Thursday 31 March 2011

England 1 v 1 Ghana

Trying to get pictures....

Wales 0 v England 2

Still having problems with pictures.....

Thursday 24 March 2011

Terry deserves support of England fans

John Terry is a man who many believe committed an unspeakable wrong when having an affair with a team-mate's ex-girlfriend and therefore thoroughly deserved to be denied the England captaincy in the lead-up to the World Cup. However, with that supposed affair never actually proved, with both player and the other party involved always denying it, could it be that Terry deserves nothing but honest praise for the way he has handled himself over the past year?

Many players would have taken Fabio Capello's decision to take away the captaincy in a way that would be to many of us entirely understandable. We all make mistakes, we're all accused of things that are never as black and white as they are made out to be, and we all have to deal with our actions in private. However, being human also means that we're liable to take criticism in entirely the wrong way. It therefore is admirable that a man in the public eye and for whom playing for his country and wearing the armband is the ultimate honour took Capello's decision without questioning, the Chelsea man apparently ending the meeting with a promise to continue to do everything he can for the team and those concentrating on the international football betting should remember this.

Terry has excelled this season at Chelsea and showed at the weekend against Manchester City that rare quality in central defenders nowadays: the quality of preventing the opposition from scoring even if it means risking injury. With Terry captaining Chelsea for the best part of a decade now, he has the experience that not many other defenders for England can boast and anyone who has bet on football will recognise this.

Self-belief is obviously one thing the defender possesses in abundance, and that's what England need at the back, especially when coming up against superior teams. If Terry can convey this self-belief to his younger team mates on the pitch and perhaps lead his team to success in the Euros, it could be that he does go down in the England history books after all, despite what may or may not have gone on off the pitch.

Tuesday 22 March 2011

Jarvis out to impress on international stage

Matt Jarvis has become the first Wolves player since Steve Bull in 1992 to earn a call-up to the England squad. The winger is rightly over the moon with his inclusion and has described it as "a dream" after Fabio Capello finally decided the 24-year-old is international class. Jarvis will be in contention to pick up his first cap this weekend against Wales and again in the following friendly against Ghana. Jarvis proved a point again this weekend, scoring his the only goal in the 1-0 defeat of Aston Villa at Molineux.

The call-up has been long deserved after storming the league this season. Jarvis seems to be the perfect winger, with pin-point crossing ability combined with lighting pace and quick feet. While the wingers in the England team always seem to have weaknesses in one area of their game, Jarvis looks to have all the attributes to needed to succeed at the top level. Those wondering how to use Betfair may want to back him to do well on his debut.

An excited Jarvis expressed his delight at his call up while speaking to the club website.

He said: "It's great for me and I'm delighted but having been named in the squad it will be a case of meeting up tonight and aiming to impress. Like every player it's been a dream of mine to try and play for England since starting off in the game and getting into the squad takes me one step closer."

Jarvis' impressive performance at the weekend was just the latest in a string of quality displays for a struggling Wolves side. The former Gillingham youngster has taken to Premier League football like the proverbial duck, and a number of the big boys are closely monitoring Jarvis' situation come the summer. If Wolves do go down, then holding on to their star player would be a seemingly impossible mission for Mick McCarthy and those looking for a little Betfair help probably understand this.

Until the end of the season though, Jarvis will be doing all he can to help Wolves start climbing away from the relegation zone. With nearly half the sides in the league in real danger of being dragged into the battle at the bottom, Wolves will be hoping to build on their Villa victory and put together an important run.