Emile, I can’t express enough thanks for the work you’ve done in an England shirt. From being a part of that epic 5-1 win in Munich, to, er, other wins, in your 62 caps you’ve seen it all.

“I would like to thank every manager I have played under, everyone at the Football Association and the fans for all their support over the years. I wish the management team and the playing squad all the best for the future.” were Emile’s final words as an England international.

Emile William Ivanhoe Heskey as he was born, was first capped for England by visionary manager Kevin Keegan. Alot of people questioned the move at the time, but obviously it turned out to be a master-stroke.

He was in England’s squad for Euro 2000, but couldn’t make much of an impact from the bench, in England’s three matches, Heskey came on as a sub in two of them. Perhaps if he had started, we would have done better in that tournament.

Of course under Sven he was given a more prominent role and wreaked havoc in England’s 5-1 destruction of Germany in Munich.

He showed his versatility at the 2002 World Cup, where he was deployed at Left Wing to fill a gap. He may have had an international goal drought, but Gerrard and Owen seemed to enjoy playing with him.

And England win against Serbia and Montenegro gave him a chance to be Captain of his country briefly, and by now, no-one could argue with his status, he was a hero.

Or so we thought. He spent a period dropped from the England side, and though he was called up prior to the 2006 World Cup, Peter Crouch largely kept him out of the side, as the public’s fickle affection shifted focus.

Sven was sacked after a disappointing 2006 World Cup (largely because of Heskey’s absence?) Steve McLaren didn’t heed the lesson, and of the many mistakes he made, perhaps not recalling the heroic Heskey straight away was his biggest.

After being begged by Michael Owen, and after a plea from Alan Shearer on Match of the Day, Heskey was recalled as cover for the injured Wayne Rooney for two vital matches at the end of our Qualification campaign. He was widely praised.

He of course played a big role in qualification under Fabio Capello as we swept aside the opposition, but when the World Cup came around Fabio had a wobble and decided that maybe not starting with Heskey was the best plan. Despite this, he got England off to a flying start by setting up Steven Gerrard’s goal against the USA, but by the time he was subbed on against Germany, it was too late, even for the great Heskey.

So tired of being unappreciated, Heskey has now left us. The future is bleak my friends.

This is bad news. As I said in my last post, I know some have been critical of Rio lately, and he has had injury hit seasons, but our defence is our big worry going into the tournament and an experienced player limping off is really not good.

We have to look forwards though. Ledley King will presumably replace Rio in the match against the USA, but can he form a bond with JT and whoever is in goal? Can he play more than a game a week? If he can’t is it to be Upson or replaces him in the centre of defence, so that we have a constantly rotating back line? To me that doesn’t sound healthy.

Hopefully this is our last injury problem going into the tournament. We’ve already lost Beckham, whose experience would have proved valuable (though he is with the team to try and inspire them a bit) and losing Rio is a blow in terms of experience. Can Steven Gerrard fill the role of captain? At club level he has no problem, but for his country…well hopefully he can step up.

I am trying to remain positive – but no doubt having a big injury blow so early in preparations, does mean its going to be a worrying week before our curtain raiser against the United States. Perhaps it is better that it has come now rather than later, and a new defensive line can bond together. Fingers crossed.

My co-blogger Ethan claims “the press is overreacting (again!) and he’ll be okay” – lets all cross our fingers. We shouldn’t jump to conclusions just yet untill we know the full extent, but it has made me feel rather pensive.

David James also sat out training (with a knee problem) but Fabio reckons Jameo will be fine. Lets hope the same is true of Rio.

I know Rio has got a bit of stick in some quarters – he had an injury struck season for Man United that made him look far more shakey than we’re used to – but lets be honest, we really do not want to see our Captain heading home this early. I’m a big fan of Ferdinand’s, and if you think back to previous tournaments – 2002, 2004, 2006 – he was outstanding.

Crossing fingers for him, and Gareth Barry untill we know more.

“Ethan, stop talking about the midfield all the time”. Or what?

England and ‘The Gerrard and Lampard Conundrum’ have been synonymous since the days of Sven Goran Eriksson. After various unsuccessful attempts to crowbar the two outstanding English midfield talents into the same team Fabio Capello appeared to have the answer: placing Gareth Barry and Frank Lampard in the holding midfield positions and Steven Gerrard either in a free role on the left or behind a target man. Then Gareth Barry got injured and James Milner and Michael Carrick, his most likely replacements, performed relatively poorly in his place against Mexico. Now Fabio’s thinking about moving Gerrard back next to Lampard.

Sven tried to force the two together in a 4-5-1 system at the 2006 World Cup by placing Owen Hargreaves just behind them in midfield, but, whilst he, doing all their work for them, was named England’s player of the tournament, they were largely ineffectual – scoring just two goals between them.

Steve McLaren arrived after that and immediately placed Gerrard on the right of an orthodox four in midfield, with Lampard and Hargreaves in the centre. Gerrard appeared unhappy out-wide (publicly doubting McLaren’s tactics) and eventually injuries to the Chelsea and Manchester United men coupled with poor results allowed him to come back inside to play with a new partner: Gareth Barry.

That match-up proved a winning formula for England in notable 3-0 wins against Israel and Russia at Wembley. But when it failed away to Russia in the next game McLaren didn’t hesitate to return Lampard to a midfield five for the crucial last qualifier against Croatia, with Barry moved back behind him and Gerrard (id est, where Sven finished, except with Barry instead of Hargreaves.)

Barry went off at half time in that game and when England lost the game 3- 2 they ended it with Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard in the middle of an orthodox midfield four. Of course they did.

Two years and twenty-three games under Capello since then and we could be back in the same place again – the manager was quoted this week as having said that ‘Gerrard can play in midfield with Frank Lampard.’

Maybe ‘back in the same place’ is overly emphatic. We can be sure that Capello’s Lampard and Gerrard combo would not replicate McLaren or Sven’s. His defensive instincts will never allow him to place them in a 4-4-2 together and neither is he likely to allow both of them the freedom of a three man centre midfield in which a Scott Parker or Ledley King do their work for them - given that that might force Wayne Rooney into a target man role, or worse, encroach on his space in the final third. Strangely, if Capello does use two of club football’s foremost attacking midfielders in combination, it is likely to be as England’s two holding midfielders. 

Everything changed when James Milner and Michael Carrick failed their auditions to play alongside Lampard - averaging just an 82% passing success rate between them in a friendly against a team ranked 17th in the world as compared to Barry’s 85%, achieved in mainly competitive games.

Both looked poor bets to partner Lampard as England failed to control possession in the first half. The game became radically different though in the second half when Gerrard moved back to the deeper position he has occupied for Liverpool for most of the season: England controlled posession, Mexico’s pressure subsided and the ball’s passage from defence to attack became much more fluid. Gerrard won tackles, made passes and looked much improved from the player who hardly saw the ball playing behind Peter Crouch in the first half – ironically, he looked ‘freer’ to link up with Rooney in spite of his more restricted role.  

Based on that second half of football and Lampard’s consistent performances deeper in midfield for England over the past year and a half, it is only sensible to consider playing the two England enigmas together as the ‘two’ in England’s 4-2-3-1. Yes, it would somewhat negate both’s creative impacts, but of late we have not seen much of that side of Gerrard’s game anyway and we must surely avoid moving Lampard from the midfield base given the stability he has so often provided for Capello.

‘Consider it’ at least. Milner too must and will be given another chance – preferrably alongside Lampard. Carrick has so often been Barry’s replacement for Capello and may still realistically be thought of in that same light. Parker, King, Huddlestone and Carragher also remain serious candidates. But be in no doubt: Capello does believe that ’Gerrard can play in midfield with Frank Lampard’ and he might just try it.

It wouldn’t be England without a will he/won’t he? saga. Or would it?

There have been times during the last two years of England under Fabio where certainty has filled the air and known quantities have filled the team sheet. The climate around the England camp now is very different and the main cause of that shift is the undecided immediate future of Gareth Barry. Will he make the tournament, and if he doesn’t: who will replace him in the team?

Throughout their qualifying campaign England have operated with two holding midfielders: usually the aforementioned Gareth Barry alongside Frank Lampard. Interestingly and idiosyncratically, neither of these two players performs the role of ball winner for the team. Rather, Capello sets both out to concentrate on ball retention and positioning themselves in front of the back four.

It is easy, yet untrue, to suggest that Barry is the ‘ball winner’. Whilst he is more defensively minded (and may have a more defensive mandate from Capello) than his midfield partner, Lampard, this involves playing slightly deeper and not necessarily winning tackles in the manner of more traditional defensive midfielders like Owen Hargreaves.

And it’s the somewhat unusual nature of England’s regular midfield partnership that has helped cast so much doubt over who will fill the birth that Barry may leave open. Comparisons are difficult to find: Barry and Lampard don’t interpret the holding midfield role in England’s 4-2-3-1 like, for example, Javier Mascherano and Xabi Alonso did for Liverpool, where Mascherano won the ball and Alonso played it. Nor do they replicate the defensive tactics of France’s Raymond Domenech, who employs two ball winners in the holding roles: Lassana Diarra and Jeremy Toulalan.

Any of the host of central midfielders Capello has at his disposal to replace Barry is likely to adjust the role slightly to suit himself. Roughly: Scott Parker, Ledley King and Jamie Carragher would be ball winners, lacking Barry’s ability on the ball, leading to a tendency to play it backwards. Tom Huddlestone and Michel Carrick would be ball players without the same positional awareness and, perhaps, willingness to close down opposition midfielders. 

It would seem that the safer bet would be to bring in any one of Parker, King or Carragher. Fears have been expressed throughout the Capello reign that against the highest level of opposition, such as Brazil or Spain, a pure ball winner is required even over the subtleties that Barry brings to centre midfield.

Yet there are still palpable risks attached to England’s possible ball winners: Carragher and King may no longer have the pace to operate in midfield and Parker is an unknown quantity having last appeared for England over four years ago.

James Milner, at this point, might seem an obvious answer: a willing worker, in fantastic form playing in midfield for Aston Villa all season, with quality on the ball. However, his enthusiasm may render him, as yet, unsuitable. Could he or Capello manage to tame his attacking instincts? It is a moot point until we see him play – and I personally, do think we will see him fill in for Barry, at least for the first few games – but it does expose the reality that there are question marks over all possible England central midfield combinations.

Even with Gareth Barry fit there would/will be doubters. Perhaps in an ideal world Owen Hargreaves would have been in (serious) contention and he and Barry could have formed a formidable partnership – my preferred option -over Lampard who is a world class attacking or box-to-box midfielder but not quite at that level as a holding midfielder.       

There are no ideal worlds though, and in fact the best combination might turn out to be a surprising mixture of players: English logic says that Xavi and Andres Iniesta are far too similar to occupy parallel midfield positions and that Spain and Barcelona’s attacking full-backs require more defensive cover than just one holding player, yet Spain and Barcelona’s trophy cabinets beg to differ.

I wonder what Geoff Hurst thinks…

Matilda has already made a convincing case for Why Jack Wilshere Shouldn’t Go to South Africa. And I think we can more or less assume that he won’t. There’s just too much competition for places in midfield, and I see all kinds possible World Cup squad players like Ashley Young and Joe Cole ahead of Wilshere in the pecking order. But as commenter gunner4life (I wonder who he supports???) pointed out, we can still look to the future optimistically when players like Wilshere start maturing.

We possibly have a new name to add to that list of “players like Wilshere”, and that name is Danny Rose. The video above is the goal that 19 year old Rose scored for Spurs vs Arsenal on his Premier League debut. Not too shabby, eh kids?

I’m not going to pretend I know much about Rose. I know he’s played for England Under-21s a few times, and I know he’s highly regarded. I also know that – like Aaron Lennon – he came through the Leeds academy before moving to Spurs as a teenager, and that – unlike Aaron Lennon – he’s left footed.

I’m not clear on whether he’s a left winger or a left footed central mid, but I have fingers crossed for left winger. I’m looking forward to the day when England’s infamous “left sided problem” isn’t the fact that we have no left wingers, but that our manager is struggling to choose between Jack Wilshere and Danny Rose.

In fact… it’s not impossible to imagine a 2014 World Cup (or maybe even a 2012 Euros) where it’s Spurs vs Arsenal for the left wing in Rose vs Wilshere, and Spurs vs Arsenal for the right wing in Lennon and Walcott. I’m sure there’d be plenty of arguments, but I can handle a few arguments if it means we have options.

Also, for no particular reason:

But this? This is not how a professional footballer should behave. Unfortunately, in the eyes of justice, since Atwell, the ref at the time, saw the incident and decided against punishing Gerrard, the FA can’t take any action against him. This is all after, lest we forget, he apparently flashed the V-sign at Andre Mariner in Liverpool’s defeat to Wigan last week.

This is completely unacceptable, and I sincerely hope Fabio Capello has his eye on Steven and will give him a warning. Rooney, it may be time to suggest your captaincy.

Cooper was a part of the famous (now infamous) Leeds United team of the 1970s, remembered nowadays as “dirty Leeds”, thanks to Brian Clough’s view of the team, before during and after his infamous 44 day reign at the club *(Read or see The Damned United, where teh picture to the left comes from for more), which is quite possibly the reason he’s a bit forgotten today. I certainly very much enjoyed reading about him.

It got me thinking about Revie’s England a bit too. In the 1970s English Clubs were one of the dominating forces in Europe – its mysterious that this never translated to the national side.

In 1974 Alf Ramsey was famously axed for not qualifying for a World Cup where we’d have been among the favourites, and was replaced by Revie.

Retrospectively the country has decided that it should have been Clough but that’s easy to say when you know that three years into his reign, Revie succombed to what the Sex Pistols would have called Filthy Lucre, and moved out to the UAE.

Clough struggled with big egos – his stint at Leeds showed that. Revie liked to build a tight knit family – where players like Cooper could flourish, and that didn’t work on an international level.

Still it was good to go back and read that even in one of our darkest periods as a National Side, we were influencing World Football all along.

Well after watching this video I’m pretty sure more engineering went into the design of the away kit than went into my toaster. In fact I’m a little surprised the kit itself doesn’t make toast. I guess it’s good to know that our boys are getting nothing but the best. And, of course, as a female fan I support any kit that’s inspired by base layers.

FYI: Purchase your England World Cup 2010 away kit.

England’s kit launches are getting weirder and weirder.

The World Cup 2010 home shirt was revealed amid much pomposity in March 2009, with the England players removing their tracksuits to reveal the new kit during the national anthem. It was a bit much.

The new England away shirt for World Cup 2010 was revealed last night in even more bizarre fashion: by Kasabian singer Tom Meighan. At a gig. In Paris.

Meighan came out to perform “Fire” as an encore, wearing the shirt. As you can hear in the above video, the French crowd were not impressed.

So, yeah. An odd way to launch a new kit. But at least Umbro are keeping things interesting. Here’s video of Meighan talking to NME beforehand. Got to admire his efforts at towing the Umbro line, telling the uninterested journo about how Umbro were tailors before they made football shirts. But enough cynicism, let’s get a closer look at that shirt:

You don’t need me to tell you that the simple red design is intended to remind us of the 1966 shirt, which Bobby Moore while lifting the Jules Rimet trophy:

I quite like it. Nice and simple, plus a good old fashioned nod to our finest hour. If you’re interested in buying one, then click here.