In January 2010 Mikel Arteta completed five years UK residency, and having been ignored throughout his playing career by the country of his birth (Spain, for the ignoramuses out there) is now eligible to play for England. Just turning 28 Arteta could still enjoy a fruitful England career – and though this (2010) World Cup is too soon, he would only be 32 at the next. He’s not a player who relies on pace, and representing Eng-er-land could be his only chance to appear on the biggest stage.

It’s surprising that he has not been called up by Spain before – but not inexplicable. Players of his ilk – playmakers, silky passers – are relatively abundant in the country. Think Iniesta and Xavi, both similar ages to Arteta, then Fabregas who although younger is also blocking his path. Then you have Xabi Alonso, Diego Capel, Santi Cazorla… so Arteta is well down the queue.

England have no such riches. Players like Arteta are like gold-dust – Carrick is probably the current closest and he is quite different. Beckham isn’t miles off, but the most recent player who can genuinely be compared in styles (a playalike, if you will) is Jamie Redknapp. And what a player he could have been were it not for injury. That starkly illustrates the paucity.

When we have the likes of Shaun Wright-Phillips and Joleon Lescott in the England squad (and SWP indeed in the midfield), a player of the calibre and class of Arteta would walk in. And he would offer the side something different, something creative, something intelligent, something… Spanish.

The bandwagon starts here – Fabio Capello, sign him up.

Arteta has previously said he wouldn’t rule out playing for England (see here) – let’s jump on that. Why more isn’t being made of this I don’t know, but he is game, he is eligible, he is good enough, he would be a fantastic addition to the England squad. A genuine playmaker who can play out wide, in the centre, or off the striker is like manna from heaven. Don’t ignore it Don Fabio.

Enough has been written of England’s disappointing – nay abject – nay disgraceful – showing at the World Cup. I didn’t expect much, but a hell of a lot more than one average performance against Slovenia and three other dreadful ones. As always we collapsed as soon as we faced a genuinely good side (speaking of which, how good is Ozil? Amazing) but this time not on penalties, and without a whimper. Yes Lampard’s goal of course should have stood, but 4-2 would have flattered us.

Why?

We have a good side – not a great one, but a good one – a proven manager, and an excellent qualifying campaign under our belts. But the tournament itself was a disaster. Strange selections (Carragher, King, SWP?) strange tactics (No Carrick in the first game), rigidity in formation (at least try Gerrard/Rooney), strange substitutions (Heskey for Defoe when we desperately needed goals) a disharmonious camp (John Terry) the persistence with injured and unfit players (King, Barry, Rooney) and the bizarre cheerleading figure of David Beckham. And for all that the blame must lie with Capello. Magnificent as his club record is, the buck stops with him.

The FA seem to think the same, and have announced there will be an announcement on his future in 2 weeks. This seems sensible, no knee-jerk reactions. And it seems this will coincide with a wholesale change in the English football structure.

Rumours abound this will include a Svengali figure monitoring the pyramid and development of players from the  bottom up. What we also need is a huge push on and for qualified coaches – we only have around 20,000 at the top FIFA level compared to 80,000 for France – and Germany, Holland and Spain all have more. Indeed the latter (if my memory serves) have around 180,000. No wonder England and our top clubs are importing coaches and managers from abroad.

Is Capello the man to lead us into this new dawn? Club and country management is radically different, and you are only as good as your last game. Which in Capello’s case, is fucking shit.

I’m no chest beating Englishman, but for a radical overhaul I would prefer a proven international manager who knows international and club football, and speaks bloody English. I don’t care if he (or she) is from our shores, but it baffles me when the English side is managed by someone who cannot communicate with the players. Thank God we didn’t get Scolari, his English is even worse than Don Fabio’s.

Plus it irritated me when he defended our performances – I thought it was a decidedly English characteristic to blindly laud ourselves – it appears he is guilty of equally rose tinted retrospect. We were rubbish.

I’m intrigued what the FA will do – I suspect offer Capello the chance to oversee the restructure. It will save them £12m after all. And I suspect he will accept. But I don’t think that’s the right way to go. How must they regret removing THAT clause just before the World Cup.

Also – if not Fabio, then who? He at least now has experience of managing a squad at a major international tournament, and that will hopefully stand him and us in good stead at Euro 2012. There are at least no worries about our ability to qualify.

What we want is a world class English coach. And that simply doesn’t exist. Fabio will in all likelihood continue – but it reeks of compromise.

This is also a watershed for the so called ‘Golden Generation’ that began with Michael Owen and David Beckham precociously lighting up World Cup ’98 and ended in ignominy for Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard as they crashed out to Germany. Owen and Beckham have probably already seen the last of international football – but what worth is there in persisting with Gerrard, Lampard, Ferdinand, Terry, Heskey, Barry, even Ashley Cole? They will all be too old for the next World Cup – Lampard is already 32. And the summary of their achievements are two quarter final defeats to Portugal. Oh for the salad days of Sven…

As well as a soup to nuts restructure the FA should also take this an opportunity to build a new England side, one that will get us to Euro 2012 and then be primed for WC 2014. Some of the current crop will be integral to that – Rooney, G Johnson, Joe Hart, perhaps Ashley Cole, Walcott and Lennon; then the likes of Adam Johnson, Tom Huddlestone, Jack Wilshere, Jonjo Shelvey, Connor Wickham, Fabian Delph and other young starlets should be accelerated. It may not pay dividends immediately but building a strong, stable squad that will stay together over the next four years and grow into a team must be the way forward.

Germany should be our paradigm. And hopefully we can find an Ozil.

So in all likelihood the full 23 man squad will include 3 goalies, 2 RB, 2 LB, 4 CB, 4 CM, 2 LW, 2 RW, 4 FWD. the provisional 30 man allows 7 maybes/possibles/tag alongs…

Keepers

Rob Green – Probably first choice

David James – Probably should be first choice

Joe Hart – Will be future first choice

Paul Robinson – Used to be first choice

Defenders

Ashley Cole – Best LB in the world, fit in plenty of time as we predicted

Leighton Baines – Best back up LB we have

Glen Johnson – The only good RB we have

Wes Brown – Versatile but injured, could miss out or be usurped by Gary Neville

Gary Neville – Could, errr, usurp Wes Brown

Jamie Carragher – Apparently being recalled. Bizarre as he is now shit.

Rio Ferdinand – Becoming increasingly injury prone but will go if fit

John Terry – Captain spastic

Matthew Upson – Terrible season but long term 3rd choice

Ledley King – If Capello decides he can play enough games he will go. Arguably our best CB

Midfielders

Steven Gerrard – Terrible season but a shoe in.

James Milner – Great season, may push for starting 11

Joe Cole – Has he done enough? A differential, and a few good games may have got him in

Frank Lampard – Amazing player, amazing season, second name on the teamsheet after Rooney

Gareth Barry – Injured but a unique player so will go

Theo Walcott – Pace makes him invaluable and Don Fabio has already said he will go

Aaron Lennon – Probably just ahead of Walcott on the right

Tom Huddlestone – Preferred to Carrick as the midfield ball retainer

Adam Johnson – Walcott 2006 style wildcard

Owen Hargreaves – May take the opportunity to look at his fitness

Forwards

Wayne Rooney – First name on the teamsheet

Jermaine Defoe – Dodgy end to the season but consistently first choice poacher

Emile Heskey – Rooney’s ideal foil. Old boring argument, we are better with him.

Peter Crouch – Unsure if he will go, alternative big man, chance to have a look at him

Darren Bent – Behind Defoe but may just sneak in

Carlton Cole – Other big man alternative, could push Crouch out

This will probably be hugely wrong. I will update with how wrong it actually is…

A few weeks back we, like everyone else, wrote of England’s left back dilemma in the wake of Ashley Cole’s injury. Why?

In fairness, we did conclude the most likely event was Cole recovers and starts, but the hysteria around it was hilarious, particularly considering he was due to be back in plenty of time and bookies had him at 1/3, usually a good indicator.

The news now comes in that Cole rejoined Chelsea training today and barring another injury will be fine well before the end of the season. Read the full article on that from the Times here.

Why do we all get dragged into this sensationalist reportage? The right back area is more problematic – even if he were injured…

Ashley Cole will be fine for the World Cup. Much to the chagrin of Leighton Baines and Stephen Warnock who, like the rest of us, no doubt got dragged into the hysteria.

The above pic (but in reverse) would have been a welcome sight for England fans as the World Cup draws ever closer. Wayne Rooney, the single most important factor in England’s challenge (despite what that dickhead Tony Cascarino says) has made it through another game, with Michael Owen seeing it out.

Or even better, as with the League Cup final, Rooney is rested and starts on the bench.

No more. Michael Owen has been ruled out until the end of the season, increasing the already intense burden on Wayne’s fat shoulders. Ferguson is now down to Rooney and Berbatov as genuine first team players.

He has some back up – Macheda is due to return imminently from injury, Mame Diouf is (apparently) promising, and Fergie could easily recall Danny Welbeck from Preston (although still unconvinced about him).

But without Owen, Ferguson’s options are undoubtedly reduced, proportionally increasing Rooney’s game time – and risk factor. If he gets injured, even the pipe dream can be extinguished.

Owen’s injury has, indirectly, affected our World Cup chances – though probably not as England’s fourth all time goalscorer would have wished.

Take me, Take me!

Shaun Wright-Phillips – although Walcott’s ineptitude made him look a world beater, SWP did cause havoc down the right once he came on. And he scored. Much as I hate him, he did make a difference. The worry is that he is SO inconsistent – next time out he’s liable to have a shocker.

James Milner – England’s most in-form player continued his rich vein. He looked bright and dangerous and may yet find his way into the starting eleven.

Peter Crouch – Two goals took him to 20 in 37 internationals, a good record by pretty much anyones’ standards. He should go; he’s a handful for defenders, both in the air and on the ground, and is a natural big man foil for Rooney. Will he displace Heskey? By scoring more in 90 mins than Heskey has managed in his whole career, he can have done himself no harm.

Rob Green - The man in possession did little wrong and re-inforced his position as first choice with Joe Hart and David James on the bench.

Michael Carrick – England looked far better when Carrick slotted into centre-midfield. He used the ball well and is positionally excellent. A great article from the superb Zonal Marking goes into Carrick’s performance in more detail.

Leighton Baines - Nothing amazing, but he looked solid and will be unlucky to be dropped for Warnock on this evidence. Especially considering the latter’s abject performance in the League Cup final.

Not me, Not me!

Theo Walcott – The biggest disappointment, Walcott was, as fully expected, useless. He came into the game in bad form and did nothing to suggest he will break out of it. After SWP’s performance he is now 4th in line behind him, Becks, and Aaron Lennon. A dramatic fall from Croatian grace.

Wes Brown – Disappointing, he offered little at right back to suggest he can be employed as a utility defender.

Jermaine Defoe – Proved that he and Rooney are incompatible, and with Rooney 150% sure to start that is a concern. He will still go as the goal-getting substitute, but hopes of a starting berth have been dashed.

Matthew Upson – Slip not really his fault but it’s concerning that he is first reserve behind injury-prone Rio and Captain Spastic John Terry. Actually it’s terrifying. Offered a reminder of the gulf in class to our deputies. Oh for Woodgate and/or King.

Meh! Meh!

Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard - Neither really shone, but both will definitely go and almost definitely start.

Wayne Rooney – By a mile, England’s most important player. We must pray he does not get injured.

Carlton Cole - Not enough game time to impress, and running out of opportunities. Which is a shame, as he has the potential to be a goalscoring Emile Heskey.

John Terry - A worrying tendency to commit errors has crept into his game since his philandering was revealed. England need him to be 100% focussed during the World Cup. (Potentially the most obvious statement ever)

Gareth Barry – The only man who has started England’s last three games. He will probably continue to start too. He is solid and reliable if unspectacular.

Predicted starting eleven, predicted starting eleven!

Currently, this is how we think England will line up (though not necessarily how they should…)

Is that the team that will win the World Cup? I think not…

We wrote about this before, but now it’s even worse. A quick run through…

Goalkeeper

David James has spent most of the season injured, and even when fit is a concern. He is always liable to make a calamitous error. And the back-ups inspire no confidence – West Ham fans hate Rob Green he’s that bad, Joe Hart is young and inexperienced (and when a Premier League club loans out your international goalkeeper as he’s not as good as Shay Given, you know you have a problem). And then we have Paul Robinson. ‘Nuff said.

Defenders

We don’t have a left back anymore. We don’t have a right back. One of our centre-backs has just been stripped of the captaincy and the other is never fit. Their back ups are Matthew Upson and Joleon Lescott. That is literally terrifying.

Midfielders

We don’t have a left midfielder. Our best right midfielder (Lennon) has succumbed to the injury curse leaving the archaic David Beckham next in line. Our best defensive centre midfielder (Hargreaves) is on the verge of being put down. Gareth Barry and Michael Carrick are not world class midfielders. Gerrard has not played well all season and never really for England. Joe Cole has been out for a year. Only Lampard can we be content with. And the form of Milner, who may not even play.

Forwards

There is an unhealthily total burden on Wayne Rooney. Good as he is and has been, if he gets injured we are in a world of trouble. Crouch hasn’t scored for seven games. Heskey never scores. Defoe can only come off the bench. Carlton Cole is just shit. Owen looks good for 20 minutes every couple of weeks then gets injured.

So…

The outlook is bleak. There are problems all over the park. It’s not out of the question that our right side consists of Gary Neville and David Beckham, one or both of our Centre Backs are Upson/Lescott, our left back is Stephen Warnock, our left mid is an out of form Gerrard, our holding midfielder is an out of depth Carrick, and – God forbid – Rooney gets injured leaving Defoe and Heskey upfront. Christ.

I’ve resisted writing on this as literally EVERYONE else is already – but with Wayne Bridge today announcing he is not available for England, just who will fill the injured philanderer Ashley Cole’s polygamous boots?

Bear in mind that he could recover in time and Capello could break from his mantra and select him despite lack of game time (I think that’s what will actually happen) but in case it doesn’t, the contenders…

Wayne Bridge

Bridge was the favourite to replace Cashley – although a far less accomplished defender, he is solid and has 30 odd caps. However he removed himself from the running citing his ‘untenable and potentially divisive’ position (clearly a quote from the PR men, that…). Which throws the door wide open…

Stephen Warnock

Probably next in line, just. Warnock has impressed for Villa this season, is reasonably reliable, and gets forward well. He played centre midfield for Blackburn on several occasions showing both versatility and all round ability. Lack of experience is a concern, as is lack of game time against any world class opponents.

Leighton Baines

Coming into form just as Everton are, Baines has a gorgeous left foot. However, he lacks pace and if you took away his admittedly excellent dead ball delivery there is a distinct suspicion that he is actually a fairly average footballer.

Joleon Lescott

Worf should make the squad largely because of his ability to play centre back or left back – but surely Capello cannot go with an out of position out of form centre back as first choice left back?

James Milner

Again, not his natural position, and it’s extremely unlikely Capello will bodge someone into the starting eleven. Plus Milner has been playing CM for Villa this year, further distancing himself from his experience at full back. Would be very risky.

Matthew Upson and Wes Brown

Two centre backs who could be shoe-horned in at left back if we were absolutely desperate. A terrifying proposition.

Nicky Shorey

As wonky_knee points out: ‘Since signing for Fulham they have kept 4 clean sheets in 5 games. No coincidence…’ – fair point. But until recently Shorey was plying his trade in the Championship, and his defending has always been suspect, hence Villa releasing him. Would you be confident with him lining up against… well, anyone?

And that’s it.

SkyBet have Ashley Cole at 1/3 to start against the USA (see here) and the bookies are rarely far wrong; there’s a strong possibility that this is all pointless conjecture and surmise, and Cheryl’s erstwhile husband will be fit to take to the pitch in England’s first game.

Let’s hope he is.

Name the five players who played under Sven for England whose names start and end with the same letter. Explained properly within…

For example, Liam RidgewelL would be one had he played under Sven. As would David CopperfielD. If he was a footballer. Who played under Sven. For England.

Get the idea? The first letter of the first name has to be the same as the last letter of the second name…

There are five. GO. You can email us for the answer if you get frustrated/impAtient… contact@footballsup.com

John Terry must be the cornerstone of England’s World Cup 2010 challenge. In light of recent scandals, it cannot be as captain…

Bad boy captains don’t sit well with sporting authorities. Just ask Shane Warne. Aside from being arguably the most skilful bowler in the history of cricket, Warne was blessed with a quite brilliant cricketing brain. Perfect captaincy material…until he stepped off the park. A string of off-the-field indiscretions made Cricket Australia reticent to have Warne in a position of authority.

The England football captaincy is viewed with similar magnitude to leading the baggy greens. It requires a character who is whiter than the white kits with three lions on the chest. When Fabio Capello took over, JT seemed a wholly reasonable choice to lead his side into a World Cup campaign. Inspirational leader, world class centre back, committed husband and even named Father of the Year. How that has changed now.

Terry was already on the ropes after the News of the World broke a story about his unofficial £10,000 stadium tour. Now his alleged affair – with, of all people, the fiancée of an England teammate – surely makes his captaincy position untenable. For the FA to continue with Terry would be tant amount to an endorsement of his alleged antics.

You can argue whether personal affairs (literally!) should affect team matters, but in this case they certainly do.

Assuming he goes, who will fill the embarrassing void?

Rio’s injury problems call his claims into question. Lampard leads by example on the pitch and is seen as a model professional. However, in light of his acrimonious split from Elen Rives, his appointment would surely be butchered by the press. That leaves Steven Gerrard to finally prove that he can inspire his England teammates the way he has for Liverpool for the past decade.