Back in November we looked at England’s potential squad – the definites, possibles, maybes, and no-ways – and it looked pretty rosy, pretty balanced. Fast forward three months and it has a whole different, far more worrying appearance…
England have been handed a fantastic draw in Group C – and as a result the bookies have cut the odds on us winning the damn thing. We couldn’t… could we?
Slightly revised after the Ukraine and Belarus games, and some interesting feedback – and the fact we forgot about James Milner – read on for the squad we think Don Fabio should be taking to South Africa. Further opinions welcome…
England had already qualified before their defeat to the Ukraine – several other teams joined them on Saturday, including Italy after their last gasp equaliser against Ireland. Read on for a full round up of what is left to be decided (when time is short and articles are factual we tend to reproduce the best of the rest – that’s the case here, lawyers, we are reprinting an article from the ever-excellent Football365…)
OVER-REACTION EXCITEMENT HYPERBOLE LOUD NOISES. That seems to be the general feeling after England’s fantastic win over Croatia. Taking a step back though, and not because of one performance, Capello is building a competent England side who can (it seems) compete at the highest level. Here are 10 reasons why they could triumph in South Africa – we’re not saying they will, but they could…
England are in a strong position, and if they beat Ukraine on Wednesday will have one foot in the finals. They were impressive in their 4-0 friendly win over Slovakia but the unbeaten Eastern Europeans will be a much sterner test. England are already 5 points clear and will maintain that advantage with a victory.
Looking at our squad to face Slovakia and then the Ukraine, our weakness is our strikeforce. Carlton Cole? Really? Heskey is an able foil, Crouch an impact sub… and Rooney is yet to find his best position or arguably form for his country. That is a severe paucity of options. Where are the world class English forwards? They are not abroad; are they being overlooked in the Premiership? Let’s have a look at the top scoring Englishmen…
That may sound like a stupid question. But think about it. Personally (I’m 26) I’m glad England didn’t win the World Cup when I was younger (say 12, 16, 20). I don’t think I would have appreciated it properly, and it would have changed my perception of future tournaments; having already seen a victory, I [...]
Steven Gerrard, contrary to our expectations, has not recovered and will play no part against Fulham tomorrow. Frank Lampard, on the other hand, is expected to be fit for Chelsea. Fat is a great healer. Fabio Capello is quoted as saying of his first year in charge of England “I think it is impossible to [...]
England have just completed an impressive 2-1 win over Germany in Berlin. Firstly, to the teams – we were right to predict the two quick strikers, but it was Agbonlahor alongside Defoe, rather than, as predicted, Bent (who came on in the second half and missed an open goal, a la Ricardo Gardner at the [...]
