EPL Talk » Fabio Capello

The Club v Country Debate

Jesse Chula — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 14:16:44 +0000

He’s my hero of sorts, the integral piece of the attacking puzzle to my beloved Manchester United and my (adopted) country of England. He’s the bulldog who never gives up, the born leader with enough natural footballing talent to make the recently departed Cristiano Ronaldo raise an eye in disbelief and possibly realize United haven’t missed him quite as much as we all once thought.

He carries the hopes of a nation and doesn’t even mind. He shrugs off pressure like he shrugs off central defenders. He won’t slow down, he loves playing too much. He’s uncommonly balanced an incredible on-field and quiet off-field life, all the while being tipped as the next world great,….

Even heroes make mistakes.

As Paul Scholes was, well, Paul Scholes on Saturday, Manchester United unconvincingly found their way back to the summit of the Premier League with a 1-0 win at Wolves while neutrals and United fans simultaneously agreed on the deserved and well earned position that United have craved for some months. All this glory and pomp occurred in Wolverhampton, England at Molineux as the infallible Wayne Rooney was left home “unavailable” with a swollen knee.

The 24-year old Rooney was already struggling with a knee knock before last weekend’s Carling Cup final (wherein he scored the winning goal) but still found time to play 86 minutes in an International Friendly v Egypt on a disastrous Wembley pitch – a pitch so infamous it claimed another hammy as United striker and England old boy Michael Owen limped off in the same Carling Cup final where Rooney was hero with a season ending tear.

“I don’t think he should have played on Wednesday“, vented Sir Alex Ferguson. Without ten more Fergie quotes, the boss went on to let his discontent be known stating Rooney’s enthusiasm for all things “kicking a ball” as his potential downfall. This all raises the age old debate of club v country where countless footballers past, present and future have or will succumb to injury, or will fail to take valuable r&r when available (most recently see under Robin van Persie for the Netherlands and Arsenal, but the list is a mile long).

Reports suggest Rooney could now be out for the Champions League second leg return match at Old Trafford this Wednesday v AC Milan where United hold the slimmest of margins in the aggregate scoreline (3-2).

So, how do solve a problem like a’Rooney?

Ultimately it’s a conundrum that the finest footballing minds don’t necessarily want to tackle, how do you slow down a lion that doesn’t want to be stopped? It’s Rooney’s thirst for football, his work rate, his passion, his competitive nature and his addiction to performing at the highest possible level, at least in this situation, that has eventually been his downfall. The proof is all there, he’s taken a risk (the England friendly) and will unfortunately have to pay a price (missing the Premier League match v Wolves and possibly the Champions League mach on Wednesday) before we know how serious the injury is.

Maybe this knee knock is minor, maybe he’ll return with enough strength to take United to the Champions League final and Premier League title, maybe he’ll lead England to the grandest prize in world football, trust me, I would take all three of those, but they’re concealed complexities that rest on deciding factors other than Wayne Rooney’s ability alone.

Was Rooney right in playing out 86 minutes last Wednesday for England in a game that in the grand scheme of England’s World Cup hopes didn’t mean much? Does Fabio Capello have any blame in this matter? Surely he knows how valuable Rooney is to Manchester United’s title hopes. England fans will remember seeing Chelsea’s Frank Lampard pulled after the half, why risk Rooney another 45 minutes with England fringe players ready and willing?

Does the sole responsibility come down to Rooney himself? Should he be able to manage his own playing time with country without Fergie butting in?

I believe Rooney should have played a much smaller part in the England friendly or pulled his name from availability all together. The week off would have been just what he needed as the business end of the season fast approaches. Ultimately this rest would have gone a long way to securing his World Cup fitness, he’ll need as much rest as possible between now and the summer.

What are your thoughts on the club v country debate?

The England Outsiders#1 The Goalkeepers

Paul Bestall — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 21:04:31 +0000

The halcyon days of the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s were apparently a boom time in England’s glorious history of great goalkeepers. From the benchmark that was the great Gordon Banks and his understudy, Peter Springett, to the rotation of Ray Clemence and Peter Shilton in the 70’s and early 1980’s, England always had a top class goalkeeper.

As Chris Woods and then David Seaman continued the tradition, despite every other pundit claiming the English goalkeeper was a dying breed, but until Seaman’s retirement from England duty in 2002, that looked an empty prediction. Since then England’s number one has rotated between David James, Paul Robinson, Scott Carson, with sporadic appearances from Robert Green, Ben Foster, Chris Kirkland and Joe Hart. An unusual situation after decades of stability between the sticks, which clarifies a pressing issue for Capello. Just who can he trust with the number one shirt?

The obvious choice is David James, but the situation at Portsmouth has had far reaching consequences. James found himself in a situation were Portsmouth wouldn’t play him as it would trigger a clause in his contract rewarding him with an extension. Of course, being the goalkeeper of a side marooned at the foot of the Premiership table and with a worrying tendency to implode under pressure, is James really the best English goalkeeper?

Euro 2004 saw James’ performances came under criticism after admitting he hadn’t studied French set pieces, when England were undone by 5 minutes of madness in the opening game of the tournament. A penalty from Henry and a free kick from Zidane saw England collapse and ultimately end up with the harder run of the tournament.

Yet since those rickets, consistency has returned to his game and as one of English footballs more eloquent footballers, James would be one of the three goalkeepers for me and probably keep the No.1 shirt unless his form completely collapses before the end of the season.The other two places are realistically up for grabs.

To all intents and purposes, the stand out English goalkeeper of the Premiership season has been Joe Hart and what a season. He’s certainly been one of the key reasons that Birmingham City have had such a successful season so far. In fact,I was stunned that Hart didn’t make his second appearance for England in Wednesday nights friendly against Egypt. I’ve been very impressed with his form throughout the season and felt for him when Manchester City splashed out big bucks to bring Shay Given to Eastlands in January 2009.

One criticism that seemingly comes Hart’s way from some quarters is his age. It seems a perennial English trait that players are perpetually too young to play for their country. Hart has plenty of international experience, with his time with the Under-21 squad even scoring a penalty for his country. Yes, it may not be the same level of intensity, but competition experience is invaluable, what ever level it is achieved at. The future England custodian of the gloves for me and a shoe in for the second goalkeeping place.

The final place is the one that several people have a real chance of grabbing, but I’ll rule out the three who I wouldn’t consider. Poor Scott Carson, another one who was touted as the future of English goalkeeper until a wet night at Wembley in 2007 that saw the end of the dreadful Steve Mclaren reign. Critics blamed the pitch, oblivious to the wonderful football that Croatia played. Tactically inept and with his powers of spin unable to cover his failings, Mclaren went down taking Carson’s England career with it.

He’s never recovered and several high profile mistakes last season saw his hopes of an England recall all but disappear. Carson simply hasn’t had any luck with certain mistakes perhaps over analysed in the media but I think this World Cup has come too soon for him. Add to that with him not playing Premiership football as well coupled with not being the best English goalkeeper in the Championship and it’s doubtful he’ll get a sniff unless bubonic plague strikes the England goalkeeper set up.

Chris Kirkland is another that time has not been kind to. Touted as the next great England keeper, injuries stalled his career development and it is only in the last couple of seasons that he has managed to get a consistent level of appearances together. The irony of goalkeeping was shown in no clearer light than on November 22nd when Kirkland conceded 9 goals in Wigan’s mauling at the hands of Tottenham.

Remarkably, without Kirkland, Spurs would have probably scored more, he saved a further 7 shots on target. Classed as injury prone, despite playing over 80 league games in his last 3 seasons, Kirkland has fallen behind Hart and would currently be 5th in my opinion. At 28, time is certainly not against him, but it’ll be a major surprise if he gets back to England duty.

Ben Foster currently can’t get on Manchester United’s bench which says it all and he is a real pickle at Old Trafford. Bags of potential but I don’t care how good you are, playing for Manchester United reserves occasionally isn’t anywhere near the level of getting in to the England set up. I’ve a real fear that he could disappear like Richard Wright did after joining Arsenal and then a disjointed spell at Everton. Now back at Ipswich Town, his is a career of real missed chances.

Which brings me to my final two choices. Paul Robinson and Robert Green. Last night Capello seemed to give Green the chance to prove he could be part of the squad by playing the whole 90 minutes of the friendly. This seemingly would draw a curtain on Paul Robinson’s chances of making the squad unless James, Hart or Green falls injured. Green didn’t really have much to do and he has certainly been fairly consistent over the last 3 seasons at West Ham United.

So overall I think Capello will pick James, Green and Hart with Robinson as 4th choice on stand by. The wild card would be Chris Kirkland but overall, I think Fabio will stick with the devil he knows but what do you think??

The Outsiders Chasing A Place In The England World Cup Squad

Paul Bestall — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 23:34:48 +0000

Tomorrow sees that magical mark of 100 days until the 19th World Cup begins and the chase for places outside of the main names is really beginning to hot up. Fabio Capello will probably have a definite idea of around 10 names who will certainly be on the plane to South Africa injury willing. James, Terry, Ferdinand, Gerrard, Lampard, Barry, Rooney, Defoe, Milner and Beckham will probably be certain of inclusion but for once, the rest of the squad would seem to be all to play for.

Over the next few days, I’ll be casting my eye over some of the outsiders and squad players who will be hoping to be involved this summer and make a real name for themselves. Some may be reliant on players failing to recover from injury, some will be hoping to force themselves in to the reckoning and some will fall at the final cut off point. I’ll be looking at who and where the chances apply and why I think they should or shouldn’t go to South Africa.

Suffice to say, several positions have opened up through injury and whilst no-one wants to miss out, sometimes injury can allow players who may not have been chosen to push forward into the squad. England, in recent big tournaments has seen certain players stamp there mark on big tournaments for differing reasons.

John Barnes in 1986 and 1990 saw both sides of the coin. An electric substitute appearance against Argentina in the 1986 World Cup was well remembered, Barnes’ absence through injury in 1990 saw the side progress to the semi-finals. After years of sub-par England performances, the 1990 World Cup was the nadir for his international career as the fans grew tired of his failure to replicate his phenomenal league performances at international level.

Peter Beardsley also saw his international stock rise in 1986 and formed a fabulous partnership with Gary Lineker, but only with England facing expulsion in the first round. After replacing Mark Hateley in the starting line up against Poland, Beardsley never looked back and slotted in for the next 5 seasons.

Mark Wright, for many, England’s stand out centre half in the run up to 1986, missed the tournament after breaking a leg. His replacement, Terry Fenwick is not favourably remembered by many England fans. Wright would show his true quality in the 1990 tournament, scoring the goal that allowed England to progress into the knock out stages and continue to play until injury finally caught up with him.

David Platt was another who made a name for himself through the misfortune of another. A peripheral player, it was Bryan Robson’s injury against Belgium that saw Platt write his name in England’s history, with a winner in the last minute of extra time in the same match. That effectively ended Robson’s international career, whilst Platt’s reputation went through the roof.

David Beckham will always remember 1998 in France for all the wrong reasons, but pushed those memories to one side when he scored the winner against Argentina in 2002. Beckham, at the time, was playing his best football of his career, probably since that sending off in St. Etienne. That red card made him the player he became in my eyes and pushed him upward towards the iconic status he holds in English football these days.

Overall though, the next 3 months will see several players try everything in their power to make that final squad of 23 that will embark to the base of Rustenberg in June. There are spaces in the England team, no doubt about it, perhaps more than we can think of right now, but I honestly think 8 squad places are up for grabs and I’ll cover who I think can make it over the next few days. Please leave me your comments and thoughts on who you’d like to see in Fabio’s final 23.

Chelsea Are Fast Becoming An Off Field Joke That Could Ruin England’s Summer

Paul Bestall — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 22:23:35 +0000

The Marquis De Sade was never short of a quote or two, but one that currently could be applied to certain members of Chelsea’s first team squad at the current time sprang to mind after today’s latest off field crisis at Stamford Bridge. “Lust is to the other passions what the nervous fluid is to life; it supports them all, lends strength to them all ambition, cruelty, avarice, revenge, are all founded on lust.” Now if there is one thing that I can’t abide in these celebrity soaked times, it is the celebrity sex scandal. Unfortunately, at this current time in the U.K., we can’t escape them

Especially when it seems to be a repeat performance emanating from the Kings Road in West London with a tiresome familiarity. Here we are, on the cusp of a World Cup, England’s overrated golden generation’s last chance to justify the guff, spin and marketing spiel that has surrounded them for the last decade. Just when it seemed the correct manager was in place to finally pull these egotistical bottlers to heel and create a side that finally delivered, we discover that several of them just can’t behave.

Now, I’m of the opinion that Ashley Cole is the best left back in world football, by quite some considerable distance, yet he’s such an unlikable character that it’s difficult to keep your personal view of him from tainting that fact. If there was ever a poster boy for what happens when you blow smoke up some one’s backside, throw money at them and allow them to behave as the wish with no thought of the consequences, then Ashley’s the result.

That animosity towards Cole probably began with his very ill advised autobiography, back in 2006 and one particular quote. “When I heard Jonathan Barnett (Cole’s agent) repeat the figure of £55K, I nearly swerved off the road. He (former Arsenal Director David Dein) is taking the piss Jonathan! I yelled down the phone. I was so incensed. I was trembling with anger. I couldn’t believe what I’d heard.”

Swapping North London for West London in an undercover deal that was sprung in a restaurant didn’t help either and saw William Gallas swap places for Cole. It seems if you constantly give Cole the sensible option or the detached from reality option, he will always go for the latter much to everyone’s chagrin. Like a moody teenager, Cole seems to be his own worst enemy, creating a personality so loathed that the media queue up to take pop shots at him.

Now, I’m not spinning this tale out due to his wife’s unfeasible success here in the U.K., as it seems she is now held up as the nations sweetheart somehow, but if all this off field nonsense was bad enough, Cole fractured his ankle two weeks ago and faces a race to be fit for the World Cup. Recovery from injury is a tough enough ask, but when you’re faced with both a 15 week window, if not less, to prove his fitness and an impending and very costly divorce, life for young Ashley couldn’t be worse.

Of course, the irony in all this is that one of his dalliances has been outed as an employee of Liverpool F.C. and one lets out a sigh of inane boredom by the sheer stupidity of the situation, entirely of Cole’s own making. Capello has got England playing their best football in years, giving them a swagger and a confidence that had been completely destroyed under the dark 15 months of Steve Mclaren’s reign. I’m not angry that Cole’s cheated on his wife for what seems like the umpteenth time, I’m angry that he’s been stupid enough to put Englands chances of winning the World Cup in jeopardy.

Yes, he may have not got there through injury, but we needed our best team to be completely focused on his football. It seems being married to a pop star, earning £110,000 per week and playing for Chelsea and England simply isn’t enough to keep this mans mind on his game. Going on current form, I doubt he’s got much of mind to use, but still, its like the lunatics have taken over the asylum. It seems that England’s chances are being derailed by the behavior of certain players detached from the position they hold in country’s psyche. Grow up the lot of you, the joke isn’t funny anymore.

Can Joe Hart Become England’s Number One?

Paul Bestall — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 21:07:50 +0000

With just over 15 weeks left until the 19th World Cup begins in South Africa and one player is making a real case to force his way in to the starting line up. Joe Hart could have been put out by Manchester City signing Shay Given last January, a smack in the face for his aspirations to make himself City’s number one. Thankfully for Hart, Alex McLeish rode to the rescue in the summer taking the young stopper to Birmingham City on a season long loan and what an inspired piece of business it has turned out to be.

Of course, at the beginning of the season, Hart seemed a little unsure of his surroundings and his place at St. Andrews but over the last few months, he has been head and shoulders above every other English goalkeeper in the Premiership. Week by week, Hart’s performances have left his club manager purring and now Fabio Capello has re-affirmed the praise for the shot stopper by announcing he’ll start the friendly match against Egypt next week.

Capello’s reign has been pointed in the fact that he has been careful not to build his players up too much, but saw fit to break from that tradition last week. FAbio stated that “Hart has been fantastic this season and before he made mistakes but he makes fewer now because he plays regularly and has more confidence”. That is a ringing endorsement of the likable Shropshire lad and he now has a chance to make the Number One jersey his own.

With David James embroiled in the daily hell that is Portsmouth’s season, Ben Foster unable to make it on Manchester United’s bench most weeks, though he started tonight’s match against West Ham United and Paul Robinson still seemingly out of favour, Hart has a real chance of taking his place in the starting line up. Of his other rivals for the shirt, Robert Green still shows massive inconsistency on a regular basis, Chris Kirkland’s injury problems still linger in the background and Scott Carson is still making errors in the Championship.

Since he forced his way in to Shrewsbury’s first team back in 2005, ending the season as the Second Division Goalkeeper of the year, Hart has long been expected to eventually force his way in to being an England regular. A consistent performer for England Under 21’s, who showed the strength of his nerves by saving and then scoring a penalty against Sweden in last summers Under-21 European Championships, Hart has now brought that consistency to his league form.

The majority of England’s first team picks itself, but it’s in defence where Capello will beginning to have real concerns about the strength, confidence and fitness. Ashley Cole faces a race to be fit and his wife has left him today, Glen Johnson has also suffered from injury this season, Ferdinand still seems to be struggling with his back and the less said about John Terry the better. Would it be too much to expect Joe Hart to be able to cope with such a fragile looking backline in front of him.

Of course, 15 weeks is a long time in football and all the concerns that currently hang over the English defence may have evaporated by then and Joe Hart will be walking out with the England team for the match against the U.S.A. on June 12th in Rustenberg. I for one would have no fear for the young lad representing us at the World Cup as our starting goalkeeper and I look forward to him starting against Egypt next Wednesday night.

David Beckham Will Not Be Going to South Africa

Eric Altshule — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 11:00:05 +0000

Hello. My name is Fabio Capello. Over the past 18 months, I have been hailed as the savior of English football. Under my stewardship, England easily qualified for the World Cup Finals next year in South Africa. Granted, our qualifying group was fantastically weak, and in our friendlies against other big nations like Spain and Brazil we have come out second best, but no matter. We are going to South Africa and I am taking with me the latest version of “England’s best team in a generation.”

Like all national team coaches, I know that once we land in South Africa, my job is mostly done. My starting XI largely pick themselves, and while a few tactical decisions may impact a thing or two, by the time June rolls around, the cards will have been dealt and I will be trying to best play the hand I have got. I know that my toughest job comes in April when I announce which 23 players will be boarding that plane to South Africa, and at the moment, I have a hard time figuring out how David Beckham is one of them.

All of England may be proclaiming the brilliance of my team, but I am not so convinced. I know I have holes. Rio Ferdinand looks shaky in the back, but he is a lot better than my third central defender, whoever that is. Up front, Wayne Rooney is one of my strikers, but, this past weekend aside, is Jermaine Defoe really the best I have got for that other striker? On the left side of my midfield, I have some good options, but no great ones. However, the one place where I am thick with talent is the right side of the midfield.

Aaron Lennon is terrific. Theo Walcott, who got me off to a great start in Croatia last year, is even better than Lennon when he is fit. Shaun Wright-Philips is having the season we all knew he could have once he got out from his purgatory at Chelsea. Do I have room on my 23 man squad for four right-sided mid fielders? No way. Is David Beckham going to beat out any of these three younger, faster, better players?

For most England fans, the thought of Beckham not being on the team is unimaginable. But most England fans have not watched the tape of all of Beckham’s games with the Los Angeles Galaxy over the past four months. I have. Sure, he has had his moments. He had a great game against Toronto FC a couple of months ago. That pass to Landon Donovan in the second playoff game against Chivas was pretty sweet. He had a couple of other moments that hearken back to his earlier days, but those flashes were far and few between.

Unlike most England fans, I am not just watching the highlights that end up on You Tube. I am watching the whole game, and seeing how often he was stripped of the ball in the midfield, how he labored to get up and down the pitch in a normal game and how many of his passes were easily cut off by defenders that will all be watching the World Cup on TV next year. I also saw that his dead ball skills are on the wane and how goalies I have never heard of easily gobble up those few balls that actually clear the wall. Frankly, if he was on the England team, I cannot think of a scenario where he is my best option to send out on the pitch.

A few of the fellows have told me that they really like having him on the squad and that he is a positive influence in the dressing room. Great, but experience is not in short supply on my team. I have plenty of senior players who know how to inspire my younger guys, and my 23 slots are too valuable to give one away to someone who is just a good dinner companion.

To be honest, by April I don’t think that this decision will be controversial. If the Beckham I have watched over the past four months is the Beckham that shows up next month in Milan, I fear he will be cooking himself for dinner for all to see. Honestly, his body is wearing out. He is at the age where a little knock takes weeks of recovery time. In the MLS, you can spend some of that recovery time actually on the pitch making a contribution, but Serie A is no MLS. The players are too skilled not to see any weakness and exploit it, and a healthy Beckham now has a lot of weaknesses. A dinged up Beckham – well, he will be low-hanging fruit to rest of the teams in Italy. It could be an ugly few months for Beckham in Milan.

I like David Beckham. He showed me a lot of heart back in Madrid. He is one of the main reasons why I have a La Liga medal at home. But I am hard man. Nostalgia does not mean much to me. Players on the pitch who can help me win games are just about all I care about. And given that, I can’t see taking Beckham to South Africa with me next summer.

Can Defoe Finally Realise His Full Potential

Paul Bestall — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 23:30:09 +0000

One thing that has never been in question about Jermaine Defoe is his undoubted ability. Since West Ham United nicked him off of Charlton Athletic as a 15 year old, Defoe has scored goals. Be it for AFC Bournemouth on loan, West Ham United, Portsmouth, both spells at Tottenham and England, Defoe scored. Yet, there was always something missing, some final piece of the jigsaw that hadn’t fallen in to place. Was it application? Was it work rate? Did he want it enough?

During his first spell at Tottenham, Defoe was always one of my favourites, the kind of player that gets you out of your seat. With a vicious shot and pace to burn, Defoe was a player that demanded your attention. Yet, as is often the case with terrace favourites, some managers couldn’t work him out. Five managers in four seasons battled with the conundrum of Defoe’s vast talent and none of them could fully unlock it.

They didn’t know how best to use him and ultimately Juande Ramos thought he was surplus to requirements. Thankfully for Tottenham fans, Defoe’s mutual respect for Redknapp meant that when his former mentor went to White Hart Lane, it seemed only a matter of time before he rejoined. Yet the return didn’t work out as planned, Defoe broke his foot and had only just returned to the squad in April when his half brother, Jade, was tragically killed.

It was a traumatic time for Defoe, and he has since spoke of the added determination he has had since the tragedy in regards to his life and his football. When situations like that occur to people, it’s difficult to deal with, yet Defoe has gained strength from the way he handled himself and how he has re-evaluated his lifestyle. A summer spent bulking up his upper body strength, coupled with the extended break through injury has seen Defoe appears like a man reborn this season.

Sharper, stronger and certainly more clinical in front of goal, it’s no exaggeration to say he could have had nine yesterday if it wasn’t for Chris Kirkland. By becoming one of only 3 players in Premiership history to score 5 goals in a game and the only one to score them all in one half, Defoe has laid a marker down for his true talent. In 11 Premiership matches, he now has 11 goals and he missed two league games due to suspension.He is on a different level to the striker that Spurs sold in January 2008, and Redknapp has finally got the tools at his disposal to bring out the very best in him.

He’s also forced his way in to Fabio Capello’s plans, desperate to make up for missing out on the 2006 World Cup squad, when Eriksson unfortunately risked everything on injured players and took a striker that never even got a minute of action. Looking back, I still don’t understand the decision to only take 4 strikers to Germany, two who had hardly played in the final 3 months of the previous season.

Defoe was on standby if either Rooney or Owen failed to prove their fitness and cruelly missed out. When Owen crawled off the pitch after rupturing his cruciate ligament against Sweden, Eriksson must have sworn and Defoe must have felt like crying. England’s chances went at that moment. Eriksson paid the price for picking teams based on reputation rather than form and fitness. It is a mistake that will not happen again under Fabio Capello.

Defoe now stands on the cusp of a season that can define a player, for both club and country. Tottenham are still in the top 4 and regardless of the result on Saturday at Villa Park, will stay there, but as he pointed out after the game, the five goal haul will mean nothing if Spurs fail to get something against Aston Villa. Of course, he’s right and Tottenham need to show that that the undoubted potential to be true challengers can finally come to fruition. England still haven’t found the perfect partner for Wayne Rooney up front either.

Defoe must be in with a shout of cementing a place in the 23 man squad for South Africa, but one of the benefits of the Capello regime is that truthfully, none of us can honestly pick the squad as Capello has confounded the pundits time after time so far. That must spur every player on.

For both to have a successful 2010, Defoe needs to finally rid himself of the nearly man tag once and for all. So far, so good and long may it continue for club and country.

Bullard’s Resurgence Can Lift Hull City

Paul Bestall — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 20:50:49 +0000

Things are very rarely simple at the K.C. Stadium, not while Phil Brown is there. Back in January, he raised eyebrows when he paid £5 million for the effervescent Fulham midfielder Jimmy Bullard. Not that there is any doubting the quality that Bullard offers, but that a player who had suffered so much from a bad run of injuries could be worth such a punt for a team that were in free fall at the time.

Bullard has been the most under rated midfielder in the Premiership since he arrived with Wigan Athletic for the 2005-2006 season. Gasps were heard when Capello called him into the England squad for the matches against Andorra and Croatia, but it was no real surprise to any one who looked further than the big four for footballing kudos. Capello knows exactly what this bubbly, infectious player can offer your team.

Brown quite rightly realised that if he had a player of Bullard’s quality at Hull City, then regardless of the misfiring front line, the Tigers would be harder to beat and have a player who can drag and drive a team on to victory. Of course, much was made of Bullard’s dodgy knee, especially when it went in his debut for the Tigers, but Brown has wrapped him in cotton wool since that incident and the benefits can finally begin to be seen in the Tigers recent performances.The magic hands of Dr. Richard Steadman seem to have once again worked a surgical miracle on another damaged knee in the Premiership.

Bullards career is one of those true life stories of a lad who failed to make the grade in his teens and fell in to non league football, before signing for his boyhood idols. The difference with Bullard is, that he managed to climb back twice. West Ham United signed him in 1999, but released him on free transfer two years later and Peterborough United picked him up. Under the tutelage of renowned diamond polisher, Barry Fry, Bullard once again climbed up the league ladder after joining Wigan Athletic, then Fulham.

If their is one characteristic that Bullard has in spades, it is determination. To seize a chance on the second time of asking is almost immeasurable, but add nearly a two year lay off through knee injuries and you see the size of his grit. He is a player that needs to be involved, to be the fulcrum of a side that needs a bit of quality and fight adding to it.He never gives up, never stops running, spray’s passes all over the place, he oozes quality.

Hull City already look a better side with Bullard now cemented in the heart of the Tigers midfield. He knows he owes Phil Brown for taking a risk that ultimately may have blown up in both their faces and that will benefit both player and manager. Bullard has been to the top and fallen down the ladder once. When that happens, you try everything in your power to avoid the same fate occurring.

With a World Cup at the end of this season, occasionally someone breaks in to the squad or gets picked against the grain such as Gazza in 1990 or Owen in 1998. Or a squad player gets an opportunity to fill in for a more illustrious player and seizes that chance with both hands, such as Trevor Steven and Paul Parker in 1990. England will probably take 8 midfielders to the World Cup next summer and right now 5 of those places are up for grabs.

Of that only Barry, Lampard and Gerrard will probably be definitely in at this precise moment, with Lennon and Wright-Phillips vying for the right wing but one of Capello’s strengths is that he judges the player on their ability, not the postcode of the team they play for. Bullard could earn the right to go to South Africa next June if he can continue to show the qualities he injected in to Hull City’s side so quickly this season.

David James and Fabio Capello: The Biggest NFL Fans in England

Dave Warner — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 14:00:39 +0000

Those of you living in America probably couldn’t stop hearing about last weekend’s big National Football League game in London, the third such contest in three years, in which the New England Patriots tonked Malcolm Glazer’s hapless Tampa Bay Buccaneers — who have cut costs to the bone this season, and we can all have a guess as to why.

Despite the NFL’s talk of how quickly their showpiece sells out Wembley Stadium each year and how the league could add more London games in the future because of that success, the truth is that England doesn’t really care all that much. Far more sports fans in that country (and its press) were more concerned with Liverpool’s win over Manchester United and the swine flu scare at Stamford Bridge on Sunday than they were about two random NFL teams ripping up the sod in Wembley. As a sporting event, the London Bowl is mostly manufactured hype, an NFL specialty.

Two rather notable figures in English football, however, seem to believe their colleagues have quite a lot to learn from American football.

In his recent column for The Guardian, Portsmouth goalkeeper David James revealed that England manager Fabio Capello sat down last weekend with Mike Holmgren, a former NFL head coach who’s been to three Super Bowls with the Green Bay Packers and Seattle Seahawks and won one of them, to discuss coaching ideas and techniques. Capello, James reveals, has borrowed several ideas from the NFL for the England squad — most notably increased film study of training sessions and opponents’ tendencies.

James in particular seems to be a big proponent of film study:

I’ve taken to doing my own video work with a psychologist. Video analysis highlights the gap between perception and reality – your awareness of space and time during a game can be so distorted you are unable to assess accurately every detail on the pitch, a problem that can affect managers as much as players.

James also admitted that his visits to several NFL teams in 2003 made “a huge impression” on him, and that he was stunned by how much emphasis was put on individual aspects of the game. He noted how much time players spent together studying in the film room and how closely Jim Zorn, then a quarterbacks coach for the Seahawks, worked with the team’s QBs to improve their skills. He went on to write that he’s never seen any English football club do anything similar:

I’ve never been at a club where we sit down as a formation – a defensive or offensive group – and spend time working out systems. That’s just not the culture in England, where we seem to have this idea that sitting in a video room for any amount of time is boring and the wrong thing to do.

James finished his column by stating that if he ever gets into management, he plans on borrowing even more ideas from NFL than Capello has — beginning with a more robust coaching staff:

Imagine if we had kicking coaches, heading coaches, attack coaches, defence coaches. Why not? We have keepers who can’t kick the ball properly, and strikers who can’t head. Why wouldn’t you want to give them additional coaching to improve their all-round game? … Whatever you would spend on these specialist coaches, it would be a drop in the ocean compared to players’ wages. Not investing in them seems a false economy.

What I would like to know is this — why haven’t most EPL clubs done this already? Or have they? Do the clubs that haven’t simply assume that this sort of training only works at the youth level, and that adult footballers no longer need it? Are players tasked with finding their own instruction outside of regular training? Are managers simply holding on to archaic traditions because they fear other coaches would attempt to usurp their authority? Or do they simply think that too many cooks will spoil the broth?

It seems almost abhorrent to suggest that the beautiful game would somehow be less beautiful if clubs paid more attention to details, group tactics and specific skills like heading and free kick accuracy. Perhaps the only question is which club will be first to invest in the heftier coaching staff and enhanced video suites necessary to focus on those details. Arsenal already has the latter at its London Colney facility, which Capello uses with the England team for film study. So perhaps Arsene Wenger is slightly ahead of the curve. On the other hand, Arsenal hasn’t won any trophies since 2005, and that’s the true measure of success, isn’t it?

Chances are little will change at the club level until one club that takes a chance on these ideas wins some real hardware. Perhaps it will be left to Capello and James to prove that the beautiful game might actually have something to learn from the gridiron game after all.

One Step Forward, Two Steps Back For Owen

Paul Bestall — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 21:53:43 +0000

So, the last two days Michael Owen was all over the British press making bold statements about his fitness, his England chances and the possibility of starting more games for Manchester United. 20 minutes in to the clash against Wolfsburg, Berbatov replaced him and it was a case of back to square one for Owen and I’m left scratching my head as to why he even started tonight’s match.

He didn’t train yesterday because of a groin injury, so as soon as I saw the interview with The Times today, I felt that perhaps Owen was tempting fate. I’m not pleased to say that he had indeed pushed his luck with cosmic karma. He wanted the opportunity to start a game for Manchester United and he got it. He wanted Fabio Capello to watch him play and he was at Old Trafford tonight. He wanted an opportunity to impress him but 15 minutes in, the groin went and with it, the chance to push for a place in the last two competitive match squads before the World Cup next Summer.

The interview with Owen intrigued me, mostly because he’s scored 2 goals as a substitute so for Manchester United this season. In the games he’s started he hasn’t scored, or played particularly well. 7 English strikers have scored more and are playing regularly, whilst Theo Walcott is just returning and Emile Heskey is not a goalscorer. Whilst no-one can argue that between 1998 and 2004, Owen was a class apart as a striker, since that point, he has endured an injury nightmare.

Regardless what his ridiculous brochure stated in the summer, Owen hasn’t played more than 30 games in a season for 5 years. He hasn’t hit more than 20 league goals since the 2002-03 season. Since Euro 2004, he’s scored 7 England goals in competitive games and 7 in friendlies, and regardless of what he was, it is clear that he is not the striker he was before Euro 2004.

Now, I’m a fan of Michael Owen, the footballer. Well I was a fan, but regardless of what Owen says, I am not convinced he will ever get back to the level of performance that he showed up until the European Championships of 2004. It is a case of people wearing rose tinted glasses and I do not understand why people are still falling for the hype in regards to recalling him to the England team. People will always recall the goal against Argentina in St Etienne but that was 11 years ago. 11 years!

This is the England team that put 9 goals past Croatia. This is the England team that has qualified for the World Cup winning 8 consecutive games. This is the England team that have scored 48 goals in the 18 matches under Fabio Capello. Can someone explain to me what the strikers aren’t currently doing that means England need Michael Owen? Having an average of 2.7 goals per game is a phenomenal record at international level, does it require an injury prone striker to add to it.

England do not need Michael Owen, Michael Owen needs England. If Owen was anywhere near the level of 2004, I’d have him in the squad in a heartbeat, but he isn’t. Owen is living on past glories and media buddies. England can win the World Cup without him and as he sits on the sidelines once again, people need to have more faith in Fabio Capello. The clamour for Owen’s inclusion does Capello a disservice and it’s about time we drew a line under Michael Owen’s England career and looked to the future.