Dear Fabio, Are You Watching? It’s Me, Theo

I’ve never been called an “arse expert” before, but I will choose to take that as a compliment.

Yeah, as I said in my recap over at the Arsenal page, he almost single-handedly turned the tide of the match when he was brought on. I’ve always gotten the sense that Capello likes Theo more than many of the pundits do, and have always thought he’d be on the England squad so long as he was healthy.

But after last night, Capello would be mental not to take him. I think the only question is whether or not Capello thinks of him as a starter or as an impact sub. I feel like many of his most memorable performances as an Arsenal player have been as a 65-70 minute substitute — he can come on when everyone else has tired legs and just go all out, and uses his pace to run circles around everyone else. And if he can do that against Barcelona, it’s hard not to say that he could probably do it against anyone on the international stage, as well.

And Almunia was brilliant last night except for the first Ibrahimovic goal, and I’ve never quite understood why it would be so much more controversial for Almunia to represent England when Owen Hargreaves and John Barnes have suited up for the lions in the past. But the real issue is I just don’t think he’s really any better, on average, than Robert Green.

Your question about Hargreaves and Barnes is really interesting Martin.

Hargreaves was born in Canada, but has an English father. So that makes him different from Manuel Almunia or Mikel Arteta who only qualify through residency.

I know John Barnes moved from Jamaica to England as a schoolboy, but I’d always assumed that he also had some family link to England. Seems that’s not the case. His father Colonel Ken Barnes was born in Trinidad and became a legend in Jamaica, and though I can’t find much info on his mother, it seems like she wasn’t born in England either, and so Barnes qualified through residency just like Almunia.

I wanted to try and make an argument that there’s a difference because Barnes spent more of his life in England and didn’t move here just for football (the move came first, the football second) but technically it seems the two cases are almost identical.

Walcott is definitely on the plane in June. He is a game changer in the right mood and last night was a prime example. His raw pace can only be dealt with by doubling up on his side of the field. Great asset to come on late in a game to grab a goal. He won’t start because he’s not as effective when the opposition gets time to prepare for him.

Enough with the glowing praise of Almunia. He kept Arsenal in the game in the first 20 minutes but remember, everything was hit at him. We don’t need any more reflex shot stoppers – we already have David James. Almunia’s brain fart in the second half is exactly what we don’t want. A goalkeeper that makes poor decisions and makes silly errors. I still maintain that James will cost us dearly in South Africa if he plays.

Don’t rate Walcott at all. Sure he has pace but not much else. Really hope he doesn’t go to the World Cup.

Have a look at my blog where I too discuss Walcott and his form. http://baneys-splog-potp.blogspot.com/2010/04/england-who-do-you-think-will-be-in-23.html