The England senior international team has been poor in last year.
The Three Lions cruised through the qualification for World 2010 but then simply didn’t show up for the tournament in South Africa.
England fans knew something needed to change and it has slightly but the results haven’t improved.
Weak
Quite frankly any other national team regarded as a top football national as England is would probably be cruising through this qualification group.
However England is making hard work of qualification. England is no longer a force in world football and that’s because the team has been allowed to get complacent.
Reputations
Players have just been picked on reputation, even though Fabio Capello promised to pick players on form. To be fair to the Italian he has now started to pick players on form, rather than because of reputations but he should have been doing that from the start.
Youngsters
Fabio Capello will leave his role as England head coach after the European Championship. Unless England wins Euro 2012, which is unlikely Capello is going to be remembered as a failure. The least he can do is leave us with a legacy of some youngsters who have international experience.
The start to the Premier League has seen some very encouraging performances from some of England’s next breed of players. You now look at the top teams in the Premier League and there are English players impressing at the likes of Manchester United, Manchester City and Liverpool.
United
Just a few games into the season and already Manchester United are looking impressive. And everybody is talking about their youngsters. The performances of Tom Cleverley, Danny Welbeck, Phil Jones and Chris Smalling have been superb.
Two of those players, Welbeck and Cleverley gained experience out on-loan at other Premier League teams last season and it shows in the way the pair now plays the game. They have gained a lot from their season of first team football.
Young Chris Smalling has come a long way in a short space of time. From non-league to England in less than three years, its amazing rise but he hasn’t looked out of place at United.
He hasn’t even looked out of place when he’s been played out of position at full back. He could start England’s game against Bulgaria later on today at full-back. Unfortunately for Welbeck an injury has ruled him out of the clash in Sofia. Cleverley however is in the running for a start in the centre of midfield.
City
At United’s bitter-rivals Manchester City, there have been some really good performances from the likes of Micah Richards and James Milner this season. Although the pair is not considered that young, they are still not considered cast iron England regulars.
In fact Fabio Capello has overlooked Richards for most of his tenure as England boss until recently. However his form this season so far has been superb and he is starting to live up to his potential. He really has every attribute to become a top player. His form is now starting to match is attributes.
Liverpool
Another player who is not considered an England regular is Liverpool winger Stewart Downing. Since his summer move from Aston Villa the winger has been outstanding. He has hit the ground running at his new club and is starting to look like he could be worth another chance at international level.
Form
I really hope that Fabio Capello picks in-form players for this evenings clash against Bulgaria. This isn’t an easy match and England can’t go into it with any complacency. However if the form players are picked then I don’t see why we won’t return from the Bulgarian capital with maximum points.
Fabio Capello has some hard choices to make if he is going to go out as England head coach on a high note. It’s no good just sending the same old players out and expecting them to stroll to victory, it’s not that easy and a man of Capello’s experience should know that.
I have high hopes that Capello will pick an England starting line-up to face Bulgaria who are full of confidence and are bang on form. If he doesn’t then England’s qualification campaign could end up like the Euro 2008 campaign, in failure. I doubt that will happen but with England you just never know what you’re going to get.
Should Fabio Capello start picking players on form, rather than reputation?
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