And while we don’t have our full squad available – no Rooney, no Gerrard, no Joe Cole – we’re not too far off. And I actually like it when there are just one or two (or in this case three) big names missing, because that means someone on the fringes gets to play.

In this case, that hopefully means Villa’s Gabby Agbonlahor and Ashley Young will get to start, and we can get a look at them

a) against quality opposition, and
b) surrounded by England regulars

So here’s the starting XI I’d like to see:

- – - – - – - – - – James – - – - – - – -
Johnson – Ferdinand – Terry – Cole
Beckham – Lampard – Barry* – Young
- – - – -Agbonlahor – Heskey – - – -

*or Carrick, I’m happy either way.

I’d like to see Young and Agbonlahor go the full 90, and to see Rob Green play maybe the second 45.

Would also be nice see at least one from James Milner, Phil Jagielka and Carlton Cole make their international debuts. Preferably Milner for Beckham at either the 45 or 60 minute mark. Where does that leave SWP? Sitting down I suppose.

Who would you like to see Capello start?

The year 2009 is all set up very nicely for England. Top of WC 2010 Qualifyig Group 6 and all that, so we can look forward to it with some good old fashioned optimism. Here’s my wishlist for 2009:

1. World Cup 2010 qualification. That’s the least we can ask for.

2. World Cup 2010 qualification as Group 6 winners. Please.

3. A new keeper. David James is a genuinely nice fella, and one of football’s more intelligent chaps. But he’s still a bit error prone, and he’s not getting any younger. If anyone has what it

4. The following players to get their England careers up and running:
a. Ashley Young
b. Gabi Agbonlahor
c. Rob Green (see above)
Basically, I want to see an England that attacks with some pace and has a decent keeper.

5. A happy ending to this Steven Gerrard Lounge Inn business. And by happy ending I mean something that doesn’t ruin his England career.

6. Ledley King? OK, now I’m just pushing it. But when fit, the man is quality. Right now our third choice centre back is either Matty Upson or Joleon Lescott. Good. Very good. But not great.

7. Wayne Bridge playing regular football for Man City. So we have a viable alternative to Ashley boo Cole.

8. No more England players getting booed. Not even Ashley Cole. Booing doesn’t help, it’s just petty.

9. No Fabio Capello scandals. If he gets caught with a Fake Sheikh or the Anglo-Italian equivalent of Ulrika Jonsson, then I give up.

10. A team that continues to be picked according to form, not fame. Sorry Michael Owen.

1966 World Cup final
England 4-2 Germany (aet)

1970 World Cup quarter-final
Germany 3-2 England

1990 World Cup semi-final
England 1-1 Germany (Germany win on pens)

Euro ‘96 semi-final
England 1-1 Germany (Germany win on penalties, again)

So it’s basically the old Home Nations tournament (dead since 1984) but with Ireland taking the place of England. Which is why some are calling it the Celtic Cup.

Why no England? Here’s the impossibly dull official reason:

As there are limited international dates for opportunities to play nations from outside Europe, we like to use several dates to play teams from South America, Africa and Asia,” explained a spokesperson for the English FA.

“We have played several fixtures against the home nations since 1999 and our preference is to play one-off games rather than a tournament – if they fit in with the manager’s plans.”

What total bullshit. In an age where England friendlies are struggling to stir public interest (or sometimes player interest) this tournament would have been perfect. Lots of pride at stake and the all important factor of something at stake.

It would have been a perfect opportunity to give players a taste of tournament football and to see how certain untested players react to playing for England in a big game.

You can’t tell me that England players get more out of a dull Wembley friendly against say Japan or Ecuador than they would out of a competitive game where the opposition is gunning for you.

Not only that, it would likely have been a money spinner for the English FA, particularly if they were ever to host the event. So I suspect they’re not being entirely honest with us.

My guess is that the decision not to get involved is more to do with a fear of trouble than anything else. For multiple historical reasons, there’s a definite potential for crowd violence in games between England and any other team from the British Isles. Sad but true. And maybe the FA are doing everyone a favour by not pointing that out and making a big deal out of it.

But here’s hoping that at some point in the future the Four Associations Cup can become the Five Associations Cup and England can get involved without any problems.

Assuming Fabio Capello agrees with everyone else in the world (except Sven) that Gerrard and Lampard are not a good central midfield partnership… then who does he pick?

He might, but only might, try the old Gerrard on the left (but then tell everyone he wasn’t) trick again. But I doubt Capello will want to mess with the feelgood factor from Croatia, where the team looked nicely balance. So assuming both are fit, I’m curious about who will start in midfield against Kazakhstan and (more importantly) Belarus.

Both men showed how important they are today. Gerrard rescued Liverpool today with a sweet right footed strike and a penalty, while Lampard led Chelsea to a 4-0 win over Bordeaux with a goal and two assists.

My take on this: they’re equally good and very very similar. Both are central attacking mids, but still more box to box than traditional number 10. Both can tear up and down the field and pull a goal out of nowhere, but neither has what you’d call a bag of tricks. You wouldn’t get either of them confused with Juan Roman Riquelme for example.

The only differences I can see between the two is that Lampard is perhaps better at retaining possession (less long balls) while Gerrard is better at taking a game by the scruff of the neck.

Chelsea fans will say Lampard, Liverpool fans will say Gerrard. Because that’s how that is. My guess is that most neutrals will say Gerrard, but based more on personality than performance.

Really, it doesn’t matter. I 100% mean that. Either Lampard or Gerrard would do a great job for England if used correctly. And we’ve learned from bitter experience that they can’t both do that job simultaneously. So the important thing isn’t really which one of them starts, the important thing is that one of them starts without the other.

“In the first half, we were looking good and we thought we could get a positive result,” Bilic said. “But, we were brutally punished in the second half.”

“We knew that Capello had two options, either Walcott or Beckham,” Bilic said. “It turned out that Walcott was the right choice as he was so exceptionally dangerous.

“England showed they are a mighty team, probably the best in Europe.”

That last one is going to grab some headlines (see above) but let’s not get carried away, eh?

Bilic has a very good reason to say England are suddenly a “mighty” team, and that’s because he just lost 4-1 at home.

We are not the best team in Europe. Not so long ago we weren’t even among the best 16 teams in Europe, so let’s keep our heads. Here’s what Capello had to say:

“People must remember, this was only the second game. It was a good performance, a good result, but it’s only one victory and nothing more. It is just a start.”

Good work Fabio. This man can manage both our team and our expectations. What we do suddenly look like is favourites to qualify from Group 6, which is quite a big deal when we talking about second spot and playoffs only recently.

But inaccurate and self-serving (and clever) as Bilic’s comments undoubtedly are, it’s still nice for England to start getting a little respect again.

Goalkeepers: David James (Portsmouth), Robert Green (West Ham United), Paul Robinson (Blackburn Rovers)
Defenders: Wayne Bridge (Chelsea), Wes Brown (Manchester United), Ashley Cole (Chelsea), Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United), Glen Johnson (Portsmouth), John Terry (Chelsea), Joleon Lescott (Everton), Matthew Upson (West Ham United)
Midfielders: Gareth Barry (Aston Villa), Jimmy Bullard (Fulham), Jermaine Jenas (Tottenham Hotspur), Joe Cole (Chelsea), David Bentley (Tottenham Hotspur), Frank Lampard (Chelsea), Stewart Downing (Middlesbrough), David Beckham (LA Galaxy)
Forwards: Wayne Rooney (Manchester United), Jermaine Defoe (Portsmouth), Theo Walcott (Arsenal), Emile Heskey (Wigan Athletic)

Good News: Rob Green, deserves a call up. Heskey and Defoe both looked good on Saturday.

Bad News: Still no Ashley Young. What’s Fabio got against him?

Not Sure News: Jimmy Bullard, eh? Hard to say. I like him, but strange time to be naming an uncapped player to the squad. And no Michael Owen. However you feel about Owen, when he’s fit enough to play he’s a lot more more useful to England than young Theo Walcott is right now.

It’s times like these that make me think about how dull the England team really is.

Sigh.

I always thought of Spain as our brothers in underachievement. Lots of quality players, but never in danger of actually winning another trophy. We even won our last trophies at about the same (Spain Euro ‘64, England WC ‘66). Their failure made me feel better about ours.

But Spain went and ruined all that on Sunday.

Now Spain are Euro 2008 champions, they no longer flatter to deceive. Which basically leaves just England as the only nation that is theoretically good enough to win something but can’t get our shit together.

The good news is that Euro 2008 is over. Our absence was a disgrace, but at least it’s all in the past now.

Hopefully we can take the positives from our failure to qualify, as follows:

1. We wouldn’t have done well at Euro 2008 with Steve McClaren anyway
2. McClared out, Capello in. That’s an upgrade
3. Failure to qualify will have cut some England egos down to size, which has to be a good thing.

So here’s to the 2010 World Cup. Let’s hope we’ll be involved.

Not much going on with England other than the constant reminders that we’re not involved with Euro 2008. I’m sure Colin Kazim-Richards is a nice lad, but Turkey having a half-English winger isn’t quite the same as us having a team there is it?

Above is a funny but depressing “Three Lions” pardoy video capturing the essence of our absence. Below is the original, a reminder of happier days. Sigh. And double sigh that the “30 years of hurt” is now 42 years of hurt.

In other news, I’ll soon be getting some help on this blog in the shape of Will, who’ll be introducing himself in the near future.