris Smalling whilst Rio's injury problems were a major concern especially with something like a back injury that tends to never go away and always takes something away from a player be it outright speed or just basic mobility.
Whilst it is a tragedy losing such a key player as well as an inspirational captain, it might not be the end of the world. In Ledley King, who should be the natural replacement, England have a player that has the potential to be a top quality defender both in Europe and the EPL and could now have the chance to step up and prove this, and this will be something he can relish.
At Spurs this season he probably had his best campaign to date as well and put his body on the line playing key back to back games at a time people doubted his knees could stand it. King has as much pace as Rio, a great reading of the game as well as a great aerial presence and will see this as now another chance to prove people wrong and raise his game even further. Where this season Rio has stuttered and stumbled King has been impeccable, his worst game this season probably being the recent friendly against Mexico and every time a new obstacle is put in front of him he seems to rise to the challange and over come it. If Capello really meant the 'i'll pick players on form not reputation' now is the time to prove it and call King up as the first choice center back, if his knees are an issue he can always be rested in the final game against Slovenia which should be easy enough and then he should have enough of a break between the remaining games to recover. In Steven Gerrard there is also a captain ready to step up and take on the challenge, and whilst his club form has been below par i think he might enjoy the relief of captaining a team where he believes the players around him are as good as him and can all drag the team forward rather than him doing it on his own.
Whilst it is bad Rio will miss out i don't think its as bad as it could have been, but in Ledley King there is a ready made replacement ready to step up and hold the fort and i think he could do a better job than Rio probably could have done at the moment given his record this season.
I'm still working on the World Cup groups blog and will have a review of group A&B up by tomorrow evening and then a review of 2 groups every day after that
thanks for reading, feel free to share any thoughts through the usual means (twitter - Buster_5265 & Hotmail - Buster_55265@hotmail.com or facebook)
Monday, 31 May 2010
Who will get the dreaded phone calls?
So, tomorrow Fabio Capello will face one of the worst jobs any international manager has to do by cutting 7 of his 30 man squad and deciding who will be joining him on the plane to South Africa. There has been much speculation on who will go and who will stay, Capello stated this morning (31/5) that he has finally got his squad narrowed down to the 23 he wants to take. I've decided to chip in with my 2 cents worth and see if my crystal ball can be accurate in seeing who will go
Goalkeepers
Clearly Capello won't be dropping any of the 3 keepers he has already called up so Green, James & Hart will all be on the plane to South Africa although no-one is any the wiser as to who will be number 1 - i personally think Hart should be first choice, he has excelled in the 2 friendlies and against Japan he made 2 top quality saves but Capello will probably stick with David James as his first choice
Defenders
The first choice defenders are already set in stone with A.Cole, Ferdinand, Terry & Johnson being the widely expected starting back 4 but who will go as back up? Jamie Carragher clearly can expect to be on the plane otherwise what would be the point in bringing him out of retirement? This combined with his ability to cover right back as well as center back (and the odd occasion, left back) makes him an excellent choice for back up. I would expect Ledley King to go as first choice back up to Rio & JT especially as his well documented knee troubles seem to be slightly under control having played 4 back to back matches for Spurs at the end of the season, although this in turn opens the door for another center back to act as his cover so i would expect Upson to go over Dawson given Upson has played more games at this level and despite not being a world class center back can still do a job, which is a bit harsh on Dawson given the season he has had at Spurs lining up with King but his push may have come a little to late. I also expect Baines to go as back up to Cole, and i personally think he should have been there over Bridge anyway (although Baines recent admission of home sickness might be an issue).
To get the chop - Warnock & Dawson
Midfielders
This is probably the toughest area to predict, with most of the players thinking they justify a place on the plane. Gerrard & Lampard will certainly make it to South Africa, along with the likely announcement of Barry not being fit for USA game but still making it as he will be fine for the rest of the tournament. I also expect both Walcott and Lennon to go and i think Lennon should be starting on the right wing - he has maybe a tiny bit less pace than Walcott but he has a much better end product and is streaks ahead in the decision making department, a place Walcott seems to struggle with most at the moment.
This of course means that SWP won't be making it as 3 right wingers seems unnecessary especially when you consider Milner is almost certainly going and can play on either wing. I think Scott Parker should be going as he is the only genuine defensive midfielder in the squad but the fact he wasn't used in either of the warm up games seems to give a message that he won't be on the plane. Huddlestone didn't perform especially well in either warm up game meaning Michael Carrick, who's also been poor recently, will probably sneak on the plane despite never really doing it for England. This means the last spot will be between J.Cole & Johnson, and i think Joe Cole's second half performance against Japan will mean he goes on the plane as he showed exactly why we need him as a plan B - he changed things around and seemed to present a different threat, i think Johnson's inclusion in the 30 squad can be justified but people have got a little to over excited about him this season, he's had a good season but against the bigger teams (Man U, Arsenal, Spurs & Liverpool) he didn't do much and maybe this is down to inexperience at playing at a higher level.
To get the chop - SWP, Parker, Huddlestone & Johnson
Strikers
I can't see anyone else but Darren Bent being left behind from the 5 strikers, Rooney & Crouch are already on the plane with Defoe not so far behind them. This leaves the never ending debate about Emile Heskey, we've all heard the 'he doesn't score but he bring so much more to the table' argument, and his miss against Japan was yet further proof you wouldn't want him in a 1 v 1 must score situation but it is true he does bring a tremendous amount to the team and when you see Rooneys face light up talking about playing with Heskey you know the players believe it as well - against Japan for the last 15 min's he was still able to hold up the ball better than any England player had all game.
This leaves Darren Bent who didn't really get a chance against Japan, he worked hard but no one really created anything for him as it was a very poor 45 min's for England as a whole. However when you look at previous games for England he hasn't really done it although he's only made 6 appearances for the national team. I think Darren Bent is the kind of player that excels at the focal point of an average team (Ipswich, Charlton & Sunderland) but can't really be counted on to do it at the very top.
To get the chop - Bent
So that's it, my final seven players to be left behind would be Warnock, Dawson, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Parker, Huddlestone, Johnson & Bent. I think if Capello were to spring a surprise it would be including one of Johnson or Bent - if he chooses to use a 4-4-2 system it would make sense to have a natural wide left player available instead of using Gerrard but this raises the age old 'Gerrard & Lampard together in the middle' problem, and Bent if he wants to be safe and take 5 strikers (although with Walcott in the team he could be used as an emergency 5th striker, or play J.Cole or Gerrard off one main striker).
Despite tinkering with tactics over the friendlies i can see him going with a 4-5-1, 4-3-3 or the 4-2-3-1 formation he has used over the qualifying campaign. Obviously its never nice to have to cut players and ruin their dreams but i think its fair enough to say the only one of these players that is good enough, or could be good enough, for this level of football is Adam Johnson
hope this has provided an interesting read (despite the fact its a little late!) and if you have any feedback please leave it below, or e-mail me at Buster_5265@hotmail.com or tweet me at Buster_5265]
Goalkeepers
Clearly Capello won't be dropping any of the 3 keepers he has already called up so Green, James & Hart will all be on the plane to South Africa although no-one is any the wiser as to who will be number 1 - i personally think Hart should be first choice, he has excelled in the 2 friendlies and against Japan he made 2 top quality saves but Capello will probably stick with David James as his first choice
Defenders
The first choice defenders are already set in stone with A.Cole, Ferdinand, Terry & Johnson being the widely expected starting back 4 but who will go as back up? Jamie Carragher clearly can expect to be on the plane otherwise what would be the point in bringing him out of retirement? This combined with his ability to cover right back as well as center back (and the odd occasion, left back) makes him an excellent choice for back up. I would expect Ledley King to go as first choice back up to Rio & JT especially as his well documented knee troubles seem to be slightly under control having played 4 back to back matches for Spurs at the end of the season, although this in turn opens the door for another center back to act as his cover so i would expect Upson to go over Dawson given Upson has played more games at this level and despite not being a world class center back can still do a job, which is a bit harsh on Dawson given the season he has had at Spurs lining up with King but his push may have come a little to late. I also expect Baines to go as back up to Cole, and i personally think he should have been there over Bridge anyway (although Baines recent admission of home sickness might be an issue).
To get the chop - Warnock & Dawson
Midfielders
This is probably the toughest area to predict, with most of the players thinking they justify a place on the plane. Gerrard & Lampard will certainly make it to South Africa, along with the likely announcement of Barry not being fit for USA game but still making it as he will be fine for the rest of the tournament. I also expect both Walcott and Lennon to go and i think Lennon should be starting on the right wing - he has maybe a tiny bit less pace than Walcott but he has a much better end product and is streaks ahead in the decision making department, a place Walcott seems to struggle with most at the moment.
This of course means that SWP won't be making it as 3 right wingers seems unnecessary especially when you consider Milner is almost certainly going and can play on either wing. I think Scott Parker should be going as he is the only genuine defensive midfielder in the squad but the fact he wasn't used in either of the warm up games seems to give a message that he won't be on the plane. Huddlestone didn't perform especially well in either warm up game meaning Michael Carrick, who's also been poor recently, will probably sneak on the plane despite never really doing it for England. This means the last spot will be between J.Cole & Johnson, and i think Joe Cole's second half performance against Japan will mean he goes on the plane as he showed exactly why we need him as a plan B - he changed things around and seemed to present a different threat, i think Johnson's inclusion in the 30 squad can be justified but people have got a little to over excited about him this season, he's had a good season but against the bigger teams (Man U, Arsenal, Spurs & Liverpool) he didn't do much and maybe this is down to inexperience at playing at a higher level.
To get the chop - SWP, Parker, Huddlestone & Johnson
Strikers
I can't see anyone else but Darren Bent being left behind from the 5 strikers, Rooney & Crouch are already on the plane with Defoe not so far behind them. This leaves the never ending debate about Emile Heskey, we've all heard the 'he doesn't score but he bring so much more to the table' argument, and his miss against Japan was yet further proof you wouldn't want him in a 1 v 1 must score situation but it is true he does bring a tremendous amount to the team and when you see Rooneys face light up talking about playing with Heskey you know the players believe it as well - against Japan for the last 15 min's he was still able to hold up the ball better than any England player had all game.
This leaves Darren Bent who didn't really get a chance against Japan, he worked hard but no one really created anything for him as it was a very poor 45 min's for England as a whole. However when you look at previous games for England he hasn't really done it although he's only made 6 appearances for the national team. I think Darren Bent is the kind of player that excels at the focal point of an average team (Ipswich, Charlton & Sunderland) but can't really be counted on to do it at the very top.
To get the chop - Bent
So that's it, my final seven players to be left behind would be Warnock, Dawson, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Parker, Huddlestone, Johnson & Bent. I think if Capello were to spring a surprise it would be including one of Johnson or Bent - if he chooses to use a 4-4-2 system it would make sense to have a natural wide left player available instead of using Gerrard but this raises the age old 'Gerrard & Lampard together in the middle' problem, and Bent if he wants to be safe and take 5 strikers (although with Walcott in the team he could be used as an emergency 5th striker, or play J.Cole or Gerrard off one main striker).
Despite tinkering with tactics over the friendlies i can see him going with a 4-5-1, 4-3-3 or the 4-2-3-1 formation he has used over the qualifying campaign. Obviously its never nice to have to cut players and ruin their dreams but i think its fair enough to say the only one of these players that is good enough, or could be good enough, for this level of football is Adam Johnson
hope this has provided an interesting read (despite the fact its a little late!) and if you have any feedback please leave it below, or e-mail me at Buster_5265@hotmail.com or tweet me at Buster_5265]
Wednesday, 12 May 2010
World Cup Squads
Rather than running through each individual squad and writing 500 pages i thought i would pick some of the favourite's squads and a few other teams and players.
Argentina
Well Diego Maradona has a few surprises in his squad and left a few players out as well. Leaving out Zanetti & Cambiasso has been seen as a big surprise, especially as Zanetti started the qualifying campaign as captain and Casmbiasso was performing the vital screening role, protecting the fragile Argentinian defence - this position has been filled recently by Mascherano. I am a fan of Mascherano but i think Cambiasso has been excellent in that role all season for Inter Milan certainly much better than Mascherano has been performing for Liverpool. Both players had a key role for the qualifying campaign but this was before Maradona came in, when Basile was coach and had a relatively settled team.
Maradona has also decided to call some players to the squad based on there performance against Haiti which i think is a little strange. He's included Colon defender Ariel Garce, who had won two caps in 2003 as a River Plate player, and made only his third international appearance against the Haitians as well as Juan Manuel Insaurralde of Newells Old Boys who has 2 caps to his name so far. He's also called up midfielder Juan Mercier, who earned a third cap against Haiti, and has been impressive for Argentine title favourites Argentinos Junior. Also in midfield he's called up Sebastian Blanco, Jesus Datolo, Jose Sosa and Javier Pastore (Blanco, Datolo & Sosa have 11 full caps between them, Pastore has only played against Catalonia in an unofficial friendly). Whilst the first XI is still very strong, questions will be raised about the strength and depth in the squad and how there is very little experience or stand out quality in the reserves
Brazil
The Brazil squad was realtivly straight forward for Dunga, some sections of the Brazillian media and fans wanted him to call up Neymar & Paulo Henrique who have been setting the Campeonato Paulista alight with fantastic skills, passes and goals but he resisted this pressure. There was also some pressure, although not as much, to bring Ronaldinho back in as a Plan B incase anything happens to Kaka but he has opted to leave Ronaldinho out of the squad. The only other debate was over Adriano or Grafite and as Adriano's personal demons have raised their head again Dunga has decided to take Grafite along with Nilmar as back up to Robinho & Luis Fabiano with Pato missing out due to his recent injury problems
France
The biggest surprise in the France squad is the decision by outgoing manager Raymond Domenech to leave Karim Benzema out of the squad. Karim's had a disappointing season by his standards, making 14 starts and 12 appearnces from the bench in La Liga but only scoring 8 goals and getting 3 assists, in the CL he made 3 starts, 2 further appearances from the bench but only found the net once which isn't a great return for a £35m player. To rub salt in the wound, Djibril Cisse a player i have never really rated has been called up instead of him along with Jimmy Briand who only has 3 caps and has only scored 5 goals in 22 appearances for Stade Rennes after missing last season and the start of this season with a ruptured ACL. Patrick Viera has also been left out but he hasn't been the same player he once was and wasn't really expected to be included in the squad.
England
The inclusion of Jamie Carragher is a big surprise by Fabio Capello after he retired from international duty 3 years ago and writing some interesting thoughts in his auto-biography relating to international duty. At the time he retired he was unhappy with not playing as center back and being played on the right - this time he's going to be going as back up right back to Glen Johnson & about 4th choice center back. He also isn't the player he was 3 years ago, he's not as fast and has had an average season at best for Liverpool. A couple of other surprises for me was the inclusion of Shaun Wright-Phillips, Adam Johnston, Scott Parker and Darren Bent - players like SWP & Darren Bent have played at international level before and never seem to be quiet the standard you'd want for playing teams like Brazil, Spain and Argentina whilst Johnston and Parker are very inexperienced at this level.
Other Squads that have been announced are pretty much what was expected - Thomas Sorensen has been included in the Denmark squad despite suffering from a dislocated elbow, in Italy Marcello Lippi has discarded Luca Toni in favour for Guiseppe Rossi and left out controversial striker Mario Balotelli. Vicente Del Bosque's biggest surprise was including 5 goalkeepers in his 30 man squad, including Barca keeper Victor Valdez as well as inclduing the injured trio of Torres, Iniesta & Fabregas. Bojan hasn't been included but his Barca team mate Pedro has been along with Osasuna's Cesar Azpilicueta and Bilbao's Javi Martinez. In Mexico Man Utd fans might get a chance to see Javier Hernandez in action after he was included along with Arsenal's Carlos Vela and Serbia included another rumoured United target in Subotic, the Borussia Dourtmund center back who has a formidable partnership with current United centre back Vidic. The US player Charlie Davies did not make the national team squad after suffering a horrific car crash in Washington, he has returned to training despite original doubts over him being able to walk again but the World Cup is just soon for him. The Scottish born Stuart Holden has been included despite only playing 2 games since joining in January.
I hope this has enlightened you a bit more to some of the World Cup squads and thanks for reading! as usual leave any feedback below, or find me on Twitter (Buster_5265) or e-mail me at Buster_5265@hotmail.com
Argentina
Well Diego Maradona has a few surprises in his squad and left a few players out as well. Leaving out Zanetti & Cambiasso has been seen as a big surprise, especially as Zanetti started the qualifying campaign as captain and Casmbiasso was performing the vital screening role, protecting the fragile Argentinian defence - this position has been filled recently by Mascherano. I am a fan of Mascherano but i think Cambiasso has been excellent in that role all season for Inter Milan certainly much better than Mascherano has been performing for Liverpool. Both players had a key role for the qualifying campaign but this was before Maradona came in, when Basile was coach and had a relatively settled team.
Maradona has also decided to call some players to the squad based on there performance against Haiti which i think is a little strange. He's included Colon defender Ariel Garce, who had won two caps in 2003 as a River Plate player, and made only his third international appearance against the Haitians as well as Juan Manuel Insaurralde of Newells Old Boys who has 2 caps to his name so far. He's also called up midfielder Juan Mercier, who earned a third cap against Haiti, and has been impressive for Argentine title favourites Argentinos Junior. Also in midfield he's called up Sebastian Blanco, Jesus Datolo, Jose Sosa and Javier Pastore (Blanco, Datolo & Sosa have 11 full caps between them, Pastore has only played against Catalonia in an unofficial friendly). Whilst the first XI is still very strong, questions will be raised about the strength and depth in the squad and how there is very little experience or stand out quality in the reserves
Brazil
The Brazil squad was realtivly straight forward for Dunga, some sections of the Brazillian media and fans wanted him to call up Neymar & Paulo Henrique who have been setting the Campeonato Paulista alight with fantastic skills, passes and goals but he resisted this pressure. There was also some pressure, although not as much, to bring Ronaldinho back in as a Plan B incase anything happens to Kaka but he has opted to leave Ronaldinho out of the squad. The only other debate was over Adriano or Grafite and as Adriano's personal demons have raised their head again Dunga has decided to take Grafite along with Nilmar as back up to Robinho & Luis Fabiano with Pato missing out due to his recent injury problems
France
The biggest surprise in the France squad is the decision by outgoing manager Raymond Domenech to leave Karim Benzema out of the squad. Karim's had a disappointing season by his standards, making 14 starts and 12 appearnces from the bench in La Liga but only scoring 8 goals and getting 3 assists, in the CL he made 3 starts, 2 further appearances from the bench but only found the net once which isn't a great return for a £35m player. To rub salt in the wound, Djibril Cisse a player i have never really rated has been called up instead of him along with Jimmy Briand who only has 3 caps and has only scored 5 goals in 22 appearances for Stade Rennes after missing last season and the start of this season with a ruptured ACL. Patrick Viera has also been left out but he hasn't been the same player he once was and wasn't really expected to be included in the squad.
England
The inclusion of Jamie Carragher is a big surprise by Fabio Capello after he retired from international duty 3 years ago and writing some interesting thoughts in his auto-biography relating to international duty. At the time he retired he was unhappy with not playing as center back and being played on the right - this time he's going to be going as back up right back to Glen Johnson & about 4th choice center back. He also isn't the player he was 3 years ago, he's not as fast and has had an average season at best for Liverpool. A couple of other surprises for me was the inclusion of Shaun Wright-Phillips, Adam Johnston, Scott Parker and Darren Bent - players like SWP & Darren Bent have played at international level before and never seem to be quiet the standard you'd want for playing teams like Brazil, Spain and Argentina whilst Johnston and Parker are very inexperienced at this level.
Other Squads that have been announced are pretty much what was expected - Thomas Sorensen has been included in the Denmark squad despite suffering from a dislocated elbow, in Italy Marcello Lippi has discarded Luca Toni in favour for Guiseppe Rossi and left out controversial striker Mario Balotelli. Vicente Del Bosque's biggest surprise was including 5 goalkeepers in his 30 man squad, including Barca keeper Victor Valdez as well as inclduing the injured trio of Torres, Iniesta & Fabregas. Bojan hasn't been included but his Barca team mate Pedro has been along with Osasuna's Cesar Azpilicueta and Bilbao's Javi Martinez. In Mexico Man Utd fans might get a chance to see Javier Hernandez in action after he was included along with Arsenal's Carlos Vela and Serbia included another rumoured United target in Subotic, the Borussia Dourtmund center back who has a formidable partnership with current United centre back Vidic. The US player Charlie Davies did not make the national team squad after suffering a horrific car crash in Washington, he has returned to training despite original doubts over him being able to walk again but the World Cup is just soon for him. The Scottish born Stuart Holden has been included despite only playing 2 games since joining in January.
I hope this has enlightened you a bit more to some of the World Cup squads and thanks for reading! as usual leave any feedback below, or find me on Twitter (Buster_5265) or e-mail me at Buster_5265@hotmail.com
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