With Fabio Capello insisting that he won’t manage England past the 2012 European Championships, names are already been branded about as a possible successor to the Italian. But with the FA proudly boasting that their next manager will be English there is hardly a wealth of managers to choose from.

Early contenders are Harry Redknapp, Roy Hodgson, Steve Bruce and Sam Allardyce with current England number two Stuart Pearce also reportedly in the frame. Without meaning to disrespect any of these they hardly have the same statute as Capello.

That is the real problem that the FA now faces after promising an English manager. The FA will be hoping that an English manager will bring more pride and passion from the players, something that was so desperately missing in South Africa.

The worry is though that the FA’s willingness to employ an English manager could backfire with huge consequences. After the 2006 World Cup there was the same urge to go English and Steve McClaren was given the chance to succeed Sven-Göran Eriksson.

What was followed was a drastic failure that lead to England failing to qualify for Euro 2008. If the same was to happen again it would mean England missing out on a World Cup which would the ultimate humiliation.

Personally I see myself more patriotic then most, but I just don’t feel the need for the England manager to actually be English and believe purely in picking a manager who is the most best man for the job.

In an ideal world yes, I’d love to see a top English manager making his national team play with the heart that we saw so many other countries play with at the World Cup.

But the fact of the matter is that we don’t have a top manager. International football is the very top level in football and I wouldn’t want to see England sacrifice the chance of success for an apparent need for an Englishman to be charge. However with the FA already promising an Englishman it means unfortunately this may be the case.

After a hectic start to the Premier League season attentions now turn to England who face two crucial games in five days that will set a trend for Fabio Capello’s next two years in charge of England.

Before the World Cup Fabio Capello could do no wrong. He was seen as the saviour of English football for turning around our fortunes after the disaster that was Steve McClaren’s tenure.  Capello guided England to a near faultless qualification for South Africa that included a stunning 4-1 victory in Zagreb.

All was set for England to mount a challenge for the biggest prize in football. But since the turn of the year things have slowly started to go wrong for England. First there was the John Terry saga; there were then injuries to the likes of David Beckham and Rio Ferdinand before a woefully disappointing World Cup in South Africa.

The pressure was mounting on Capello and only a Steven Gerrard brace rescued the Three Lions from an embarrassing defeat against Hungary. But still England fans are unsure whether Capello is the man to take the side forward.

This makes the games against Bulgaria and Switzerland absolutely vital to Capello. Football fans are fickle and two positive results may just be the catalyst for the positive feeling to return amongst England fans. But anything less than six points and all confidence will be lost in Capello.

But if England fans are demanding six points Capello has got two very tricky games in which to deliver them. Bulgaria will be like most teams that come to Wembley and up their game accordingly, so England shouldn’t take this game lightly. Switzerland on the other hand will pose a very stern test for Capello’s side and their win over Spain at the World Cup shows just how dangerous they can be.

With England missing the likes of Terry and Frank Lampard, and Wayne Rooney desperately short of form the task of six points becomes a whole lot harder. However Capello has managed to pick England up once before and if he could do it again this week it may just be the end of a rocky few months.

Fleet Street never had so much fun. Steve McClaren, who had never played or managed in London and hailed from Yorkshire was the England manager. McClaren in retrospect never had a chance with the snobbish London set, which is intent on writing tabloid headlines and poking fun at outsiders and those who don’t wine and dine them. Today, it is McClaren who gets the last laugh as the first Englishman to lift a major European domestic league title trophy in fourteen years now that his side, FC Twente, has won the Eredivisie title in the Netherlands.

While it is certainly true that McClaren had trouble as England manager, the hostile British press perhaps forgot his contributions to Manchester United as a Sir Alex Ferguson’s assistant and Middlesbrough’s run to the UEFA Cup Final in 2006. McClaren failed to qualify England for Euro 2008, thanks in large measure to a controversial penalty call against Wayne Rooney in Moscow, on a plastic pitch.

In two seasons under McClaren, FC Twente has finished second and now first first in the Dutch Eredivisie, helping to break up the duopoly domination of Ajax and PSV in recent seasons. Twente fans don’t read the English papers and have adopted the chant “Only one Steve McClaren” to honor the manager who has brought glory to a small club. Twente had previously never won a top flight title in Holland.

A pragmatic approach describes McClaren’s Twente success. In England, tactical flexibility is still difficult: while McClaren had some success experimenting with Boro, his wise effort to play a 3-5-2 against Croatia (which was the best formation to face the Croats circa 2006/07 with) backfired because England’s personnel had never been placed in such a formation. But at Twente, McClaren has played 3-5-2, 4-3-3, 4-5-1 and 4-4-2 as he prepared for specific opponents and matchups.

Without question, PSV and Ajax still have the two most talented sides in Holland. Martin Jol’s Ajax team which is filled with present and future international caliber players ran up a plus 86 goal difference against overwhelmed opponents, yet only could manage a second place finish. PSV spent much of the season undefeated in the domestic league. Ajax, PSV and Twente all advanced to the knock out stages of the Europa League.

Despite a talent gap, McClaren maximized his tactical savvy and experience at the highest level to get Twente prepared for every single match this storybook season. Of particular strength was Bryan Ruiz, the Costa Rican international attacker who lit up the league and scored several timely game changing goals.

McClaren’s league title, as mentioned above is the first by an English Manager in a top flight European league in 14 years. Sir Bobby Robson won the title with Porto in Portugal in 1995-1996. FC Twente’s qualification for the group stages of the Champions League is the first direct Champions League qualification by an English manager since Robson’s Newcastle team in 2003.

Kartik Krishnaiyer is a former EPL Talk Podcast host and is now the director of communications for the North American Soccer League.. This piece does not reflect the views of the NASL or its’ member teams.

Manchester United looks very likely to be the opponent in this summer’s MLS All-Star Game, according to press reports. That’s just one of the headlines in the news. Here are the latest Premier League-related stories that are making the news in the past 24 hours:

• GolTV will launch in HD beginning August 1, 2010. GolTV announced Monday that it will launch GolTV HD in August, but no news yet on whether any TV providers will provide it. We all know how that goes.
• Manchester United to play in this summer’s MLS All-Star Game. A British tabloid reported in January that Man United will be touring the United States this summer to play friendlies in Chicago, New York and Toronto. But now an industry publication says that Man United will be playing instead in Boston, Philadelphia, Toronto and Houston. The latter city is the host of the 2010 MLS All-Star Game scheduled for late July/early August, which will reportedly feature a MLS all-star team against the Red Devils. No confirmation from Manchester United regarding the news, but an announcement is expected in the next few weeks. Meanwhile, Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur are still both rumored to be interested in touring the States this summer.
• Steve McClaren is a contender for the West Ham manager job. That’s according to The Daily Mirror who, despite being a British tabloid, are often spot on more than they’re wrong. However, it looks like the Hammers have given Zola a stay of execution to see if the Italian can rescue the team from the threat of relegation. Even if he does, it looks likely that Zola won’t be around Upton Park that much longer.
• Mike Dean will referee Man United v Chelsea this weekend. When it comes to referees, there’s not one name that could be picked to ref the big clash this weekend that would avoid criticism unless it was Pierluigi Collina — and we know that’s not going to happen. The odds are that Mike Dean will make a controversial mistake in this Saturday’s game. But what English ref wouldn’t?
• DirecTV will launch ESPN’s 3-D channel this summer in time for the World Cup. DirecTV HD customers who subscribe to ESPN will receive ESPN 3D at no additional cost.

Photo credit: DJWudl

Well, there’s one thing you can’t hold against Fabio Capello and that’s that he keeps his cards close to his chest. Today he’s announced that Peter Crouch will lead the England attack against Ukraine tomorrow night and deservedly so. Crouch has been the victim of some vicious criticism over the last few seasons, undeservedly so in some respects.

Crouch is one of the nicest footballers in the game and a damn fine player to boot. Sure, he has an unorthodox style and gait but hell, doesn’t everyone differ somewhat from each other. His height seemed to attract unwarranted criticism during his time at Portsmouth and Aston Villa, but at Southampton he began to put his critics to bed. On joining Liverpool, he showed that he wasn’t just a tall player but a bloody good footballer too and Portsmouth fans welcomed him with open arms when he rejoined them last summer.He’s got a lovely touch and a range of passing that puts some players to shame.

Yet, there is one thing lacking from his game for me that he needs to start rectifying and soon. Crouch has 14 goals for England, but none of them have been against top quality sides with the exception of a goal against Croatia in November 2007. The other 13 have come against Jamaica, Estonia, Andorra, Austria, Macedonia, Greece, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay and Hungary, none of whom you could honestly say are a top quality international side.

Crouch really need to find the net against the better sides when he plays for his country to put the negativity of his goal record to bed. Looking at some of the other strikers that have played for England over the years, International football really finds out the real top quality players. Kevin Phillips, Andrew Cole, Ian Wright and James Beattie to name four excellent domestic strikers who failed to cut the mustard at international level, in fact Crouch has scored 4 more goals than that quartet put together in an England shirt. Does that diminish the domestic records of those strikers? Of course not, but its interesting nonetheless.

Crouch has a chance to start adding goals against quality sides tomorrow night at Wembley, Ukraine are certainly one of Europe’s top 20 sides currently. A strong domestic and European club scene has allowed some of their sides to become household names over the years and the money currently flowing into some of Ukraine’s top sides has seen them attract better players to Dynimo Kiev and Shaktar Donetsk over the last few years.

A goal tomorrow would begin to rectify the negativity surrounding Crouch’s International record and allow the likeable lad to begin cementing his squad place in Capello’s plans for South Africa 2010. There is no doubt in my mind that a win tomorrow night will almost assure England of participation in the next World Cup and banish the nightmare McClaren period to bed, as Venables did in Euro 96 and Greenwood in Euro 80 and Spain 82.

Crouch can give England an option only Serbia’s Nikola Zigic can match in current football and it shouldn’t be underestimated. His skill with the ball at his feet is probably his most potent weapon and would allow Capello to have a variety of striking options available at his disposal. Here’s hoping Crouch can nick a goal tomorrow and build from there. It’s good to see the nice guys do well.

Only a few days remain before England plays their first 2010 World Cup qualifying match against Andorra at the Estadio Olímpico de Montjuïc in Barcelona, Spain. No matter what England does, they cannot win.

England’s 2007 match against Andorra continues to be a dark cloud that hangs over the heads of the England football team. Playing against a bunch of amateurs, England were held goalless until the 54th minute when Steven Gerrard scored. No wonder the players and then manager Steve McClaren experienced a verbal tirade of abuse in one of the darkest days of English football.

Luckily for England, many football fans won’t be able to see England this time against Andorra on television. In the United Kingdom, the match is only on Setanta Sports. In the United States, the match is viewable on pay-per-view television for $25 or at your local pub that carries Setanta (don’t be surprised to be charged a $20 cover charge just to watch the game).

England are in a no-win situation against Andorra. Everyone expects them to win so anything less than that will be a massive tragedy. Even if they win, they have to win comfortably otherwise they’ll be mocked by England football fans. The best that England can hope for is to score a quick goal to take the pressure off and then hope they follow that up with plenty more.

I’m not sure why, but many England fans have a deep seeded desire to see their national team fail. It gives them something to moan about. Many fans will be hoping that England gets unstuck in Andorra but scrapes by with a win. It makes life more interesting and less predictable, and allows fans to project their venom against characters. Steve McClaren being a perfect example.

The England team that beat Andorra 3-0 in March 2007 isn’t that different than the one that’ll line up under Fabio Capello this Saturday. The inclusion of Jimmy Bullard in the England squad is a breath of fresh air, and I feel he’ll be able to make the same type of impact that Owen Hargreaves made when he entered the England fold.

What are your thoughts about Jimmy Bullard being called up to the England squad, and the way that England fans treat their national team? Share your opinion by clicking the comments link below.

The draw for the third and final qualifying round of the Champions League has been made today with Arsenal scheduled to play FC Twente, the Dutch team managed by former England and Middlesbrough manager Steve McClaren.

The first leg will be played in Holland on August 12th or 13th, while the second leg at the Emirates Stadium is scheduled for August 26 or 27th.

In the 2007-08 Eredivisie season, FC Twente placed fourth and won the play-offs for a ticket to the Champions League Qualifiers by defeating Ajax in the play-off finals.