England wins as Capello learns
Difficult times ahead for the Italian tactician
Italian tactician Fabio Capello watched his first England selection, scrap their way to a 2-1 victory over a Switzerland team that haven’t being playing too well in their last few games.
The England side saw the likes of David Beckham who is awaiting his 100th cap, Michael Owen, Frank Lampard and John Terry. Beckham hasn’t played enough games recently,while the other are either injured or just recovering.
I understand Fabio very well being a Real Madrid supporter. I know how he works and what he expects, though i think he will struggle to express himself in English through these early stages.
So how did the team play?
I was a little shocked to see David James in goal, although secretly excited. David Bentley played fantastic, as well as Joe Cole. Our Main striker Rooney never got into the game, he had a few clear changes and scuffed them. Peter Crouch, i just don’t rate him. He reminds me of Rodney from Only Fools and Horses. Both the full backs, Ashley Cole and Wes Brown tried and failed the 1-2 passing to their wingers therefore leaving huge gaps in the defence.
The game itself was very fast with always makes for silly mistakes, England needs to learn how to play slow thinking football, not quick passing and running.
I flicked over the tv channel to watch Brazil against Ireland, what a difference. When a Brazilian had the ball, he had about 2 meters of space around him, had time to look and make a perfect pass to a team mate also in meters of space. It was flowing football, easy on the eyes and entertaining. Flicking back to England, it was every running at the same ball in bunches, no space, no time to look for a pass, no team mate in space.
I think Fabio Capello has his work cut out as the expectation on England is huge but the players he has to pick from are not known worldwide as other countries such as Italy and Germany. To make a national team you MUST have players who are playing in the Champions League and UEFA cup. Playing just in the Premier League and FA Cup is not good enough, all the top players in the world play in the Champions League no matter what nationality. How many English players do we have playing in the Champions League? Well here’s a list.
DEFENDERS
- Ashley Cole - Chelsea
- Wayne Bridge - Chelsea
- John Terry - Chelsea
- Jamie Carragher - Liverpool
- Gary Neville - Man Utd
- Rio Ferdinand - Man Utd
- Wes Brown - Man Utd
MIDFIELDERS
- Joe Cole - Chelsea
- Frank Lampard - Chelsea
- Shaun Wright-Phillips - Chelsea
- Steven Gerrard - Liverpool
- Owen Hargreaves - Man Utd
- Paul Scholes - Man Utd
ATTACKERS
- Peter Crouch - Liverpool
- Wayne Rooney - Man Utd
- Theo Walcott - Arsenal
The biggest problem we have is……We have no GOALKEEPER. As Jimmy Sirrell once said to me,
“your goalkeeper is the most important player in your team, your defence needs to have complete confidence in the goalie as well as the whole team”
Yet England only have Premier League goalkeepers. Portsmouth, Wigan nor Aston Villa play in the UEFA Cup. Here, have a look at our current England Squad, not the greatest eh!
