Tag Archives: fabio capello

Capello’s defensive decisions made easy

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Rio Ferdinand

To play him or not to play him? Rio Ferdinand starts anyway.

Seems to me every time an international break rolls round the media enjoy a “Who will be selected?” funfest, usually finding at least one position contentious.

Then all that speculation is proved unnecessary and pointless by withdrawals due to injuries and personal problems.

England manager Fabio Capello seems to ‘get lucky’ with this, avoiding the alleged decision through misfortune. Well, he’s done it again.

The issue, of course, surrounded the returning Rio Ferdinand and whether or not he should start ahead of the impressive Phil Jagielka. Or even alongside him in place of John Terry…

Now both players have pulled out, leaving Ferdinand an automatic starter and Capello headache free.

Still, there’s the question over the captaincy to resolve. General consensus is that Stephen Gerrard has performed the task well in the absence of the Manchester United defender and I have to agree.

However, not at any point has Ferdinand been stripped of the captaincy, therefore if he plays he wears the armband. I’m pretty sure Gerrard knows and understands this. Not that tricky a question after all, is it.

For what it’s worth, had there been no injuries to Jagielka and Terry then Ferdinand should have been left on the bench.

Not because of doubts over his fitness or form, simply because the other two have earned the right to keep their places and Rio should have to fight his way back in.

It’s as simple as that. So why can’t the media – and a succession of England managers – understand it?

Davies selection highlights lack of quality in depth

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Kevin DaviesThe selection of Bolton striker Kevin Davies by Fabio Capello for the upcoming European Championship qualifier against Montenegro tells me just one thing – England lack any real quality in depth.

I’m not saying Davies doesn’t deserve his call up before any Bolton Wanderers fans get on my case, but no-one can tell me he is really international class, let alone world class.

What it does show is that in the absence of only really above average strikers like Defoe, Agbonlahor and Zamora we can only turn to a 33 year old who has spent most of his career being used as a battering ram. England’s real problem is that for all the hype and media driven reputations of certain players you can count on one hand the number of truly world class players and still have fingers to spare.

Right now only Stephen Gerrard and Wayne Rooney deserve to be considered for that category and even they aren’t managing to live up to the name. Around them are good players – not great, just good – and players with potential. Most people’s first choice England XI contains two ‘world class’ players, six good players and three kids with huge potential. That is not, and never will be, a tournament winning team.

That said and with acceptance of the above, Davies is a good short term choice by Capello given the lack of other options. Only really Newcastle’s Andy Carroll has made a case to come in with the three others mentioned injured but, as @philmcnulty so brilliantly wrote in his latest blog, “Capello has made it clear he will not indulge flavours of the month in favour of the more pragmatic selection“.

Rooney, Darren Bent and Peter Crouch are not in the same mould as Davies, they can’t play the battering ram role he has performed so admirably for years now. Capello’s former favourite for the position, Emile Heskey, has refused to come out of retirement (thank God), so Davies is the only choice.

As McNulty also pointed out in his blog, to consider Davies only a target man is to do him a disservice. He would not have lasted so long in the top flight – and played no small part in keeping Bolton there at the same time – without more than a modicum of skill. That it has often been overlooked due to his more obvious talent of harassing and occasionally battering defenders into submission is hardly surprising, but it is nevertheless there.

His strike rate in front of goal is also better than Heskey’s…in fact, when you think about it, it’s a wonder Davies is only getting is first proper call up at 33, though he has been in provisional squads in the past.

Should Montenegro prove a tough nut to crack, Davies is the ideal player to turn to. No, he won’t start the game, the honour of partnering Rooney will go to the in-form Darren Bent, and rightly so, but you can bet he’ll be ready should he be needed.

In the meantime, Capello and us supporters must accept that England and the players available for selection are just above average – and no better. It’s nothing to be ashamed of, these things are cyclical, but it will be a lot harder to become contenders if we keep deceiving ourselves that we already are.

The likes of Kevin Davies are perfectly good enough to do a job at the level we’re at and I hope Capello and the supporters give him the chance to do so.

England revamped? Hardly, Fabio, hardly.

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EnglandFollowing England’s hugely disappointing World Cup campaign, coach Fabio Capello promised to ring the changes and revamp England with the aim of making us more competitive on the international stage.

On Wednesday the national side takes on Hungary in their first game since South Africa and one look at the squad picked by the Italian leaves me feeling utterly underwhelmed.

It’s not a revamp, it’s a second chance saloon for players not considered good enough for the biggest stage in the world just five weeks ago. Oh, and there’s some untested kids in there, which I’m actually in favour of, though I don’t feel it’s gone far enough or that they are necessarily the right kids.

Let me breakdown the squad and give my views on why their selection is a good or bad thing.

In goal David James has suffered for his move to Bristol City and is dropped, as is Rob Green, punished presumably for his error against the USA. Only Joe Hart remains, joined by Ben Foster, who moved from Manchester United to Birmingham in the summer, and Paul Robinson…except Robinson’s response to his call up was to announce his international retirement!

Capello will have to choose another keeper then, but in Joe Hart and Ben Foster he has made good choices. Hart will get the nod on Wednesday, having played more games, but these two are the future for England and they must be picked every game. If Foster has a good season with Birmingham he will overtake Hart, who is now back at Man City but not guaranteed to start.

Third choice keeper could now be Rob Green who may well benefit from Robinson’s surprising decision. Overall though, I’m happy.

In defence, Wes Brown was picked but then followed Robinson’s lead and quit international football. I don’t really understand this decision from Wes but what’s done is done.

That leaves long standing internationals Ashley Cole, John Terry and Glen Johnson, joined by Phil Jagielka, Gary Cahill, Michael Dawson and Kieran Gibbs. I’ve no problem with the first three (though Cole will have to play better than he did in yesterday’s Community Shield) so what about the new faces?

Everton’s Phil Jagielka had a great season two years ago, but didn’t reproduce last season. He was still good, just not great. He’s worth a look, but will he get more call ups after this? I tend to doubt it unless he plays and puts in a remarkable performance.

Gary Cahill has been knocking on the England door for a while now but the fact he plays for Bolton has, in my opinion, always hampered his chances. Nevertheless, he IS worth looking at but he must get more than 10 minutes on the pitch if he’s to be considered for future squads.

Michael Dawson should have gone to the World Cup on merit, not because Rio Ferdinand got injured and I’m glad to see he’s not paid the price for England’s overall showing. Another good season for Spurs and he’ll perhaps become Terry’s permanent partner with Rio’s ability to perform at the very top in doubt thanks to injury.

Finally, Arsenal’s promising young defender Gibbs. I have only seen glimpses so it would be unfair for me to comment on his suitability, but almost everything you read about him contains high praise so it’ll be good to see him play, see how he handles the big occasion and whether or not he’s as good as everyone says. Gibbs is going to need more minutes for his club this season though, surely?

The midfield choices are, I’m sorry to say, utterly underwhelming. Apparently the inclusion of Arsenal’s Jack Wilshere can be considered a revamp. Do me a favour, Fabio. Gerrard, Barry, Lampard and Milner all retain their places. Clearly Barry has something on Capello that we don’t know about, such is the Italian’s love for him, but Milner has done nothing to suggest he should still be in the squad, while one of Gerrard and Lampard should be sacrificed for the future – as I’ve often said, it should be Lampard. I’m thoroughly disappointed by these choices.

I am, however, very pleased to see Manchester City’s Adam Johnson back in the squad and I think he should start regularly on the left for England if Joe Cole is to be dropped permanently. Get him now, let him find his feet, don’t worry about the odd poor performance and crack on with him. This is one player I will happily say is the future of England.

Ashley Young is back in and I do like him as a player but he really needs to play well now. If he can play like he does for Villa then he’s a shoe-in for the right flank. He’s a far superior player to Theo Walcott, also recalled, though I have no idea why. I wouldn’t pick Walcott ever again unless he starts playing for Arsenal regularly and actually fulfilling that supposed potential he has.

I’ve seen fast players before and if it’s all you’ve got, get lost. So come on, Theo, prove me wrong. I bet you can’t.

Then there is the aforementioned Wilshere. Again, I’ve not seen much of him (who has?) but everything you read is good so fair enough, play him. But do actually PLAY him, or what’s the point? This is what worries me about this squad and Capello.

It’s not a revamp, it’s a nod in the direction of the fans without truly committing to overhauling England from scratch. My blueprint for England’s future was far more ruthless and, of course, I believe the better option. But we’re all armchair managers, entitled to an opinion, whether it has value or not. I’m not saying mine has and know many will disagree with me. Quite rightly too, it’s why we love the game.

Back to the squad though, and on to the strikers. Wayne Rooney is picked, of course. BUILD THE TEAM AROUND HIM! There can’t be an Englishman (or woman) who would call for Rooney to be dropped with any seriousness so it’s not worth even talking about his merits. We all know what they are.

It’s the other three that baffle. Fulham’s Bobby Zamora – one good season then not considered good enough – back in. Ridiculous. Sunderland’s Darren Bent – scores goals wherever he goes and bagged plenty last season, is well worthy of a call up to be honest, so fair enough. I still doubt whether or not he’s international class, but he hasn’t really been given a fair crack yet.

Carlton Cole?! Really? Sorry, but like Andrew before him, this Cole has his qualities and at domestic level he can be one of the best, but at international level this is like picking Emile Heskey…oh, right, I see what you’ve done there, Fabio…

And yet you’ve dropped Peter Crouch, who has never let England down and has a scoring record these three would love to have. I really have lost faith in your thinking, my friend.

For all his talk, all his reputation, all his apologies, Fabio Capello has bottled it when it matters most with this squad. A thriving Under-21 team is virtually ignored, a sprinkling of unproven but promising children are included while the majority of the failed old guard retain their places. And will no doubt start ahead of uncapped and untested anyway.

So what’s the bloody point? I’ll probably watch on Wednesday, but I don’t expect to be surprised, pleased or heartened. I expect, in fact, to be bored, disappointed and disheartened.

Ever was it thus with England and their managers though, eh.

Capello returns to work to face FA board

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Fabio CapelloBack from his undeserved holiday, England manager Fabio Capello faces the FA board on his return to work (assuming he decides to attend – he doesn’t have to, but he damn well should), expected to hand in his report on what happened in South Africa during the World Cup.

Smacks of the failed school child filling in his end of term report, doesn’t it. I can imagine Capello and his ‘gang’ – Franco Baldini et al – staring at their shoes, looking sheepish, in front of a long table occupied by the FA board members as they peruse his broken English report.

It’s almost demeaning.

Yet should he expect anything else? I don’t for a second lay all the blame for England’s poor tournament performance at his door. They players MUST shoulder the majority of the blame, they didn’t do themselves or their country justice. However, several of Capello’s decisions in the run up to and during the World Cup were questionable.

What I’m wondering now is what does he do between now and England’s friendly against Hungary in August?

Capello talked about freshening up the England squad with youth and exuberance. He has the chance to run the rule over our Under-19s from the 18th-30th July during the European Championships, yet reports suggest he won’t be attending. One can only assume he is sending Baldini – or should I say one hopes?

I can’t see that he has anything else to do for those 12 days, so why isn’t he going? This is England’s future and he has two years left on his contract, by which time at least some of these players could and should be pushing for a senior place. This is the ideal time to earmark those he feels will make it and follow their progress in the run up to the Euros in 2012.

It will be baffling if he doesn’t take that opportunity.

Of course, he has that tricky board meeting this afternoon first. Sky Sports are reporting that the World Cup is NOT an item on the agenda, however. Nothing like sweeping things under the carpet, eh, lads. They should be sitting down and picking apart EVERYTHING that went wrong, no matter how uncomfortable it is.

We’ve all read the reports of dressing room unrest and players falling out with one another. Surely decisions need to be taken on who was at fault for this and banish them from the squad for good, freeing up those places for youth. No matter who they are…

I laid out my blueprint for England’s future a couple of weeks ago and I stand by it. Radical action needs to be taken to start getting England back to the pinnacle of world football and it seems to me it isn’t going to happen…again.

The FA have always been stuck in the past but I thought Capello was dynamic enough to start changing that, respected enough to be allowed to do so. Seems I was wrong and he has been ground down by the sheer idiocy and resistance to change from his bosses. That’s why change is needed at the very top, not at manager level.

In the meantime, we may as well resign ourselves to overall mediocrity and the boom and bust mood England’s performances (and the media reporting of it) will create in the country.

Harry Redknapp’s career plans

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Harry Redknapp

‘Arry has signed a new contract with Tottenham Hotspur and will now remain their manager until 2013. The question I have is – would he have signed it if Fabio Capello wasn’t retained by the FA until after the 2012 European Championships?

The answer, I reckon, is no. He would have thrown his hat in the ring for the England managers job and waited to see what the outcome of that would have been.

That Capello remains manager means that Redknapp has now planned his career path with the aim of taking over following the Euros.

He now has three seasons to take Spurs to the next level. He will aim to finish in the top four – at least – in the Premiership each season and make some sort of impact on the Champions League.

He has the backing of the Spurs board to do so, especially in the transfer market and Harry will look to build on his reputation by restoring glory to Tottenham, thus giving the FA no option but to appoint him England manager when Capello steps down.

Top four finishes and Champions League success, likely in the form of quarter final and semi final places, will do that, but the club will want silverware to go with it, so he must pick up the FA Cup or the League Cup at least once along the way.

In three years time it’s also possible that the biggest stumbling block to his appointment as England manager – the court case of tax evasion – will have gone away. That would leave the road clear for the FA to sign him up without fear of future complications.

I’ve already given Redknapp my backing for the job. I think he has what it takes to inspire and build confidence, though he will need a backroom staff that is more capable than he is tactically. He can also talk to the media on their level and is unlikely to follow the path of previous managers in picking teams and players based on press and public demand. Nor will he be afraid of leaving out big name players for the good of the team.

While he lacks tactical awareness right now – and I don’t mean that critically; Redknapp has only managed in England and has no real experience of facing opposition from Europe and farther afield – he will learn plenty from taking his Spurs side into the Champions League against Europe’s best.

Not only has he set out a career path he hopes will culminate in managing his country, he has a learning curve to climb and relish the challenge.

I know Redknapp is not everyone’s cup of tea and I know the negatives to appointing him England manager. In response, I will only ask who else do you think is up to the task? Because I can’t think of anyone better suited right now.

In 2013 that may be different. But for now, I wish Spurs and Redknapp well in their endeavours and I hope it works out for Harry personally and England in the future.

England Expects

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England FlagIf England needed pointers on how to win then they needed look no further than their cricketing counterparts and adopted ‘Englishman’ and Wimbledon hopeful Andy Murray yesterday.

England’s one day side beat Australia by four wickets and Murray eased through his first round match against Jan Hajek. For English (ok, British) sport Tuesday 22nd June 2010 was a good day.

Wednesday 23rd June is Judgement Day for the national football side, their World Cup hopes hanging on victory against Slovenia. We all know the Slovenians are the sort of team England should be beating easily but Fabio Capello’s men have been unbelievably poor so far in South Africa and we’re all on edge about today’s match.

We all have our opinions on which team should be selected, what we expect from the players in terms of commitment and, no doubt, what the eventual result will be. Only one opinion matters, though, and it’s that of Capello.

Despite growing calls for him to unleash Joe Cole, reports suggest James Milner will be recalled, apparently on the right wing, and Jermaine Defoe will accompany Wayne Rooney up front, the coach abandoning his tried and tested big man / little man partnership.

I’m hard pressed to work out how that line up will take to the field so, for perhaps the last time, I’m going to put my faith in the fact Capello knows what he’s doing. God knows, that faith has been tested lately but this is his – and the players’ – chance for redemption, in my eyes and those of the nation.

I’m actually slightly impressed by the fact that Capello seems to have resisted mounting media pressure on who to pick and remains his own man. That, at least, is refreshing from an England coach.

For what it’s worth, this is the team I would have picked:

James

Johnson Upson Terry A. Cole

Lennon Gerrard Barry J. Cole

Rooney Crouch

Either that or replace Crouch with Lampard and push Gerrard further forward. It would – and will – all mean nothing, however, if theplayers don’t go out with confidence. That’s down to them.

England expects, lads. It’s time to restore our faith – and your own reputations.

Player mutinies, contrasting coaches and political intrusions

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Raymond DomenechIt’s been quite a week in the French and English World Cup camps with successful and attempted mutinies, wildly different reactions from the respective coaches and even, in the case of the French, a Presidential order to get it sorted.  What is going on?

Quite simply, both camps have been rocked by poor performances on the pitch and intense media criticism off it, with the players rather than the coaches feeling the full force of the pressure.

For France and Nicolas Anelka it boiled over in the form of a half time rant during the 2-0 defeat to Mexico. Anelka verbally abused coach Raymond Domenech, resulting in his expulsion from the squad and the tournament by the French Football Federation (FFF).

What has followed since has been almost unbelievable. On Sunday the players turned up for training but captain Patrice Evra found himself arguing with fitness coach Robert Duverne. Despite intervention by Domenech, Duverne stormed from the field in anger, discarding his accreditation badge on the way.

The farcical situation continued when Domenech and his staff were made to wait while the players decided what to do. Strike was the decision and they filed back on to the team bus, refusing to train and issued a statement for the now highly embarrassed and undermined Domenech to read out.

It read:

“The French Football Federation did not at any time try to protect the group. They took a decision uniquely based on facts reported by the press. As a consequence, and to show our opposition to the decision taken by officials of the federation [to dismiss Anelka], all the players decided not to take part in today’s training session.”

French team director Jean-Louis Valentin has since resigned, French President Nicolas Sarkozy has asked his sports minister to meet with Evra, Domenech and the French team and sort the situation out. For the whole country, it is a huge embarrassment.

When you throw in rumour and comments in the media from various parties that it is only the senior players leading this revolt and the younger players are very upset by it all but feel they cannot fight back the disaster that is France’s World Cup campaign looks even worse.

I’m no fan of Raymond Domenech. I find him odd, sometimes clueless and eccentric. But no coach should be undermined by his players, no matter how strongly they feel about his methods and style. And let’s be honest here, it isn’t really about that.

Anelka may well have vented his frustration at the easy target that is his coach but that frustration was borne out of his and his team mate’s poor performances on the field. Domenech’s tactics and team selection can be called into question, of course, but ultimately it’s the players that go out on the field that determine a win or loss and to be blunt France have not done it at this tournament.

Remember, too, they wouldn’t even be here if it wasn’t for Thierry Henry’s hand ball against the Irish in the play offs.

Domenech is a terrible coach, I don’t think there is any doubt in that. But he does not deserve what he has had to endure from his players. The sight of him reading out a statement from the team was embarrassing and demeaned him. Quite why he agreed to do so is beyond me.

At least for him it will all be over today. Incoming coach Laurent Blanc has his work cut out, however.

Fabio Capello

Similarly poor performances from England have led to Capello coming under pressure from his own as well. The difference here is that it appears to be only one or two players – John Terry and, less publicly, David James. Capello, though, is a far stronger man than Domenech and he has put a stop to any internal mutiny with an iron fist.

While the media were appeased by Frank Lampard’s brilliant press conference yesterday, the team – and Terry – were left in no doubt who is in charge by the Italian. At the same time, Capello let it be known that if a player has something to say he should say it, in private, to the coach.

It was perhaps the best bit of team management Capello has shown since the World Cup began. Certainly his tactics, team selection and substitutions have cast doubt over his ability to coach England’s players in a high pressure environment.

Like the French and any other team, however, it comes down to those who walk out wearing the shirt to play with the passion and desire the supporters demand and England haven’t done it. There will be no sympathy for players who turn on their coach under such circumstances, even if they do question that coach themselves.

With England facing a must-win game on Wednesday any internal rifts would have been disastrous. It seems as though Capello has put paid to any chance of a mutiny and even John Terry has issued an apology via the Daily Mirror for his, at best, ill advised comments during his press conference.

The supporters will now hope that England’s focus is entirely on that game against Slovenia. A victory and performance will consign this sorry episode to history and allow the team, united, to move forward. Let’s hope the press follow suit.

Rooney rant reveals England troubles

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Wayne RooneyIf England’s inept, inadequate performance against, with no disrespect to them, the lowly Algeria in last night’s Group C tie was not enough to convince you that there are serious problems in the camp then Rooney’s inexplicable on-camera rant aimed at England supporters surely is.

I’ll get to Rooney later, England’s poor display must come first. Coach Fabio Capello said after the game he was “confused” by his team’s performance. I’m starting to think the Italian is confused full stop.

The side he put out is supposedly England’s best. David James back in goal, Terry, Johnson and Ashley Cole in defence, Barry returning to a midfield boasting the talents of Gerrard, Lampard and Lennon and Rooney up front supported by Heskey. Only the unfortunate Rio Ferdinand missing, replaced by Jamie Carragher.

Yet it wasn’t a team that walked out to face Algeria, it was a collection of individuals who played like they’d never seen each other before. They were unable to apply a single bit of pressure on their opponents and looked tactically weak and bereft of any ideas going forward.

There was never going to be a danger of Algeria scoring – they haven’t in their last six, now seven, games. You would think, then, that England could concentrate on passing the ball around their inferior opponents and creating chance after chance for Rooney and the midfield.

It didn’t happen. Passes too often went astray, the midfield dawdled too long on the ball too often and the supply to the front men was non-existent. Every player, bar perhaps James, had a bad game. Heskey, picked for his ability to win the ball, hold it up and lay it off to Rooney or an on-rushing midfielder, found the ball bouncing off him to an Algerian throughout the match.

The usually precision passing from Gerrard and Lampard was not in evidence, nor was Lennon’s ability to speed past defenders and deliver telling crosses. The best attacking player on the pitch was left back Ashley Cole.

Capello’s substitutions were bizarre. Lennon was replaced by Shaun Wright-Phillips, Heskey by Defoe and far too late on, Barry by Crouch. Why Capello thought Wright-Phillips would have better luck then the far better Lennon is a mystery. Why he felt that Defoe might have better luck keeping hold of the ball than Heskey is another and why Crouch, England’s lucky talisman in so many games previously, had to wait until the 84th minute to try his luck is yet another.

And what of Joe Cole? His trickery and ability to open up defences was left to sit on the bench when the game was crying out for someone different, someone with something completely different to offer. Capello, though, clearly doesn’t appreciate what he has in Cole.

If we’re to be completely honest about our national team, and I accept it is not often easy to do, we must accept that our only two world class players are Rooney and Gerrard. The team must be coached and built around those two. Rooney should not be left isolated by his inferior team mates and Gerrard should not be left out wide on the left to scrounge for what little possession he can.

If that means some big name players are left out, so be it. Lampard should not have a divine right to a starting position if it means Gerrard has to play on the left, for example. It is a team game.

England are not good enough to win a tournament, no matter how much we want them to be. England ARE good enough to leave their mark on one, however – IF they are set up in such a way as to maximise the talents of their better players. Right now, Capello has fallen into the same trap as McLaren and Eriksson before him – he feels he must pick the best individuals, not the best team.

What that means is that England’s best player was the worst player on the pitch last night. Wayne Rooney, his frustration with himself and his team mates growing as the match wore on, could do nothing right. It was perhaps fortunate for him and England that he finally boiled over at the final whistle and not during the match.

As he walked off the field to a chorus of boos from the England supporters he let loose to a camera:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sdg_6kBiT4[/youtube]

“Nice to see your own fans booing you…that’s what loyal support is.”

The supporters have every right to vent their frustration, though you have to question what that sort of reaction will do to the confidence of the players already feeling bitter disappointment. For Rooney, it led to anger.

There is no excuse for what the England striker did or said, but you can understand it. Angry and frustrated with himself, his performance and the result – which leaves England’s World Cup hopes hanging by a thread – he released it all at the fans he felt weren’t helping the cause.

He will, no doubt, regret what he did today but there’s no taking it back now. We as a nation should not come down too hard on him either. He remains our best hope of continuing in this World Cup and he and the rest of the players should get our full support.

The problem in the England camp is one of confidence. It always has been. For a while it looked like Capello had managed to restore it, the qualifying campaign providing ample evidence. On the biggest stage of them all, however, it has abandoned them again. If Capello can’t nurture confidence then the supporters have to – booing is clearly not the way to go about it.

On Wednesday we have to win. A draw might be good enough, but that’s a dangerous way of thinking. No, nothing less than a win – preferably with a healthy goal tally and a good performance – should be the target. Rooney can redeem himself with a goal and the team and fans can get back on track.

I actually believe that the pressure of having to win brings out the best in England anyway, focuses the players and improves individual and team performance. The tournament is not yet in to the knock out stages, but England are.

They now know that defeat in the next game, and the one after that and so on means elimination. If that isn’t enough for England to play better and win, then they quite simply don’t deserve to be there and the World Cup will be better off without them. For Gerrard and Rooney that will be a shame. For the rest, it will be what they deserve.

You want a happy note to end on? I have one. Carragher picked up his second booking and will miss the Slovenia match. Matthew Upson will no doubt get the nod to partner Terry. For me, that’s the only upside to a dismal night in Rustenburg.

Spain shock puts England draw into perspective

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Robert Green's howlerSwitzerland’s defeat of Spain, France and Italy’s respective draws and the, if we’re honest, unconvincing victories for Brazil and Holland should offer up some hope to England supporters despairing at the draw with the USA.

Only Germany have struck fear into the hearts of the other 31 teams in the World Cup. The rest of the so-called favourites have done little to cause sleepless nights, for England or anyone.

Fabio Capello’s men did not put in a brilliant performance but nor were they as bad as the British media, prone to overreaction, portrayed. They had chances to win the match and would have done anyway had it not been for Robert Green’s much talked about misfortune.

I would even go so far as to say that England’s performance was better than that of France and Italy and while Spain enjoyed a huge amount of possession and had more shots than any other team so far in the tournament it meant little – England have a point, they do not.

This is not to suggest that if England faced any of the aforementioned teams they would win, but they would certainly have a very good chance, howlers aside.

There’s a long way to go in this World Cup, let’s not be too downbeat. Every side has played their first game now and England are sitting far prettier than most.

Carragher’s Incredible Return

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Jamie CarragherShould, as is expected, Jamie Carragher partner John Terry at the heart of England’s defence against Algeria on Friday it will complete an incredible return for the defender who turned his back on his country in a fit of petulence.

Carragher announced his international retirement in 2007 after failing to secure his position as first choice centre back despite appearing in both the 2004 European Championships and 2006 World Cup.

His form for Liverpool at the time was at its peak but John Terry and Rio Ferdinand were chosen ahead of him for England on a regular basis. When up and coming players were selected ahead of him when one or both of the first choice duo were missing, Carragher decided he’d had enough.

Many England supporters were unhappy with his decision, considering it a snub to the country. Whatever you think of Carragher’s choice, it cannot be denied that his statement in his autobiography (Carra: My Autobiography) that he put playing for Liverpool ahead of playing for his country was a massive error.

When Fabio Capello asked Carragher to return to the England fold for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa it shocked many commentators and supporters alike. How could Capello consider asking a man who had snubbed his country to come back? The England manager is not one to listen to anyone else when he thinks he is right, however, and Carragher duly accepted the offer.

His reasoning was thus:

“The World Cup and Champions League are the highest levels of football. I’m not getting any younger, we have no Champions League football next season and I am keen to work under Fabio Capello.”

So basically, if Liverpool had qualified for the Champions League he would have turned down a chance at playing in the World Cup. That doesn’t smack of commitment to the England cause, more a man looking at personal ambition and achievement.

There is nothing wrong with that, of course. There isn’t a footballer alive or dead who didn’t think of his own career and look to further it. Yet it must rankle with England supporters that the only reason Carragher accepted Capello’s call was for personal reasons, not for the good of the country he has already said is less important than his club.

Nevertheless, Carragher is now likely to fulfil his dreams and play alongside John Terry in the World Cup thanks to injuries – and only thanks to injuries – to the unfortunate Rio Ferdinand and Ledley King.

Is he up to the job? It’s ironic that Carragher returns to the international duty off the back of his worst season for Liverpool in many years. He’s now 32 and his already questionable mobility and speed is diminished.

Positionally he is fairly sound but in a tournament blessed with the likes of Ronaldo and Messi, Carragher will be found wanting. His partner Terry also lacks pace and mobility so what we now have is a pedestrian central defence reliant on positioning and awareness. It’s a dangerous foundation on which England will try to build.

While Carragher’s commitment to England off the field can, quite rightly, be questioned, his commitment during 90 minutes on the pitch cannot. You get the feeling with him that it wouldn’t matter who he was playing for, during the game he will give his usual 100%. That is not a concern.

The unlucky duo of Michael Dawson and Matthew Upson especially will look on unhappily if Capello does choose to partner Carragher with Terry but it will complete an incredible return for the man from Bootle.

Let’s hope it doesn’t turn out to be a disastrous one, for the supporters if not for Carragher himself. One wonders how much sympathy there would be for him should his selection cost England.

England victorious in lukewarm-up match

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England v Platinum StarsEngland continued their preparations for the 2010 World Cup with a wholly uninspiring 3-0 defeat of South African Premier League side Platinum Stars.

As BBC Radio 5Live commentator Mike Ingham put it during the second half, it was more tin pot than platinum. But let’s focus on the positives shall we?

Rooney scored one and made one, a happy return to form. Joe Cole looked lively. There we go, that’s that done.

Negatives included Glen Johnson giving away a penalty shortly after Jermaine Defoe had given England the lead in the third minute, assisted by Stephen Gerrard, Rooney getting himself booked for petulant dissent after a flare up with a Platinum Stars player, neither Crouch nor Heskey doing anything to promote themselves as Rooney’s partner on Saturday and neither Joe Hart nor Robert Green able to press their claims to start against such lacklustre opponents.

It begs the question what the point of the match was as it could have given Capello no answers and wasn’t treated as even a warm up by the players.

England fans shouldn’t be too disheartened though – in the last seven days we’ve seen Italy draw with Switzerland and lose to Mexico, France lose to China and tournament favourites Spain only narrowly defeat South Korea.

None of those sides are panicking due to their results, treating them simply as experimental warm up exercises, which is exactly what this game against the Platinum Stars was. You would, however, have expected the players to be more up for it and take the opportunity to cement their place in the starting XI with a strong and more importantly goal-filled performance.

Again I wonder at Capello’s suitability for the England job when the players can’t seem to raise themselves for him during the most important week of their lives.

Perhaps I am being a little harsh and this is all part of the big plan, a gentle run out against modest opposition to fine tune skills and fitness rather than an opportunity to plunder goals and humiliate the opposition.

Either way though, this was not entertaining in the least and Rooney’s dark side surfacing in a game such as this raises serious question marks over his ability to remain calm when the pressure is really on. He will have to be watched and watched closely.

Just four days until the opening ceremony now and five until England’s opener against the USA in Group C. Excitement and trepidation in equal measure are starting to grow.

Capello stays until 2012 – is that a good thing?

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Fabio Capello

Capello: Still the right man for the job?

Fabio Capello has done the decent thing and sorted out his position with England in advance of the World Cup after Inter Milan made it plain they wanted him to replace Jose Mourinho.

This is, without a doubt, a good thing for England. Doubt over the manager’s future going into the World Cup can only unsettle the players and take their minds off the job. It wouldn’t have been nice for the fans either.

Capello has now committed to England until 2012, however, and the nation rejoices. But should it?

The Italian is obviously a very good manager. His record speaks for itself and his time with England has been largely successful. The World Cup qualifying campaign was almost flawless, friendlies have been handled well without the usual over exuberance following a win or the utter despair following a defeat. Everything, we were told, was as it should be.

Why, then, do I feel a sense of doubt regarding Capello and his running of our national side? I should be full of confidence, I should feel that there is no better man to manage the good, if not great, players we have. I should be excited by the football we play and the way the players appear to have overcome the lack of confidence that has undermined previous international tournament performances. But I’m not.

As the World Cup has got nearer and nearer I have seen cracks in both Capello and the team. His ill-fated and ultimately ‘postponed’ Capello Index was just the first thing that got me wondering. How could he make such a bizarre decision when everything he had done beforehand was near perfection? It couldn’t have been the money, surely – he gets paid £6 million a year by the FA.

Whatever prompted his agreement to put his name to a website that would have seen him rate his own players after every World Cup match, it was a huge mistake.

Then there was the 30-man provisional squad and the Austria training camp. On the whole, decent preparation for the tournament, but the treatment of Michael Dawson and Scott Parker was a little strange, especially if you believe what Harry Redknapp said about them being ignored and treated like “ghosts”. Why pick them then?

The performances against Mexico and Japan, admittedly with experimental teams, were not impressive and couldn’t have done much to build confidence in the team ahead of South Africa. And as confidence is the biggest problem with England it could be said that this was a major own goal by the manager.

The majority of pundits have suggested that Capello knew his final 23 before these games and used them to simply confirm what he already knew. I can’t help but think that is counter-productive. Better, surely, to use his first choice eleven, get some big wins and build that confidence. That would also have given Capello the opportunity to take a smaller provisional squad to Austria and avoid the headache of delivering bad news to seven players.

Which brings me on to the last thing that has unsettled me. The way the news about Capello’s final choices for the World Cup squad was drip fed via various journalists on Twitter and other social media forms, as well as on TV and radio was ridiculous. We all knew the squad well before the FA’s official announcement at 4pm on Tuesday.

You can only wonder at what the payers made of it all. Darren Bent Tweeted about his exclusion well before 4pm, Robert Green was interviewed on Sky Sports about his inclusion well before lunchtime. The players who were going were sent flight details via text well before the official announcement – while those who weren’t selected were not. It’s not hard to imagine Frank Lampard, say, texting Tom Huddlestone about the flight only to discover that poor old Tom knew nothing about them, leaving him wondering about his place before Fabio deigned to call him and deliver the bad news.

It is, I’ll admit, a case of damned if you do, damned if you don’t. It is the right thing to do to inform the players not going personally and ahead of any announcement. If the unlucky seven had found out any other way Capello would have been slaughtered by the media. I can’t help but think it could have been handled better though.

A month ago I was full of hope and excitement regarding England’s chances in South Africa. I’m not one for blind faith and I didn’t think we had much of a chance of winning the trophy, but I thought some decent performances against some of the world’s better sides would indicate a big step forward, not least in the player’s overall confidence when wearing the three Lions.

A semi final would, for me, have been significant progress and would make this news of Capello’s commitment much more pleasing. All of the above during the last month has, however, seriously undermined that hope and excitement.

I now feel trepidation and if England put in their usual tournament form – a half decent group stage, really good second round and quarter final ‘heroic’ disappointment – keeping Capello as manager might not look like such a good decision. Oh, and we’d have to pay him a fortune to get rid of him.

Come June 11th I know the excitement will be back and some element of faith will return, but for now I have serious doubts. I can only hope the players don’t share them.

How do you feel about England’s chances going into the World Cup? Is your faith in Fabio Capello as strong as ever or are you suffering from niggling doubt yourself? Let us know in the comments.