Can football return home?

The England fan, a gut-wrenching turbulent experience coinciding with blind hope, distant optimism, and ultimate disappointment, oh how I'd like that all too familiar trend to have changed in 7 weeks time.



It's fair to say England National Team ranks high in Sports under-achievers, we've been graced with some of the games best talents since the unrivaled success's of 1966, but for one reason or another, we just haven't rekindled the success's of that, nor have we reached the final of this competition since. Maybe it's a younger generation thing, maybe the older generation have suffered more than I have down the years, and the torture of only witnessing and experiencing England's downfalls properly since World Cup 1998 doesn't really give enough justification to have no faith in this team, who knows, but I can't help but feel genuine optimism everytime England go into a competition.



England have had a fair share of heartbreak in this tournament down the years, Mexico 86' the infamous " hand of god " tournament in which England were cheated out of a place in the semi-finals, Italia 90' the infamous " Gazza's tears " under the guidance of the late, great Bobby Robson. USA 94', a tournament we failed to qualify for, followed by France 98', and the all too familar penalty heartbreak, David Batty being the recognised culpret this time. Japan and Korea 02', a quarter-final in which we led to the might of Brazil, only to be undone by a freakish Ronaldinho goal, that I still maintain was a complete and utter fluke to this day. And finally the most recent tournament, Germany 06', further penalty heartbreak, this time at the hands of Portugal.

Maybe this is a myth and this isn't the case, but I can't help but feel the support of the England team has dwindled amongst many over recent times with the tag that the modernised footballer has, many seem to feel the team consists of prima donna players who are money motivated and lack the passion that the England players of the past have posessed, in some aspects that may be true, but one point I will make, England's players donate their international appearance fee's to charity, and have done for years. As for as I'm concerned, opinions of the players count for nothing in these events, away from the international scene I have an unhealthy hatred for Ashley Cole, but when he puts on the England shirt, he'll have my 100% support and backing. These players, whether people choose to like them or not, are representing England, they're representatives of our proud nation in a world-wide event. I think where England is concerned, you don't have to be an ardent fan of football to really take a keen interest in their progress, it's a national thing, we're proud brits, we want to see our nation suceed in every aspect of life, I can quite easily watch a sport that I have no real interest in and shout and cheer for the England team, purely on the hope that it can bring more success to this country.

Now onto the World Cup itself, and the question on many peoples lips, do England realistically have a chance of winning this thing? Well in my personal opinion, this is the best chance an England team have had going into a World Cup for a considerable time. The qualification campaign was a far superior success to many of the previous qualification campaigns, and maybe it's just me, but I just can't envisage Mr Capello failing, he seems to have brought an authority to the table that we've been missing for quite some time, a commanding presence, a man of whom commands respect and gets the best out of his players. Many of the older generation have compared his demeanor to that of the great Sir Alf Ramsey.

Even the most persistant of pessimists will struggle to hide away from the fact that England look in far better shape going into this tournament that many of the self-proclaimed big guns. Aside from Brazil and Spain, I believe us to be the best International team around at the moment. We all know that the likes of Germany, Italy and France are good tournament teams, but they're ageing teams and there's nothing to suggest we can't over-turn them in this tournament should we meet them. Portugal, Holland and Argentina are all there for the taking in my opinion. Certainly with Argentina under the eccentric guidance of Diego Maradona, you really don't know what to expect from them. And another pointer, Wayne Rooney is argueably the second best player on the planet at the moment behind Lionel Messi, when was the last-time England had a player of that magnitude at their disposal?

The England squad itself has notable areas of weakness it has to be said, notably the right-back position and the goalkeeping position in my opinion. I fully expect Robert Green to get the nod come June 12th, but for me he shouldn't even be on the plane, I just don't feel he's consistant enough, he flaps at far too many crosses into the box and doesn't command his area with the same authority that an experienced head like David James does. If the goalkeeper was selected on league form throughout the season they'd be no doubt Joe Hart would get the nod, but his lack of experience at this level will probably mean he features minimally. The right-back position poses a few concerns for me, I have no doubt that going forward and supporting the winger Glen Johnson is quite capable, but defensively he leaves alot to be desired, and far too frequently he seems to be caught in posession. Many are touting Jamie Carragher as the right-back solution, his inclusion in the 30-man squad suprised me to say the least, his form in the league this season has suggested his best days are behind him, but you can't help but think his versatility alone could earn him a place on the plane to South Africa.

The midfield certainly doesn't pick itself, hopefully the Mexico and Japan friendlies will give us an insentive into how he intends to mould the midfield in June, because at the moment it's very difficult to predict. Capello throughout his time in charge of England has regularly adopted one of his central midfielders with the holding role, sitting deeper, breaking play up and getting the ball to the men on the flanks, Gareth Barry has adopted this role in much of England's games under Capello, but his fitness means he can't be guaranteed to be playing come the start of the World Cup. The papers are suggesting that Ledley King could be pushed into the midfield holding role if so, the obvious concern with King is can he stay fit and last the distance, there's no doubting he's worthy of a role within the team if so, I do think his best position is central defence, but he is comfortable on the ball and distributes it well, so I'm sure he would be capable of playing the holding role. It's fairly likely the holding midfielder will be playing alongside Frank Lampard in the centre, which then offers a dilemma to Capello, does he play Gerrard in his less favoured left-midfield position like he has in many of England's games, or does he bring Joe Cole back into the equation in that position, a position he has shone in for much of his caps. The right midfield position throws up many contenders, notably Walcott, Lennon, Wright-Phillips and Milner, on form throughout the season you would think James Milner is a safe bet. And the final notable dilemma, who to partner Wayne Rooney in attack. I'm quite sure Capello will stick with the tactics he has adopted in previous England games of playing a target-man type player alongside Rooney, this method seems to get the best out of Rooney, and offers another dimension going forward. The only two players to make the provisional 30 who fit that criteria are Peter Crouch and Emile Heskey, for me it would be Peter Crouch to partner Rooney, Crouch holds up the ball well and wins his fair share in the air, and his strike-rate at International level is faultless. It's going to be very interesting to see how he moulds this team.

Just 18 days seperate us from our opening game of the group stages vs the United States, it's time to fly the st george's flags and unite as a nation in our support of the team, the motive for this tournament is quite simple, bring football back to its rightful shores, show the world we're a nation to be feared.

July 11th 2010 - The day football returned home......