The friendly in Qatar was always going to be tough for a few reasons. One was that the squad was depleted of 9 out of 11 of its regular starters. The list was endless: Ashley Cole, Rio Ferdinand, John Terry, Glen Johnson, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Theo Walcott / Aaron Lennon, Emile Heskey. Not to mention some of the secondary players such as Michael Carrick, Carlton Cole, Joe Cole, David Beckham to name a few were injured or not selectable.

The second reason was the high heat, which must of brought back memories of the World Cup 2006 in Germany. I was there, and the heat when not playing a physical fast paced game was intense, at temperatures well into the thirties. I mean at 11:55pm it was still 22 Celsius (71 Fahrenheit) in Doha. The regular Englishman is not able to function at 100% in temperatures like that. Of course, that will not be an issue in South Africa as we are there during their winters where the experts have assured us it remains at a cool 10 to 15 degrees Celsius; or the average temperature of summer on the south coast.

The game itself was great for England in the first 10 minutes, then we slowed, then we crawled. Rooney and Bent were a shadow up-front; and it was not the first captaincy game that Rooney would have wanted. I’m happy that Capello have him the arm-band, with Rio and Terry both not able to play. Rooney is going to be the captain of United and England in due time, and he needs to get some experience with leading on the pitch and in the dressing room now, when it doesn’t matter.

Brazil played well, without really breaking too much of a sweat. The Brazilian coach said that we had 11-men behind the ball, but I don’t agree with that. He said we need to dribble past the Brazilians, but obviously he has zero knowledge of the English game or the Premier League. We know how to break teams down, we know how to provide a cutting pass, and we play the highest tempo in the world. Problem is, you need the right mix of players to provide that air of enthusiasm and for lack of a better term, class.

It’s not to say that players such as Wright-Phillips, Bridge, Brown, Milner, Young, Bent, et al don’t have their class and ability. It just means that England does have better, and that some need time to grow as in the case of Milner and Young. Bent plays well for Sunderland with the right build-up around him, but unfortunately England has been built around the versatility of a all-round striker (the type of striker that is fundamental to the modern game, I might add; just ask Michael Owen), and Bent does not fit that mould. He is good in the air, and can strike a ball, has a bit of pace, but that is about where it ends.

Bent can’t unlock defenses with a killer pass; he doesn’t have the flair to take multiple players on, and does not have a good flick, or hold-up play. We all know that Kenwyne is doing that for him at the Stadium of Light, and there is no way we will relinquish Rooney to provide for Bent. That would be just plain silly.

In the end, it gave the fringe players a chance to show Capello what they have, and also a chance to face Brazil. The only problem was the fringe players disappointed, and we have no idea how our starting eleven will fair against Brazil. What we did gain however, was that Capello got a chance to see Brazil. And from what he has said, he wasn’t over impressed.

A great word to see after the disappointments of the Mclaren reign only a few years ago, and to qualify at the same venue as that time made it all the more sweeter. Not only that, but it also proved how much further the team has come under the guidance of Capello. It is suffice to say that Croatia were much the same as England were then, grasping for qualification and a few injuries keeping starting players out of the squad. That being said, ours was an upset and theres was (as the media had suggested) somewhat expected.

Perhaps the level of the defeat was a surprise, but as we beat them 4-1 in Zagreb, I can only expect and hope that we can do well at our own home. It is true what Capello suggests, that the form of England since the new Wembly has been suspect, but that was not on show in this match-up. In fact, it has all but been erased in memory since the Capello era has begun. The warm-up against Slovenia which saw a penalty and a piece of Defoe magic gain us two goals, also had the same one goal laden mistake.

I was disappointed that were conceded in both matches, as the games were already won in both instances although by different margins. Lack defense is something that better teams will exploit, which was readily evident in Amsterdam a few weeks ago. That being said the central defense seemed very sound without Rio which is somewhat welcomed with his recent injury problems that may crop up come 2010 especially after a long season.

Glen Johnston looks fabulous going forward, and his positioning in defense was much better in the Croatia match than the Slovenia one. He is become more of a complete player as the years go by, and the move to Liverpool should only help his confidence. If he does have a slump in form, I hope Benitez doesn’t pull a Keane and off-load him before he can gain it back. He seems to be a confidence player as we can see from Chelsea, and that will be important for us in regards to his England role.

Ashley Cole is in peak form, and I presume he will easily maintain it with Chelsea unlikely to be able to make any adjustments now that they received a lengthy transfer ban. Barring injuries, though. One problem seems to be our depth on the flanks when it comes to the back line, which is something Capello should address in our remaining qualifying games.

The midfield ticked like a well-greased machine in the Croatia game, and was not bad in the Slovenia match. Frank Lampard and Gerrard look to be working well together now that Capello has allowed Gerrard to roam off the left and create with the central striker like he does at Liverpool. Frank has license to roam up and down the center channel with the safeguard of Barry behind him. The right side has much competition with Lennon showing exactly what he can offer, with a great turn of pace -and can you believe it- a crisp cross to setup Gerrard. SWP, Walcott and Beckham are all great alternatives.

Harry Rednapp has got many Spurs players igniting the scene and that includes Jermaine Defoe. Although he did not show any goal prowess due to the nature of the match against Croatia, he has proven it for England and club recently and if the form continues he will be an exciting option in South Africa. Heskey links play very well, and makes both defenders and goalies work hard the entire match. This allows creative players like Gerrard and Rooney to roam in the pockets of space that dragging defenders can create.

In the end everyone that was on show at the Croatia match played well. Robert Green made a tremendous initial save to stop a header crossing the line, and if it wasn’t for shoddy defending in regards to clearing the danger area, they never would have scored. Foster and Robinson would have looked on in some dismay. James has some competition now, which is great, but we still don’t have a world class goalie which might be ok considering the amount of World Class we have in front of him.

The future looks bright, and I can’t wait until South Africa. For now I will content myself with the following qualifiers where we can see some fringe players, and the regulars, continue this great vein of form.

“We are a good team, we are playing well, but we must keep our feet on the floor,” said Capello.

“We made the first step but we must work hard because to win the World Cup would be a really strong moment.”

Really strong. You got to love the way the man speaks.

England played Holland in an away friendly which ended in a 2-2 draw on Wednesday August 12th. It was quite an open game was made it enjoyable to watch, with both England and Holland counterattacking. The first two goals were scored by Holland, and were both caused by defensive errors. I’m not sure if the commentators curse can affect from the settee, but I was telling my father just how great Rio was when he made that back-pass. Now one bad pass doesn’t change that but it was a blinder. And following up was Gareth Barry with the same back-pass but this time directly to Kuyt; with Van Der Vaart putting the ball away after the save; in a “here you go mate” fashion.

Defoe came on after the break and made an immediate impact with a great defense splitting pass from Frank Lampard. Defoe put it away very well despite pressure from the center backs. The final goal came from some great play from Milner another second half substitute and Defoe obliged to tap it in, with Wright-Phillips there to make sure. It was a great response from England who was by far the better team in the second half. I wouldn’t say Holland were much better than England in the first, however they took their chances well which is important at this level. Almost as important as not making mistakes like that, as they get punished.

Comments have been made by the press (oh the surprise) that Capello should not hide the defensive errors that were made. Yes, of course, let’s parade our team around and verbally spank them as that has always worked so well in the past. To be honest, they were bad mistakes but not ones that are likely to happen outside of a pre-season friendly. I mean Rio was just recently walking around in short-shorts sipping margaritas, now he is up against Robben and Kuyt in the Netherlands. Barry has made a career changing move to Manchester City, and looked like it. I would expect these kinds of errors to evaporate as the season wares on, although it’s not looking good for Rio vs Croatia with his recent injury.

The team was without the Gerrard Rooney combination that has done so well for us in the past games, as well as Walcott. I hope that both Gerrard and Walcott are fit and in form for the Croatia game as one is a star player, and the other one likes to eat Croatian defensive lines for breakfast. The next two games are key for us in that we need to win one to qualify, and I think for the sanctity and confidence of our team going in to the cup we need it to be the game at home to Croatia. They keep going on about revenge for the Croats but lets be honest, we have our own revenge to seek on them for us falling out of the European Cup qualifiers from that third goal they just didn’t have to score!

So in three short weeks we will be out and about against our other qualifying teams, and perhaps securing our place in South Africa for the 2010 World Cup. Until then, enjoy the leagues.

The England Under-21 team fell to Germany in a 4-0 defeat on Monday, June 29th 2009. It was a disjointed performance from the three lions, and one that I was not expecting. The loss of Gabriel Agbonlahor, and Fraizer Campbell was noticeable to say the least. Theo Walcott cut a lonely figure in front of the German back-line, and despite an earlier fury was kept quiet for the ninety minutes. James Milner was by far the best player last night, with Mical Richards coming in second.

Milner weaved left and right, cut inside, lofted crosses in, and generally did what you expect from your winger. The main problem was there was little to target inside the area, having both our strikers suspended. Fraizer Campbell had a lot to be angry for when he was sent off in Sweden, firstly that his team had let a 3 goal advantage disappear, and secondarily when he found they had made it to the final and that he would not be competing.

That would have been a good chance to show Sir Alex, and perhaps Phil Brown why they have them in their squad or in their sights as the case may be. He obviously wanted to showcase himself at this tournament; however I believe it has now more than likely shown himself the door. He scored a nice goal in the group stages, but other than that was second string to Gabriel. It appears England have yet to figure out the striker issue for the present and future, with the talent of Rooney still missing his point man.

Germany were up for the fight, and despite looking second best in the group game against a “reserve team” of England youth, they were definitely the winners on this night. Ozil was the star performer and key tormentor of the stricken England, and he weaved very well. The Watford keeper Loach gave a goal to Ozil by apparently completely misjudging the flight of a freekick, and jumping out of its way.

I would like England for once to have a sane goalkeeper who does not make these eccentric mistakes. You could say Joe Hart lives up to it, but then he got suspended for “gamesmanship” which is ridiculous in a semi-final. Yet what does look promising, specifically when you look at some of the pitfalls of our senior squad was the midfield partnership of Muamba, Cattermole, and Noble. They look very strong, and would allow players such as Rooney, Gerrard, and even Lampard more freedom. I’m not sure how we fit Walcott and co into the equation however.

Walcott was a clear underperformer in this tournament, and I think he would have been better served by following Wenger’s demands and playing for either the first games for the senior squad, or for the U21 team. He isn’t going to find joy in looking timid and out-of-place in the national setup, especially after having a tough season at Arsenal through injury. Walcott should have been left out, just the same as Wayne and Owen were years ago. Hindsight being 20-20 as they say, I probably would have included Walcott myself as he can change games with his pace and tenacity.

Looking up and onwards, it was a great run for the lads in this tournament, and the news that Stuart Pearce has signed another 2 year extension is good news indeed. I think Stuart has all the credentials necessary to become the senior men’s team in the next 4 to 6 years. I would like to see him win a major tournament with the boys, and this was as close as it can come. We haven’t made it to the final of a major tournament in a long time, so he deserves respect. Once the U21 have progressed, and he can move into the role that Capello will certainly carve for him, he will know the entire group well and this will give him instant appeal and respect from the players.

Good luck Stuart in the next campaign, and to all the boys, well-done on giving us something to be proud of for a change.

Whether it is formality to beat teams less than 150 in Fifa rank or not, we sure did it in style over the weekend. The 5000 mile trip to the Kazakh's was a long one that was evident in the opening minutes when they struck at us with some pace. Soon enough we were moving with conviction and broke them down very systematically and finished comfortably with a 4-0 victory. Barry nodded one in at the far post to get the scoring moving, and Heskey made it two when putting a tipped ball from an ambitious shot/pass from Gerrard.

Rooney scored a beautiful overhead kick to make it three, and Frank Lampard converted a penalty after Heskey was brought down… twice. It was made to look very simple, and moved England into a perfect position with 18 out of 18 points in Group Six. Capello was asked after the game what would have happened if the Kazakh's goal that was ruled as offside (correctly) had stood, he replied with an air of dry English wit "We would have won 4-1." Who said he wasn't learning the culture?

The next game at Wembley was a very professional showing, much better than the goalless first half when we were up in the Pyrenees Mountains. Andorra had the same tactic, which was to droop back in a 4-6-0 shape as the commentator noted. It didn't work effectively at all this time, and Rooney had a goal within 4 minutes and actually could have had two. Lampard converted a byline pass after a great run from the ever-better Johnson. Rooney became the top goal scorer in Europe by putting a sweet first-time volley from, you guessed it, Johnson into the top corner.

Defoe scored a brace, and Crouch bundled home an easy goal after Defoe did all the work. I was quite happy with Defoe's cameo role, however Crouch is not looking to hot and I would prefer to see him on the bench for the tournament if we can have it our way. The team did very well in this game, and although we all knew it would be a win, 6 goals is exceptional for our goal difference. The statistics for this match were rather disgraceful with 80% possession, 12 to 0 shots on target, 16 to 0 corners… um yea.

Yet with that here are some statistics on the groups, it appears by Fifa rank England have the easiest group, although we are one of two that have two Top 10 nations in our group:

Group	Team Name	Ranking	Average	GD
1	Denmark	24		11
1	Hungary	43		6
1	Portugal	11		4
1	Sweden	31		0
1	Albania	92		-4
1	Malta	150		-17
		351	59
2	Greece	17		8
2	Switzerland	16		5
2	Latvia	59		4
2	Israel	25		2
2	Luxembourg	120		-10
2	Moldova	106		-9
		343	57
3	Slovakia	42		11
3	Nothern Ireland	27		6
3	Poland	39		11
3	Czech Republic	15		2
3	Slovenia	61		1
3	San Marino	202		-31
		386	64
4	Germany	3		14
4	Russia	9		6
4	Finland	49		1
4	Wales	74		-2
4	Azerbaijan	140		-5
4	Liechtenstein	156		-14
		431	72
5	Spain	1		11
5	Bosnia-Herzegovina	33		11
5	Turkey	12		1
5	Belgium	63		-1
5	Estonia	113		-10
5	Armenia	131		-12
		353	59
6	England	6		16
6	Croatia	8		6
6	Belarus	81		7
6	Ukraine	19		2
6	Kazakhstan	132		-14
6	Andorra	196		-17
		442	74
7	Serbia	20		8
7	France	10		1
7	Lithuania	60		0
7	Austria	70		-2
7	Romania	28		-3
7	Faroe Islands	166		-4
		354	59
8	Italy	4		6
8	Rep of Ireland	34		3
8	Bulgaria	23		2
8	Cyprus	79		-3
8	Montenegro	110		-3
8	Georgia	105		-5
		355	59
9	Netherlands	2		12
9	Scotland	22		-2
9	Iceland	92		-4
9	FYR Macedonia	64		-5
9	Norway	47		-1
		227	45

Italicized team names are those who are the lowest rank in the group, and bolded are the highest ranking in the group. Some general conclusions that can be drawn from these numbers are as follows:

• Groups with 2 Top 10 teams: 4,6
• Groups with no Top 10 teams: 1,2,3
• Group order with lowest and highest team removed: 9,3,7,1,2,5,6,8,4
• Top 3 Hardest Groups (in order): 9,7,1
• Top 3 Easiest Groups (in order): 4,6,8
• Top GD: England, Germany, Netherlands
• Lowest GD: San Marino, Malta, Andorra
• Tightest Group on Goals: 7
• Tightest Group on Points: 2

And finally, here is the difficulty list based solely on rank. As per above, I believe the "Hardest Groups" are actually a combination of both overall rank, the amount of top teams in the group, and finally the point spread and goal spread in the groups. That is what truly defines a tough group, both forms in the qualifier and in the history of the footballing nation. Either way here is the rank list:

Difficulty Rank	Group Number
1	9
2	2
3	1
4	5
5	7
6	8
4	3
5	4
6	6

The World Cup Qualifiers are here again, and just in time. I haven't fully finished licking my wounds from the Champions League Final; however the FA Cup was an OK distraction. So England is on their way for a simple slide into the competition with a travel to Kazakhstan, and Andorra at Wembley.

We have 15 points, and if we get two wins on the trot we will sit comfortably at 21 points. That would mean if Belarus fail to get results in their next two games, that only Ukraine and Croatia can overtake us (unless we have a catastrophic goal difference break down). In the current regime I place this point in the following fashion: only victories will be acceptable in the next two games.

The big game of the group will be occurring in Maksimir Stadium in Zagreb. Ukraine need the win to keep their qualification hopes alive, indeed it is still early to call who will be #1 and #2 in the group, but on the onset Ukraine are looking like outsiders. It is a battle against 8th and 22nd with Croatia slipping behind England recently from 7th.

Belarus will have to wait until the can fully see the evidence of the group, yet I feel they are not ready to challenge in a group blessed with the current Top 3. My prediction is England will finish the group with 29 points, a record for our national team. They will tie a team in the next 5 games, more than likely at home to Croatia. That will give us the impetus to get the win needed in the Ukraine; something I believe is achievable and likely.

Enough speculation, I wanted to take this time to go over our adversaries and the statistics surrounding Capello's recent regime. The two teams that we are facing are sitting 137th (Kazakhstan) and 196th (Andorra) in FIFA Rankings, a statistical system that has gained its credibility since rationalizing the opponents in the scoring system.

Kazakhstan

England will be parading their regime in front of 25,057 fans, if they are full to the brim in the Almaty Central Stadium on Saturday night. Their newly appointed manager Bernd Storck (German) will be looking to start his career with them off with a bang (at least on their home ground) against England, and overwrite the 5-1 second half thrashing of October 2008. Arno Pijpers was their coach from 2006-2008 and was rather harshly thrown to the wolves, as a 19.44% win percentage was not adequate. When you consider their opponents over that time, it is however hardly surprising.

Kazakhstan is a large country situated in Central Asia, with 16.4M people and is the ninth largest country in the world. In the past it was part of the Russian Empire, however has achieved independence in 1991. From my random musings on television and the BBC site I have learned that Kazakhstan is a new country, and is forming its ideals around the wealth of natural resources it has been fortunate enough to contain. The people expect big things from every facet of its growing life, and that includes the national football team.

The team itself has not done much in the past few years, and had recently fired their coach once it became apparent they would not qualify. Perhaps Kazakhstan needs to build upon what they have, rather than jump on the "fire your manager" bandwagon that has engulfed football as of late. Pijpers was unlucky, perhaps Storck will find more time to build his team. Currently after a whopping 2 games in charge, he has a 50% success rate.

If you look at their history only one other manager other than Pijpers (36) has managed more than 15 games (Serik Berdalin) and he only had the job for 2 years. They have yet to have a manger that has coached for more than 3 years. Recipe for disaster? Ask Newcastle. It is, unfortunately, the same old thing for a new country and a new football team. They want success overnight, and it just does not work that way. England itself has had a recent revamp and I would like to see Capello hold the reigns after 2010 to at least see us through the Euro campaign of 2012. Stability breeds confidence, and confidence breeds victory.

Andorra

Wembley will host minnows Andorra, who has a tiny population of 88,700 and the locals speak that language… Catalan (ugh, Barcelona hangovers all over again). An interesting fact about the Andorrans is that they have the highest human life expectancy in the world, at a whopping average age of 85 years. It is quite prosperous due to its tax haven status on the international stage, and having that lovely Pyrenees air must also help.

Andorra has a lot of "did not enter" or "did not qualify" all over their records. In fact, that's all it says. In fact their only win that I see is against Macedonia (1-0 in 2004) when it comes to qualifications. Their biggest win was 2-0 against Belarus, so the Belarusians better watch out! A repeat might be on the cards! Their biggest defeat also comes from a Group 6 team, Croatia at 8-1.

They have an important edge over Kazakhstan (and you could say, England) that they have had the same manager since 1999, which gives him 10 years experience with the team. His name is David Rodrigo, who is perhaps only famous for his comments to Yossi Benayoun where he said Israel was a "national of killers" and threatened to have Benayoun's legs broken. Ahem, quite stupid on all accounts then? He has, of course, denied these allegations but the Andorran government could take action if he is found guilty… eventually.

I would believe that Andorra, at Wembley, should be a chance to showcase our up-and-comers and perhaps even a tactical switch of some kind. Not that we should "underestimate" anyone and "no games are easy", but let's be honest for a change lads: I will be extremely disappointed if you do not win. That was ok to say in the McClaren era, but if you think for one second that Capello believes this statement, you must be having too much booze with Ledley down your local pubs.

Capello Era

I wanted to highlight some statistics for the Capello Regime as of June 1st 2009, so that we can revel in his glory and hopefully that won't come back to haunt me as per the commentators wrath. For starters I here is the growth of the team since FIFA began their aforementioned ranking system (1994-2009):

I compared to Spain who have been #1 for some (recent) time, and that is who you should benchmark to. It shows some dips and valleys, notably a terrible dip from 1994 to 1996 (failure to qualify for 1994 WC) hitting our all time low of 27 (February 1996) under Venabales, and the resurgence under Glenn Hoddle. Our highest rankings were on December 1997 (after our 1996 Semi-Final European Cup push) and September 2006 (repeated Quarter Finals at two World Cups) at 4th via Sven-Goran Eriksson. We maintained a relative "heartbeat" effect, except for 2000 (knocked out of European Cup at Round 1) and 2008 (failure to qualify for 2008 European Cup).

The next graph shows the resurgence under Capello after the disastrous McClaren era if 2006-2007. Despite a few flutters in the early games (Loss to France, draws against Czech Republic), he has steadied the ship by installing respect and removing the ego expectations that led to nicknames and wives being part of the squad. It is evident by the graph that from June 2008 to June 2009, we have been moving in the right direction:

Although I'm sure we didn't really need a graph to show us that. Next is the statistics of the team in general since WC Qualification began, with our outstanding W-W-W-W-W record of 5 wins:

A 3.2 goal average and 0.80 against is very respectable. I would however say that we need to tighten up the defensive leak; Manchester United's defensive record over 38 games this season was 0.63 which is much better. That is the kind of defensive back-bone we need. I know Rio and Terry will be expecting to not concede over the next two games (although it might be Terry and Lescott from what I've been reading).

Also I decided to include a snapshot of the team, which shows (in order) matches played, minutes played, goals scored, yellow cards received, two yellows in a game, and straight reds:

It shows a few things that need to be pointed out in a list!

• David James, as usual, tops the most minutes played with 450 although that will obviously change now that he is injured. Wayne Rooney came in second with 444 and Frank Lampard with 440.
• The players who have played in all 5 games are David James, Frank Lampard, Gareth Barry, Wayne Rooney, and yes how surprising this might be when thinking back to 2008, David Beckham!
• Most goals scored goes to Wayne Rooney with a staggering 5 goals (1.0 ratio), Walcott comes in second with his hat-trick at Zagreb (0.75 ratio) and finally Joe Cole; no seriously, the guy who I can't remember last he played (ok, 2008) with a tied highest ratio of 1.0! Get fit Joe!
• And as far as our disciplinary goes on all accounts, not so bad. No one has received more than 1 yellow card, and Wazza has 0! So much for "controlling" his "uncontrollable" temper lads!

South Africa

I wanted to just post the following map of South Africa, showing the cities that the games will be held. I will, of course, go into great detail the make up of South Africa and all that it will offer the fans travelling as we get closer to the dates.

I have already received my England shirt, although I have no name on the back. It was a gift from my mumsies and I look forward to donning it at work (the collar now makes that acceptable…).

All the best to England, and I will be posting a review of the matches come Thursday/Friday next week. Cheers!

The homegrown talent debate has actually come to action in the Premier League, or at least an acceptance by the clubs has come to pass. Proposals are being discussed for inclusion in the 2010/2011 season. This would mean that clubs in the English Premier League would be required to field at least four home-grown talents in each game. It would be similar to the plan implemented into the Football League for the 2009/2010 season that will be adopted starting August.

Homegrown can obviously be debated, however under the Football League discipline it means that “any player who has been registered domestically for at least three years before their 21st birthday” is considered homegrown. As the BBC suggests, Cesc Fabregas would be considered homegrown at Arsenal. Another possibility is adopting the standard of the Champions League where the 25-man squads must have 8 players that have come through the youth system of a club from that country.

Although it is unlikely to ever allow an adoption of a 25-man squad, as part of the competitiveness of the English teams is the depth of their talents. A similar proposal could come with a percentage based formula, which would allow larger squads to still have a competitive amount of homegrown talent. This proposal does not in anyway lend to Sepp Blatters 6+5 domestic talent proposal that I commented on last month, as Sepp calls for players from that country by eligibility for national team as the conduit.

As Richard Scudamore suggests, this is against European Law of freedom of professionals playing in any country they choose. Let alone the factors that would decrease the competitive edge for the top leagues in the world, and their ability to attract the best talent from all around the world. The homegrown ideas are a great idea for keeping the leagues fresh and young, not for creating top English talent for our national team. Perhaps for some of the mid-table clubs it will help the English team, as it would be harder for them to sign young world class talent, and force them to look domestically.

The other debate that was in the headlines recently was the alcohol abuse issue that exists with players in all English leagues. Recently Ledley King was charged for disorderly conduct while consuming alcohol, and as Ledley has been viewed as perhaps one of the least likely to fall to such problems, it has been all in the newspapers as a “problem” with the Leagues. Paul Gascoigne has already said that it was simply a mistake by a professional, and not the sign of larger problem. However, just last week Nicolas Bendtner was seen with his “pants down”, literally, coming out of a nightclub.

I am happy to say that the only time Manchester United players have been in the newspapers recently is for crashing their cars, or for buying large boats, rather than making bad decisions in nightclubs. I am not sure if that comes from the disciplinary fear that Sir Alex instills in the players, or just pure luck, but I am still happy for it. George Best would have been a good example of what could have been a long career had alcohol not affected his life so much. Yet, I would fathom a guess that if there had been an alcohol ban that we would of just seen George get suspended many times, and never reach the level he did in his short career.

I don’t personally have a opinion on if this is a good move or not, it is surprising that both Harry Rednapp and Sam Alladyce both believe it is a good idea. They are two very English, very old school managers, and I would have thought them to be against rather than for a restriction of freedoms for their players. It goes to show that they are seeing a negative impact on their players with regards to the amount of luxuries that exist for these high paid professionals. Perhaps when you look at the amount of money they earn in a short period, it makes sense that keeping them guarded against the wiles of life is a good idea, but then why are they earning money? For retirement? Or to enjoy life now.

UEFA President Michel Platini has revealed his plans to propose changes to the racism policies of UEFA. Most importantly he has put forth a plan that will cause stoppage of play to occur for 10 minutes if racism chanting occurs, and announcements to be made in the stadium. If it continues after this stoppage, the game will be cancelled and re-organized (more thank likely behind closed doors).

The remarks came after Inter Milan striker Mario Balotelli was jeered racially by Juventus fans after scoring a goal (in a 1-1 tie). Now strangely enough, Mario was actually born in Palmero, yet is of Ghanaian decent. For all the racists know, he may be playing for their national team in a matter of months in the World Cup. I researched this and he turned down Claude Le Roy the Ghana coach and stated his desire to play for Italy, and awaited his confirmed citizenship. On August 2008 he was awarded that citizenship and was called up two weeks later for the Italy U21 team. Will they jeer him then? Or is it only ok to be a racist when the player is not on your club? It is pathetic, and a sign of ignorance from the Juventus fans.

The majority of Juventus fans would condone this behavior, and it is not a reflection of the club in any way. However, is it fair to that majority that if a small portion of the crowd are racist that they will be subject to missing their game? What happens if in the Champions League final 10 fans are yelling racist chants and the game gets cancelled? Is that even possible in today’s environment and with the hundreds if not thousands of dollars that are spent for tickets, hotel reservations, and flights to attend the games.

The worrying thought is that the final for 08/09 will be held in Rome, which is not known for its “light-hearted” response to virtually anything. Many fans have been stabbed at the stadiums in Rome before, and there is already a petition to remove Rome from the final holdings. Currently, the Italian Federation president Giancarlo Abete has made statements that rules would be changed to empower officials at chanting, currently the “Italian system…gives the authorities the power to suspend the game in the case of banners that incite racial discrimination”.

It is in Italy’s best interest that this is rectified as incidents of this nature will hamper their 2016 bid for the European Cup. No-one wants to go to Italy and be racially abused, and in today games the race and creed of players is so diverse perhaps greater than ever before. Again, I do not think these few “fans” are a general representation of either the club or country; and no media should portray that as the truth. However, in the world of perception and image, it is something that Italy and Spain both seem to have trouble with.

As far as in England and the Premier League, it rarely sees any kind of racial abuse from its fans. Perhaps this is due to the amount of diversity that exists in an “English” person today, from all races and backgrounds. It is truly a melting pot (with somewhat mosaic) of culture and race, and for that reason the racial problem is virtually unheard of. In fact, as in the case in December 2008 two men were arrested for claims of racist and homophobic chanting directed at Sol Campbell.

Racist chanting in the Premier League (or any football league in England) will be met with a fine of up to 1000 pounds, and can also lead to a football banning order which can last a lifetime. If you are a true fan, no amount of ignorance should be enough to jeopardize your ability to support your club. Now it would be better if they were just good people, and didn’t need threats, but sometimes animals of this nature need threats to maintain control.

I hope racism is eradicated from the world of football, as it is the most watched sport and many children are learning from their peers. Once it is removed from the football games, then it has an increased chance of filtering down to the general public. It can all start somewhere, and as I have said the majority of those in the world are not ignorant racists, and that is a very, very good thing.

Today, 20 years ago, 96 people lost their lives going to watch a football match. It was an FA Cup semi-final tie between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest. The above picture shows the Hillsborough Stadium clock stopped at 3:06pm when the kick-off was halted. I was 6 years old when it happened and living in Saltash, Cornwall. Many miles away from the disaster yet it still had ripples all across the nation. The tragedy of the day changed the face of English football forever, and that is why I have decided to add it to the England section rather than Miscellaneous which does not give it justice.

The devastating day was caused by “lack of police control” deemed Lord Justice Taylor. The BBC has a factual reconstruction of how the disaster happened in a slideshow. It basically shows thousands of fans outside the grounds on Leppings Lane at the turnstiles, slowly making their way into Pens 3 and 4. The Police in control decided to open up exit Gate C, which allows a flow of thousands of fans.

The safe capacity of Pens 3 and 4 was cited at 2,200 although later investigations found the crush barriers were only fit to withstand 1,600. It was later estimated that 3,000 supporters were admitted to the central pens. After Match Kick off a crush barrier in Pen 3 gives way, and people climb or are dragged to safety. The sheer volume of people in a small area makes them feel like concrete against you, and the weight crushed people to death.

It was a horrendous failure, 96 people lost their lives to watch a football match. I can write that a thousand times and each and every time it is terrible to see. It has happened before in Heysel Stadium, Brussels in 1985 where 39 people lost their lives. It resulted in English clubs receiving a 5 year ban from competing in Europe. It was also a tragedy and was related to poor stadium quality and hooliganism, but that is for someone else to write on. Unfortunately that was not enough to shake up the English mentality despite Margaret Thatcher’s speech: “We have to get the game cleaned up from this hooliganism at home and then perhaps we shall be able to go overseas again”.

Hillsborough truly changed the face of football in England. As one fan, Bryan from Rugeley writes:

“This was such a sad disaster. At the time I was a serving police officer in Birmingham, and participated in the policing of many cup and first division games at Villa Park. The problem prior to the Taylor report was that the clubs paid big wages to players, but left all the organisation down to the police. At the turn of a hat, for instance, the club would decide to have a match, and then inform the police at the last minute. Stewarding was none existent, the grounds were archaic and unsafe. At Birmingham city the mens’ urinal was a brick wall painted with bitumen paint. Rusty old corrugated iron, and asbestos sheeting, cages like a zoo, squalor... And the fans being made to pay a fortune for this. The deaths of these people brought forward tremendous improvements.”

And we can see the changes in the ownership clubs have taken to steward matches, the police have now replaced the crush barriers. They stand as a human deterrent, the way it should have always been.

It wasn’t just the stadiums that changed that day, nor just the safety standards. It changed hooliganism on a massive scale. It was the start of something bigger, a growing conscious appreciation that deaths and injuries at football matches were unacceptable. People lost their children at Hillsborough, thinking they were sending them off for a day of fun with their friends. Fans knew that they could have easily had taken the place of anyone of the 96 that lost their lives. Indeed 730 people were also injured and were lucky to escape the crush.

Hillsborough will always be remembered for how it changed the English fans view of the game, and their expectations. The pictures showing fans pulling one another out of the sea of people shows the heart and humanity that needs to be apparent to respect those who lost their lives. It was a sad day for the sporting world, and a time of change for the English game.

England did quite well last night, and not in the way of dominating the game like Slovakia, but in creating chances, taking them, and coming back from a possible tie. It would have been the first time our Italian would have tasted anything less than victory, and John Terry saved that possibility. It was not silky, it was not smooth, but it was the result we needed.

Peter Crouch played vindicator and scored a nice volley, and so did Shevchenko, who did not even get to start. The commentator gave him that lucky “commentator poison” where if they say you’re playing well, you fluff. This time it came out as “Will Shevchenko score on his manager’s debut much like Crouch” and quite literally, he did. It was a lucky break as it hit awkwardly of Johnson (who I believe is slotting very well into Right Back by the way), and fell for the Ukrainian.

Although Lennon played quite well, Capello went in for the delivery master of Mr. Beckham. I presume he went this way as it seemed that open-play was not providing the same luxuries as the previous Wembley encounter. And in the 86th minute it paid off, by “Stevie G” (eek McLaren flashbacks) down to Terry who nicked it in at the post. I stomped my feet and jumped for joy, although Capello looked like Rocky with his face of iron. Yet when the whistle blew, he gave a few pumps of his arms to say “job well done” although I’m sure some players got a rollicking.

In other news, Diego Maradona’s (as now it may not be called…) Argentina got thrashed by Bolivia. Yes that’s right, Bolivia. They said something about high altitudes, I don’t know what kind of excuse that is; kind of reminds me of the high temperature one of the boys in red and white a few years ago. I was in the same heat on my Germany vacation in 2006, and it wasn’t that bad. It doesn’t make your feet fall off, or your goalies fingers break so it is quite a pathetic excuse.

I hope he either A) Get’s fired soon or; and this one would really make me happy; B) Loses drastically to England in South Africa. I would pay to keep one of those Diego tears in a jar; it would be worth as much as his hand, as Argentineans seem to think it is gods. I don’t have anything against Diego as a footballer, he was one of the best, and only a right-old-stick-in-the-mud would think any different. However, he is a cheater no matter what you say, and also an addict. He was much like George Best minus the charm in my opinion. Perhaps if I spoke Spanish I’d think he was a right old-so-and-so, but I don’t so I won’t.

Also Sven got fired from Mexico, as they lost 7 out of 8 matches. Despite a nice 2-0 result on Saturday it was not enough to save the Swede from the second firing in 2 years. I have respect for Sven, and believe he got very unlucky with injuries and refereeing decisions. His pick of squads were fine, and he did not have the same circus as McLaren. I know there are a few teams looking for Managers, and perhaps Newcastle would have appointed him if they would have known.

I do hope that the Toons don’t receive a Diego-special anytime soon, as they have Mr. Owen who is one of my favourite players, and it would be shame to see them drop. Of course, I still think Owen will move on either way, and to the Boys in Light-Blue.

So it appears that the missing “?” from my blog yesterday is Peter Crouch, RoboKop himself. Now, I have no problems about him being in the England frame, nor do I believe this is a mistake. With the current 4-3-3 formation it will probably work well, as Crouch can knock balls down for Steve/Wayne with ease. He is also one of the (the?) best in the air for corners, free kicks, and dead ball situations.

If Mr. Beckham is on the pitch, we have a good chance of reverting to the “knock the ball of the goal post”, and by post I mean Crouch. He is such an easy target to hit, for a man that can hit a flea out of the air at 20 yards. Of course if Lennon starts, we may find him completely useless in many respects, unless he has been playing darts and really going for the bulls-eye… although I have a feeling Beckham will start and he may thank the injuries for that. We’ll see.

Although I would like to point out that Ashley Young is better than Downing, Lennon, and dare I say it Walcott and Joe Cole? Perhaps not Joe Cole, as he is quite an exceptional player when fit. Yet Ashley is much younger, and not only has the moves to beat his man, but also the pace that Joe does not have. He crosses very well, due to the fact that he is in a team coached by O’Neil who loves wing play, and has team members like Carew and Heskey in the frame.

So either way, here’s to Crouch getting a few knock downs for the Dynamic Duo of the Slovakiagame, and perhaps a few knock-ins of his own. As far as the mystical Shevchenko, I’m sorry,but he’ll go missing like a milk box picture.

And I wanted to just write a brief point about Alan Shearer being appointed the Newcastle manager. Now this feels a lot like when Maradona was made boss of Argentina, scary in that neither has experience, but also exciting due to their careers with the teams. I wish the best to the man, as he was great for both England and the Toons.

So with another England Qualifier on the immediate horizon, of course we have yet another debate about whether Michael Owen should be in the team. Now, I merit Fabio Capello’s choice to only pick fit players, and not only fit, but in form. It is an important rule for him to follow, simply to put down the ego and self-righteousness that was appearing in the squad under McLaren. Before Capello many players must have believed they could do no wrong, and as they were the best at their position in the land, they would be picked regardless of a slump in form.

Not quite, it would seem. Fabio picks those who barely got into the frame in prior years, and if we are talking about strike force then we must talk of Darren Bent. He has been called up yet again into the Capello regime now that Heskey, Cole, and Crouch appeared injured or in doubt. Now I don’t know about you, but does Darren Bent instill you with confidence? I mean, when he’s playing against the bottom 3 or something like that in the EPL then maybe, but he is a confidence man and he hasn’t been getting much of a run in at Spurs in the past competitive games.

He did have a good start under Harry, but has seemed to fade and now we see the Big Russian and the Irish-journey-man come footballer up front. So this pick seems to discourage the belief about form. Also we all know that when Owen was scoring for Newcastle (2 in 3 games for instance at the start of the season) he still missed out on the frame. I believe Owen has fallen somewhat victim to the “make an example” routine, and I fear for his future involvement.

Yet as so eloquently put in many newspapers recently, if we’re playing Argentina, Brazil, Spain, Italy for instance and a ball drops in the box to a striker, who do you want on the ball? Darren Bent? Jermaine Defoe? How about Emile Heskey or Peter Crouch? Yes, I didn’t think so. It’s blindingly obvious we’d all want it to be Mr. 40 goals in 89 games. He is terrific at poaching goals, he is a proven scorer in tight situations. He is the only man to have scored against the 4 teams above in recent times, and for a good reason. I do not think we have another striker who can match his off-the-ball movement except Rooney.

As in my blog a few days ago, Rooney and Owen is a good match, it is one I’d like to see. And as Capello wants to play the “4-3-3” with 2 “freedom fighters” moving around as they please, with a dedicated strike man… and of course I can see why having a hold up player is useful… why not have a proven striker there instead? Having Owen on the shoulders of defenders will make them close down on him, which allows Rooney and Gerrard the space they o-so-crave. I am looking forward to the game against Ukraine, but for some strange reason, I always feel bad for Owen.

I don’t know if it’s the nostalgia of THAT goal against Argentina. Or the many more he has scored (including the hat-trick against Germany in the legendary 5-1 defeat). All I know is there is always a place for Owen in the hearts of the English fan and players, and that when you see three of our strikers limp off, you figure that at least Owen could be in the frame, or on the bench, in case you need to call on proven confidence.

I leave you with this diagram; you fill in the missing link:

			?
Rooney				Gerrard
	Beckham/Lennon		Barry/Carrick	Lampard
Cole		Ferdinand	Terry	Johnson
			James/Foster

Today I was thinking about what would be more important to me. If Manchester United won the “quintuple” or even down the road, every trophy that was possible; could that eclipse a trophy won by England. Well, it began as a question that I pondered, and then it came to me. Of course it would be more important for me to see England win a major trophy.

I came to this conclusion by remembering what it felt like when we won the EPL last year, and the Champions League. I think the manner of which we won the Champions League was not the best (penalties), and it played my nerves so that I did jump for joy. However, when I gave foresight to what it would feel like to see John Terry and Co. lift the World Cup, it was obvious.

The underlying reason is I have been on this earth for 26 years and not even see us go past the Semi-Finals of a major trophy. We have not reached a final since winning it. There is a video of the Lightning Seeds song “Bringing Football Home”, and in the video is the Southgate penalty miss against West Germany in the European Championship. The commentator says “Gareth Southgate, the entire of England is behind you”, and he misses. Even to this day I watch that small clip, with those commentators’ words, and it chokes me up a bit.

It would be so damn good to see the boys lift the World Cup in 2010 that I cannot truly put it into words. There are few other things in my life that would mean more to be honest. Obviously the birth and life of my children, my wife, and my family trump it by a long shot! Yet as far as significant events, I would remember everything about that day for the rest of my life. That’s how important winning that trophy is for the fans, and indeed the people of the country.

Go ask the many supporters of International teams whose countries have yet to won the Cup, they’ll tell you what it means. All the way to Brazil who has the original trophy sitting in their cabinet, and boast the most wins by a Country. They would still bite your hand off for the Cup; and judging by their form in the past two competitions, they would be fortunate to receive it, ironically enough. It is THE trophy to win, out of all sports, all countries, it is so important. Now perhaps if the USA team won, it wouldn’t be received the same as in England, but you can bet they would love it, and we’d never hear the end of it!

I don’t think anyone would bemoan England getting a trophy, except of course at the other teams expense that we play. It’s been a long time coming, and I can’t tell you as I said before, what it would mean to me, and my brother. My father and mother still remember us winning in 1966, and I really don’t want to pass away never seeing it happen for us. It would be terrible, to say the least!

Now the European Cup would be nice, but we all know it’s the World Cup that truly matters. Usually the team that wins the Euro has a firm chance in winning the World Cup barring issues with the team selection. Spain looks the favorites for the World Cup, and I wouldn’t argue it. They looked exceptional against us in Madrid. The reason the World cup is the be-all-end-all in sports is mainly due to the amount of teams that compete, and the duration between events.

I found it hard to get solid numbers on the total amount of countries to compete, as many sites say things like “As there are a large number of countries in this continent there are preliminary rounds prior to qualification to narrow down” which makes it hard to determine the prior numbers. However, once the groups have all been “narrowed down” 166 countries will compete in 6 continents (UEFA, CAF, CONMEBOL, CONCACAF, AFC, OFC). So when you think that there are 4 years between each cup that gives an amazing amount of possibilities (its not a permutation I want to take the time to figure out).

Yet the important things to note, with all these countries, only 7 nations have the bragging rights of a World Cup win, and bare the star on their chest. It dominated by Europe and South America only (the asterix represents host nation, representing 6/18 or 33%):

Interesting that Brazil are the only team who hasn't won it when they have hosted it (just runner up in 1950). This means that judging by the average lifespan of a male (the lesser of the two…) in the World (some countries make this number much lower) is 66.12 years as of 2008. That would mean that at best you can watch the Cup at 4 years old so that gives you 62 years. If the Cup happens to start right when you turn 4, it gives you 15 World Cups to watch. And to be honest, at 4, you wouldn’t even care would you? You want to be at least 12 I would say, so that cuts out 2 Cups down to 13. Considering I have watched 4 already this knocks me down to 9 Cups in my lifetime.

I hope to live way past 66 to a ripe old age of 85 or so, so I’m hoping for 20 Cups. In this vein, that is why if England life the World Cup, and secondarily the European Cup, I will be a very, very, very, happy man. It will never surpass my family, or my health, but it will definitely have a spot in my top 5 life moments!

The Guardian, BBC, and others printed articles about Wayne Rooney’s petulance that I mentioned in my prior blog on the Fulham game. As I had wrote, it was not a smart thing to do, but you couldn’t blame the lad for being upset over the decision (retaken free kick) and the subsequent sending off. Given the current circumstance, most people would be annoyed; I know players on my own team would have done worse!

It has been written that Capello said to Rooney “What were you doing punching the corner flag? You're a crazy man, a crazy man”. Now, I understand what he means by this in that he didn’t need to show further anger, but again I personally don’t blame him. The Capello regime is all about control, control of the strategy, control of the tactics, and importantly control of the players. He wants Wayne to control his temperament as he is well aware other teams use it against him.

Beckham has defended Rooney, and drew parallels to his own misgivings when he was “younger”. It does make me feel a little older when I think how perfectly I remember his sending off, and he was a long haired 20 something, like Rooney (well without the hair). We often forget how young Rooney is, due to how long he has been on the scene. He started at Everton when he was just 16 and for England when he was 17. That’s almost 7 years of International experience, where some of our players are 28 and have only a few (Barry for instance).

As Beckham has said, “Taking that away from a player is dangerous, it changes him.” And lets all remember, it’s not just “a player”, it is England’s future captain and most deadly striker since Mr. Owen. I really wish they hadn’t had some kind of tango dance where one was injured when the other one was fit, as I truly believe they are a match made in heaven. Especially when Owen still had pace to burn, as the natural style of Rooney’s assist play and striking ability allows a poacher like Owen room to breathe.

The defenders are so out of sorts from Rooney’s movement and vision that Owen can sneak in all over the place. Yet that’s pointless, as it seems that Owen is more and more fading out of International view. Although I am looking at the striker line-up, with now hearing Crouch is a doubt, thinking it’s another Heskey Rooney partnership. It’s not a bad one, and served us well, but is it even close to a World Cup wining partnership? That’s for Capello to decide, and my faith is firmly with the man.

When I read about the whole Harry debacle with King, I thought to myself: Good on you, mate, don’t let these managers tell you who is fit, who is hungry. That is for the England manager to decide, and he has every right to talk to him. Harry may employ him, yet so does the FA in a vaguer context. He also has a right to play for his country, like all (most?) players do. I think King is a good player, but rarely get to see him, and I am sure that is the same for Capello. If Terry and Rio get injured come 2010, he needs someone to partner Lescott. Perhaps Jagielka is a good choice, but he needs a sub and options if his starting duo is injured.

People have been mentioning that Capello must know King can’t play many games, surely he must read the paper and no this. Yes… Fabio Capello the winner of the league at every team he has managed reads the morning Gazette to find out about fitness of his players. I’m 100% sure that he completely avoids the rubbish in the papers, and good on him. Capello is a hard man, and it’s perfect for an ego inflated team that England has become. Harry needs to shut up in my opinion, as he is an idiot to think he could have got the same results as Capello. Harry would be giving them fish and chips and spitting cockney love; while Capello demands respect and results and it shows (with the highest winning percentage by any manager, although only after 8 games).

I have been thinking about this for a couple of days now, and I am proud to say that a more than a few Englishman can now fit into this Best XI. Before it was very tough to justify including them, but now I think they are well justified as per the English teams performance in both International level and of course in the Champions League.

Considering that 7/11 of the members of UNITED that won the Champions League final of 07/08 were British that says a lot. I believe Chelsea’s number was also something along the lines of 5-6 British. I should also point out I do; for once in my life; agree with Seth Blatter that the 5/6 rule of domestic talent will help football in general, but most importantly our national sides.

Yes my picks have a heavy UNITED feel to it; but being the World Club champions it is hardly surprising.

All that being said, here is the current Best XI in my humble opinion:

	David Villa	Wayne Rooney
Cristiano Ronaldo	Ryan Giggs	Xabi Alonso	Lionel Messi
Patrice Evra	Rio Ferdinand	Nemanja Vidic	Carles Puyol
	Petr Cech

I could easily take out Giggs/Alonso and fit in people like Essien, and others, but on current form I’d say they take the cake. The back line is ¾ UNITED, and I’d like people to tell me that its biased, as it just isn’t. We have the best defensive record, including boasting records such as the Longest Unbeaten Run in the Champions League (still ongoing), our goal-keeper went 1302 minutes without conceding in all competitions, and set the record for Longest Unbeaten run in the Premier League.

I think that team would be immensely strong. I could also switch out Villa for Drogba depending on what kind of team I was going against. I’d probably drop Rooney and go with Drogba if I was playing a 4-5-1 and go with Hargreaves when fit in defensive midfield. If I had to pick a fit defensive midfielder, it would be tough as they are a dieing breed, but would have to go with someone like Gennaro Gattuso as I love the work ethic.