Despite being hyped up by the British press as the games great saviour, Fabio Capello will really earn his corn over the next six months. Obviously it all gets serious now as the build up to South Africa begins and the Italian starts finalising the squad in his mind. Few can doubt he’s done a good job – and many applaud his disciplinarian attitude. Yet everyone seems to have overlooked how difficult it will still be for our national side this summer.
Firstly, our so-called number one has been injured for weeks. Many have said David James is too old and unreliable, but frankly he is the most experienced keeper in the best of an average bunch. He needs to get playing soon before he misses the plane completely. Robert Green has suffered a dip in form recently, while Paul Robinson is doing his best to remind people why he was ever England number one in the first place. England’s top keeper on form at the moment is Joe Hart, but his lack of big game experience may make Capello hesitant in picking him. I’d be very surprised if he shot from nowhere to number one.
A number of key players are off form or not even featuring for their clubs. Rio Ferdinand’s back never seems to get any better. Lennon, Wright-Phillips and Walcott have spent periods on the sidelines and Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard are well below-par for their clubs compared to their usual exploits. Let’s hope they’re saving it for the summer.
But England’s main problem is clearly at right-back. Glen Johnson is out and might not be back until April, causing problems for the manager who said he would only pick regular performers. Despite being excellent going forward I’m still not convinced about his defensive ability. Gary Neville, once a dead-cert on the team sheet, is on his last legs and his compatriot Wes Brown has hardly covered himself in glory recently. He was vile against Brazil, and was then torn apart in Sunday’s F.A Cup game by a League One striker. Luke Young is distinctly average and his superb team-mate James Milner may even be a better, if not ideal option.
Wayne Rooney is carrying Man United and many fear he may burn himself out. After all he has to do the work of two men as Berbatov continues to walk through his Old Trafford career. If he does, England could really struggle with a partnership of Defoe and Crouch, who although combining well for Spurs, would hardly instill fear into the world’s best defences.
Of course, it’s reasonable to be cautious and pessimistic in a run up to the World Cup. I head out to South Africa more in hope than expectation. Every side is one big injury away from having their dreams ruined. Yet, as we all prepare to get out the English flags this Summer before being told to put them away by the PC brigade, it’s worth noting that England are a long-way from being in the best shape. Let’s just cross everything that Capello is really worth the obscene sum that the F.A pay him.
