Players State Their Case

Well, it certainly showed to be an interesting weekend in the Premiership. The title race was blown wide open again and 4th place once again switched hands.

It was a perfect weekend for Man United. They beat rivals Man City 1-0 with Tottenham beating Chelsea 2-1 closing the gap at the top to just 1 point with 3 games remaining and Wigan beating Arsenal 3-2 ending Arsenal's title challenge. Worryingly for Capello Rio Ferdinand was once again not fit and his fitness must be giving Capello some headaches as he has suffered all year. The World Cup is an intense month with games coming thick and fast and Ferdinand needs to prove he will be able to cope with that.

Capello then made it to White Hart Lane for the derby between Spurs and Chelsea and would have had mixed feelings with what he saw. Michael Dawson had Didier Drogba in his pocket the whole game showing that he could do a job for England and I would definitely take him in front of Lescott. Jermaine Defoe scored a penalty but missed a glorious opportunity when one-on-one with Petr Cech. John Terry was sent off for pure stupidity and certainly Capello would not have been impressed. Terry gave away a first-half penalty, was then booked for a tackle on Defoe and with Chelsea 2-0 down fighting to get back into the game he inexplicably chopped down Gareth Bale to get his second booking. It was utter madness and indiscipline from the Chelsea captain. Frank Lampard scored and tried to make things happen but struggled and Joe Cole wasted the chance to impress being subbed at half-time after a disappointing performance.

David James played well in goal for Portsmouth and saved a penalty. He is still fighting with Rob Green and Joe Hart for the number 1 shirt. They surely have to be the 3 keepers on the plane and the only thing for Capello to decide is who he is going to trust in goal.

Darren Bent scored again. He just keeps scoring in a poor Sunderland side. Working against Bent though, is that when he has had his chance to play for England he has been poor.

Liverpool against West Ham is the last game to wrap up the weekend’s football and will see a few England players on display. I fancy West Ham may get a draw especially after the news that Torres will miss the rest of the season.

I saw this and thought it was quite funny.
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/top10s/2927639/Top-10-football-superstitions.html

Massive Weekend In The Premiership

This weekend is absolutely crucial for many England players with many key games taking place. At the top we have the Manchester Derby, with United now 4 points behind Chelsea they have to win every game to stand a chance of winning the league. They face a very tough game away at Manchester City though who have been in very good form and need to keep winning to be sure of finishing 4th and getting that elusive Champions League spot. With it being a derby adds an extra spice to it and it will be interesting to see Tevez and Neville face off again after what happened in the Carling Cup.

Another derby sees Chelsea play at Tottenham. Spurs will be full of confidence after beating Arsenal and will hope to put a dent in Chelsea's title bid. Spurs also need to win to keep the pressure up on Man City who are 1 point in front of them in the fight for 4th.

These two games alone will see many of the probable England squad including: Neville, Ferdinand, Carrick, Rooney, Richards, Wright-Phillips, Barry, Bridge (If he changes his mind about retiring), Terry, A Cole (back from injury will be on the bench), Lampard, J Cole, King, Huddlestone, and Defoe as well as many other top international players who will be at the World Cup.

I will be watching both games and will be posting again over the weekend to give my reviews on the games and players. It has the potential to be an amazing weekend of football.

How about this for your full debut in a North London derby, in one of the biggest games of the season. What a strike.

Great England Moments Part 1

So there is just 57 days till the greatest tournament on earth kicks off and I cannot wait. As my excitement is growing I thought it would be a good time to reflect on some of England's greatest moments and this is of course only one place to start: 1966.



By far the greatest moment in England's history winning the World Cup on home soil in 1966. Seeing Bobby Moore lifting the trophy in that picture makes me tingle even though I was not born till 21 years later. Geoff Hurst still holds the record of being the only man to ever score a hat-trick in a World Cup final and it was a team filled with legends. The XI from that day who won the Jules Rimet trophy were: Banks, Cohen, Wilson, Charlton (Jack), Moore (C), Ball, Stiles, Charlton (Bobby), Peters, Hunt and Hurst. It is every England players dream to write themselves into history like these players have done and it is every England fan's dream that it will happen in South Africa.

The 1970 World Cup in Mexico saw one of the best saves ever seen from Gordon Banks off a Pele header. It is still astonishing to understand how he managed to save it and get it up and over the bar. England eventually lost to West Germany 3-2 after extra time in the quarter-finals although there was Banks and a few other England players were ill with food and there has always been a strong opinion that there food in the hotel was spiked.
Here is a link for that save.




The 1986 World Cup is forever remembered for two moments, unfortunately they both involve England. Firstly the greatest player of the time Maradona out jumped Shilton in goal for England and then used his hand to knock the ball in. None of the officials saw it and let it stand. That goal is forever now known as the 'Hand of God'. Then Maradona showed his real quality, picking the ball up on the halfway line and taking on most of the England team before scoring. England lost 2-1 to Argentina and exited the competition in a very bitter mood.

The 1990 World Cup we came so close yet still so far. Our best performance since winning it. Beaten by the Germans on penalties in the semi-finals. This being one of the most famous pictures in England's history of Gazza's tears after we lost. Being beaten on penalties would be become a returning theme.

As the World Cup continues to get closer I will do another Great England Moments looking at the last 3 World Cups and what went wrong.

Mixed Week For England Players

Last week saw one of the greatest individual performances I've ever seen by a certain Lionel Messi again as he just continues to put in remarkable performances. He scored all 4 of Barcelona's goals as they thrashed Arsenal 4-1 to reach the semi-final of the Champions League. His 1st and 3rd goals were something special. The first he smashed the ball into the top corner from 20 yards and the 3rd after racing through he had the audacity to chip the keeper completing his hat-trick in just the first half. He then scored again last night against Real Madrid to take his tally to 40 for the season. He is certainly the best in the world right now and is a player England would have to pay very close attention to should we meet Argentina.

England fans were delighted to see the unexpected return of Wayne Rooney a lot sooner than expected. He played 60 odd minutes last week in the defeat to Bayern Munich which ended all English teams competing in the Champions League this year. He went off with a knock on the same ankle after being the victim of a lot of special attention from the German side. It is nothing to serious although he did miss yesterday’s game against Blackburn he will be fine.

Another great bit of good news for England fans is that Ashley Cole will be ready to play before the end of the month meaning he will be able to play 3 or 4 games before Capello announces his squad. It will ease some stress from him and means he will no longer have to worry about the whole Wayne Bridge fiasco. Bridge should never be selected for England again I believe, he turned his back on his country.

John Terry showed there are no friends in soccer when Chelsea played Aston Villa on Saturday. He has been heavily criticized by Villa manager Martin O'Neill and John Carew for his tackle on fellow England teammate James Milner. Milner has a very good chance of starting in June with the performances he has been putting in and that right midfield spot is wide open. Theo Walcott, Aaron Lennon and Shaun Wright-Phillips are all other options but I don't think Walcott's good enough, his final ball is very poor 90% of the time and his first touch is shocking. Lennon has been injured since Christmas and it’s still doubtful if he will be back in time. Wright-Phillips is too hit and miss still, his either very good or very bad. For me I think I would start Milner he has really impressed this year and he has matured and improved.

I know this is meant to be a blog focusing on England but I had to post this video of Messi’s 4 goals. It also shows how Walcott has a poor final ball as he got really lucky with the poor ball that he played across for the Arsenal goal. It was an easy pass and he very nearly messed it up.

Fringe Players Make Their Mark

Joe Cole, Bobby Zamora, Darren Bent, and Peter Crouch made have all given Fabio Capello even more of a headache after the last course of matches.

Joe Cole scored an incredibly cheeky cruyff through the legs of a Man Utd defender in helping Chelsea to gain a vital 3 points at Old Trafford. He has only played 90 minutes twice this season but he got a rare opportunity to start the top of the table clash on Saturday. He grabbed the opportunity with both hands not only by scoring the skillful goal but his all round game was impressive. He worked hard, won the ball back, kept the ball and looked to make things happen. If he can get a few more starts before the end of the season and help Chelsea to win the title then he could make a late run to make the England squad.

Bobby Zamora continued his impressive season by bagging another goal against Wolfsburg in the Europa League. He is a handful for defenders as he is big, strong, quick and can score all different types of goals. With Capello liking to have a big man partnering Rooney up front Zamora is doing he all can to be that man. Heskey has been the preferred choice for Capello but he still doesn't score enough goals. Zamora is a very similar player to Heskey but is more of a threat.

Darren Bent and Peter Crouch faced off in the same game with Bent grabbing the headlines. Bent scored twice as his Sunderland beat Crouch's Tottenham 3-1. Bent though had a glorious opportunity to score hat-trick but missed 2 penalties with Gomes saving both of them. This was after Bent had already scored 1 penalty. He has now scored 23 times this season in what can be described as an average Sunderland team. Crouch on the other hand came on with 20 minutes to go and scored with his first touch. His size is something that defenders especially foreign defenders still have so much trouble coping with. He also has a goal ratio of 1 every 2 games for England. He is certainly going to the World Cup but could very well be starting with Rooney when England play their first game against USA on June 12th.

With teams having just 5 or 6 games left till the end of the season, players chances to impress are becoming less and less. Every game must be treated like the last game of the season and every mistake counts. Capello will know most of his squad by now and probably most of the starting 11 making every game crucial.

Here's some of Joe Cole's finest moments including the stunning volley against Sweden at the 2006 World Cup and embarrassing the Man Utd defense.

England Breathes Again

England can relax. The news every fan wanted to hear has been confirmed according to Sky Sports. Wayne Rooney will only be out for 2-4 weeks. The worse was feared last night when he left Munich on crutches, but a scan today has shown that it is only a sprained ankle meaning he should be back for the last few matches of the season. This is perfect for England as it gives him a few games to get his sharpness and match fitness back. Rooney is no doubt England's most important player scoring 33 goals for Manchester United this season and at times single-handedly winning them games. He is the second best player in the world right now only behind the unbelievable Messi. For England to have a realistic chance in the summer he has to be fit and firing.

Other good news on the injury front is that Jermain Defoe is set to return this weekend for Tottenham and Ashley Cole is back in light training for Chelsea. Hopefully Cole can get back in full training in the next 2-4 weeks and start playing before the end of the season and then we can forget about the whole Wayne Bridge saga. In my opinion he should never be picked again for England. We had no recognized left-backs for the last game and Bridge would certainly be the automatic choice with Cole injured. So to turn your back on your country is absolutely despicable especially when pictures then come out of him partying it up in Miami. I say never pick him again.

Tonight sees the best player in the world Lionel Messi play in England against Arsenal so we can get a close view of what England may have to deal with in South Africa. He has been out of this world the last few weeks including arguably the goal of the season, as well as 8 goals in 3 games including 2 hat-tricks and 25 goals in 25 league games for Barcelona. Maybe the best way to play against him is just to kick him every time he gets the ball. His so good though, sometimes you can't even get close enough to kick him. Perhaps the scariest thing about Messi is that he is still only 22, he is going to keep on getting better and is a few years away from his prime yet. He has every chance of going on to be the greatest player the game has ever seen.

Lastly, we all know David Beckham won't be going in the summer as a player, but, there has been a few rumors of him going with England in some capacity. I think Capello see's the benefit of having him there and I would definitely take him. His experience, professionalism and quality always shines through. Take him as a coach and let him work with whatever right-wingers Capello decides to take. It certainly will do no harm.

Here's a Rooney video playing for England to get you excitied.



Messi hat-trick including one of the goals of the season