Daryl… thank you for responding to my suggestion regarding Spanish Autonomous Countries — I feel that it would be a great Blog to read about, I really don’t know the inner-workings of this Blog, but IMO, you guys who do such an outstanding job as it is with all these International Blogs should really look into that.

Not Directed at you Daryl but to some of your readers:
But apparently anytime someone expresses an opinion here, he is referred to as an idiot… whatever happened to free thought? Anything that doesn’t go “along” with the status quo gets reduced to being stupid?

Posted from  United States

Duh, opinions and free thought are for idiots. Someone tell me what to think, quick.

Daryl, how much would it cost to purchase the website? And if you don’t know I would apreciate it if you could find out.

Giuseppe

Posted from  United States

Pre-injury, Fabio didn’t really seem to know what to do with Cole, I suppose he was the sacrificial lamb to get Gerrard and Lampard in the same midfield.

There are few players I admire more than Joe Cole though, One of the few players I would pay just to see. But yeah, I’m not sure that he does fit in the starting XI anymore. I do think that his future might be in the behind-the-striker role.

We’re bound to get some injuries before the World Cup, we always do, so it’s good having someone so versatile to bring in.

Posted from  United Kingdom

100% agree Rob. I like Joe Cole a lot, but I always feel like England (team, fans, media) worries too much about who’s in the starting XI, and forgets that a successful team needs a plan B, either to replace injured players, or to change a game should it not be going well.

So there’s no shame in Joe Cole, Jermain Defoe, Michael Owen or anyone else being on the bench. It just makes us stronger.

Posted from  United States

I’ll be happy enough to see Beckham with the squad in South Africa. But not if it means ditching either Theo Walcott or Aaron Lennon. Will be interesting to see if Capello has room for three right mids in his 23.

this article speaks so much truth, everyone who thinks the premier league is so goddam better than Serie A and how perfect the EPL is should read this article

http://www.goal.com/en-us/news/86/italy/2009/10/30/1594386/calcio-debate-capello-is-an-ignoramus-who-hasnt-got-a-clue

Has to be: Rooney, Crouch, Bent, Defoe, Owen – Agbonlahor, Heskey, Cole are not prolofic enough, or have Michael Owen’s ability to produce something out of nothing when needed.

Posted from  Netherlands

Daryl! Sorry to go OT but I’ve been having problems with WCB. I don’t know if it’s just me, but everytime I visit the homepage I see news from last month. The main headline on the front page is:

“Story of the Day Being Overshadowed by the Story of the Day” posted on September 30th, 2009 by Chris.

It’s been like this for 2 weeks now. What’s going on?

I don’t know if friendlies are important in general, but I’m sure Sir Alex is wrong.

Seriously, a chance to play Brazil is a big opportunity for England. England rarely get to play a really top team outside of Europe, especially in a situation where both teams are likely to take it seriously as prep for the World Cup and a chance to earn your place as a player.

On another note, I find it amusing that the Umbro ads for an England shirt on this page feature Paul Robinson, Michael Owen, and Micah Richards–three players unlikely to be on display against Brazil or in the squad in South Africa. Maybe Umbro should update their graphics every couple of years!

Posted from  United States

I totally agree that if there is a scheduled international date then it makes sense for a national coach to take advantage of it.

Ultimately it all comes down to money doesn’t it? I mean United/Chelsea/Barca/Inter need to win things to stay solvent. The FA doesn’t *need* the influx of cash to fund new players or a training facility.

I’m sure if there was some magical way of ensuring that every player returned rested an unscathed Sir Alex wouldn’t have a problem at all if his best player (I don’t think he’s too attached to Ferdinand right now) went for a sunny weekend in some wealthy country.

@Thad: Lol, very true. Manchester United were using Ronaldo to promote their summer tour long after he’d packed up for Madrid. Bizarre oversights.

Posted from  Canada

Seth,

Yes, we’re aware of the problem and have people working on it. Thanks for letting us know though.

Daryl

I would love David Beckham to play in South Africa but I feel he will spend most of the time sat on the bench.
However, he is still world class, he can come off the bench and change games so therefore will be included (I hope)!

Posted from  United Kingdom

There’s absolutely no way Heskey doesn’t make the squad. Unless he’s injured, the big man is going to South Africa. That’s not just my opinion, that’s pretty much the way it is, based on Capello’s team and squad selection so far.

Yeah I definitely can’t see him lasting the whole 90 minutes in many games. He’d be an impact substitute, which is a role I think he will be able to perform wonderfully.

Posted from  United States

Jamie Carragher needs to come back and partner with John Terry, Jamie Carragher is a phenomenal player

Posted from  United States

If Rio’s still dropping clangers in May, then it’s time to panic. Mostly because there’s no obvious replacement. Carragher’s not coming back (sorry Bman), there’s no way Ledly King can last a whole tournament, and Upson and Lescott are decent but a definite step down in quality.

That said, I’m not too worried about Rio just yet. I pretty much believe Fergie when he says it’s injury related, so just hoping it all works out and the fella finds his form some time in early 2010.

For the record, problem is fixed now.

lewis holtby also qualify for england

Posted from  United States

I completely agree. Rooney dazzled me at the Euro 04, and was actually one of the reasons I fell in love with football. I was about 10 at the time and it blew my mind that someone so young could do something so lovely. Rooney really convinced me what a great sport this was, I suppose Bolton Offside has him to thank. I really hope he has a great tournament.

Posted from  United States

Some good points all round – but defenders don’t last as long as they used to – top strikers today are just too fast and mobile. But it depends a great deal of course on what sort of defender (central in particular) you are – if you rely largely on how well you read the game, like John Terry, you can go on a long time. But I have to disagree about Carragher – he was a great player, but top quality opposition has found him out time and again this season. He has lost both pace and vision it seems. England’s problem is that they have a large number of quite good centre backs, but after Rio and Terry, no-one really stands out. If Woodgate can stay fit and get plenty of playing time, he might step up

Posted from  United States

Thanks Michel-Olivier, I’d never heard of Lewis Holtby, but just looked him up after reading your comment. Seems like a very similar situation to Hunt in that he could theoretically play for England, but is Germany born and raised and so – very understandably – prefers to represent Germany.

Holtby Wiki link here, if anyone’s interested:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_Holtby

Features this great quote: “My father was born in England and was an Everton fan since the age of five. He immediately infected me with the Everton virus!”

Well with all things considered it’s perfectly plausible for Warner’s wife to have thought the bag was a birthday present. After all it was presented at her birthday dinner! Also the FIFA executive committee does not meet every day so the two week delayed response is entirely reasonable.

There is no doubt however that if Warner hadn’t been caught with the bag he would have kept it to England’s advantage.

The only problem is that there is a subtle, but significant difference in impersonally handing out gifts at a convention (what Australia did) and personally giving gifts to the wives of the 23 member executive committee. Indeed, one can be construed as benefits of the job and the other more as outright bribery.

It’s really this subtlety in presentation and organization that England lacks in their 2018 bid and indeed this can very much cost the bid if the vote comes down to the wire.

Although I really prefer England over any other venue for 2018 especially Australia, there is a lot still to be learned by the English FA lest they want a repeat of the 2006 bid.

Is it not totally unreasonable to question why all the delegates had “wives”, ie why they were all men. I recoil at the lack of females in administrative positions in football, it is, at best, unfortunate.

Posted from  Australia