Capello determined to tame Spain

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Good Stuff Phil

im really looking forward to this game as I think it will be a great test for the team, lets hope Fabio continues his magic touch, if any can lead surey Fabio can?!

should be an interesting match up with the spanish flair against the determination grit and steel that england have shown in recent games

Barry and Carrick to continue in the Middle for me please?!

Give Ashley Young a chance as I reckon he can cause the spanish fullbacks problems?!

Come on Boys


On a Different note, really looking forward to the Brazil vs Italy game tonight atttack versus defence......who will come out on top?!

I have the belief that England might get something out of the match since no one wants to get injured at this point of the season. It probably will end in a draw

spot on!! i haven't seen a more comfident english side in my time. I am only 24 years young, and haven't felt or seen such optimism (appart from the emphatically sporadic victories against argentina and germany) since we fluked our way to the quarters in '96 and suddenly found our playing boots.
it is fantastic to see a manager who doesn't simply buy into the big names and force players together, whom are clearly uncomfortable. in return the english players now understand that there place is there if they put in the effort. suddenly our youth players look alive and vibrant in the youngs of villa,sipson and wellbeck of united and sturridge of city, and much praise should go to stuart pearce as well.
to summarise, it is refreshing to suddenly feel like we are up there with the big boys, there is no longer that earie feeling in your stomach, that even if we dont play our best we should still pinch the win. and most of all it is the asthetically pleasing manner in which we are winning, and that finally our midfield is dominating, lets hope they can hold true on wednesday, in what will be there toughest test to date.

I laugh at how opinion has changed. I remember back to this point last year and telling everyone that we had FINALLY got the right man in to the job. Most fans didn't like it though, and it's taken some really classy performances to show that we do indeed have World Class players, and quite a few of them.

Personally I think that we have more the enough to win in 2010, especially with Fabio in charge. This is just another stepping stone to that tournament.

Come on England, beat this vastly overrated Spanish side.

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The defeat and the performance in 2004 were overshadowed by the racist chanting. We were bad that night, really bad. Not able to retain possession and lacked ideas when we did have possession. If nothing else, I would like to see a team that can hold onto the ball and threaten their opponents. No long balls up to Heskey. Lets keep hold of it, and make the Spaniards run around chasing after the ball.

Why are all the comments awaiting moderation?

Should be the best test of England to date. Spain are a fantastic side, Xavi, Iniesta, Torres and Villa are among the best players in world football and England will need to be at their best to get a result.

I see we are almost an hour behind with the moderation again :( why has it all gone so so slow ??

Although im Scottish (living in England) i would Love to see England win convincingly tomorrow night, and do well next summer, they have underachieved so badly in the last few years - (even the Scots were starting to catch up, and would have given a run for your money) if only to save myself having to console dissapointed fans with the words "how do you think i feel"

come on dmp007 at least write something of note?!

or are u one of them idiot's/saddo's who you find on sites like Yahoo Eurosport, who just wait to claim that they are first to put a note on the blog but dont have any actual opinion on the subject matter or probably havent even bothered to read it?!?!

Grow up eh Lad

Looking at the squad selected it looked like we were missing several key players, the truth is we are missing Gerrard and Rooney but that is most. We have many players in the squad without much experience and man for man the Spain Squad is far superior. We are bettered or matched all over the pitch.
We have massive weakness in the areas of srikers, wide left and right and in especially in goal.
Our previous strength was our centre backs once with Rio JT and Carragher. But JT has not been as solid, and Carragher has retired.
I am excited about the Villa youngsters, and the centre backs from Everton, but the lack of progress from Bentley, Aaron Lennon and Micah Richards is disturbing. Carlton Cole and Emile Heskey are never going to intimidate the opposition, along with quality utility men such as Crouch and Defoe.
Spain will beat us soundly.

Oh dear... here comes the mindless optimism brigade... people talking about "never before seen optimism, etc"... the same ones, or people like them... that were on these blogs before every tournament since 1066 predicting that we have the squad and will win the cup!.... I have never known England surrounded by anything other than "optimism" before or during qualifying for a tourament, followed by complete despair when we get to the 1/4s ...

I have watched England home and away (and on TV as well) for a number of years now and feel that in Capello we have the best manager we could possibly have. I also believe we have some of the best players playing at some of the best clubs in the world (Rio, Terry, Gerrard, Rooney, Lampard .... please don't let a Gerrard/Lampard debate start..please..)... sadly though i think we may fall short at the next world cup (yet again).. mainly because we don't have a wealth of strikers who can score... Rooney is a decent player but is not a real goal threat such as Torres. Owen has a good record but injury has reduced him to someone that Fabio has decided to leave out until now... hopefully he can turn it around a la Beckham.... or maybe someone else (Walcott etc) could come through... but they are currently way off where they need to be in just over 1 years time for the World Cup.

I obvioulsy hope we beat spain... a draw will be a good result (away to the champions of a tournament we didn't even qualify for)..especially when we have a number of our "better" players out and/or off form. Even a defeat - as long as we show positive signs will not be a disaster...

On another note - and i know this will get a load of Beckham haters out from under their stones...

Good Luck to Beckham if he gets on to equal the Caps Record.....tick, tick, tick, tick

england have a chance, but only a chance. if jagielka gets played by capello, he can take care of torres, and that leaves JT or Ferdinand on Villa.
I think well be able to punish them the other side of the pitch, but the wingers are going to have to beat their players- luckily, we have a clutch of wingers who i have faith in to beat the man.
in midfield we can stand up to them- carrick on his day is every bit as good as xavi, and barry is capable against anyone he plays.

it could come down to beckhams crosses, or perhaps agbonlahors influence, but if we give them a game ill be pleased to be honest.

PM - A Good curtain raiser on a match everyone is looking forward to. There is a greater belief in Mr Capello's methods than any of his recent predecessors. So you are right, it will be an important test of our squad, without a couple of regulars.

A big point for me is that Mr Capello has definately established that He is very much in charge. The ''I'm playing out of position'' brigade are very quiet.

Win lose or draw it will be a good watch, as over recent years, England have appeared to have had a decent squad. Under Mr Capello they may have the discipline to be moulded into a team unit.

Good blog Mr Mc

Good post Phil, although let's not go overboard about England's results in 2008. Although we've made a great start to the WC qualifying campaign, I doubt many fans will look back fondly on 2008 seeing as the Euros happened without England.

I think there is still a doubt about friendlies too. The win in Germany was very encouraging, but Spain are a much tougher proposition and I think England might get another lesson tomorrow night.

Capello seems to be running a tight ship, but there could be a bit of arrogance creeping back into some of the players, judging by their recent comments. As I said, a good start to the qualifiers, but I believe this team still owes the fans and the country a Hell of a lot more, so they shouldn't think that all is forgiven. McClaren was rightly criticised for England's failure in the last campaign, but the players also have to accept responsibility for their poor performances.

Still, we should try and look forward and not back eh? England to qualify for the WC, but Spain to win by the odd goal tonight.

at # 15 - EnglandGrim

the England game is tomorrow night, not tonight - just dont want you watching Brazil and thinking England are suddenly Fantastic :)

Samwell

I have read the blog and that comment was just a laugh so there's no need to get so upset up over it.

About the blog, I think England can beat Spain if they keep things simple, like Phil said they did against Germany.

Also hope the Spainish fans behave themselves and not be a disgrace.

I am in fully support of Capello and everything he has done apart from one small issue, I don think he should have made JT captain Rio was the obvious choice, he has now created a situation when he can't drop JT when he arguably doesnt deserve a starting position... anyone agree??

Will be a good game for Capello to test against a big team. I just hope if we dont play well the media dont get on Capello's back. it is a friendly and emans nothing. if I see a blog from Mr McNulty on Thursday preaching doom and gloom I shall not be happy

Thanks #16.

I must have nodded off half-way through the post and thought it was tomorrow already ;)

I just hope that regardless of the result the media accept that friendlies are useful...but not *vital.* Please no clamours for sainthood or beheading. It should be an interesting game, let us just enjoy it for what it is - a learning exercise, no more, no less.

As per usual in friendlies, the result doesn't matter that much. In my opinion the most important thing to demonstrate tonight is our ball retention. Spain are arguably the best team in Europe at retaining the ball and making the opposition work hard to win it back. I'd really like to see us try and match them for at least a half of the game, rather than the traditional "up and at 'em" England approach.

To achieve this I think Carrick has to start. I've been saying it for a long time that this man is a classic example of someone who plays better and better the more quality there is around him. By this I mean he will never do a Rooney or a Gerrard and win a game with a single moment of genius, but give him the right tools to work with and he will punish teams over 90 minutes with a combination of pin-point passing and dictating of the pace of the game.

So: my starting XI for the game would be (4-3-3):

James; Johnson, Ferdinand, Terry, Cole; Lampard, Carrick, Barry; Agbonlahor, Heskey, A.Young

Nice, compact, disciplined midfield 3 that are all comfortable on the ball. Give Lampard the licence to get forward. Use the Villa wingers to stretch play in the final third, but NOT with quick balls forward into the channels - Spain are too wiley to fall for that and will lap it up and hurt us with too much possession.

#16 AND #20 I am confuse dnow.. when is the match please?

dmp007 - sorry if i seemed a lil uppety mate, but ive been reading a few articles on the Yahoo website aswel(i dont think i will be revisiting) and all the first 20odd comments are people claiming "first" its quite sad really, so was just worried for a slight second there that some of these people had come over to disrupt the good blogs on the BBC?! where people actually read them and generally put some interesting points across?!

Couldnt agree more about the spanish fans aswell?! hopefully their actions wont overshadow the game like they did last time?!

and if there is any racist abuse towards our black or half-cast players than i sincerly hope that FIFA actually take a stand and ban them from a future tournament, do it meaningfully not just "1 game behind closed doors" etc. this is the only way their fans will learn that that sort of behaviour is intolerable?!

i know for a fact if it was English fans doing that against another international team, time after time, then FIFA would have no hesitation coming down very hard on us and giving us a nice lenghty ban, and quite possible expulsion from a tournament?!

no matter how well England play, they are a quarter-final team. They may be undefeated in friendlies and qualifiers but they will go out in the quarter-final of the world cup 2010, guarantee.

#23

england game is tomorrow night (9pm KO) and tonight is Brazil v Italy

just out of curiosity - anyone, why is it being billed as England v spain when England are away ?

Actually, England won't field their strongest team, as their pre-appointed captain will have to start. Similarly, though, Spain won't be at their strongest because the best Spaniard on Merseyside isn't even in their squad.

England have some players that would scare most defences in the world. A comment earlier about being weak wide left... Ashley Young has been absolutley fantastic and I for one as a right back would HATE playing him! Quick, strong, both footed, intelligent and can deliver either a final ball or a cracking finish. One of the most exciting players in the prem and to say we are weak there is really just not thinking.

Shame Rooney will be missing, but otherwise England have a great chance. I think we may be undone by the obvious talent of Spain, but at least it won't be a whitewash like last time despite the scoreline. Anyone else think Carrick deserves a game? I know I do! Maybe Jagielka too on form and performances he is ahead of terry for my money. But then I dont train with the lads so Fab can make the choices!!

Best of luck lads, hope its a good game

Oh and on the fans - if the Spanish minority want to abuse the players on racist grounds then let the team pay the price. And not one of these watered down no problem punishments, a real ban from a meaningful tournament for Spain. The higher powers preach about kicking racism out of football, its time for money were your mouths are bigwigs...

#22 - west drop -

Good analysis, totally agree, i think that is a pretty good team to start tomorrow and could cause Spain some problems?1

Carrick and Barry to sit in keep ball and dictate play is definitely the way to go as ive also previously stated, plus both are good at protecting the back four aswell as getting forward?!

plus - i dont think that we can stress enough how much friendlies ARE NOT all about the result!

'This makes the friendly - another word Capello struggles to find in his footballing glossary...'

How quickly we forget games like the Czech Republic at Wembley last year amongst others. A game I attended and about 10 mins in, wished I hadn't bothered.

stretfordendred (no 18) Capello strikes me as the sort of manager who would drop Terry if he felt that was the right thing for the sake of the team.

Good article Phil. I hope you're right that Capello is deadly serious when he says we can compete with Spain.

Couple of questions:
a) Do you think Xabi Alonso will play for Spain?
b) Do you still think he's vastly over-rated?

Cheers

Personally i can see england getting outplayed tommorow and going long spells without even touching the ball.

I also think they are a million miles away from winning a world cup, every competition (that we actually qualify for) we go out with a wimper and are totally outclassed technically...

England fans are rubbish as well... one or too wins and everyone gets totally over-excited and jump on the media bandwagon and then as soon as we conceed 1 goal in a match at wembley everyone starts booing. Probably the worst fans in world Football....

I think we should be more like the scottish fans who know that they arent actually that good, dont expect too much and actually get behind the team. the sooner english fans realise that they arent going to win anything the better then all the hype can stop.

I agree with stretfordendred terry is well out of form and probably not international class even when he is. i think he's too slow and is just well renowned for his fearlessness in blocking shots and his heading. In the league he does position himself well on crosses when he has confidence in his keeper. Now cechs form has dipped terry has no confidence in his gk so as a result chelsea are conceding alot of goals form crosses, corners etc. He is probably the best natural "leader" england have in terms of his attitude but ablilty wise he doesnt deserve an automatic starting place. Also captaincy seems to bring the best out of Rio, whilst jagielka is the in-form English centre back and i would rather have him in my team than terry. My (unlikely)starting XI for tomorrow would be: (4-3-2-1)
Green,
Johnson,Ferdinand (C), Jagielka, A Cole
Beckham, Carrick, Barry
A Young, Agbonlahor
C Cole

Surely, Jagielka has to play - he drove Torres batty in three games aaginst Liverpool.

Carlth said:

"Actually, England won't field their strongest team, as their pre-appointed captain will have to start. Similarly, though, Spain won't be at their strongest because the best Spaniard on Merseyside isn't even in their squad."

Ha spot on. Now please I am not just being a rival supporter saying this, but John Terry has been very average for the best part of 2 years. He has 0 pace, he reads the game poorly at times and he gets turned by his marker time and time again.

If it weren't for his 'leadership' qualities, he would be a complete and utter dead-weight in this England squad. On defending ability alone, Upson and even Brown are superior to him.

It'll be interesting to see who plays, i'm a firm believer that Young should be in the team on the left and Barry and Carrick should be the starters in the centre, even when Gerrard and Lampard are fit, Barry and Carrick are more team players whereas Gerrard and Lampard are players that need a team built around them and fair play to them as they can carry Chelsea and Liverpool.

The defense will be interesting with Rio, Jagielka, Lescott, Cole, Johnson, all in form (despite Pompey sucking) and Terry being the captain, I wonder who'll be starting at the back!

before my XI gets the inevitable slating can anyone name anyone else in the current squad bar lescott (who is probably in better form than A Cole but isnt all that comfortable there) who is in better form than the 11 names i have mentioned?

#36 Agreed Jagielka has been a colossus in defence in recent games. If he doesn't get a shout in a friendly what are they there for? Ferdinand is not back to full fitness yet anyway and shouldn't really be playing 90 minutes.

Fully agree with all those Terry-bashing. I've been presenting this argument for ages, but I always get slated! He's over-rated, and prone to making too many errors. Having said that, there are too many players in the sqaud who aren't world class. Stewart Downing has never done anything to warrant an England shirt, except be left-footed and be one of the better players in a below-average side. Same with Carlton Cole: the lad's doing well but no-one will get excited when/if he comes on. I am glad to see an England manager who doesnt keep picking the likes of Andy Johnson (utter rubbish) or David Bentley, who is one of the most over-rated players in history. What England need is a striker who terrifies the oppositions defence, I've got a feeling the Gabby Agbonlahor could be that guy. I hope so! Still think the two sides will play a pretty dull game though, and will probably end 0-0.

England team:

Green

Neville Ferdinand Vidic (now naturalised) Brown

Scholes, Carrick Hargreaves

Tevez (qualifies due to ownership of an English Bentley)

It's astounding - pleasingly so - how opinion about Capello and England has risen so much over the last twelve months.

My only concern is that a below-par display and/or a loss to Spain would see the naysayers back in full force again despite Spain's top ranking.

I certainly hope that's not the case and that England will put in another firm performance and hopefully a win.

Green

Brown Ferdinand Terry Cole

Beckham Carrick Barry Young

Heskey Agbonlahor

Doing it with 9 layers too?
A witty remark works better when it has a hint of accuracy.

Boshorange, Downing apart from Beckham is the best crosser England has. He hasn't been good recently for Boro, so he shouldn't be picked, simple, but he is class. Terry is overarted, but Downing is NOT. CAPELLO rates him. How can he be over rated when England fans see him come on for the 1st time before he's even played and start booing, decrease his confidence, he wants to perform well for his country.

I don't really think we will necessarily win this game, and nor do I think it is important. I do think that the team Capello picks will give Spain a run for their money, and we will almost certainly be better than the Germany side that were dominated in the final of Euro 2008.

I would be pleased if an England manager finally picked the players that are on form rather than plump for the hit and miss brigade.

In- Jagielka, Young, Lescott, Agbonlahor

Out- Terry, Ferdinand, A Cole.


I agree that Carrick and Barry should start in midfield even if Gerrard and Lampard are fit. The great teams in history have never been built around individual players.

I still don't think that Beckham should start......sorry but I am not convinced by his Milan form.

the most important thing about the gaffer is this, you do as he tells you or you are out pronto , he does not care for the wives egos of players or bull-sxxt from club managers he is a italian alf ramsey , who will guide england to a world cup final , the rest is down to the players.

I would go for:

Green

Johnson Terry Jagielka Cole

Young Carrick Lampard Barry

Agbonlahor Heskey


Jagielka must have done enough in recent weeks to be given a chance in what is only a friendly, especially given that he has abolutely dominated Torres on the past three occasions. I would definately like to see Carrick starting, and also becoming a pivotal role in the England side, given how important he is for Utd (something which has only recently become widely accepted). As much as I rate Milner, I would not be inclined to play both him and Young in the same England side, given that Capello has the likes of Barry, Lampard and Carrick at his disposal. Barry is not uncommon to playing out wide, and can deliver a wicked cross, and playing him on the left gives England the option of reverting to either three up top, or five in midfield, with Young and Agbonlahor moving out wide, with Heskey being the pinnacle of the attack. Obviously, with injuries etc. the competitive England team would look very different. My personal preference would be:



Green

???? Terry Ferdinand Cole

Gerrard Carrick Lampard Barry

Rooney Heskey


As much as one could argue that Barry and Gerrard are not natural wide players, both do have very high work rates, good deliveries, and the ability to score goals in all manners. Plus, all too often the likes of Joe Cole, Downing, Young etc. are too ineffective on the wings. As for the right-back posistion, I could not decide, as whoever it would be, would merely be the best out of a bad bunch (NEVILLE - too old, BROWN - never been convinced, JOHNSON - never proven himself on the big stage, was too weak defenively when at Chelsea, although he has improved significiantly at Pompey, RICHARDS - awful season, albeit the majority of his woes have come at centre-back, definately one for the future).

I just hope that the likes of Beckham and Downing do not feature too heavily in Capello's plans, although I do hope that people like Carlton Cole, Jagielka, Upson, Milner remain in the squad for the foreseeable future as they could all possibly have the potential to make an impact on the international scene.

TO all england fans who are feeling upbeat and genrally optimistic about ure team u should i love all football and the english have some great players ie GERRARD INPARTICULAR ashley cole best left back in world, carrick and so on. but honestly ure a are no were near spain come on they on there day will destroy most teams . its just the english press hype these poor guys up to be knocked down . reality check ure good but not that good. ps scottish makem or what ever get a grip ure scottish put the shirt on

Stop hyping up the England Team, its only preparing them for a bigger fall if they underperform.

The media are responsible for finding a balance between optimism and reality to help spur the team on, and this article fails to take into account the nature of Capello's "flawless start". In reality it was a progressive start, with wins over poor teams that were not always satisfactory, with Croatia being down to 10 men, and the frustrating Kazakstan win being covered up by their late collapse.

i find it funny how people say ashley young will be a threat down the right... if sergio ramos is playing he will dominate young.
if spain play like they did in the euro final england will get beaten.. i dont think itl be a huge amount but a 2-0 loss. if england get lucky,play well, hold in there they might sneak a 2-1 or 1-0 but im going for a draw or spain win... they just have too much class

on another note, they have a new coach from euros so this cant be viewed as england vs top team in europe cos its different (well it is england vs top team in europe but i hope you know what i mean!)

ah ,a comment from the bitter frozen north

It will not be bad if England lost. The only thing I will not like is if England do win, the media and everybody then will jump to conclusion that they will be favorite like after the game against Argentina before WC2006 (which I remember everybody didn't fancy England's chance which turns out to be right).
I just hate the people judge the team in one game. Like last time, England won because Argentina pretty much took off all the regulars in the last 10 mins or so.
This time the same, I only watched one England live game so far, the one against K'stan. They sucked in the half time and only demolished them in the last 15 mins because they were simply tired. A lot needed to improve still.
To me, reaching semi-final in the next WC will be a huge achievement (if qualified). Just don't set it too high of thinking winning it.

Some of these comments seem strange.

"vastly overrated Spanish squad"
- Seriously the individuals in the Spanish squad are for the most part better than the English counterparts. Heskey and Abonglahor are both good but plainly any manager would buy Villa or Torres if they were the same money. Luckily Torres is semi-injured and may not play to his full potential.

"No long balls up to Heskey."
- It is tactically poor to not use all available options. If you do not intermittently use long balls then the defence can happily push up on to the midfield and passing through the middle becomes very difficult. If you occasionally have a long ball or even players with pace that provide threat of the long ball/counter attack (such as Young/Agbonlahor), the defense cannot get as close to the middlefield and get forced to sit back, this allows passing through the midfield and retention of the ball. Mixing the tactics allows them to work together, running with the same passing patterns each time is easy to cut out...

It would be much more interesting if this was a non-friendly, as for the most part only players that have not cemented their position try hard. Some players have the mentality to always push themselves, but for the most part you rarely see the same commitment to challenges that you do in other matches.

I suspect that Torres and Villa may not commit too much as they have relatively secure positions at both club and country level and avoiding injury will be far more important.

Still I will be celebrating if England win :)

2-0 to Spain.

Ahhh nothing like good old expectation raising to build it all up for another penalty haeartbreak and scathing Blog in 2 yrs time....

Only joking, hopefully we can continue progress but I feel this game has little relevance on South Africa2010.

What is tru is that the four strikers in our squad are all either unproven, or proven flops....Get fit Roon, Defoe...dont bother...

This is the problem with England, a couple of good performances from some players and we end up with people saying
"Carrick is every bit as good as Xavi"

Sorry, but this is getting ridiculous. Capello is a top coach, but he has a massive task ahead of him, simply because there is a chance the team will crumble under its own hype. When players like Ferdinand come up with comments indirectly stating "England have the best players in the world" then you have a big problem, a big big problem, especially when considering this England side's background.

The Spanish media are making a lot of the accusations of racism. Apparantly they are completely unjustified and the English are just whinging and whining for nothing. There are also massive criticism of the Spanish FA for being servile and permitting the venue for the match to be changed for no good reason.

All in all, the atmosphere is being heated up.

Capello is aware, no doubt, that the Spanish players have better individual technical ability than ours and they ain't a bad team either! As a master tactician, I'm sure he is also aware there is more than one way to skin a fox. We won't outplay the Spanish, and there may be long spells when we can't get the ball. It will be interesting to see how he sets his team out and how those players respond. This is a tough test that may bring a few home truths, we will see.

I am wondering how Capello can drop Terry, the captain, and play Jagielka. The latter is a much better defender and less prone to the errors Terry now seems to make each game.

This is a time when we should be building our team for the main event and Terry is yesterday's man.

Midfield is a problem. Both Gerrard and Lampard score goals and I'm not so sure we have strikers who are as good as them. Trouble is, as midfielders, I actually prefer Barry and Carrick. Be interesting to see what Mr Capoello actually does when the teams run out

Cmon england. Shrude manager is capello, i like his no nonsense way, and what he says goes. He will be England's most successful modern manager, and maybe just maybe get this team of GREAT players be a great TEAM. There's always going to be haters, but i'm ENGLAND till i die. CMON ENGLAND!!!!! AVE ITTTTTT

I personally think that England have enough quality to beat spain. If you look at that Spain squad what do you see? A squad of highly gifted indivduals who have a well rounded ability and flair only matched by Brazil.

Sounds great and it is but where we lack the flair of the Spain squad i feel, that we make up for it with our greater Balance. Lets say for Example this team is fielded:
--------------James/Green-----------
-Johnson-Ferdinand-Terry-Cole-
--Milner--Carrick--Barry--Young--
--------C.Cole----------Gabby-------

What this team says to me that we are going to feild a team that is tall, powerfull and fightenly fast along with some great passing ability. Using the Villa foursome we have young, unknown players (on the national scene) who are hungy and really really quick, our fullbacks aswell would bomb forward at every oppurtuinty.

This would gives Spains team a torrid time, they would have to be extreemly careful on the attack, overcommiting could lead to a Young/Gabby break - how many goals has Villa got through these two this year? Young is probably one of the most talented, underated players in the world. If he finds his form of before is susspension i truly think we have a player in the squad of the same calibure as C.Ronaldo and Messi.

Cole is a player who is strong and is starting to show his great ability - the way he backs into players and holds up the ball is similar to Heskey, but unlike Heskey he is more of a goal threat and he has the ability to score frequently.

In Carrick and Barry we have two great rounded players probably a much more balanced paring than Xavi and Senna/Alonso. Carrick is a fanstasic playmaker, a great box to box player. But his strengh lyes in his deep role of hussling the ball down and then distrubute it - he has been a massive part to Man U's 13 clean sheets. Barry again is similar to Carrick, but teaming up with his 3 other Villa team mates gives us an already esablished, world class attacking threat.

Our defence is my only worriny point, all indivdually great, but together i think they don't work the best. I think a Ferdiand/Upson or Jagyelka partnership would be the most balanced CB's to field, one to attack the player and Rio to sweep up - i personally feel that Terry wants to do what Rio wants to do all the time. Get a player like Vidic who wants to attack the Ball and it will be able to deal with world class attacks.

Spain i feel could loose the battle in Midfield. There relative small midfield will have to deal with a powerful, talented, tall and very quick four across the middle. This could allow us to win it.

Some of our players like Milner, James, Johnson and Cole may not have the same sort of ability as Spains squad alternatives (Ramos, Iker, Villa, Silva) but the balance they provide, i feel will make up for any differences in skill and the power in our team would make up for it.

Strikers - How about Darren Bent? Slated by everyone from here to Timbuktu, he is still the 2nd highest scoring English striker this season:


Agbonlahor Aston Villa 10
Bent: Tottenham 9
Davies Bolton 9
Defoe Tottenham 9
Gerrard Liverpool 9
Cole West Ham 8
Crouch Portsmouth 8

Strangly, Capello has picked these strikers:

Gabriel Agbonlahor (Villa), Carlton Cole (West Ham), Peter Crouch (Portsmouth), Emile Heskey (Villa).

And has totally ignored Bent and Davies, both of whom have outscored most of the players picked.

And why Heskey? Surely we should be playing Steven Gerrard in behind Agbonlahor and then we will be free to pick Lampard as a proper Attacking midfield player alongside Carrick or Barry.

Gerrard is clearly a better player than Heskey in every regard and is at his most dangerous running at the opposition - why not give him a completely free role?

Worth a squirt?

Hang on, Gerrard's not in the squad is he? Slight issue with that theory then.

Guess I would go for Barry and Carrick with Lampard free to roam, 4-5-1:

Green

Johnson Terry Ferdinand Cole

WrightPhillips Carrick Barry Downing
Lampard

Agbonlahor


Lenon should be playing on the right - he is the form Winger. Bring Beckham on for 2nd half, he is playing well enough to deserve it.

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Depend upon the English media to sweeten up England chances to a crescndo that one would believe they have already rolled over Spain and have one hand on the Jules Rimet Trophy. Good. The one stand out feature seems to be that Capello is once in a life time saviour and is now unsackable.

One can really savour the overtones. There are some masters of innuendo and have a very oblique way of suggesting Terry shouldn't be played even if he is the 'pre-selected captain'.

I like Capello. He is his own man, takes his job seriously and you can rely on him to select the best available team. He goes by form rather than hype or star value. Thus at times he appears to play hard to get, but still manages to go for the best. For him at least, there are no friendlies in this world. Frankly there aren't any.

On form if England can come back with a draw it will be fairly as good as a win. All other things being equal I do believe Spain are quite fast on their feet, and in numbers, a bit more of them are loaded with skills.

Friendlies don't mean much. There will probably be six or seven substitutions and the game will be forgotten about after a week.

England can be as confident as they like but they will be no match for Spain. Everyone seems to have rose tinted specs since Capello was put in charge.
Its the same players as before, way below whats needed to win any compo. At least 15 teams better than England in the world right now.
Over 42 years since any success and every 2 years since the 1970`s, its been presented as`our year`. Remember how the press hyped up the `golden generation`? Becks etc. Realistically they were very very ordinary
I will be v happy to be proved wrong (appreciate only a friendly) but still think there is a long way to go.
Will be an interesting game to watch but think Spain will dominate irrespective wether they decide to play out a `friendly draw`

babychunder: that was the problem in 2004 when Spain played us of the park. You can say that friendlies do not mean that much but to some people playing for your country is something important. That night in November 2004 in Madrid, not one of the Spanish players treated it like a friendly and they made England look rubbish playing some top class football. The only thing we could do in response was to kick them and moan about the abuse our players recieved. Not saying that the abuse was acceptable but if we had been able to play football we might not have heared it so well.

@realthing - these guys are all pros. They earn their bread and butter playing for their clubs week in and week out. Their clubs don't even want them to turn out for their national side at all, never mind getting injured in a friendly, so they won't go for the 50:50 balls and they won't put themselves about. For me that makes the result meaningless. Of course no player will go into it wanting to lose, but in my opinion the only ones who will give it 100% are the fringe players who are trying to break into the squad proper.

England really have shown great improvement under Capello, putting on a good run of results. I only worry they may lose to Spain and the media turn against them once again. No offense to Phil McNulty, a good piece here, but most of the UK journalists are just playground hacks. There are 2 bandwagons for the British media- 1) England are the best team ever, or, 2) they are terrible. Journalists here can only switch between these two default settings, absolutely unable to present any other reality.

#73 amen to that - it's about selling newspapers, not reporting the facts.

This is the biggest problem with all you english football fans.

YOU OVER HYPE EVERYTHING TO DO WITH SPORT......

England on paper are possibly 4th or maybe 5th best. But paper burns easily as did Erricssons contarct.

They are just not good enough as a team to win anything. They are all pampered premadonnas. The only reason you won the world cup in 66 was because that team was full or hardened MEN, not silly little boys like joe cole (diver), CASHly Cole, the list goes on fellas.

The only decent player you have is Beckham, and Capello called him merchandise.

Babychunder; you have a point but if you watch that game in the Bernebeau, Spain showed us up on the pitch and our players did not like it. Our players went there with the attitude that it was a friendly and were punished for it. Tonight Spain is going to be up for it and they will want to beat us, for them this is not a friendly. I think after the experiences in 2004 our players will want to perform and we are not going to see a friendly tonight.

As for the Club verses country thing. For me England is what counts and I think for the majority of the players it is the same. You only have to look at Beckham to see how important it is. Winning the World Cup means more than winning the Champions League no doubt.

@realthing - deffo don't agree the club vs country thing. The modern footballer is a money oriented mercenary and only a small minority are patriotic enough to care about playing for their country.

As to the Spain game we will see who's right.

#75 your spelling is rank, see me after class.

I am not of that thinking babychunder. there is a % like that no doubt but they are a minority. You only have to look at players like La Tessier, Alan Shearer and more recently Kaka for examples. Would football die if the wages were halved? No football would still thrive that is why you get a couple of million people playing football for there local team in the driving rain on a Saturday afternoon.

Plus the best thing of all is that Capello will not permit that attitude. If a player does not give a 100% in these games then there is a risk they will not be going to the World Cup next year.

Tonights game will be very interesting. I dont think we will win to be honest, we are playing the worlds best, and a strike force of Torres and Villa, its a terrifying thought. Defenders are realy gonna be put on the back foot tonight.

I am the one who allways falls for the hype, under Sven i thought winning the 06 WC was a realistic target, then under Stevey Mac, after a positive looking start the Euros looks realistic. Never in my dreams did i imagine we would not eevn qualify.

But Capello is looking very very promising. Its such early days yet, and hes spent so little time with the England squad that no-one can make any predictions or conclusions just yet. He dosent know his starting 11 yet, he hasnt spent more than a week or so at a time with the team, and im not totaly sure he has sufficient support from club managers (Rafa, Arsen etc).

I'm sure i'll get flak for this, but as one on the outside who just watches to enjoy the game of football, and not one side or another in particular, Gerrard is the fly in the ointment and should be left out more regularly. He's proved to me at least that he's not a team player, and by the very nature of the way he plays, disrupts a team formation. Better a team player in a winner team, than a non team player in a losing side, yes?
He strikes me as the petulant type who has his own interests at heart first.

Barry and Carrick have the makings of a solid midfield pair, and although Rome wasn't built in a day, i see them as a better potential outcome for that midfield strength that england has lacked, so many times.

I'd also make Lampard fight for his place. Capello has done the right thing putting his foot down, ignoring the 'stars' as an automatic inclusion, and the media for their over expectations and demands.

Being england manager is a big job when you're battling the media, and expectations of players who think they 'should' be in the side.

So i reckon Capello is doing a great job with what he has. England can beat Spain, if they work together. With Gerrard, Lampard, and Beckham out of the side, there's a chance of doing that. Beckham's too slow, Lampard's too unpredictable, and Gerrard's too petulant, and self interested.

I may as well be hung for a pound, instead of a penny, but i disagree with Owen being considered. I think he's not good enough, and a mono directional player. You can spout how many goals he's scored, but people forget to include how many chances he squandered as well, or how many times, he's been in the wrong spot at the wrong time.

Capello's a winner already for beating back the media, the stars and their expectations based on ego, and the tribal club based expectations of the fans, to see their 'favourite' in the side.

Even if England lose this game against Spain, it has the right manager for the job, who it seems can look, and work, further into the future than most of the rest of you.

Gus Hiddink has a long term contract with the Russian team, and everyone here is prepared to give him that time to build a great side, especially the fans and media.

Ok, i'll go get the flame suit on...

For me tonight the problem we have is that Spain know how to keep hold of the ball , normally they have all the possesion. Secondly in goal they have Casillas who is possibly one of the best goal keepers in the World and so we are going to need to create at least 5 chances against him to score a goal.

So tonight are tactics have to be spot on so that we can reduce there possesion and on the other hand create enough chances. But worse we have got rubbish goalies and so for them they will probably only need to create 2 or 3 good chances to get on the score sheet. That could be the difference.

The best way to play Spain is to attack them which England can't do... Capello plays a defensive style which will let spain play there passing game. Casilles best Keeper in the world Xavi best midfielder in the world and Torres best Striker in the world
Spain to win 2-0

I can never understand why england managers take friendlies so seriously and play mostly first team players. It really is a lose lose situation. If we win its just a meaningless friendly and if we lose the morale of the squad goes down. Friendlies should be used to blood new players and new tactics, that way if we win with a second string, team morale would be boosted and if we lose it would not matter so much.

Personally i think many people are arguing about nothing. i dont care who starts or the result (as its only a 'friendly') the only things that count are the following:

1. The Performance, every player must give 100%
2. It allows Cappello to find more out about his players
3. Can give a chance for the young players/fringe players to show what they can do, so we can have a plan b when we struggle in future games

For all those rubbishing Young, do you mean the guy who had the most assists in the prem last season, and who in my valid (I watch him every week) opinion is the best crosser we have bar Becks (how many set peice goals did Villa get last year for starters!). He is skillfull, fast, two footed, can play behind the frontman/men or out wide. He is also a big part of why Villa are the current second best team in arguably the best league in the world.

Downing and Lenon just arnt in form for their clubs, and have had a reasonable amount of chances for England.

I do wish people wouldn't rubbish Young, he has an opportunity to be a world class player, but it's just typical that England 'fans' want to knock him down. He has only had a couple of 20 min cameos for England, give him a chance!!.

Team picks itself

Green

Johnson Ferdinand Jagielka Cole

Carrick Barry Young

Lampard

Heskey Agbonlahor

England have the players to get a result anywhere. We have several very good players playing at the highest level.

However, should we make it to the World Cup, our strike force is a problem as pointed out by #11 and #82.

Where are the goals coming from? Rooney isn't prolific and who else is there? Let's hope someone establishes themsevles in the next year. Anyone who saw the Euros would have seen the importance of having two genuine goal threats. Both Torres and Villa popped up with important goals at important times.

if david beckham is as patriotic as he always insists he is, then he would stop his pursuit of beating Bobby Moore's record of achieving the most caps for an outfield player. It is more fitting that this record remains with the man who lifted the World Cup, and not the man who is more famous for one match against Greece and various hair arrangements.

The problem with all this is that if England lose to Spain (and there is no reason they shouldnt, this is a masterful Spanish side), the media and punters will turn on them again (as is always the case, we appear to be only happy if we are going to "beat anyone on the planet" or have no hope at all...)

Hopfeully it will be a good game though. He really has to start Carrick, and I'd drop Terry.

BTW, hope the game is half as good as the Brasil/ Italy game

its a friendly, no 1 cares, no 1 actually puts the effort in save beckham coz of his blind pursuit of the caps record (fair play i suppose tho)

they play them at the stupidest of times in a season, wen teams, like liverpool, but even unite, who's squad is immense and are showing they can deal with so many injuries.. that can only last so long

liverpool have suffered twice this season at the hands of spain n the condition torres has returned in

its a stupid time for a stupid friendly that means absolutly nowt. something needs to b done about the timing, i mean the begging of the season is bad enough when u have all summer to play some, every other year, but to b playing these games so close to the business end of the season, with all the major players playing for major clubs in the biggest comp in the world (CL)

its farcical!

Maradona,

I don't know how you formed the opinion that this Spanish side are vastly overrated - they are full of the quality and fluency that England (even a much improved England) can only dream of, and not even an England win in this friendly will convince me otherwise.

Phil,

I can't help but think you're getting ahead of yourself in mentioning belief about being the best in world and the idea that we will challenge in South Africa, we're still a long way off that.

I predict a better showing from England than we've seen for a long time at the next World Cup, with us making the semi-finals. But unless there is some freakish results and we get a very lucky draw we will not win it, there are just too many teams that are vastly superior to us, Spain being one of them.

David1267:

You are talking about a man who single handedly carried a team for 5 years? Who is still a fantastic ambassador of his country?

Is he more of those things than Bobby Moore? Who knows, but you cannot deny the man the service he has given to his country in an age when playing for England is more of a chore than a privelidge.

I personally think he deserves all the awards he gets, and it is so typical of this country's sporting mentality to look back at past glories rather than forward.

The thing about Capello is his ability to get the most out of his "squad" players. His tactical nous means that we don't have to rely on superstars such as Lampard, Gerrard and company, when we can get some good performances out of Barry and Carrick. I'm hoping that Capello will be the one to blood our new generation of talent, Ashley Young, Gabby Agbonlahor, Daniel Sturridge, Theo Walcott, Micah Richards and shape them into good England players for the years to come. Sticking Agbonlahor up front on his own would be stupid against Spain's defence, and I believe Capello will do what's best for the long run, not just for tonight.

I never understand the extremes people go to there are so many post saying there is no chance we can win the world cup next year.

The fact of the matter is winning a big tournament comes down as much to luck as skill. This is because one bad game and you're out. Were Italy regarded the best team in the world in 2006? no they were not even in the top 5 (if i remember correctly match fixing etc players were unsettled). Basically any of the top 10 teams have a chance of winning look at Greece winning Euro 04.

I could see England beating Spain but could also see a draw or a Spain win (i know i have splinters in my ****). It will be a close game with Spain being the favourites. Would like to see Beckham start, as if he truly is back to form he is our best RM and what better time to see than in a tough freindly. Also agree with the comments on Terry hasnt looked his best for a while now and Jagielka looks in good form. This is the problem with set captains it is the same with Steve Borthwick as captain of English Rugby.

I fervently believed that Capello's squad is the best and can trash any other side. If all these superstars can't , who else can?

73. At 07:52am on 11 Feb 2009, SimianGeorge3rd wrote:
"There are 2 bandwagons for the British media- 1) England are the best team ever, or, 2) they are terrible. "


Wrong. The 2 bandwagons pre- and post-tournament are: 1) England are the best team ever, or, 2) England are the best team ever, but they haven't proven it because of Sven GE or because of McLaren's brolly or because of Urs Meier or because of Ronaldinho's fluke or because of the penalty spot collapsing or because of Ronaldo winking.

Actually, there's no real reason for any great optimism. England need to do just what they did in Berlin, in that game it was just the not putting away of chances that meant Germany were even in it at the end.

No, another solid performance is what's called for, integrating more players so that injuries aren't a problem come qualification or tournament time.

I don't believe the statements from Ferdinand et al, just typical footballer sound bite rubbish, he may have more faith in the team and management but you'll never know if that's his real opinion or or not.

You start placing belief in those washy statements and you have to be clutching at straws. I have to agree with the sentiment that Capello keeps it simple, it is indeed the best way, if England play well they will get a result, i.e. at least a draw.

BTW to those that say Spain has more quality all over the pitch, don't forget how many cups Germany has won in the past playing poor football with just a couple of stars in the team. It's the team that counts, not the sum of its parts.

'History is also on Capello's side, with the Football Association historian David Barber revealing that his record in 2008 - eight wins, one draw and a a defeat to France - is the best in a calendar year since Sir Alf Ramsey in 1971.'

And that means what exactly?! England won the world cup in 1966 not 5 years later. I don't think England even qualified for the 1974 world cup and got knocked out at the quarter final stage in 1970. How is some stat from 1971 any kind of sign to a successful future when ther original stat quoted is after the triumph of 1966 not before it!

Lets not get too carried away with Englands last few performances. I'm confident that we'll get a result tonight in Spain and i like Capello as a manager but i think we are a better team when we play away from home. Hopefully we can keep our good run going but the most important game is on the 1st April at home to Ukraine.

I think alot of fans think we've already qualified for the world cup but what worries me is our home form. We may struggle at Wembley against teams when they just sit back and counter attack against us. We still have 4 of the last 6 games at home and we wern't the most convincing against Kazakhstan (0-0 with 51 mins gone) in our last home match. So i still think theres along way to go with regards to qualification.

Personally, i do think we will qualify for the World cup but it'l be a little more difficult than people think.

On a final note, whoever plays for England tonight lets get behind em!

Live tonight from Seville... it's the international friendly match between...

LIVERPOOL and ASTON VILLA !!