Do we really want to win the World Cup?

Are we really that comfortable winning anything for that matter?
It sounds a ridiculous question, I know, but it is one that has plagued me throughout this World Cup and is at the forefront of my mind now Wimbledon is upon us.

When it comes to our domestic club sides there is no grey area, winning is everything, as is progress and dominance. That’s why Manchester United fans are still whinging about the Glaziers, despite all their success, and why the less cultured sides are still attract support when they win matches, even at the cost of attractive football.

When my team plays, or at least attempts to play, I give them my undying support, in return they must use any means necessary to win. With that win ensues a sense of tremendous pride, the opportunity to brag over local rivals and if, heaven forbid, we ascend a division in the process it brings the chance to visit the champagne clubs, drinking weak, warm lager all the way.

There is tribalism in local football; inside of England bragging amongst fans is a right. It has grown from terrace chants to online forums. We detract from our rivals, promote our own performance and we let everyone know when we’ve won 1-0 from an ill-gotten goal. There is no room for the gracious loser in English football, we have grown tired of Arsenal’s pretty yet trophy-less football We may entertain the idea of the triumphant underdog when Blackpool come up against Manchester City in the coming season but when we tune into MOTD that evening we still have the blood-lust of seeing all of The Tangerine’s eight conceded goals. That is English football as it mirrors English capitalism. On the international stage it is quite different.

It is a cultural oddity that has seeped into our national game, we are ashamed to be English and we are embarrassed to win as England. Look at our recent opponents USA, in the States every classroom has a national flag, children repeats the Pledge Of Allegiance with ease and pride. In England the flying of our national flag is often banned and our history lessons in school omit huge great chunks for fear of offending. Large proportions of English people are ashamed of our imperialistic past and when they are not apologising for things that happened hundreds of years ago they are fearful of England succeeding on the national stage and to be seen gloating.

It’s why, when it comes to international football, we flourish as the underdog, its why we are lay such importance on having honour in defeat and I think it edges us towards favouring our flawed geniuses instead of our ruthless victors. Lineker and Shearer are labelled smug while Gazza is virtually canonised, Rooney a wild thug Theo Walcott a victim. Looking at the tennis, Andy Murray (yes I know he’s Scottish but without an English representative he should get our support) tarred with the arrogant brush while the affable, serial failure Tim Henman is up there with Thora Herd as a national treasure (and in tennis ability).
Perhaps in a few hundred years when the digital revolution has erased any trace of slavery and colonial rule we could strive for victory. No that wont work because by then we’ll have the Iraq war and the BP oil spill to beat ourselves up with.

I have no doubt that the thousands of England fans in South Africa want England to win the Jules Rimet trophy but this is not just about football fans. Those 23 men are representing a nation of 50 million people and, while I doubt they grasp the intricacies of why they are not getting our undivided support, I bet they can sense that the entire nation is not behind them. They would have felt it before they left for Africa and they will be most certainly aware of it now.

I am ashamed that the BNP have become a mainstream political party and had a voice on terrestrial television and I am embarrassed by our invasion of Iraq, as both occurred in my lifetime and the blame lies with this generation. But I will not apologise for The Crusades or The British Empire, and the exploitation it was built on, and I most certainly will not apologise, to anyone, if England do this great country proud at the game we invented.

Countdown Complete - Front line falls flat.

If the 30-man provisional squad is anything to go by then my predictions have been pretty tasty so far. Wes Brown didn’t make it but as I said previously, if Jamie Carragher’s availability had been public knowledge he would have blown Brown out of the water, as he has.

Lets cut to the chase, Wayne Rooney is in and he needs to be well looked after for the next month. He has shown the strain of carrying the attacking demands of Manchester United on his broad shoulders recently, never more so than on Sunday when he volunteered himself for substitution when still in the hunt for the golden boot. Rooney is not the sort of play that returns rusty or loses his touch, if he doesn’t kick a ball again until June 10^th I will still have him leading the line, bar none.

Theo Walcott has pace and defenders do not like pace, just ask Gary Neville, Jamie Carragher and John Terry, three world class defenders who have constantly faltered under the pressure of pace. Also an option out wide, Walcott is a potential impact substitute if ever there was one, his inexperience limits his options when on the ball but you don’t need to think too much when you can run 100m in 11 seconds. Look at what Walcott did to Barcelona in their Champions League first leg with Arsenal. The narrow, intricate football that Arsenal plays makes it difficult for Walcott to have an impact over 90 minutes. Each of the three goals he scored against Croatia, in qualifying, came from the former-Saints star picking the ball up wide and running at people, that does not happen at the Emirates, not since a certain Mr. Henry ruled the roost in North London.

Emile Heskey, if it were up to me, would be spending his summer in England with his agent trying to find a new club. The professional rebound board cannot get into his club team and age is not on his side. Heskey is a confidence player if ever there was one; he needs an arm round his shoulder, a whisper in his ear and a gaping open goal before he can show any form of ability. All the stick that’s been aimed at Emile over the years by know-it-all, failed footballers turned journalists, like myself, have no doubt contributed to Heskey’s glaring lack of self-confidence but, in a one month knock out tournament, there is not enough time for ego rubbing, especially not for such a questionable talent.

In Heskey’s place is Peter Crouch, there are pros and cons to the inclusion of Crouch (or Dave as Trigger calls him) pro: the used to play for QPR, con: I reckon Abbey Clancy was after me before he started flashing his cash at her. Crouch has a better first touch and better mobility than Heskey, two massive factors when picking a target-man. Crouch can also finish as he has shown with Spurs and England already, yes some of his goals have come against lesser teams but he puts them away none-the-less. Capello will be going against all his previous claims, that he picks players on form, if he picks Heskey, he has had his chance and he has failed to deliver, time and time again. We’ve all heard Michael Owen et al describe the ex-Leicester man as the ideal strike partner but we don’t have Michael Owen any more. We need to pick a player able to compliment Wayne Rooney and I see Crouch as the man for that job.

Bobby Zamora is omitted from my World Cup squad, he has been exceptional as the focal point of a 4-5-1 formation for Fulham but Fabio Capello is not going to play that system. It may not sound like a hugely demanding change for a player to make but I do not see Zamora continuing his club form onto the world stage. He has had one exceptional season on the back of some pretty woeful ones, he has moved from club to club and often been offloaded as a disappointment. I think Zamora has been a fortunate victim of Roy Hodgson’s management skill and Fulham’s particular style of play. It may seem harsh but I think Zamora knows that he would be out of his depth in South Africa, there are better players in front of him and I think there are even better players behind him in pecking order.

This is a the most depressing part of the draw, I am completely indifferent as to whether Jermaine Defoe or Darren Bent go to the World Cup, both are well short of the crème-de-la-crème of all out strikers England has produced in the past. Lineker, Shearer, Owen, goal getters of the highest quality. Bent and Defoe are quick and know where the goal is but they do not inspire me in the least. I doubt that either of them have the mental strength for an occasion such as this and I see neither of them getting the better of a world-class defender. Bent has got goals at unfashionable Sunderland but there must be a reason he is not playing at a better side at 26 years-of-age. Defoe just about pips Bent to the post but I still have my reservations. Barring Wayne Rooney this group of players leaves me completely deflated, so much so that I wouldn’t even bother with starting any of the other three….

IN: Wayne Rooney, Peter Crouch, Theo Walcott, and Jermaine Defoe

Below is my starting 11 for England’s World Cup, this is a fantasy but with attacking options like those above desperate times call for us to rely entirely on Wayne Rooney. its a 4-5-1. Aplogese for the layout but i don't have a clue what I'm doing

Rooney

J Cole, Gerrard, Carrick, Lampard, A Johnson

A Cole Terry Carragher Johnson

James

Midfield Men

An infamous Achilles injury has eradicated an argument that was overshadowing England’s World Cup chances and the emerging talent more than ready to take David Beckham’s place. Had he been fit Goldenballs would have made my list but the rumpus surrounding his inclusion detracts from the team too much. I now look at the premature end to Beckham’s World Cup dream as a painful blessing in disguise, it saves the possible embarrassment of him being over looked and it leaves a space open for a younger, in-form midfielder to cement their place. Mind you in the recent days Jamie Carragher has hinted at his return to the fold and one of my previous defensive selections would make way for him, much in the same way that if a certain evergreen Manchester United redhead returned to the England fold a degree of reshuffling to this group would be required.


Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard maintain their posts as England’s leading midfielders, Chelsea’s goal machine has spoken recently about this season being his best and, in terms of team silverware, he might be right. Liverpool’s captain is suffering a different fate, a miserable season with Liverpool will hopefully not leave Gerrard too deflated, we must hope instead that the new found freedom from Anfield’s heavy shackles reinvigorates the scouser.


The ‘utility man’ tag can be a poisoned chalice but it seems to be working perfectly for James Milner. The former winger, occasional fullback and newfound centre midfielder has shone in Aston Villa’s engine room this year. In Milner you have a squad member that can play on either flank, in either fullback position and in the middle of the park, he has also been known to get on the scoresheet, he is a complete player.

Gareth Barry’s recent injury may tragically force him out of the reckoning but on current form he would not make my squad. Viera, De Jong and Kompany have outshone him in Manchester City’s midfield and while Barry was relied on so much by Aston Villa he has faded somewhat into the back ground at The Eastlands. Replacing him is not easy, especially with Owen Hargreaves’ tendonitis reducing him to just one league appearance this year.


Michael Carrick gets the nod from me. He has become the scapegoat for Manchester United’s misfortunes this year and that has cost him his place in the starting 11. In my goal keeping and defensive selections stats had a defining role but further up the field ability, temperament and technique play a much larger part. Carrick has the discipline that is vital for all holding midfielders, that mental strength that allows you to sacrifice personal glories for that of the team. Carrick also has a range of passing, off either foot, that is unrivalled in the Premiership. He has experience at the highest level of club football and he has been free of injury all season.

Scott Parker also goes to South Africa in my book, I am a big fan of Parker’s and without him I don’t think West Ham would have survived this year. I do, however, think that he looked especially good when he was lining up alongside some very average West Ham players. A mix of inexperienced young Hammers and a few foreign mercenaries surrounded parker and while they were picking up ratings of 5s and 6s his combative style and never-say-die attitude ensured him 8s and 9s in comparison. Had Barry and Hargreaves been available this may have been a tougher choice but with the attacking options still to feature a reliable anchorman is what I need and that is certainly what Scott Parker is.

Aaron Lennon has made his return to action just in time and I assume that over the next eight weeks he will regain as much sharpness as possible. Lennon gets the nod ahead of Sean Wright Phillips for a few reasons, first touch, a final ball and a smug father separate the two. SWP is a sub at best at international level and I think most international defenders will be able to cope with the predictability of his game and his lack of ball control.

My inclusion of Joe Cole may surprise some and it’s not an easy choice by any means, especially having watched Chelsea’s celebrations yesterday. Cole offers a mercurial talent that England’s squad lacks, he does the unexpected, he does the things that Zidane, Del Piero, Bebeto and Bergkamp have done for their respective countries. I am not putting Cole on the same pedestal as those mentioned but I hope it demonstrates my point. When a team lays out two banks of four and invites you to attack them then pace and power will not cut the mustard. Something audacious and unexpected must happen, something that an average player would not think about let alone attempt. Wayne Rooney has this certain ‘je na sais quoi’ in abundance but his goal scoring instinct takes priority as a striker. Cole also offers the option of playing as a second striker and as a centre midfielder.

Adam Johnson completes my eight midfielders although one of the forwards I am to name in the next installment is as effective on the flank. Johnson has had a fine season and in a short time he has proved he is Premiership quality at least. He is not just a speed merchant, going outside every time, playing into the defenders hands, he also has the verve to try something different. Johnson’s an unknown entity on the international scene and that could work in our favour. If he travels I certainly expect him to have more of an impact than Theo Walcott did at our last attempt and he does not seem the type to be phased by anything, having settled into the Man City soap opera with apparent ease.

I thought I would be more conflicted as I went through my list and had to put crosses through certain names and ticks next to others but when I look at these eight names and consider where they could play anywhere in a team’s six most offensive positions I get a sense of assurance, confidence even.

I wonder if Fabio realises how easy this job really is?

The Big 23- Englands Defenders

DEFENDERS

IN: John Terry, Rio Ferdinand, Ashley Cole, Glen Johnson, Matthew Upson, Leighton Baines, Wes Brown, Michael Dawson.

Filling a 23-man squad seemed an easy enough task at the start, however, just five minutes in to the conundrum and not only am I torn between defenders but I cant even decide how many to take. I have settled on eight, I considered a brave seven but, with injuries blighting my options, one more seems more vital than optional. Once that mathematical brainteaser was out the way it was time for the stalwarts, shoe-ins and certainties to pick themselves again, or so I thought. In truth I started with a list of 23 defenders, everyone a genuine candidate, well Jonathon Woodgate might be considered wishful thinking. When Fabio Capello first addressed the British press, upon his appointment as boss, he placed a hell of a lot of emphasis on form being paramount to his team selection; in doing so he may well have made a rod for his own back.

Rio Ferdinand, one of the best three defenders in the world for the past 10 years, is a shadow of his former-self. A few months ago I implied that his off-field exploits, magazines, restaurants, film productions and record labels, might be the scourge of his season, now I feel almost repentant as he is so clearly crippled with back problems. A meager 12 Premier League appearances, six shy of the 18 showings that seasoned sick-note Ledley King has put together instills very little confidence. So often Ferdinand’s fleet of foot was the perfect foil for John Terry’s lack of pace, the two combined to make a dream pairing, in Rio’s current condition that is far from the case.

Too much has been made of John Terry’s apparent lack of form since his extra marital activities become public knowledge. You try to go about your business with 50,000 screaming obscenities at you and its bound to cause a wobble, in a months time it will all be forgotten, as will Wayne Bridge who will be offloaded by Manchester City and exiled from the national team.

For some good news finally, the fourth best statistically rated defender in the Premiership, according to Actim, is English and has missed just a handful of games in three seasons. Leighton Baines is 25 and is about to complete another stellar season for Everton; in the last three years he has played 90 league games and attracted plaudits throughout English football. He is, first and foremost, a tenacious defender and a reliable left-back. He quality of his delivery has secured him the role of free-kick taker for David Moyes side and the Scots manager can regularly be heard championing his £6 million man. Stephen Warnock has shown a similar level of consistency and reliability, in the same position, at Aston Villa but Baines edges it as Ashley Cole’s back up.

Wes Brown, Matthew Upson and Michael Dawson make up my remaining defensive cover. Brown offers cover in any position across the back four and has shaken off the youthful over-exuberance that previously allowed mistakes to creep into his game. Matthew Upson is a large part of reason that West Ham are still in the Premiership, a solid yet cultured defender, one of the top ten this year. All the noise over Ledley King’s involvement seems short sighted when you consider that, yet again, he has played half a season while Michael Dawson has held things together for Spurs for over 30 games and grown in stature as a defender. Dawson has statistically had a better season than Upson but experience would guarantee Upson the third choice centre-half spot.

Phil Jagielka and Joleon Lescott have not got enough match time in while Gary Neville’s re-established importance, in Alex Ferguson’s side, meant he goes close but he looks increasingly vulnerable up against pace.

Paul Konchesky and Ryan Shawcross can consider themselves unlucky not to make my completely irrelevant cut. Konchesky has flourished in a Roy Hodgson side that is primarily a 4-5-1 defensive one, which counts against the former Charlton mans inclusion in Capello’s 4-4-2. Ryan Shawcross is going to be a big player for England for years to come, already a commanding figure in a Stoke side that has established itself in the Premiership with his help. The fallout form the Aaron Ramsey incident has counted against the 23-year-old. The three game ban, incurred from the resulting sending off, came at a crucial time and making his return in a 7-0 defeat to Chelsea did not help. Gary Cahill and Micah Richards have struggled, one with fitness the latter with form and they too look like occupying England spots in the future.

The fallout from Sven Goran Eriksson’s reign is still damaging as Jamie Carragher, despite an impressive season with faltering Liverpool, refuses to make himself available for the new Italian chief, while Sol Campbell gets a ‘thanks but no thanks’ from me.

We do have an abundance of talent in defence, some players at their peak, some over the hill and some real prospects, the key will be getting the right balance. Capello will have to earn his money when it comes to selecting his defenders but if anyone can do it I fancy the Italian can.

England's Safest Hands

The Chosen Few.

Every football fan with access to the Internet and the will power to avert their eyes, for five minutes, from the bounty of pornography available has chipped in with their version 23-man World Cup squad and I am no different. I will break it down into segments, to allow you enough time to YouTube ‘Gordon Brown Disaster’ afterwards. Goalkeeping up first.

IN: David James, Robert Green and Joe Hart

It would be easy to point to the league positions of the employers of my first and second choice keepers, David James and Robert Green, but it is clear to anyone that has seen their fair share of Premiership action this year that not only have these two equipped themselves exceptionally well but they have also got an awful lot of practice in. Under immense pressure each week, both behind shakey defences and in team’s short of strikers able to force the onus onto their opposing number James and Green’s only major stumbling block might be the physical and mental toll that the 2009-10 season has taken on them.


Joe Hart has been a stand out success story this season and his worth has been highlighted this week by billionaire employer Manchester City’s desperate attempt to bring him back from his loan spell at Birmingham, to salvage their challenge for Champions League football. Hart has missed just two of Brum’s 36 league games this year and at just 23 he is a shining prospect for England and whichever domestic side is lucky enough to secure his future services. This World Cup, however, has come to early for the youngster to be a serious contender for the number one jersey.


Experience is such a vital element and it has proven itself so many times this season in the Premier League, look how Arsenal have suffered in the absence of Jens Lehmann and how the top clubs flourish with a mature head in the sticks. Hart is the only keeper in the top ten sides to be under 25 and has 15 years to reach the level of some one like veteran Edwin van der Sar. This tournament will give Hart invaluable experience and stand him in good stead for the future six or seven tournaments he could feature in for England in the future.


Ben Foster helped Watford to the Premiership back in ’05-06 and far from disgraced himself in the season after when the Hornets suffered relegation. Four teams had conceded the same or more amount of goals in the league that season and in the 33 games, in total, that Foster played he conceded a respectable 27. However he is now 27 and has played just 127 competitive club matches. He has been besieged by injury and overlooked at Manchester United, with David James’ career coming to a crescendo he may still climb the pecking order but he needs two or three quality seasons.

Chris Kirkland’s tale is a similar one, made his professional debut in 1997 and followed that up shortly with an England cap but in all that time he has amassed just 215 club appearances. He has had a fine season with Wigan this term but its not enough to warrant him a place on that plane.


There you have it, replies are welcomed.
Next up is England defenders….. easy?!?!

The Guvnor: Out of and a job and out of order

As I settled to down to peruse the Sunday papers a couple of weeks back I came across Paul Ince’s column in The News Of The World. The ex-players column is a misleading article because few, if any, are actually written by the star. Some are written jointly with a PR consultant, most are written up completely by an anonymous party with the household name simply adorning it with their face and signature.

Ince’s column however had a real personal touch. Professional journalists and fellow columnists Rob Shepherd and Andy Dunn had aired their grievances about Rafa twiddling his thumbs while Liverpool burns, Peter Storrie's culpability in the Portsmouth fiasco, FIFA’s dismissal of goal line technology and they even took the time to celebrate the achievements of Roy Hodgson at Fulham this season. Ince however had another idea.

‘The Two Men I Detest And Will NEVER Forgive’ was the then MK Dons managers reply to Sam Allardyce admitting, in the build up to Blackburn’s game with Liverpool, that he likes to wind Rafa Benitez up a bit before games. What ensued for the next 5 or 6 paragraphs were the vehement and vitriolic ramblings of a seriously bitter man? All the traits that caused Sir Alex Ferguson to once label Ince a Bully came pouring out.

The first victim of the midfield general’s rant was Graham Le Saux. The two parties have a different story as to what caused their spat but both agree that it stems from a match fought out between Liverpool and Chelsea in October 1997. Ince accuses Le Saux of insulting his wife in an unprovoked attack, Le Saux claims that Ince hurled homophobic taunts at him all game and admits to the Mrs. Ince jibe but insists it was certainly not an unwarranted reply.

“If I ever come face to face with him (Le Saux) I’d knock him out as soon as look at him”

The other figure of vengeance for Ince is Lou Macari who Ince claims,

“I actively detest and I will never forgive.”

Macari’s crime? Not bowing to Ince’s wage demands 24 years ago when Macari took over a West Ham side that contained the 19-year-old Ince.

The Macari grudge is a menial one at best, how much hatred would encompass football if every teenager, rejected by his boyhood club, waged a smear campaign for neigh on a quarter of a century against the offending manager. It makes no sense. The La Saux issue is different, insulting a man’s wife is a serious offence and I am not criticising Ince’s attitude towards the ex-Southampton player. What surprises me is that Ince feels the need to vent his spleen at two people, one a 61-year-old-man, so late on and in such an unprovoked manner.

The animosity between Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali is legendary, it involves the raw emotions and political ideology, the two men waged a war on each other, and few people in the world feel rivalry of that intensity. The two warriors stood toe to toe and tried to kill each other three times; their mutual hatred is understandable.

Ince’s attack on Le Saux is a cheap shot greedily taken by the recently proved quitter. Ince has been given a platform to voice his opinions and he is merely using it to wage personal attacks.

The self styled ‘Guv’nor’, who detested his self-appointed moniker so much he drove a car adorned with personalized registration plates spelling out the nickname has walked out on MK Dons for a second time. Claiming to be disillusioned with the budgeting scheme for next season Ince walked, whether it had anything to do with the five-match touchline ban he recently incurred or his attack on the MK Dons fans who had the affront to criticize the managers tactics during a 0-0 draw with Oldham is debatable.

There is something about The Guv’nor that doesn’t sit well with me, I have never met the man, this is not a personal attack, and these are facts. Despite being blessed with a fine technique for striking the ball Ince shunned the opportunity to take a penalty in the shoot outs in the Euro ’96 semi-final for England and Inter Milan’s 1997 UEFA Cup final, on both occasions Ince finished on the losing side, his peers unable to triumph in the high pressured scenario. Virtually shamed into taking one in the 1998 World Cup he finally stepped up to the mark and missed, England fell to Argentina again.

I get the feeling that, despite his famous Terry Butcher-esque photo, Ince may not be the man I want alongside me in the trenches. Yes he was a combative player; he was an excellent tackler, an attribute highlighted today as it becomes more and more of a lost art but does a brave man brazenly pick on two seemingly defenseless characters.

In his managerial career he has embraced and benefitted from the fast track system that allows former players to gain their badges and land high profile jobs yet, on more than one occasion throughout his career, he has been accused of being fast to play the race card when things have gone belly up.

What if Le Saux decided to dip his toe in the madhouse of management and was drawn up against an Ince run side? The big man must be seen to stand by his big threats, his bile is not spare of the moment, it has festered, it has been rehearsed and it has been edited. Would The Guv’nor emerge from the tunnel last out to build up the tension, finally gracing the stadium with his bare-chested presence like he did so often in his prime or will he resort to sitting in the centre circle, back to the action, afraid to face the inevitable, a move he also has a proven track record of doing.

wals list playlist by Downesy

wals list playlist by Downesy

Bottler Bridge leaves England in the lurch

The phrase “For the sake of the team” should precede one of the following sentences,
• I am happy to play out of position
• I will be playing through the pain barrier
• I will be taking a pay cut

“ For the sake of the team I have decided not to put myself forward for selection” is an insult to every fan, fellow player and would be footballer in England. Wayne Bridge has decided to withdraw his service from his country, in their hour of need, based on the most selfish reason possible, pride.

I am a relentless detractor of Chelsea and thoroughly anti Terry-the-man but, as a player, he is nigh on faultless. Time after time he has put his body and reputation on the line often riddled with pain and potentially crippling cortisone. Embarrassed in the past by his mother’s thieving and his fathers grubby drug pushing he has pulled on his shirt and put his body on the line.
Wayne Bridge, despite being the second best left back in the country for the last eight years, has made just 36 appearances for the three lions and has been a nearly man at every club he’s played at. Undoubtedly gifted technically but clearly lacking in the mental strength department. When Ashley Cole is fit the left back spot is one of the least contested positions on the Wembley pitch, but, Instead of considering himself lucky Cole has fallen lame less than 3 months before the World Cup, leaving him in a chance to shine, Bridge has bottled it.

Now, instead of living out every young boys dream, Bridge will be licking his wounds at home comforted by the soothing tones of every tabloid reading house wife in the country. While you are glued to the box watching his former cohorts do battle in the searing heat of South Africa keep an eye on the other channel where poor Wayne may appear on Loose Women getting his cheeks squeezed and his ego rubbed by a coven of post-menopausal halfwits.

Bridge, encompassed by a sense of self importance that only a Premiership footballer is capable of, claims that his inclusion in the squad would serve as a distraction from the task in hand, winning the richest sporting prize on earth. While the Hollyoaks style shenanigans of Terry and Cole et al provide us with a light hearted distraction from the issues effecting real people, when June 13th arrives and England line up against USA in their world cup opener an alien invasion would be hard pushed to distract us from the ensuing 90 minutes, let alone the bad blood between two players.

Vanessa Perroncel has satisfied the urges of a number of Chelsea players, past and present, if they were pre-Bridge then his decision to have a son with her is a laughable one. If J.T is the latest in the small sided team to have had relations with the footballer hungry glamour model/waitress then what is the big deal? Women, whether we like it or not, make themselves easily available and, in turn, disposable to professional footballers. She was not Bridge’s wife she was Chelsea F.C’s sexual tension release therapist and she was a willing worker. And, I wonder, whether Bridge has ever enjoyed the illicit company of a woman married or involved with another man, my betting is that the sympathy sponge has.

Jamie Carragher and Paul Scholes ended their international careers prematurely but their hands were forced by managerial decisions to repeatedly play them out of position or ignore them entirely. They had given their all to one club for over a decade, collecting all manor of trophies and accolades on the way, only to be passed over by inept managers. Bridge in comparison has achieved nothing except the boosting of his bank balance with moves to Chelsea and Man City and should his self-imposed exile continue, I for one, hope that continues.

If we win the World Cup then Wayne Bridge will continue in his familiar role as the forgotten man with Ashley Cole or Steven Warnock securing a place in world history. If we fail in our attempt then smug Bridge will be safe in the knowledge that he was not shown up by the world’s greatest right-wingers, as I suspect he would be, and, as he nears 30, planning a tell all book to bring the curtain down on his mediocre career. The sad fact is that this brouhaha will prove to be what Wayne Bridge is most remembered for while John Terry’s misdemeanours will be overshadowed, at least, by captaining Chelsea to consecutive titles.

John Obi Mikel said, “Terry is capable of putting all this fuss behind him but they are both professionals.”

It appears now that one is far more professional than the other.

Money over Brawn and Brains

If Horseracing is the sport of kings then Formula 1 must be the game of the filthy rich. World Champion Jenson Button’s tyres have barely cooled and he is already holding to ransom the team that not only saved his career but also delivered him the richest prize in motor sport.

For so long the monopoly of the sport was controlled by money alone then Team Brawn, born from the ashes of now defunct Honda, came alone and, aided by regulations introduced to stop titles being bought, won the championship with the best car on the circuit and arguably the best driver. Button, so long seen as a compulsive under-achiever, teamed with the controversial double diffuser, secured the crown in Barcelona and celebrated duly at the finale in Brazil.

Frome born Button is without doubt a dedicated and talented individual, the 29-year-old son of a former rally driver started competing behind the wheel at just eight, his early career was littered with triumphs however his winning streak dried up considerably when he reached F1. Button took to the playboy lifestyle, so associated with the daredevil life of an F1 driver, with eyebrow raising ease. It took 113 races and seven seasons before his first victory yet Button had already decamped to the principality of Monaco, filled his little black book with a series of glamorous women and developed a keen palette for champagne, it is fare to say that, at one point, he was more famous for his frivolous social life than for his ability behind the wheel.

If the gross winless patch Button endured sounds like his lowest point in sport that’s because it almost was however worst was to come when Honda, Button’s team at the time, withdrew from the sport due to financial limitations, Button was looking like missing the start of the season. Enter Ross Brawn, engineering genius and pioneer of Button’s imminent success, Button is given a £3 million salary, admittedly almost a third of his previous contract but acceptable when the alternative is the dole queue. First places were soon piling up and Button’s lack of vertigo came in handy with the amount of time he was spending up on the podium. Before the playboy’s place in history was secured however Team Button were already speculating as to the stars value and the options that Brawns success had left on his doorstep. Advisor Richard Goddard had been constantly vocal in his critiques of Brawn and suggestions of Button’s possible suitors, as any agent Goddard is keen for his client to earn as much as possible to fill the udders of the cow he is so thirstily milking. Agents and advisers are expected to focus on financial gain and personal promotion, they may invest some initial capital but it is the lifetime of sacrifice that Button should hold up against a few extra million. Button could head to McLaren or Ferrari and annually earn an eight-figure sum, He could stay loyal, at a cost, to Brawn ensuring his value as a sportsman and not a commodity, and more on track success would ensure numerous lucrative sponsorship deals. It is a dilemma that Button is entitled to battle with but the most respectable and commendable choice is clear.

It is interesting to compare a pair of Button’s quotes; the first, after an early in the season win, refers to his union with Brawn, the second after his world title was confirmed,

“It was the best decision I’ve made in my life. I am now paid a lot, lot less but I didn’t think twice about it.”

A humble and refreshing outlook from a man back in love with his sport and grateful to the team that help make it possible, a few months later his success seems to have affective his modesty,

“I am it. I am world champion, and I am going to keep saying it, especially after a race that, for me, was the best I’ve driven in my life.”

The first quote comes from a man, part of a team, focused on his future and content with the £3 million he is getting paid to fulfil every young boys dream, the second is clearly from an egotistical individual hell bent on getting the £12 million a year people on his payroll tell him he’s worth.

Should Button return to his modest manner and repay Team Brawn’s faith I would be the first to cheer on a fellow Englishman, a fine sportsman and a gentleman. Should he jump ship into the arms of the highest bidder I would be less than sympathetic if he returned to his previous, unsuccessful ways.

Benitez Looks Set For A Bloody Sunday

Tonight saw Manchester United face freezing temperatures, a hostile atmosphere and an awkward surface. The victory, secured by a second string side, would have brought a sense of achievement to the players involved and a tinge of assurance to Sir Alex at the helm. The man who would have felt most affected by United’s result however could not be found in Russia nor in Manchester but down the road in Liverpool, in the Benitez household.

The contrast in situations both managers faced this week makes for grim reading for Liverpool supporters and adds believability to the rumours questioning Rafa's future. Liverpool, fielding a weakened side thanks to a number of injuries and a startling lack of resources, were beaten at fortress Anfield while United's second eleven, still filled with quality thanks to a plentiful youth academy and some inspired signings, oozed efficiency in their win. The outcomes? Liverpool are left desperate for maximum points from their remaining three Champions League clashes as Sir Alex’s men top their group, with maximum points from their first three ties, leaving them with one foot in the knock-out stage and two eyes on their next league fixture, and what a fixture it is. This Sunday will see the Red Devils sail up the Mersey on a wave of momentum with all hands on deck available to the manager to play a Liverpool crew as physically battered as they are mentally bruised. Its hard to fathom whether Liverpool, with their current plague of on and off field problems, will be dreading it as much as United’s high fliers will be relishing it.

There is a good chance come Sunday, when the team sheets are exchanged, that Liverpool fans will be looking enviously at some of the players left out of the Manchester united squad. Giggs, Rooney, Fletcher, Evra, and Park did not travel to the game that Michael Carrick and Johnny Evans watched from the substitutes bench leaving all seven in contention for Sunday. Compare that to Liverpool who lost Glenn Johnson before their game and talisman Steven Gerrard during it, adding to the woe of a debilitated Fernando Torres.

Ever since Rafa Benitez’s press conference outburst back in January, at the preferential treatment allegedly afforded Alex Ferguson by the football governing bodies, the united chief has remained tight lipped, at least where his Spanish counterpart is concerned. One imagines that Sunday will present the Scotsman with the perfect opportunity to exact his revenge without uttering a word in anger. A fourth consecutive defeat for Liverpool, a team at the centre of a boardroom tug-of-war, would leave them 10 points behind the league leaders, with shrinking hope in Europe and questions that desperately need asking. Liverpool are a wounded animal and should Sir Alex be the man to deliver Rafa’s final blow I foresee any blood on his hands being washed away without a second thought, to make way for a nice glass of celebratory claret.

Saint Blatter versus the dark arts of commerce

Continuing in the same vein as the previous post, on the interfering nature of the football bureaucracy, we come to the recent furore about young players being poached by wealthy clubs.

It seems that, just like previous bung scandal, the powers that be have got the bit between their teeth on another issue that is as old as the game itself and, in my opinion, impossible to eradicate. I am not saying it is fail or legal or even morally just but when a top European club offers the impoverish parents of a young footballer a financial incentive for the services of their offspring please tell me how they are supposed to turn it down.

Recent interviews by the likes of Salomon Kalou and Emmanuel Adebayor depict a world of deprivation that we in the western world can only have nightmares about under out suburban shelters. Kalou was 15-years-old before he was afforded a pair of football boots to spare the agonies of his bare feet while Adebayor grew up sharing a bedroom with several other siblings and relatives. Both the Kalou and Adebayor families now live in paradise compared to the destitution they previously existed in. While these two examples may have reached the Premiership’s elite via the proper means their early lives mirror those of Gael Katuka (Chelsea) and Paul Pogba (Manchester United) the two emerging talents reported lured away from their clubs while still at schoolboy level.

The intricacies and formalities of these deals and a selection of similar ones before them, Federico Macheda and Cesc Fabregas for example, have been well documented and there is a consistent factor. In England youth players can sign professional contracts as soon as they turn 16, in other countries, like Spain and Italy, it is older. These legalities are there for football associations all over the globe to address but where will it really get them?

Last season bung was the buzzword, what are they? Who’s taking them? How much are they? Documentaries were made, media blackouts followed and household names were the victims of dawn raids and to what ends? Illegal payments to agents, players or managers are as old as the game itself. Whether it’s 20 new balls and a bag of bibs for a non-league veteran, used fivers swapped at a roadside cafe or millions of pounds electronically transferred to a mysterious offshore account. Sport breeds competition and competition is the lifeblood of capitalism.

The only high profile victim of the attempted bung clear up was George Graham whose downfall was through not the sleuth like detective work of the F.A or any of the ruling organizations, Graham’s conviction came courtesy of his own greed and penchant for avoiding his taxes. Had the former Arsenal hero kept the Inland Revenue sweet, like so many of his peers, past and present, then his antics may have continued unpunished.

Chelsea, in the same mould as Graham, have flouted one too many rules and irked one too many important people but will this charge really go anyway to removing dark the art of illegally assembling the best talent at the biggest clubs? The answer is no; whether it be due to strict legislation like the restraint of trade law or simply clubs heeding this warning and conducting their business in a more clandestine manner, the wealthier clubs will still rule the waves, parents and agents will continue to profit from their prodigal sons and Sepp Blatter will persist on condoning the exploitation of the poor from his designer Ivory tower.

A new season and a new reason not to be too cheerful

A new season brings a plethora of exciting new things to English football; Promoted and relegated teams create fresh fixtures and resurrect old rivalries, the influx of foreign stars create new heroes while emerging starlets bring hope to lower league clubs. Unfortunately with a new season there comes new schemes, so-called innovative initiatives and a brand new set of problems that once created must be addressed.

The first to fall into the media’s glare, courtesy of Eduardo and later Wayne Rooney, was diving, the new scourge of English football. For some time now it has been a bookable offence but, since the act of simulation from Arsenal’s Croatian striker, it has come the most scurrilous of crimes, now deemed punishable with a two match retrospective ban. Personally I feel for the Brazilian born forward and there is certainly some credence to his club manager’s argument against the ban. There was no forewarning before the game with Celtic nor was it another new rule, it was simply EUFA deciding to flex its muscles.

There is no doubt anywhere that diving is not only unsporting and devious but it is also highly embarrassing. To see a primed athlete dive to the floor is cringe worthy and sometimes even laughable. We, the English, seem very assured that diving is another foreign import that has infected our game like interfering directors of football, match fixing or the hair-band. I remember, following a series of Didier Drogba’s more dramatic appearances, there were rumours that John Terry had told the Ivorian to cut out the simulation as he was making himself and his team mates look stupid, now defenders are having to double up during all too often vein attempts to stop the Chelsea powerhouse. If EUFA had wished to make its mark on diving it should happened before the this years Champions League qualifiers had began or the Eduardo incident should have been the watershed, the point at which EUFA said ‘enough is enough, anymore of that and you’ll get a two match ban’. By not setting a precedent EUFA have asked for this backlash just as much as Eduardo deserved for a yellow card, not a two-game ban.

I remember, many years ago, when shirt pulling was christened the enemy of the game. On the eve of the new season every referee, club and player was informed of the consequences. Every offender was to be punished immediately with a yellow card, how long did that inscription stay on the ever-increasing scroll that is the football rules and regulations handbook? The fact is different governing bodies rule the variety of competitions we pour over week-in-week-out and they are never going to agree on every aspect of the beautiful game but a little cohesion might limit confusion and stop anyone falling foul of the laws on diving.

Gunners.... front runners?

Dismissed as too young and inexperienced, pitied for to their losses during the transfer window; could the lack of fear felt towards Arsene Wenger's men this year lift the burden of expectation and allow the young guns to flourish in this season?

Wenger's ethos has left as him one of the few 'untouchables' in football management while the Emirates Stadium has now ensured the clubs financial progress is not just possible but almost assured. What is glaringly absent from the red side of North London is success.
Each season every newspaper column, radio phone-in and TV panel show pours over the necessity of some Arsenal silverware, the mounting years since their last championship and the fruitless promises that have come at the start of the last five seasons since the Gunners last Premiership title. This year, thanks to the unbridled spending of Manchester City, the continuity of Chelsea's squad and the so-called triumphant return to a central role for Wayne Rooney at Old Trafford Arsenal have all but escaped the demands placed on them every season since their F.A Cup win in 2005.

Barring Cesc Fabregas, few of the Arsenal squad would be guaranteed a starting place amongst the European elite but their have the unity Man City lack, a youthful exuberance that eludes Chelsea and a shared responsibility that Liverpool must find. They are free from the distractions that can disrupt a season and filled with the hunger that earns trophies.

As this is being written Arsenal are brushing aside Celtic to secure their place in the Champions League group stage and are lying in third spot in the Premier League with a game in hand having scored ten goals in their opening 2 league fixtures.

Of course it is too early to tip them for the title but, when you think about, its may be too premature to rule them out too.