Thursday gossip

Thu 17 Nov 2011, 8:46AM
Posted by Peter Ferguson

Just in case Fabio Capello thought this managing England lark was suddenly getting easier, Gareth Barry is all over t'internet today to tell him that, erm, it's not.


In the wake of wins over Spain and Sweden, straight-talking Gaz says there is now a veritable shedload of potential European Championship stars pushing for a place in Fabio's heart and squad.

As teamtalk.com puts it: "Gareth Barry reckons up to 35 players have a chance of being part of England's Euro 2012 squad after the emergence of a crop of young players."

The City midfielder has been one of Capello's mainstays but now sees strong rivalry for next summer: "The players coming through are there now. There are more options.

"The younger players have come in and shown great confidence. There are not just 23 players to pick from. You are probably looking at 30-35 players who have got a realistic chance of coming in. The competition is really good."

It's a quandary Fabio will welcome, of course. GarBar adds: "The manager has got plenty of options to bring different people in to play against different opposition." But you can't take 'em all to Poland ...

The Guardian and others note that Nigel de Jong has written to Hatem Ben Arfa, the Newcastle player whose leg was broken by his challenge in a controversial incident last season.

Guardian man Daniel Taylor writes that "it has now emerged that De Jong has written to him, expressing sympathy for what happened and saying there was never any intention to injure his opponent.

"It is not clear whether that included an apology but Ben Arfa's anger is understood to have subsided. Both players are keen not to inflame the situation ahead of Saturday's game and will not be speaking to the media beforehand."



<BLOCKQUOTE>


Danny points out that the referee confirmed he had seen the tackle and did not believe it merited even a yellow card



And finally, the Balotelli news: Mario is going nowhere shocker. The Mail and others report his reaction to Inter president Massimo Moratti's claim that he would make a move for the striker in January.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
The Mail also links Napoli and AC Milan, the team Mario supports, but quotes our man on a potential move: "Not now. One day, we will see. I thank Moratti for saying he would sign me back immediately. But I'm very happy where I am. I don't want to leave Manchester City right now."

And why would he? There's never a dull moment, which we suspect is how he likes it ...

Offer £45m+, otherwise STFU.

Re England, We might have 35 players in contention Gareth but Crapello will still play Ferdinand and Terry at CB, Gerrard in midfield.......somewhere and Theo fucking Walcott running into blind alleys on the wing and falling over the ball/over running it out of play. Then everyone'll wonder why we played shit and got knocked out.

I would take AJ over walcott any day of the week as you know what you'll get with AJ.

For all walcott's moments of brilliance, that's all they are, moments.

AJ and Richards on the right, its what England have been screaming out for, creativity away from the middle of the park, AJ has learned to defend better under Mancini and both get totally ignored.

Because they play for City lee.

Walker'll be in before Micah from now on imo, but to be fair i think he's a decent player. Why the fuck does everyone seem to think the Rag Jones is the next fuckin Beckenbauer too, he wouldn't even get into Citys team?

AJ and Micah on the right for England is the way it should be.

They play well together at club level so they should be able to do the same for England.

Crapello just needs to tell them what he wants from them - any let down and they get dropped, it's as simple as that.

We know it won't happen.

Don't want to harp on too much as he's not a full back, but still not conviced about AJ's defensive concentration (when it's required) myself.

When he came on vs QPR, first ball that went over to his side he got back to cover quickly (it was one v one and Micah was tucked in so far he was practically in centre of defence) - great I thought, he's learning - then within five seconds the ball came back to his man who he'd by now forgotten all about - and the guy was all on his todd, way past him, cross in, goal.

While he might have been expecting Micah to come out, he didn't show any attempt to be aware - he just left the guy after the first coverage.

I see huuuge potential in him, but livid wasn't the word.

With a strong core of City's English contingent adding strength, solidity and experience we managed to beat Spain, if we'd had some players who didn't run like headless chickens like excited schoolboys all chasing the ball, caught up in the moment, it could have been a better performance and scoreline.
Milner, Barry, Lescott all had very solid games, Lescott in particular stood out, if he can lean a few more things fro Vinny, he'll do himself no harm, and just might earn himself a more regular England place.
Look at Spain, they play a system, that everyone knows, the players all know each other, this has to count for something in pressure situations in the big championship games, while England implode, staring blankly at each other like a bunch of thrown together strangers (which they essentially are) Spain are a machine, weaving dizzying patterns, toying with opponents like a predator before striking the killer blow.
If City (that's a big if still) win the Prem, with a core of English players Hart, Lescott, Richards, Barry, Milner, AJ, all playing well, why the hell can't Capello see the advantage of playing players who;
a) know each other
b) know how to win
c) know how to defend
d) don't panic when they go behind
e) can all score (Even Hart takes a mean pen!)

On one hand, it fills me with great pride to ee so many City players out for England, on the other, I can just imagine the criticism of City players when England don't bring a trophy back (again)
But, you get my drift!



Bluemoon Legends :: MAIN FORUM
Page 1 of 1
PERMISSIONS IN THIS FORUM:
You can reply to topics in this forum