Saturday, 6 June 2009
Kazakhstan 0-4 England
The "tiredness" did not show! With Andorra next this must be qualification in the bag.
Monday, 1 June 2009
England look to end the season in style
The league and cups may have been decided and we may be into June, but the football season isn’t quite over yet.
Two crucial World Cup qualifiers lie ahead for England – a trip to Kazakhstan on Saturday and the home game with Andorra four days later.
With Fabio Capello’s men five points clear at the top at the halfway stage of qualifying, six points from these fixtures would almost certainly guarantee a place at the 2010 World Cup – especially as two of the final three fixtures are at home.
On paper two wins should not be a problem, these are the two weakest sides in the group. But the Kazakhstan fixture in particular has ‘banana skin’ written all over it.
It’s a long trip for starters, longer than any of the other destinations. The facilities will not be what our pampered Premier League stars are used to and, after a long hard season, fatigue may be a factor.
That long season has already led to a number players pulling out due to injury. The Three Lions are without Michael Carrick, David James, Ben Foster, Phil Jagielka and Stewart Downing. Injuries, of course, offer opportunities for others and the likes of James Milner, Paul Robinson and, most surprisingly, veteran Gary Neville have all earned recalls.
Because of the timing of the fixture and the number of injuries, I don’t expect it to be a classic – England need to just do enough to get the points and get out. It’s very much like a FA Cup tie away at a lower league club, England need to do just enough to avoid a giant-killing.
The home game with Andorra should be a formality, though in the reverse fixture England toiled 45 minutes before finally breaking their stubborn resistance. If England can get an early goal it should open things up for them.
Any slip ups will pile the pressure on their remaining fixtures, against the strongest sides in the group, Belarus, Ukraine and Croatia. I think Capello will be aware of this and will not allow his side to take the game lightly, undoing all their hard work in the first half of the campaign.
I predict that England will not upset the football odds and will record two wins, with plenty of goals against the Andorrans, meaning we can all go on our summer holidays satisfied at a season's work well done.
Two crucial World Cup qualifiers lie ahead for England – a trip to Kazakhstan on Saturday and the home game with Andorra four days later.
With Fabio Capello’s men five points clear at the top at the halfway stage of qualifying, six points from these fixtures would almost certainly guarantee a place at the 2010 World Cup – especially as two of the final three fixtures are at home.
On paper two wins should not be a problem, these are the two weakest sides in the group. But the Kazakhstan fixture in particular has ‘banana skin’ written all over it.
It’s a long trip for starters, longer than any of the other destinations. The facilities will not be what our pampered Premier League stars are used to and, after a long hard season, fatigue may be a factor.
That long season has already led to a number players pulling out due to injury. The Three Lions are without Michael Carrick, David James, Ben Foster, Phil Jagielka and Stewart Downing. Injuries, of course, offer opportunities for others and the likes of James Milner, Paul Robinson and, most surprisingly, veteran Gary Neville have all earned recalls.
Because of the timing of the fixture and the number of injuries, I don’t expect it to be a classic – England need to just do enough to get the points and get out. It’s very much like a FA Cup tie away at a lower league club, England need to do just enough to avoid a giant-killing.
The home game with Andorra should be a formality, though in the reverse fixture England toiled 45 minutes before finally breaking their stubborn resistance. If England can get an early goal it should open things up for them.
Any slip ups will pile the pressure on their remaining fixtures, against the strongest sides in the group, Belarus, Ukraine and Croatia. I think Capello will be aware of this and will not allow his side to take the game lightly, undoing all their hard work in the first half of the campaign.
I predict that England will not upset the football odds and will record two wins, with plenty of goals against the Andorrans, meaning we can all go on our summer holidays satisfied at a season's work well done.
Monday, 18 May 2009
World Cup 2018 – England’s turn?
It may be eight years from now but the bidding to host the 2018 World Cup is underway and England launched their bid on Monday, in the spectacular surroundings of Wembley Stadium.
David Beckham will front the bid, rather unsurprisingly. Well-known throughout the world Becks is the obvious choice even though he will be well into his 40s by the time the tournament starts!
Bidding is also taking place simultaneously for the 2022 competition. Given the high level of politics involved in the bidding process I suspect that deals will be made between countries in order to back each other for the respective tournaments.
Already, it is rumoured that the USA’s 2022 bid, fronted by President Barack Obama, will be supported by England in return for their support for 2018 to be held across the Atlantic.
So who are the other contenders bidding for both tournaments?
Well in Europe we have Belgium-Netherlands (joint bid) Portugal-Spain (joint bid) and Russia. Given by 2018 the previous two tournaments won’t have been held in Europe (for the first time ever) it is expected that a European country will get the nod now FIFA’s rotation policy has been scrapped.
England must then be fairly confident of heading the European vote - particularly as FIFA boss Sepp Blatter has said he prefers bids from a single country rather than joint bids, especially when both countries have the ability to host a tournament on their own (Spain and Portugal have both hosted tournaments in the recent past).
With Russia there would be questions about its infrastructure and stadia, though both have made great strides in recent years and would no doubt be improved by 2018.
Outside of Europe we have Australia, Indonesia, Japan and Mexico while Qatar and South Korea are just bidding for the 2022 competition. The main threat would probably be from Australia. The country has developed a new passion for football since the rise of the Socceroos in recent years. A sports mad country anyway, it would certainly have the facilities to host the tournament.
Given my own bias I think it should be England’s turn to host the World Cup. It will have been over 50 years since the World Cup was last here by 2018 and I think that is too long for such a football mad country. We have the facilities in place to host it straight away - we just have to play the political game and make the right noises.
The bidding team have admitted they made mistakes in their failed 2006 bid, with much of the world viewing England as arrogant. I think it will be different this time round. With the successful Olympic bid behind us and the committee having learned from their mistakes I hope by the time the 24-man FIFA committee make their decision in December 2010 we will have done enough to earn their vote.
My World Cup prediction is for England to host the 2018 World Cup and Australia to play host in 2022.
Fingers crossed!
David Beckham will front the bid, rather unsurprisingly. Well-known throughout the world Becks is the obvious choice even though he will be well into his 40s by the time the tournament starts!
Bidding is also taking place simultaneously for the 2022 competition. Given the high level of politics involved in the bidding process I suspect that deals will be made between countries in order to back each other for the respective tournaments.
Already, it is rumoured that the USA’s 2022 bid, fronted by President Barack Obama, will be supported by England in return for their support for 2018 to be held across the Atlantic.
So who are the other contenders bidding for both tournaments?
Well in Europe we have Belgium-Netherlands (joint bid) Portugal-Spain (joint bid) and Russia. Given by 2018 the previous two tournaments won’t have been held in Europe (for the first time ever) it is expected that a European country will get the nod now FIFA’s rotation policy has been scrapped.
England must then be fairly confident of heading the European vote - particularly as FIFA boss Sepp Blatter has said he prefers bids from a single country rather than joint bids, especially when both countries have the ability to host a tournament on their own (Spain and Portugal have both hosted tournaments in the recent past).
With Russia there would be questions about its infrastructure and stadia, though both have made great strides in recent years and would no doubt be improved by 2018.
Outside of Europe we have Australia, Indonesia, Japan and Mexico while Qatar and South Korea are just bidding for the 2022 competition. The main threat would probably be from Australia. The country has developed a new passion for football since the rise of the Socceroos in recent years. A sports mad country anyway, it would certainly have the facilities to host the tournament.
Given my own bias I think it should be England’s turn to host the World Cup. It will have been over 50 years since the World Cup was last here by 2018 and I think that is too long for such a football mad country. We have the facilities in place to host it straight away - we just have to play the political game and make the right noises.
The bidding team have admitted they made mistakes in their failed 2006 bid, with much of the world viewing England as arrogant. I think it will be different this time round. With the successful Olympic bid behind us and the committee having learned from their mistakes I hope by the time the 24-man FIFA committee make their decision in December 2010 we will have done enough to earn their vote.
My World Cup prediction is for England to host the 2018 World Cup and Australia to play host in 2022.
Fingers crossed!
Monday, 4 May 2009
Glenn Johnson stakes his claim
It’s been a difficult season for Portsmouth, incorporating three managers, European disappointment and a poor run of form that has seen the 2008 FA Cup winners embroiled in a relegation battle.
But a shining light amongst the South Coast gloom has been full-back Glenn Johnson, who finally looks to be realising his enormous potential.
It’s surprising to consider Johnson made his Premier League debut six years ago, though even then it took him no time to adapt to the rigours of top flight football.
But unfortunately for Johnson he came into a West Ham side struggling against relegation - a battle which they would ultimately lose.
But despite the Hammers' relegation Johnson’s performances were good enough to attract the attention of Claudio Ranieri at a newly cash-rich Chelsea, and he became an early piece in Roman’s revolutionary jigsaw.
With Gary Neville’s injury troubles increasing with age, a right-back slot in the England side also emerged and Johnson proved an early contender to replace him.
The move perhaps came too soon for Johnson as a loss of form eventually saw him lose his England place and the Chelsea right-back berth to Paulo Ferreira as the Blues, under Jose Mourinho, swept past all before them.
But Pompey boss Harry Redknapp, always with a keen eye for a bargain, took Johnson to Fratton on a season-long loan in 2007. It proved an inspired move as Johnson, benefiting from regular first-team football, regained his early West Ham form. An FA Cup winner’s medal and a permanent move to Pompey showed that he had finally settled and was beginning to realise his potential.
Despite the upheaval at Fratton Park this season Johnson has upset the football odds by being consistently outstanding and looks to be enjoying his football again, picking up the club’s player of the year award in the process. His form didn’t go unnoticed by new England boss Fabio Capello who has restored Johnson to the England squad and he appears much more at home at International level then he did when he first broke into the side.
It is a big ask to replace such an established and respected fullback as Gary Neville, who played for England for over a decade, but Johnson finally looks like the man to do so.
But a shining light amongst the South Coast gloom has been full-back Glenn Johnson, who finally looks to be realising his enormous potential.
It’s surprising to consider Johnson made his Premier League debut six years ago, though even then it took him no time to adapt to the rigours of top flight football.
But unfortunately for Johnson he came into a West Ham side struggling against relegation - a battle which they would ultimately lose.
But despite the Hammers' relegation Johnson’s performances were good enough to attract the attention of Claudio Ranieri at a newly cash-rich Chelsea, and he became an early piece in Roman’s revolutionary jigsaw.
With Gary Neville’s injury troubles increasing with age, a right-back slot in the England side also emerged and Johnson proved an early contender to replace him.
The move perhaps came too soon for Johnson as a loss of form eventually saw him lose his England place and the Chelsea right-back berth to Paulo Ferreira as the Blues, under Jose Mourinho, swept past all before them.
But Pompey boss Harry Redknapp, always with a keen eye for a bargain, took Johnson to Fratton on a season-long loan in 2007. It proved an inspired move as Johnson, benefiting from regular first-team football, regained his early West Ham form. An FA Cup winner’s medal and a permanent move to Pompey showed that he had finally settled and was beginning to realise his potential.
Despite the upheaval at Fratton Park this season Johnson has upset the football odds by being consistently outstanding and looks to be enjoying his football again, picking up the club’s player of the year award in the process. His form didn’t go unnoticed by new England boss Fabio Capello who has restored Johnson to the England squad and he appears much more at home at International level then he did when he first broke into the side.
It is a big ask to replace such an established and respected fullback as Gary Neville, who played for England for over a decade, but Johnson finally looks like the man to do so.
Monday, 20 April 2009
Jagielka shows international character
The sight of Everton defender Phil Jagielka tucking away the winning penalty at Wembley was significant, not just for Everton’s FA Cup fortunes, but for what happened at Goodison Park 13 months before.
Back in March 2008 Everton had just played out of their skin against Italian side Fiorentina, but unable to grab the third goal that would secure a 3-2 aggregate win, the game had to be decided on penalties.
Up stepped Jagielka, who had performed immensely again on the night, but the keeper guessed the right way and palmed away the defender's effort. Everton were out and Jagielka faced the long walk back to the halfway line.
That moment must have played on his mind as he walked towards Ben Foster’s goal at Wembley on Sunday. He knew that if he scored his side would triumph, but John Terry also knew that in Moscow and we all know what happened there.
So, the fact Jagielka tucked it away with aplomb proves he has the mental strength to go with undoubted abilities as an international centre-half - which is definitely a boost for Fabio Capello.
He doesn’t make the same mistake twice. Back in December he played a back pass blind towards Tim Howard and failed to spot Ashley Young closing in, the Villa winger tucked the ball home and Jagielka once again wanted the ground to swallow him up.
It’s the sort of mistake that would shatter many players' confidence, but the Everton man responded by performing even better, leading, of course, to an England call-up in February. It is a shame therefore that many people blame Jagielka for the defeat in Spain, when his mistake led to the first goal. Again, it is a moment that can affect a player’s mental strength and confidence, but once again Jagielka retuned to his club and maintained his excellent level of form.
That didn’t go unnoticed by Fabio Capello, who gave him a massive vote of confidence by bringing him on as a late sub against the Ukraine a few weeks ago. The international stage is a tough arena to play in, you can have all the talent in the world but it is worth nothing if you crack under the pressure. I just need to mention the words penalty ‘shoot-out’ to any England fan to prove that.
Jagielka booked a return date to Wembley with his club side on Sunday, and banished the ghosts of Fiorentina to boot. If he continues to show such mental strength and character, it's my football prediction that he will be returning to Wembley a lot more with the three lions.
Any casino online can take you to the big game with a few blackjack wins!
Back in March 2008 Everton had just played out of their skin against Italian side Fiorentina, but unable to grab the third goal that would secure a 3-2 aggregate win, the game had to be decided on penalties.
Up stepped Jagielka, who had performed immensely again on the night, but the keeper guessed the right way and palmed away the defender's effort. Everton were out and Jagielka faced the long walk back to the halfway line.
That moment must have played on his mind as he walked towards Ben Foster’s goal at Wembley on Sunday. He knew that if he scored his side would triumph, but John Terry also knew that in Moscow and we all know what happened there.
So, the fact Jagielka tucked it away with aplomb proves he has the mental strength to go with undoubted abilities as an international centre-half - which is definitely a boost for Fabio Capello.
He doesn’t make the same mistake twice. Back in December he played a back pass blind towards Tim Howard and failed to spot Ashley Young closing in, the Villa winger tucked the ball home and Jagielka once again wanted the ground to swallow him up.
It’s the sort of mistake that would shatter many players' confidence, but the Everton man responded by performing even better, leading, of course, to an England call-up in February. It is a shame therefore that many people blame Jagielka for the defeat in Spain, when his mistake led to the first goal. Again, it is a moment that can affect a player’s mental strength and confidence, but once again Jagielka retuned to his club and maintained his excellent level of form.
That didn’t go unnoticed by Fabio Capello, who gave him a massive vote of confidence by bringing him on as a late sub against the Ukraine a few weeks ago. The international stage is a tough arena to play in, you can have all the talent in the world but it is worth nothing if you crack under the pressure. I just need to mention the words penalty ‘shoot-out’ to any England fan to prove that.
Jagielka booked a return date to Wembley with his club side on Sunday, and banished the ghosts of Fiorentina to boot. If he continues to show such mental strength and character, it's my football prediction that he will be returning to Wembley a lot more with the three lions.
Any casino online can take you to the big game with a few blackjack wins!
Monday, 6 April 2009
Show of character bodes well for England future
So, as the dust settles on another successful international break we can at least take a tentative look forward to a summer in South Africa.
Reaching the half-way stage of World Cup qualifying with a 100% record is outstanding; especially given most of the games have been away. Home games against Andorra and Belarus should yield three points, while the long trip to Kazakhstan should be fruitful. This means we could afford to lose against Ukraine and Croatia and still qualify.
It is that breathing space that should allow the team to play with more freedom and express themselves. It is when the shackles are lifted like this that players like Rooney and Gerrard come into their own. Rooney in particular was outstanding against Ukraine, and his presence in the team is vital to future success.
What pleased me the most was the character shown by the side after conceding the equaliser. Instead of panicking or losing focus, the team stirred back into action, no more so than captain John Terry, another player who will be central to any success we have in the future. The midfield finally looks to be working, with Gerrard’s license to cut inside from the left giving him more potency, especially when linking up with Rooney.
The only position I am not sure of yet is the goalkeeper. I have to admit I have never been a big fan of David James. He has talent, yes, but he will always make a mistake every now and then and I fear if he keeps playing he will make one at a crucial stage and cost us.
The fact he is unchallenged for the number one spot says something about our goalkeeping situation. Ben Foster looks the most likely to push James at the moment, but with Capello favouring players who are playing regularly for their clubs (just ask Michael Owen) will Foster have to move on to improve his England chances?
The goalkeeping conundrum apart, the team is looking more settled and confident than it has done in several years. I won’t get too excited, I have learnt not to supporting England over the years and making any unrealistic football predictions could be dangerous. But their recent performances, and ability to cope with injuries and adversity, bodes very well for the future.
Reaching the half-way stage of World Cup qualifying with a 100% record is outstanding; especially given most of the games have been away. Home games against Andorra and Belarus should yield three points, while the long trip to Kazakhstan should be fruitful. This means we could afford to lose against Ukraine and Croatia and still qualify.
It is that breathing space that should allow the team to play with more freedom and express themselves. It is when the shackles are lifted like this that players like Rooney and Gerrard come into their own. Rooney in particular was outstanding against Ukraine, and his presence in the team is vital to future success.
What pleased me the most was the character shown by the side after conceding the equaliser. Instead of panicking or losing focus, the team stirred back into action, no more so than captain John Terry, another player who will be central to any success we have in the future. The midfield finally looks to be working, with Gerrard’s license to cut inside from the left giving him more potency, especially when linking up with Rooney.
The only position I am not sure of yet is the goalkeeper. I have to admit I have never been a big fan of David James. He has talent, yes, but he will always make a mistake every now and then and I fear if he keeps playing he will make one at a crucial stage and cost us.
The fact he is unchallenged for the number one spot says something about our goalkeeping situation. Ben Foster looks the most likely to push James at the moment, but with Capello favouring players who are playing regularly for their clubs (just ask Michael Owen) will Foster have to move on to improve his England chances?
The goalkeeping conundrum apart, the team is looking more settled and confident than it has done in several years. I won’t get too excited, I have learnt not to supporting England over the years and making any unrealistic football predictions could be dangerous. But their recent performances, and ability to cope with injuries and adversity, bodes very well for the future.
Thursday, 2 April 2009
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