England man Johnson set for Italy move?

England full-back Glen Johnson is a man who hasn't always enjoyed life in the Premier League. After making his debut for West Ham United in 2003, he attracted the attention of Chelsea and became the first arrival at Stamford Bridge following the revolution instigated by Roman Abramovich. He experienced a mixed spell with the Blues but was soon pushed out of the first team by Paulo Ferreira and Geremi, with Jose Mourinho perhaps unconvinced of the player's credentials and consistency. A humiliating incident involving a "stolen" toilet seat from a B&Q store also increased the negative press surrounding the player.

Happier times came for Johnson at Portsmouth, a club of a size that seemed to suit the player slightly more than the league champions, and he was included in the PFA team of the year at the end of the 2008/2009 season. However, a move to Liverpool brought an end to the decent relationship between Johnson and the Pompey fans. By this time He'd already earned his first England cap, but it took a little longer for him to cement his place in the side.

Johnson's time with the Reds started brightly, with a stunning performance against Stoke preceding another decent performance against Bolton. However, injury problems plagued his time at Anfield after that spell and, since his return, he has quite clearly failed to impress Roy Hodgson, with the Liverpool boss stating that it's no good being a "player of great ability if you are not bringing that to the field of play".

With the player since hitting back at the beleaguered Liverpool boss by branding his tactics and approach to the game as "boring", it would appear that the Johnson's future lies away from Anfield and perhaps even away from the Premier League. By now he had become England's first-choice right-back, but his poor form at Liverpool has led to many questioning that decision.

Of course, the football betting tips suggest the whole Liverpool squad should be doing better, but Hodgson clearly feels Johnson has been particularly poor.

Another unsettled figure at Anfield, Alberto Aquilani has since found form at Juventus in Serie A and the midfielder has stated that he would love to see the player make the move to Italy and because of this, the football transfer rumours have started.

With Aquilani apparently desperate not to make a return to Anfield, with his loan move not yet made permanent, it seems clear that sometimes the grass really is greener elsewhere. Whether a switch abroad will help develop Johnson into the kind of international player England fans dream about remains to be seen, but right now things couldn't get much worse for him.

Is Andy Carroll really good enough to play for England?

When it was first suggested Andy Carroll was ready for a place in the senior England squad, most people laughed off the claims.

They were seen as a reaction to England's failure at the World Cup and a number of solid performances from the striker, rather than an acknowledgement of the quality of the Newcastle man.

However, nearly three months into the 2010/2011 Premier League season, has this changed? If your name is Arsene Wenger, then yes. On Sunday his Arsenal side were undone by a moment of physical dominance from the young Newcastle striker, with his header diverting the ball past a helpless Lukasz Fabianski. Wenger has since stated that the player's "presence, charisma, confidence" and intelligence, alongside his rapid improvement, make him the ideal addition to the England set-up at the moment. Some may even view him as a good outside Premier League bet for top scorer this season.

With Fabio Capello watching on from the stands, Carroll grabbed his chance to shine on the biggest stage with both hands. Already thriving on the confidence inspired by his hat-trick against Aston Villa earlier this season, the player showed once again why he is worthy of being viewed as a regular future England player.

However, although the young man would undoubtedly offer Capello's men something different up front, with the player combining height and a dominant physical presence Peter Crouch is unable to replicate, controversy is a word that currently seems to be following Carroll around like a bad smell. He has made a number of court appearances this season, has had to move in with Kevin Nolan as part of his bail terms, has had his car torched, and has been the subject of fresh newspaper allegations just this week.

After the whole Wayne Rooney fiasco, the last thing that Capello will want is to introduce another player who courts controversy into his attacking line-up. The one thing the England camp needs right now is stability, with many blaming off-field distractions for the country's miserable World Cup 2010 campaign. Whether Carroll can help to introduce that element of stability and calm remains doubtful and that could yet be the one aspect of his game that sees him go unacknowledged by the England manager.

However, if Carroll can clean up his act and continue to improve on the impressive trajectory he's so far been following, it's surely only a matter of time before he can make his mark in an England shirt.

Meanwhile, the Middlesbrough betting suggests Newcastle's neighbours will not be making a return to the Premier League any time soon.

The club were favourites to win the Championship, but are currently in the relegation places.

Should Wilshere join up with the England senior squad?

Jack Wilshere is a player who has had to deal with shooting to fame in a relatively short space of time. A solid performer while on loan at Bolton from Arsenal, Wilshere has broken into the Arsenal first team this season, stealing the limelight away from more established players in most games and showing Arsene Wenger exactly why he can be realistically touted as the ideal replacement for influential captain Cesc Fabregas if and when he leaves for Barcelona. Wilshere will have another chance to prove what he can do in the Premier League in just over a week, and he should impress in a game the Birmingham betting tips suggest the Gunners will win comfortably.

Still, his performances for Arsenal have already caught the eye of Fabio Capello, who is currently preparing his England team for what could be a potential banana skin of against Montenegro at Wembley, and one important decision the England boss will have to get right is whether or not to play Wilshere in the upcoming Euro 2012 qualifier. The football odds suggest the Three Lions should win, but with injuries to key players they could struggle to create chances.

The problem lies in the fact that Arsenal's precocious young talent has been double booked; he is set to feature for the under-21s later today when they take on Romania at Carrow Road in a European Championship play-off, but has also been included in the senior squad. Capello now needs to decide how best to develop a player who could turn out to be a key cog in the England set-up for many years to come.

Stuart Pearce has admitted that it's a tricky balancing act for the young players and is right when he says "if they are not going to play, leave them in the age group where they can actually play 90 minutes". However, Wilshere is a different kettle of fish to other youngsters who perhaps don't have the same level of Premier League and Champions League experience.

If Capello overlooks the youngster for the Montenegro game and England end up struggling to find that deft touch and creativity in midfield that Arsenal fans know Wilshere can provide consistently, criticism will surely be directed towards the England boss. Whatever decision he ends up making, England fans will hope that it turns out to be one that boosts their chances of securing another qualifying win in what has so far been an impressive campaign.

Capello must right his wrongs on the left

For anyone with a memory of England's recent past the current obsession with playing left-footed players on the right and vice versa appears a little bit odd to say the least. The theory is that the players can drift inside on to their favoured foot, giving them the option of a strike at goal.

However the tactic isn't without its drawbacks and to see Fabio Capello jump on the bandwagon is somewhat disturbing and anyone who likes a football daily bet should pay close attention to it.

For years England fans cried out for a genuine left-footed winger who could beat his, get to the by-line and deliver quality crosses.

Steve McManaman, Darren Anderton and Kieron Dyer all piked up numerous caps, not necessarily because of their outstanding individual ability, but because England managers felt they might be able to do a job on the left.

And once we'd become tired of playing right-footed players on the left, we went right back to basics and gave Steve Guppy and Jason Wilcox a try. In fact, for a while, it seemed that so long as you were English and had a decent left foot, you could be pretty sure you'd get a cap.

In last week's game, Montenegro manager Zlatko Kranjcar came to Wembley with the sole aim of grabbing a point, and the simple plan of packing the midfield and defence in order to do so.

This made Capello's refusal to get at Montenegro down the flanks even more surprising, especially considering the aerial prowess and movement of Wayne Rooney and Peter Crouch.

Without a decent supply, Rooney was forced to drop deep to come look for the ball, leaving his strike partner isolated and further compacting the England midfield, something which forced Gerrard to pick the ball up off his defenders, and led to Barry being squeezed out of the game almost entirely. Anyone who placed a football bet on a home win would have been furious.

England fans expect them to beat teams ranked 40th in the world, but as football evolves and the so-called lesser teams become better organised, we shouldn't expect to run riot based on our reputation. If England want to qualify for Euro 2012 this is a fact Capello could do with remembering.

England fail to impress

England once again suffered the indignity of being booed off the pitch by their own fans, after huffing and puffing to a goalless draw against Montenegro. It wasn't just the lack of a victory that will have bothered the England supporters, but the toothless display by the team. There was more than a passing resemblance to the uninspiring performances shown at the World Cup this summer, as England failed to put together more than three passes at a time and created very few chance of any note in a game the Betfairfootball odds suggested they'd win easily.

The only players to come out of the match with any credit at all were Steven Gerrard, Ashley Young, Adam Johnson and Joe Hart. Gerrard once again showed why he should be given the England captaincy ahead of Rio Ferdinand. The Liverpool skipper tried time and time again to inject some sort of life into his side, only for his colleagues to clumsily give away possession. Gerrard should have been made England captain when Beckham stepped down from the role, as the midfielder is the only player in the current squad who can grab a game by the scruff of the neck and single handily change the outcome. Although Ferdinand didn't have a poor game against Montenegro, he was hardly the inspirational leader that England need.

Johnson and Young switched flanks well and caused Montenegro a few problems, without ever really finding the finishing product. Villa's Young looked lively but still looks a bit away from being international class player, although it's no surprise the transfer rumours have linked him with a move to a big club. Johnson once again showed himself to be one of this country's most exciting prospects but was given no real support from his team-mates.

Glen Johnson once again showed a dangerous lack of any positional sense and was guilty of going walkabout on more than one occasion, leaving massive holes on the right hand side of England's defensive line. Joleon Lescott came into replace the injured Terry and did what he had to without too much fuss, although the Man City man doesn't inspire anywhere near the same confidence as the Chelsea captain.
The less said about Wayne Rooney's latest disappointing performance, the better. The striker once again looked a completely different player from the one who scored 40 goals in all competitions last season and nothing he tried came off.

Capello will be looking at the friendly arranged for next month against France as another chance to experiment with his side, before the next round of Euro qualifiers start in the spring.

Montenegro get a nil - nil draw at Wembley

Rooney's expression says it all....

Rooney's chance to shine

Should Wayne Rooney be fit to play for England against Montenegro next Tuesday, it may be the perfect opportunity for the Manchester United striker to finally put the negative headlines behind him and instead start doing what he does best - finding the back of the net with vital goals for both club and country.

With the Betfair Football tips suggesting Montenegro are likely to provide a stern test to a Fabio Capello side that will be missing several top players through injury, Rooney's presence may be the lift that some of the younger members of the squad such as Adam Johnson and Joe Hart require to give them the belief that they can fulfil the incredibly high expectations that England fans set for their side. Anyone who has placed a football daily bet on England to win want to see the striker firing on all cylinders.

With the crowd likely to be despondent if England aren't leading by the break, Rooney needs to show that he is alert and creating chances on a regular basis in the first 45 minutes and, if he does so, hopefully he can inspire the crowd to get behind him with chants of "Rooney, Rooney".

However, should Wayne once again fall flat this season, then fans will perhaps start to ask the question as to whether he really is still a world-class player or if he is a good player who has been performing at a level he won't be able to reach again, something that Rooney will be desperate to disprove.

With this in mind, a good performance that silences doubters and puts positive headlines back on the tabloids' back pages would do both Rooney and the England team the world of good.