Can’t wait for the France game. Should be a real crackerjack. An excuse for the newspapers to slate a midweek International friendly for its lack of worth, until we lose that is, then of course it becomes a depressing summation of the Capello regime and a indicator of how little talent there is to shout about coming through the youth ranks, how England will probably be ranked below 30th in the world come the next World Cup and might as well just merge with Scotland to form a super-shite ultimate team in time to maybe give the beach football European Championship qualifiers (West Division) a decent go in 2026.
I imagine it will be terrible. Wembley is still more impressive empty than it is full and will remain so until England host the World Cup, whether it happens in 2018 or otherwise. It’s a great, great piece of architecture but once you half-fill it with representatives from every company the FA can squeeze a tenner out of any pathetic notion of ‘England United’ is, um, a little lost amongst the bullshit, you know? Wembley needs competitive matches between competitive teams. Croatia are the biggest team we have hosted in a meaningful game since the massive arch opened. Don’t agree? Ok then, Russia. Not getting any better, is it?
Some of the players that will feature on Wednesday played Sunday afternoon and will play Saturday lunchtime. Samir Nasri has already voiced his displeasure, and quite rightly. This time next week he’d have most likely played a Champions League fixture, too, on top of the North London derby at the Emirates, a match that doesn’t exactly allow passengers. Seeing as he is one of only about seventeen footballers that the French FA hasn’t banned for thirty-six years after their World Cup debacle, he is likely to play.
As is Andy Carroll, which is where the argument of the game being totally pointless loses pace a little. Carroll deserves an England call-up and should play, presuming his groin injury lets up, from the start. It is a good test for him, but then so would any qualifier that England have coming up over the next 18 or so months. If he’s good enough, play him against Wales. What will we learn if he falters somewhat in midweek, that the tiny pool of strikers we have to choose from will be found to be one man lighter? Are there strikers out there that the FA are keeping from us who can step in for competitive matches should this less-than-drastic experiment fail? In all seriousness, I don’t know why there’s not outright panic at the strikers Capello has called up. Carlton Cole, lead striker of a team bottom of the Premiership that has managed 11 goals in 13 games this season. Peter Crouch, who despite his European and indeed excellent International record has never and will never be prolific- 51 league appearances for Spurs and 9 goals tells its own story. And I’m sorry, but Jay Bothroyd? Really? I’m all for bringing in players on form, but most find the jump from Premiership to International football difficult enough, let alone the Championship. I will take nothing away from the decent season he has been having with Cardiff, and I find it unfair that some commentators have put his goals tally down to the opposition’s pre-occupation with Craig Bellamy, but Barnsley and France are opposite ends of the scale, mate. Should he play, it is likely that England will have two target men on the field. Kick and rush will take on a whole new meaning. Gabriel Agbonlahor completes the set, of whom I am a great fan due to his direct running and having a decent finish on him, but it must be said that he is there in place of Bolton’s Kevin Davies. Again, decent. But not an International footballer. Jordan Henderson is an example of the perfect player to be looking at in these games, if there is one. He’s had under-21 experience, as well as almost 50 Premiership games, and he’s only 20. Him and Wilshire in the middle. No excuses, Fabio. No Gerrard. No Gareth Barry. No Shaun Wright-Phucking-Philips. And that goes for every game in the phucking phuture as well.
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