England finally ended a 43 year curse by beating Sweden at Wembley on Tuesday night. The scoreline probably won't send to much fear around the other 15 teams that have qualified for next summers European Championships in Poland and Ukraine.
The Sweden game followed on from the win against Spain and both matches provided more questions than answers. In the Spanish game even though the system Capello used against them was successful, many questioned the lack of attacking creativity. Against Sweden it was a different story.
England could have been in front before Gareth Barry's deflected effort gave them a 1-0 lead. By half time it should have been as much as 3-0. However despite the positives going forward, from Sweden set pieces England looked shaky in defence in the first half. The second half was disrupted with a stream of substitutions and the game fizzled out. To be honest you expected more from a team with a 43 year hold over their opponents.
So what have those two internationals taught us. Well for one we all acknowledge Kyle Walker has jumped to the front of the cue at right back. He deservedly received the man of the match against Sweden. He looks better defending than Glenn Johnson and Micah Richards and suddenly looks an automatic to make the final squad. Phil Jones started both matches and although he played as a midfielder he also looks guaranteed to make Capello's squad. Only Walcott and Joe Hart were the only other players to start both matches and you assume they are both on the plane. Other players gave Capello a huge headache. He is going to find it hard to overlook Jagielka and Lescott after their performance against Spain, and Baines showed he can fill in for Ashley Cole at left back.
Scott Parker has cemented his place in the starting line up and Jack Rodwell has announced himself to the big stage. That may be bad news for David Moyes as interest in Rodwell may increase through the upcoming transfer window. Bobby Zamora, Darren Bent and Danny Welbeck all showed their value but none have shown a natural replacement for Wayne Rooney.
The players Capello will chose his final squad from are
Keepers - Hart, Carson and Stockdale.
Defence - Walker, Richards, G.Johnson, Terry, Cahill, Jagielka, Lescott, Jones, Smalling,
Shawcross, A.Cole, Baines, Gibbs.
Midfield - Walcott, Lennon, A.Johnson, Milner, Parker, Lampard, Barry, Rodwell, Wilshire,
Cleverley, Young, Downing.
Forwards - Rooney, Zamora, Bent, Welbeck, Sturridge, Agbonlahor.
11 of the players named above are going to miss out in the summer. I certainly hope Capello has realised that the youngsters are ready and that we are all more than happy to give them a try when it matters. I think the three keepers Capello takes will be the three above. Walker is a certainty as I'm sure Terry will be even if he isn't playing better than his rivals. Give him one last tournament and then please the next manager replace him for a more fitting captain. England looked vulnerable once again with Terry in defence and his lack of pace is going to get exposed. He may be a leader on the pitch but that doesn't make him a captain. We could line up against someone like Spain and Terry could end up being the weakest link. Also Capello has to forget the salaries of his potential players and pick a team. Frank Lampard for example looks increasingly lost in an England shirt.
The seedings for the Euro's was announced and are as follows.
Pot 1 - Poland, Ukraine, Spain and Holland
Pot 2 - Germany, England, Italy and Russia
Pot 3 - Sweden, Portugal, Greece and Croatia
Pot 4 - Denmark, France, Czech Republic and Republic of Ireland.
Whoever England get out of that is not going to be easy. You would look and say if possible we would like Poland, Sweden and Denmark but how tough a group would Holland, England, Portugal and Ireland be.
Until we reach the friendly match against Holland next year, it is to early to start predicting squads as so many players will gain and lose form and others will come back from injury while others will get injured. In my opinion Rio Ferdinand, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard and John Terry are all past their best. While the first three may go graciously we know Terry won't. He won't relinquish the power of the armband. How would he make his money on the side then. It will be a great day for English football when we are relieved of Terry. Not such a good day for his friends and family mind.
Do not let the two results fool you that England have suddenly turned the international corner. Come the summer there will be many decisions we will be questioning and there is no guarantee England will reach the knock out stages. Our message is simple Fabio. Give those boys their chance. The golden generation has been eclipsed by an even better group groomed by Stuart Pearce at U21 level. The time has come to look forward. For to long we have trusted the over paid stars of yesterday. Time for the kids to come through.
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