Comments on: Fabio Capello and England’s Future

By: Chris in Weipa QLD

Chris in Weipa QLD — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 11:25:16 +0000

Ben Foster in goal when fit. If not Manual Almunia would have to be ahead of Carlo Cudicini who hardly ever plays top flight.
Nicky Shorey in defence?
James Harper of Reading plays week in week out and is a under rated key to there side I’d put him in the squad for midfield very dependable and a great athlete.
Gabriel Agbonlahor is an absolute certainty him and Rooney should be the front two.
Steven Taylor of Newcastle has been very consistant?
Andy Johnson could still do a job if given a decent run.
Jermaine Pennant ahead of SWP/Lennon – David Bentley ahead of all of them.
Scott Parker and Steve Sidwell have alot of potentual.
Matt Taylor and Kevin Nolan at Bolton could be worth keeping an eye on.
Dean Ashton is a good old fashioned target man as is Kenwyne Jones at Sunderland.
Michael Johnson at Manchester City – Eriksson rates him very highly.
The old school have been given it too easy that they are always going to be selected give some of the lesser known players a chance they are bound to have more guts and passion to win than the over paid pre-madonna’s!

By: grognard

grognard — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 17:15:20 +0000

YES AHMED I KNOWW he is great for man utd, however his performances for england are below par and he will be punished for them by capello, mark my words

By: Ahmed Bilal

Ahmed Bilal — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 09:23:59 +0000

also worth noting: FA pushing for National Football Centre.

By: Ahmed Bilal

Ahmed Bilal — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 08:13:22 +0000

I forgot about Spurs!

Robinson (please not again), King (always injured), Dawson (not ahead of Brown), Jenas (too lightweight and behind Carrick at best), Lennon (it should between him and SWP on the right, although both can switch flanks if necessary), Defoe and Bent (good strikers and should be given a shot with England – perhaps not ahead of Owen and Rooney, but definitely ahead of Crouch and Smith and Heskey).

By: Ahmed Bilal

Ahmed Bilal — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 07:46:24 +0000

And THIS is how an England manager should do his first press conference: Capello unveiled as England coach. Said the things that really matter, instead of meaningless PR bullshit.

By: Ahmed Bilal

Ahmed Bilal — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 07:43:55 +0000

iqnadirshah – where are the best English players playing at the moment? Stevie G / Carragher at Pool, Terry / Lamps / Ashley Cole / SWP / Joe Cole at Chelsea, Rio / Brown / Nev / Hargo / Carrick / Rooney at United. After that you have Villa / Newcastle / Arsenal with a handful of players.

I’m picking the team as I see it, yes, I would prefer United players but I’m not daft enough to pick Carrick ahead of Gerrard or Brown ahead of Carragher – I know which players are better.

SWP links up fantastically well with Richards, that’s why he’s there.

Brown can play right-back or center-back, gives the team some flexibility (unless you want Carragher to play right-back). Ideally you’d have someone like O’Shea who can play across the back four but we don’t have an all-purpose English defender that’s good enough to play internationally yet.

Grognard – watch Rio play for United – and then tell me.

Hugo – Joe Cole is played on the left side and his tendency to cut in ruins any chances England have of creating attacks from the left flank. That’s why I chose someone like Downing or Young or SWP for the wings, someone who can use that width naturally. Walcott could slot in as well if necessary.

Joe’s not a first-choice England player – he’s not great on the left and centrally he has too much competition. His best use would be as an impact player for England.

AK – you haven’t watched england enough if you think SWP is not a good option – in the qualifiers he was often one of our best players. Becks is great, I’m his biggest fan but his role is from the bench.

Downing – already dealt with that above.

Would like to see Agbonlahor as well.

By: ak

ak — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 00:53:29 +0000

wright phillips and downing????
u have seriously lost your head!
we either stick to the best we got: beckham and joe cole or build for the future in bentley and ashley young
wright phillips and downing would be a backward step, unless they are unbelieveable club form, neither should be considered for england.
would like 2 see agbonlahor involved as well. hes got loads of pace and is also good in the air

By: Hugo Steckelmacher

Hugo Steckelmacher — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 22:57:08 +0000

Read ‘creative’ for ‘central’.

By: Hugo Steckelmacher

Hugo Steckelmacher — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 22:56:42 +0000

Joe Cole is a good enough central midfielder.

By: The Artful Lounger

The Artful Lounger — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 16:38:23 +0000

I’m curious why Carrick isn’t mentioned more often. Granted, he’s grossly off-form at the moment but he does the simple things well – passing and retaining possession. Scholes will never return to international football. Carrick (if fit) is a viable alternative. Not as good as the master himself but at least, will provide variety to the game as opposed to the same old mix of Lampard and Gerrard.

To be fair to his doubters, he hasn’t always impressed when called on.

Another thing I’d like to see is experimentation with players from the so-called smaller clubs. Loew has done that with Germany whenever the occasion permits it and it gives him a view as to how to survive when an injury crisis hits.

And iqnadirshah – it’s not a United bias necessarily. As pointed out, United and Chelsea are the major clubs still with a strong British core. The laws of probabiity will ensure United players will feature in the mix.