International football isn't what it used to be. Give me Champions League over the Euro's any day.
Don't get me wrong, I love to tune in to the African Cup of Nations, if only for comedy goalkeepers and Mark Bright's commentary, or the Copa America - plenty of Latin flare on display.
I fell in love with the game around the time of football's rebirth - Italia 90 - and we haven't had a better World Cup since. Following England has been painful and I, like so many others, lost interest in them.
But Don Fabio may be winning me over - even if England were dire against Kazakhstan at Wembley last Saturday.
![]()
My one fear is that he falls into the trap of forcing Steven Gerrard AND Frank Lampard into the team at any cost.
Two world class players no doubt, but they just cannot perform in tandem. Lampard has earned his right to start ahead of Gerrard at present and Gareth Barry just has to play in order to anchor the midfield as he has done astutely of late.
Gerrard doesn't perform on the left, and with Theo Walcott's hat-trick in Zagreb cementing his place in the starting line-up for the foreseeable future, for me, there's no place for him at the moment other than on the bench - what an amazing player to have on your bench!
Joe Cole has been one of England's better players over the last two years so when fit, and if in form, he'd get my nod. As he isn't fit for Belarus tonight, I'd love to have seen Ashley Young given a go.
Imagine it, Walcott and Young terrorising fullbacks on both flanks... That hasn't happened though as Capello has gone for the same midfield that started against the Borats.
![]()
Have you heard about the new Zidane? Bordeaux's Yoann Gourcuff is the latest of Les Bleues' young playmakers to inherit the moniker.
Franck Ribery, Samir Nasri and Hatem Ben Arfa, all quality players in their own right, have all been dubbed 'the new Zizou' and now it's the turn of Gourcuff.
After a spectacular long-range belter against Romania at the weekend, maybe the French Press are right this time...
I'm not the biggest fan of players being labelled 'the new Maradona' or 'the new Van Basten' or 'the new Carlton Palmer'.
![]()
Ribery, Nasri and Ben Arfa all play from the left or right for their clubs and we all know that Zidane was a maestro from the centre of the park, a unique player who's technique resembled no other.
Maradona was the same, and there have since been many young Argentine starlets compared to him since.
The latest, Lionel Messi, is truly world class and has the ability to make his mark on the history of the game, whether Gourcuff has the same pedigree remains to be seen.![]()
Don't get me wrong, I love to tune in to the African Cup of Nations, if only for comedy goalkeepers and Mark Bright's commentary, or the Copa America - plenty of Latin flare on display.
I fell in love with the game around the time of football's rebirth - Italia 90 - and we haven't had a better World Cup since. Following England has been painful and I, like so many others, lost interest in them.
But Don Fabio may be winning me over - even if England were dire against Kazakhstan at Wembley last Saturday.
My one fear is that he falls into the trap of forcing Steven Gerrard AND Frank Lampard into the team at any cost.Two world class players no doubt, but they just cannot perform in tandem. Lampard has earned his right to start ahead of Gerrard at present and Gareth Barry just has to play in order to anchor the midfield as he has done astutely of late.
Gerrard doesn't perform on the left, and with Theo Walcott's hat-trick in Zagreb cementing his place in the starting line-up for the foreseeable future, for me, there's no place for him at the moment other than on the bench - what an amazing player to have on your bench!
Joe Cole has been one of England's better players over the last two years so when fit, and if in form, he'd get my nod. As he isn't fit for Belarus tonight, I'd love to have seen Ashley Young given a go.
Imagine it, Walcott and Young terrorising fullbacks on both flanks... That hasn't happened though as Capello has gone for the same midfield that started against the Borats.
Have you heard about the new Zidane? Bordeaux's Yoann Gourcuff is the latest of Les Bleues' young playmakers to inherit the moniker.Franck Ribery, Samir Nasri and Hatem Ben Arfa, all quality players in their own right, have all been dubbed 'the new Zizou' and now it's the turn of Gourcuff.
After a spectacular long-range belter against Romania at the weekend, maybe the French Press are right this time...
I'm not the biggest fan of players being labelled 'the new Maradona' or 'the new Van Basten' or 'the new Carlton Palmer'.
Ribery, Nasri and Ben Arfa all play from the left or right for their clubs and we all know that Zidane was a maestro from the centre of the park, a unique player who's technique resembled no other.Maradona was the same, and there have since been many young Argentine starlets compared to him since.
The latest, Lionel Messi, is truly world class and has the ability to make his mark on the history of the game, whether Gourcuff has the same pedigree remains to be seen.
