Managed to blag a couple of free tickets to last night's friendly so hauled my arse all the way to WHL - then rather wished I hadn't. Ok, I know its a friendly, the players use it to get fit, blah blah blah - but doesn't the same go for Villarreal? The fact is we were poor and they were not. They were trying, we were not. Believe me when I tell you it could easily have been 7 - 1.
As the title suggests, it reminded me at one point of what the World Cup semi final might have looked like if England had somehow managed to beat Germany and the Argies. Villarreal were knocking it about beautifully. Fantastic passing and moving, great vision and a typically Spanish ability to keep our boys as far away from the ball as possible. By comparison, most of our successfully completed passes occured the wrong side of the centre circle and nobody really seemed to remember what is involved in creating chances. Let's hope they learned something.
First half positives: Walker looks like a hero in waiting.
The second half was a bit more lively. Bale is a game changer - incredible at such a tender age, he's well on his way to being truely world class. Best LWB in the world 5 years from now - mark my words.
A well taken goal by Gio. He looked pretty tasty too. Good positioning, quick feet, I even saw him get stuck in to a cracking challenge or two. Please don't sell him Harry - pretty please. He looked every inch the World Cup star we saw last month.
In other areas the Beanpole did OK, Kranners was poor, Hudd was average, Rose and Parrett were annonymous and Hutton is rapidly turning into my next hate figure. Still no sign of Modders - is he injured?
Lastly, I was disappointed that there were no pasties on sale at half time down in the corner (block 23) - had to have a hotdog which was utter shit and cost 4 quid. I'm not usually a patron of the Paxton end, is this normal for you lot over there or is it a new catering arrangement for this season?
The Chosen 25
So I was just reading something about the Prem's new squad rules, and it got me thinking about the impact at Tottenham. Who's in, who's out and what this tells us about our transfer targets.
If you missed that article, rules state that clubs must now select a 25 man squad, and that this squad cannot be changed until January. Of those 25, 8 must be 'homegrown', which means they must have trained with an English or Welsh club for 3 years before they turned 21. Teams are allowed to boost the number of selectable players beyond 25, but these may not be over the age of 21 (as of January this year) and, I believe, the kids don't have to be homegrown.
So let me just dive straight in. The names there are my picks from the players we currently have available. (a * denotes homegrown)
So, from our current crop we have 12 homegrown, which is quite good as it definitely gives us room to manouvre in the transfer market.
Eagle eyed readers will notice there's only 23 names above, but I can't think of anyone else who'd be named. You're probably wondering where Gareth Bale is? Well he only turned 21 a couple of weeks ago, so he doesn't have to be named in the 25.
In addition to Bale, Kyle Walker and Danny Rose might be expected to get some game time this season. Taarabt also counts (he turned 21 in May), which makes me think he might stay. Dos Santos was also under 21 in January and I'd love to see him stay, but I guess he'll be loaned. If he's not in the squad but is eligible then I assume we can recall him at any time if need be.
So, how do we need to refine the group...
Firstly, Alnwick will be replaced by Pletikosa should that deal go through - and I think it will. Thant knocks us down to 11.
You look at that list and you have to wonder whether Naughton and Hutton are going to make it. Naughton is nearly 22 so would have to take a squad place and Scots don't count as homegrown (but Welshies do, seems strange!). As Kaboul, Corluka, Naughton, Hutton and Walker are all capable of playing RB, the evidence seems to suggest that Hutton will go, Naughton maybe loaned, however as we're already thin on the ground maybe he will stay?
Plans for Bale remain a mystery - is he LB or LM? I'd like to see us bring in a quality LB and move BAE down to 3rd choice as I think the man is a bloody liability.
One look at the midfield list and it maybe becomes a bit more apparent why we were after Joe Cole. I think we have room for one more top quality player in that list. We have the boy Sandro, but can't see him making the squad before January, I'm not even sure he's joining us before September.
Will O'Hara be given another chance, will Jenas be sold? I'm struggling to think of any other senior players for their positions and I can't see us getting rid of 2 of our English quota.
Up front the talk is of Keane going and Pav being loaned. Robbie has looked sharp in the States, and Wolves signed him young enough for him to count as homegrown. You know what, I'd keep him!
Pav out and another foreigner in (eg. Huntelaar) wouldn't bother me, but I fail to see the point in loaning him. Anyway, he seems as though he wants to dig his heels and fight for a place so good on him.
So, in terms of our homegrown quota we have Hudd, Lennon, King, Daws, Bale, Defoe and Crouch as definite. Keane, Jenas, Bentley and O'Hara in the balance and Alnwick gone.
I can see Bentley staying for sure, so that's our 8. Bit risky to just creep over the line though isn't it? Would love to see Jenas exchanged, Keane kept and O'Hara being part of the squad.
As for reported targets, here's my take:
Oh dear - all that reading and no conclusion, sorry - you'll have to make your own minds up!
If you missed that article, rules state that clubs must now select a 25 man squad, and that this squad cannot be changed until January. Of those 25, 8 must be 'homegrown', which means they must have trained with an English or Welsh club for 3 years before they turned 21. Teams are allowed to boost the number of selectable players beyond 25, but these may not be over the age of 21 (as of January this year) and, I believe, the kids don't have to be homegrown.
So let me just dive straight in. The names there are my picks from the players we currently have available. (a * denotes homegrown)
Gomes, Cudicini, Alnwick*
King* Dawson*, Naughton*, Bassong, Kaboul, Corluka, BAE, Hutton
Hudd*, Modric, Krancjar, Lennon*, Jenas*, Palacios, Bentley*, O'Hara*
Defoe*, Crouch*, Keane*, Pav.
King* Dawson*, Naughton*, Bassong, Kaboul, Corluka, BAE, Hutton
Hudd*, Modric, Krancjar, Lennon*, Jenas*, Palacios, Bentley*, O'Hara*
Defoe*, Crouch*, Keane*, Pav.
So, from our current crop we have 12 homegrown, which is quite good as it definitely gives us room to manouvre in the transfer market.
Eagle eyed readers will notice there's only 23 names above, but I can't think of anyone else who'd be named. You're probably wondering where Gareth Bale is? Well he only turned 21 a couple of weeks ago, so he doesn't have to be named in the 25.
In addition to Bale, Kyle Walker and Danny Rose might be expected to get some game time this season. Taarabt also counts (he turned 21 in May), which makes me think he might stay. Dos Santos was also under 21 in January and I'd love to see him stay, but I guess he'll be loaned. If he's not in the squad but is eligible then I assume we can recall him at any time if need be.
So, how do we need to refine the group...
Firstly, Alnwick will be replaced by Pletikosa should that deal go through - and I think it will. Thant knocks us down to 11.
You look at that list and you have to wonder whether Naughton and Hutton are going to make it. Naughton is nearly 22 so would have to take a squad place and Scots don't count as homegrown (but Welshies do, seems strange!). As Kaboul, Corluka, Naughton, Hutton and Walker are all capable of playing RB, the evidence seems to suggest that Hutton will go, Naughton maybe loaned, however as we're already thin on the ground maybe he will stay?
Plans for Bale remain a mystery - is he LB or LM? I'd like to see us bring in a quality LB and move BAE down to 3rd choice as I think the man is a bloody liability.
One look at the midfield list and it maybe becomes a bit more apparent why we were after Joe Cole. I think we have room for one more top quality player in that list. We have the boy Sandro, but can't see him making the squad before January, I'm not even sure he's joining us before September.
Will O'Hara be given another chance, will Jenas be sold? I'm struggling to think of any other senior players for their positions and I can't see us getting rid of 2 of our English quota.
Up front the talk is of Keane going and Pav being loaned. Robbie has looked sharp in the States, and Wolves signed him young enough for him to count as homegrown. You know what, I'd keep him!
Pav out and another foreigner in (eg. Huntelaar) wouldn't bother me, but I fail to see the point in loaning him. Anyway, he seems as though he wants to dig his heels and fight for a place so good on him.
So, in terms of our homegrown quota we have Hudd, Lennon, King, Daws, Bale, Defoe and Crouch as definite. Keane, Jenas, Bentley and O'Hara in the balance and Alnwick gone.
I can see Bentley staying for sure, so that's our 8. Bit risky to just creep over the line though isn't it? Would love to see Jenas exchanged, Keane kept and O'Hara being part of the squad.
As for reported targets, here's my take:
- Pletikosa: done.
- Richards: Would be nice, but surely Citeh need to hang on to an English player or two
- Suarez: Hell will freeze over before Levy spends £30m+ on one player
- Huntelaar: More our price range
- Parker: Hmm, could see this working, but don't see the Spammers letting him go
- Bellamy: I hate him but.. Homegrown, cheap, fast, clinical. On his way.
Oh dear - all that reading and no conclusion, sorry - you'll have to make your own minds up!
Capello the Turd Polisher
Believe me, I could write 10,000 words on why England have been such a crock of shit over the last few weeks, but I'm guessing your attention span for that kind of chit-chat has diminished considerably over the last week, so I'll keep it brief.My take on it is rather simple anyway: Look at the 'good' teams in this world cup. They zip it about with one or two touches, each player is on the ball for a second or two at most. They form tight little triangles and players without the ball are always looking to move into space before their teammate gets it, so that when he does he knows he has a one-touch option. This means they retain possession, it also means that the man on the ball doesn't get pressed so quickly because the defenders know he's not going to dilly-dally. This in turn means that attacking players have more time to pick out creative passes. 'Quick ball' is international football in a nutshell - simple.
England probably managed this for about 5 minutes of the 360 minutes they played. Their modus operandi is usually to pick it up deep, push it forward with their studs once, maybe twice until they get to the edge of the centre circle, before holding their arms out Jenas-like as if to say "What now?". That answer never comes, so they either force a pass to someone who really didn't want it, pop it backwards to some other clueless participant, or boot it long to Heskey or the short man up front. And we wonder why we were shit.
I personally don't see how you can blame Capello for this. He was going as mental as we were. OK, you have to ask yourself why he subbed Defoe for Heskey when we're 4-1 down when the Beanpole for Rooney would have been much more sensible, but the game was up by then anyway. You also have to ask why, after 10 years of having the debate, we are still playing Lampard and Gerrard together. I don't think Lampard has ever had a Man of the Match game for his country - Capello needs to be bold enough to drop him. He's too old for the Euro's now anyway.
Which brings me nicely onto Harry. Spurs fans take heart - there is no way on God's earth that Harry will be the England manager next week. Yes, the tax thing might put them off, but the main reason is that the FA would have to be absolutely barking mad to spank £10m on removing a man who's only crime was an inability to polish turds.
If the Italian was watching the same World Cup as me then he'll now know that Heskey is not, and never has been international class, Glen Johnson is at best adequate and is incapable of playing with a 'proper' winger in front of him, Lampard is a one trick pony (that trick being goal hanging for Chelsea), Upson and Green nearly got their team relegated for good reason, Terry is an odious egomaniac and, that if you want to keep possession and spread the play when it gets too tight, that Tommy Huddlestone would be a vastly superior solution in the centre circle than Barry. Lastly, that despite all around him losing the plot - Jermain Defoe was a beacon of self confidence and positive energy and for that reason alone was England's player of the tournament.
Moral of the story: Capello's 'big mistake' was to ignore his Spurs contingent. Let's hope he's learned his lesson!
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