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Since being appointed as the English national coach at the F.A Fabio Capello has insisted that players will be selected purely on form as opposed to reputation. With players such as John Terry stating that “If they (the players) continue their form at club level the manager will pick them so that is pressure on the more experienced players.” With various sports writers and commentators sharing the sentiment that England manager Fabio Capello has shown he has little regard for reputation, opting to select players on current form rather than past glories. It would appear fairly straightforward policy from the manager that players who play well for their club get picked ahead of those who are perhaps not playing so well but have done in the past and have big reputations.

Certainly Capello himself has stated that to be selected players must be playing regular club football “If he doesn’t play it’s impossible to pick him.” Talking her about Michael Owen but it is a sentiment that applied to all. That he cannot and therefore will not pick players that are simply not playing for their clubs. A distinct break from the former regime of Steve McClaren, where distinct culture of favourites seemed to have emerged, with certain big name players always involved regardless of club form.

Alan Shearer echoed these sentiments stating “Fabio Capello said some months ago that, to make it into his World Cup squad, players would have to be in form and playing regularly for their clubs.” Despite the possible connotations it could have had on the established English set up players responded positively to the emphasis on form with Terry saying that “It gives everyone confidence in the Premier League that, if they are playing well enough, they will get selected by the manager whether it a qualifier or a friendly.” Everyone was in agreement that Capello would be relying solely on players club forms to decide his England squads.

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Yet there is no room in this current squad to face France for in-form striker, Kevin Davies despite the amount of injuries effecting English strikers at the moment. In his place we have Peter Crouch who having scored just one, extremely fortuitous, goal in the Premier League this season. This is compared to the four that the Bolton front man has struck, even though he is more highly regarded for the presence he can bring to a front line as opposed to his goal scoring record. It would appear reputations are carrying more weight than form at present. Carlton Cole also manages to make the squad despite also having a solitary Premier League goal to his name this campaign.

Also at the world cup, winger Sean Wright Phillips was taken ahead of Manchester City team mate Adam Johnson. The young former Middlesbrough winger had towards the tail end of last season been playing far more football at Manchester City than the more experienced Wright-Phillips.

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On top of this Emile Heskey made the cut for the World Cup squad, even though he had fallen down the pecking order at Aston Villa behind Agbonlahor and Carew and was not playing much football at the end of the season. Joe Cole was another on the plane to South Africa who did not fulfil this criteria outlined by Capello. Having just returned from injury he was in and out of the Chelsea team as he struggled to find his form and fitness.

61 days until England open their Euro 2012 campaign against France and there is yet no word on who will be leading the Three Lions on their excursion to Poland and the Ukraine. With no manager in the dugout following the departure of Fabio Capello and Stuart Pearce taking care of the scouting due diligence, preparations for the tournament are currently shrouded in mystery. One of the burning issues facing Pearce, should the FA hand him the reins, is to decide upon a squad that will undoubtedly see Wayne Rooney’s name scribbled under in the forwards section despite him missing the first two Group D games due to suspension.

Who will spearhead the England attack at the Euro’s is open to debate. The usual discourse over who should lead the line has began to intensify as the big kick off draws ever closer and the leading candidates step up their games in the hope of earning a seat on the plane. It’s an unenviable task that rest on Pearce’s shoulders.

Aston Villa striker Darren Bent professed his hopes of being the Three Lions’ central striker last week despite being ruled out for the rest of the season with an ankle ligament injury. The 28-year-old, who hasn’t played a Premier League game since mid-February, was Capello’s first choice for much of 2011 scoring three goals in six appearances. But his chances of being selected are looking slim and Rooney absent for the first two games there is a frightening lack of experienced strikers available to England.

The lone front man role can be an intimidating prospect for any uncapped or inexperienced forward especially with Pearce likely to set out his tactical stall in a similar to that of his Italian predecessor.

The last two decades have seen the national side adopt a conventional 4-4-2 faltering at every major international tournament they progressed to. Capello moved to break the mould introducing the 4-3-2-1 model with the emphasis on getting the ball out wide to the wingers whilst also having the option of playing through the middle to the lone striker. It was a formation that carried England through a successful qualifying campaign albeit with Rooney and Bent in tow. Both proved to be ideal for the system when pressed into action.

With the former absent from England’s opening two group games the onus will fall onto the next generation of forwards currently making their transition into the squad. However, despite the excitement over Daniel Sturridge and Danny Welbeck, there is a cause for concern as to whether they have it in them to shoulder the attacking burden at a major international tournament.

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For a vast majority of the season both players have operated away from the central striking position for their respective clubs. At Manchester United Welbeck has often been asked to drop deeper in to hole behind Rooney and Javier Hernandez or shift into a wider role similar to the one he took up whilst on loan at Sunderland in the previous campaign. Similarly, Sturridge has made Chelsea’s right hand side his own with a series of impressive displays despite stating his desire to play through the centre – something that has been ignored by Andre Villas-Boas and Stamford Bridge predecessor Roberto Di Matteo.

The first two games are crucial for England and ultimately provide a gauge on how they’ll fare in Poland and Ukraine. Starting with Sturridge or Welbeck whilst Rooney serves his suspension would be a risk I’m sure Pearce would be unwilling to take.

But who else could he possibly turn too? Peter Crouch has scored goals for Stoke this season and his strength in the air and hold up play could be a useful tool. However there would be some apprehension towards whether he could cut it at a major tournament following his underwhelming performances at the 2006 World Cup. There’s also Grant Holt and Danny Graham who have made the step up from Championship to Premier League look easy with Norwich and Swansea respectively. Holt, in particular, has shone during his first ever top-flight campaign scoring 15 goals for the Canaries.

There have been a raft of calls petitioning for the 30-year-old to be handed a chance to prove his international credentials. Afterall he’s second only to Rooney in terms of the highest of scoring Englishman this season. Despite his exploits in front of goal there is the feeling that international football would prove too big of a step as it would for Graham and the recently capped Fraizer Campbell.

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Not disparaging against any of the players mentioned above but the lack of striking talent at Pearce’s disposal is quite alarming. Aside from Bent and Rooney I’m struggling to conjure a player that could possibly fill the boots of either player at Euro 2012. Andy Carroll has gone off the boil at Liverpool whilst Bobby Zamora is floundering at QPR.  Jermain Defoe remains an option despite a frustrating year at Tottenham that has seen him rack up a handful of starts but still weigh in with 16 goals. Whilst he doesn’t fit the bill of a lone striker his experience and fresh legs from the bench should ensure him a place in the squad.

But where does the lack of frontmen leave England’s prospects in the summer? Without a striker of recognised quality, guiding the Three Lions out of the groups may be a mission too big for Pearce to handle. Welbeck and Sturridge exude promise but their knowledge is lacking when it comes to the international arena. From management to striker, who will spearhead England this summer is anyone’s guess.

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Likely FIFA vice-president Jim Boyce said he is saddened by the controversy surrounding the organisation.The 67-year-old Northern Irishman will become FIFA vice-president if Wednesday’s presidential election goes ahead, but his appointment will be overshadowed by Sunday’s suspension of Mohamed Bin Hammam and Jack Warner.

FIFA vice-president Warner and AFC presider Bin Hammam – the latter of who was originally to contest the election against current president Sepp Blatter until his withdrawal shortly before his suspension – are alleged to have paid cash to Caribbean Football Union officials in return for them voting for Bin Hammam in the ballot.

Boyce said he hopes the congress is not soured because of the controversy, or the ongoing speculation that the 2018 and 2022 World Cups were awarded to Russia and Qatar in untoward fashion.

“I think the developments of the last few days, as I’ve said, I think they are very sad for football,” Boyce said.

“It’s a great honour I’ve said for me to become the FIFA vice-president, hopefully from tomorrow, and I can assure people that I will work for the good of football.”

“Football is a game that brings everyone together and people must be whiter than white.”

“And obviously, every decent person, is alarmed by these developments. They’ve yet to be proven and if they are proven, then that action will be taken against the individuals concerned.”

Boyce, life president of the Irish Football Association, said he was dismayed that the English and Scottish football associations had urged FIFA to delay the election. The English FA had already announced its intention to abstain from voting in the election.

“My reaction was like everything else at the moment – you never know what is going to happen within the next five or 10 minutes,” Boyce said.

“And things keep changing from time-to-time, so I’ve just got to speak with the associations to find out what is happening.”

“But as I’ve said before, I only take up my position as vice-president of FIFA after the election tomorrow takes place.”

Meanwhile, former FIFA president Joao Havelange – in the position from 1974 to 1998 – believes people are focusing too much on the negatives surrounding the body rather than the good work it does.

“You are talking about suffering, but I am going to talk about happiness,” Havelange said.

“FIFA has 208 countries affiliated and they look after all of them.”

“The competitions are taking place as usual. There has been a development in world football in every way; technically, financially and in disciplinary matters. Everyone looks for mistakes because they all want to sit in that chair.”

It was advantage Manchester this weekend as both United and City clawed back the gap on Chelsea at the top of the Premier League. Both Ancelotti and Wenger were left fuming at their side’s failure to pick up any sort of result, especially the latter who bemoaned Arsenal’s home form and believes it may cost them their chances for the title if it doesn’t improve soon.

Down at the bottom West Ham missed a golden opportunity at St Andrews after surrendering a 2-0 lead. Avram Grant was less than pleased with the match referee and the Hammers boss joins a long list of managers who have looked to direct the finger of blame at the man in the middle, oppose to reflecting on his own side’s failings.

In the news this morning there has been plenty to report as Torres claims his best is yet to come; Mancini set to fight Balotelli’s red card, while Liverpool’s new owner likens the murky world of agents in English football like the wild west –plus much more…

Juventus look to snap up Diego Forlan – IM Scouting

Carroll poised to receive England call-up – Guardian

City to fight Mario red card stamp – Sun

Chelsea chasing Rovers starlet – Mirror

West Ham outrage as rivals Spurs plan to demolish Olympic Stadium – Daily Mail

Grant on borrowed time at West Ham – Guardian

Wenger concerned by home form – Daily Telegraph

Hargreaves may have had anxiety attack – Guardian

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Henry: Premier League ‘like the wild west’ – Daily Telegraph

My best is yet to come, warns goal-hero Torres – Mirror

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Everton manager David Moyes has been the boss at Goodison Park for ten years, and has admitted that his ambition to succeed is still as strong as when he joined the club.

The Scottish coach has been a hard-working servant at the Merseyside team, but has confessed that this season has been difficult due to a lack of financial backing.

“My ambition is as strong as ever, but this has been the toughest year. We weren’t able to do any business in the summer while teams around us were able to buy,” he told The Telegraph.

“But I was never promised anything when I took the job. You don’t moan about it. You work with the goods you’ve got. We had a good January and it’s galvanised us a bit.”

Moyes also admitted that loan signing Royston Drenthe has started to improve, and that the Dutch winger has become more of an important players at the Toffees after he scored against QPR at the weekend.

“It’s taken Roy time to settle. Coming from Real Madrid you think he will understand what we do here, but he didn’t straight away.

“He’s beginning to do a bit better and can still do much better. But he has that ability to score a goal, to create a chance. We’re beginning to trust him much more now,” the Scottish coach concluded.

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By Gareth McKnight

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Rumours have been circulating this week linking highly strung Frenchman, Charles N’Zogbia, with a return to Newcastle in the summer. The talented French winger has picked up nine league goals and seven assists this season and he has been a key player for Wigan since he joined them in 2009. This was once again evident at the weekend where his two goals at the DW Stadium kept Wigan’s survival chances alive. Having fought off interest from N’Zogbia’s former club once this season Roberto Martinez will no doubt do all he can to keep the player in Lancashire, however if Wigan don’t avoid the drop it may be out of his control. Newcastle launched a bid in the region of £10 million on the last day of the January transfer window which was rejected by The Latics, but Newcastle seem willing to test Wigan’s resolve again. This raises the question, would bringing N’Zogbia back to Newcastle be a good move for Toon Army?

There is no doubt that N’Zogbia is a quality footballer who on his day can produce moments of magic and he would be a good edition to the Newcastle squad. The fans know what he can produce and he has proven Premiership pedigree, but do Newcastle need him? I wouldn’t say the club necessarily need him, as Newcastle already have Jonas Gutierrez and Hatem Ben Arfa. There are other positions that need filling more urgently than left wing within the current squad, such as a centre forward. Having said that I would probably say N’Zogbia is a better player than Jonas, as he has an end product to his game as well as the build-up play, something which Jonas lacks. N’Zogbia has a cracking cross and he can certainly shoot, whereas both of these attributes are, let’s say erratic in Jonas’ case.

I’m still undecided on whether bringing back a player who said he wanted to leave to reach a higher level of ambition, and then signed for Wigan, is the best move though. I think N’Zogbia used his fall out with Joe Kinnear as an excuse to engineer a move away from the club, so would the fans want to see a player who showed a lack of respect for the club return?

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If Wigan are relegated then N’Zogbia will almost certainly leave Wigan in the summer and bringing him back to St James’ wouldn’t be the worst bit of business if the deal was in the region £10 million. On the other hand, if Wigan avoid the drop they will probably exploit any potential sale of their best player and look to receive upwards of £15 million, a price I don’t think Newcastle should match.

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Any potential deal to bring the mercurial winger back to the North East could turn out to be a stroke of genius from Alan Pardew. N’Zogbia seems to be a more mature player now and he could have a prosperous second coming, much like Nolberto Solano did. However, I would still have reservations about bringing back a player who could be a disruptive influence and is likely to want to leave again at the first sign of trouble. Only time will tell if the recently capped French International will be seen in the black and white stripes again.

If it was up to the FIFA world rankings England would have beaten Montenegro, Turkey would have beaten Azerbaijan, Slovakia would have beaten the Republic of Ireland and Austria would have beaten Belgium, just. This was not the case!

With a whole host of international matches being played on Tuesday a number of results broke the supposed norm of the FIFA world rankings. It certainly leaves me wondering whether it is worth taking any notice of the point system that ranks teams in terms of their ability, especially when football over the many years has proved to be a sometimes unpredictable game.

It seems I am not alone in my scepticism of the system. Through trawling the forums, websites and blogs on the internet there is an abundance of arguments that raise many different, but all valid reasons why we shouldn’t pay to much attention to the standings, and how they produce them.

One such argument that carries significant weight is the calculations used by FIFA and the resulting disparity between perceived quality and the actual world ranking of some of the teams. For example in 2006 the United States found themselves ranked 4th in the standings much to the surprise of even their own players. Furthermore, in 2008 Israel climbed the rankings up to 15th despite failing to reach a major international competition in recent times.

There is also a strong argument behind the notion that more points should be gained by the higher the ranked team a country beats. Simplistically speaking would it be fair for Wales to gain 2 points for beating Andorra and then only another 2 points for beating Brazil?

Then there is the large and complex discussion that comparing European national teams is fine, they all play the same opposition, they all play in the same format and the same seeding system. Comparing Asian and American national teams is fine too. The problem then arises when they are all compared. They all play different oppositions, they all play in different formats and have different seeding systems. At face value does that all seem a bit inconsistent? It also leaves us questioning if that is why the American national team where able to find themselves at the dizzy heights of 4th in the FIFA standings in 2006.

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It also speaks volumes the fact that due to the perceived flaws with the FIFA system other rivaling systems have been established such as the World Football Elo Ratings. A system that has proved to be not only more respected but more accurate.

If the FIFA rankings are to be believed then we as a nation should be mounting a serious challenge in the tournaments we enter. This is simply not true, England have been high in the rankings for years now but have not mounted a serious challenge since Euro 96. Before that Italia 90, therefore the rankings are dubious and have very little meaning, other than initiating debate.

AC Milan boss Massimiliano Allegri has stated that Arsenal will not win trophies unless they start to spend more in the transfer market to sign ‘big players’.

The Scudetto holders beat the Gunners 4-0 in the first leg of their Champions League last 16 tie at the San Siro a fortnight ago, and ahead of the rematch at the Emirates Stadium the Italian coach has told Arsene Wenger to have an active summer recruiting new faces.

“For me it’s impossible to win the title or Champions League without signing big players,” the tactician told The Sun.

“You will never do it without big players. That goes for Arsenal, Milan or any big club. You must buy big.

“I have a strong team but in that I have three big players, bringing experience, character, technical ability and leadership. You need leaders.

“For me in every team there are two leaders. One technical and tactical leader and one with character.

“In Milan our technical leader is Zlatan Ibrahimovic. In terms of character, until last year, it was Rino Gattuso. Now Mark Van Bommel or Thiago Silva,” he concluded.

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By Gareth McKnight

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Barcelona have claimed their third straight La Liga crown after drawing 1-1 away to Levante on Wednesday.Requiring only one point to sew up the Spanish top flight title, Pep Guardiola’s men led courtesy of Seydou Keita’s well-placed header from a Xavi free kick in the 27th minute.

Levante struck back in the 41st minute, when Felipe Caicedo got the better of Barca shot-stopper Victor Valdes.

Lionel Messi almost put the visitors ahead midway through the second half, but his shot rebounded back into play off the post.

That was as close as either side came to scoring in the closing stages, Barca doing enough to seal thei 21st La Liga title and third in succession.

The final whistle sparked jubilant scenes from the all-conquerin Barcelona outfit, which can go on to claim a trophy double if they beat Manchester United in the Champions League final later at Wembley Stadium in London later this month.

Elsewhere in Spain, Real Zaragoza’s hopes of escaping the relegation zone were dealt a serious blow after they went down 2-1 to fellow strugglers Real Sociedad.

Tamuda gave Sociedad the lead after 24 minutes at the Estadio Municipal de Anoeta, but Gabi looked to have given Zaragoza a share of the points when he equalised on 54 minutes.

But Aranburu broke Zaragoza hearts when he netted in the 88th minute, sending Sociedad five points clear of the drop zone, while Zaragoza remain one point from safety.

Almeria snapped a seven game losing run when they held on for a 0-0 draw against fourth-placed Villarreal.

The bulkiest squad in the Premier League are the Champions. Chelsea are carrying more weight than any of the other Premier League teams (I think a vast majority of this is actually accounted for by Michael Essien’s thighs and Alex’s head, but I may have to double check that fact), and only Stoke can boast an average height greater than Carlo Ancelotti’s men. Does it correlate? Do teams need to muscle their way to trophies?

Well without trying to sit on the fence too much, yes and no. A team cannot achieve anything purely on the basis of physical attributes. Blackburn for example, are one of the harder teams in the league and use it to their advantage, but that can only take them so far. By the same token, Chelsea are a great team because they have players with pace and technique, as well as bulk i.e. Ashley Cole and Florent Malouda do not scream out as no-nonsense battlers.

That said, Chelsea can adapt to different types of games, and maybe that is why they are in a purple patch. For Chelsea to go away to Everton or Bolton, it doesn’t present the same problem as it does to Arsenal, because they aren’t likely to be bullied in the same way, and yet once the battling is done and they are in possession, they can then let the verve of their passing and movement produce the goods.

Beauty however, can beat the beast. Spain and Barcelona are testament to that. Both have small, relatively lightweight players (most are indeed the same players anyway), and yet they regularly destroy teams. Spain are the best team in national competition, and will almost certainly win Euro 2012. They keep the ball so well, that any notion of beefing up is an irrelevance. They dictate games and so rarely have to worry about how the opposition is going to try to compete.

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The problem arises for physically smaller teams when the game they are involved in is not being played in their desired way. Should the opposition manage to wrangle the ball from their greedy grip, can they then adapt to compete in a way that is alien to them? When Arsenal were winning Premier League titles, they were still playing slick football, but they could also call upon Patrick Vieira and Sol Campbell to add some weight in a way they are unable to do today.

It is too simplistic to say that Chelsea are successful simply because they are big. It would be an insult to the players they have to apply that success simply down to physical attributes. Didier Drogba, John Obi Mikel, John Terry and Branislav Ivanovic are all big men, all over 6” 2”, but they possess skills far beyond simply being able to barge other players off the ball, or win headers against big opponents. Didier Drogba has pace, great control and clinical finishing, and that is what puts him amongst the best strikers in the world, rather than simply a lump to punt the ball up to.

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Size and strength are attributes that can help a side to success, but are not enough to push a team over the finishing line. If a team can’t compete technically, then they can try to bully their way into a game, but it is no guarantee that it will work. For Chelsea, it is one of many attributes they have that help make them a successful side.

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