World Cup Diary

June 17, 2010

So Fabio Capello, the same man who claimed he would base all selection s purely on form says he has decided the nine positions to start against Algeria but must still finalise on who will start in goal and is now flirting with the idea of giving Jermain Defoe a run out in the place of Emile Heskey.

I never thought I would defend Heskey but if we are judging players purely on the USA game then how can Fabio even think about dropping our best player on the night and how can he still not be sure on Rob Green. If we go by the Italians formula then Green could not have had a worse game so surely like the England manager has always promised a poor display will not be tolerated? Imagine how Heskey will feel if he finds himself on the bench yet apparently Green has done enough to earn another cap.

You have to start to wonder have we talked up Mr Capello a bit too soon. I am not one of those fans who would say this purely because we drew a game of football. It just seems that after England walked through an average qualifying group where Capello can boast a record of just one defeat he has struggled once the serious competition got underway. A bit like Sven Goran Eriksson.

In a comfortable group Fabio gave it the tough talk. Only fit players would travel to South Africa, preparation was the key to glory and players would be picked on form.

Well Gareth Barry (admittedly a crucial player) has not played in months meaning it is impossible for him to be at his best.

Form, It seems that performances the other night will not be taken into consideration for the Algeria match and as for preparation, we are coming up to our second game of the group and Capello is still indecisive about who should be in goal, has no plan B if Barry is absent and still is not satisfied on who Wayne Rooney should start up front with. He has had 2 years to sort this out. It could be a case that Fabio Capello, the man who we all thought was the answer to our prays under estimated the magnitude of managing in the World Cup and the pressure and problems it brings when the country you are managing is England. Slowly but surely the Italian is growing more and more snappy towards reporters, not a coincidence this has been since touching down in Africa.

Where did the Jermain Defoe selection come from? Not saying it’s not the right call, a Defoe run in the team is something many fans have always campaigned for, he is a proven goal scorer but how has Capello came across this in his mind?

There has been no hint of it, Rooney has rarely partnered Defoe and this time last week the talk was of Heskey or Crouch starting. Defoe playing does not worry me but Fabio just changing his mind out of nowhere because he has no other ideas does. That to me seems what is going on. The problem in the USA game was not Heskey, he along with Gerrard were the bright points. The only need to drop Heskey would be to play Gerrard behind Rooney. This for me remains the best way to get both Gerrard and Lampard playing to their strengths with Barry worrying about protecting the back four. I believe if England wins the World Cup this will be the formation they have to play with.

I still trust we have a world class manager who offers strengths previous managers for our national team have lacked but after his judgement over King, Ferdinand, Milner and Green have so far failed I would suggest for the first time in a while tomorrow night it is not just the English players with something to prove.

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