Live Football

divimg alt=”" src=”http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/58698?ns=guardianpageName=Sport%3A+My+banner+reads%3A+give+us+a+cuddle%2C+Fritzch=Sportc3=The+Guardianc4=England+football+team%2CGermany+%28Football+team%29%2CFootballc5=Football+World+Cupc6=Russell+Brand+%28Contributor%29c7=2008_11_22c8=1122223c9=articlec10=GUc11=Sportc12=blogc13=c14=Sportblogh2=GU%2FSport%2Fblog%2FSportblog” width=”1″ height=”1″ //divpI was in the company of a German woman the day of a href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/england”England’s/a victory in Berlin and naturally took delight in gloating over our triumph. The taunting and posturing was all the more satisfactory as, in spite of the fact that the German in question worked in fashion and might be imagined to be exempt from football-related nationalism, she was genuinely riled. /pp”How did this defeat occur?” she enquired bewildered - I snatched the opportunity to relay a particularly savage rendition of events at the Olympiastadion and their implications for Deutschland as a nation: “Brave Matthew Upson, the first West Ham player to score for England since Joe Cole, punctured the belly of the corpulent a href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/germany”German/a defence and John Terry stamped on the cadaver of your country’s presumed superiority - in short 2-1.” /ppThe enmity between our countries has now entered a comfortable realm where it at last seems safe to “mention the war” or at least be explicit about our long and occasionally devastating history of opposition. The cliche of baiting the Germans persists - with me it bloody well does - but there exists now a degree of easy complicity as if our collective intelligence has processed the relationship and its troubles and sensibly contextualised them as mockable. /ppThe banner at the match which read “Thank you for the beautiful game” has received as much attention as the selection of Gabriel Agbonlahor and is a jarringly delicious symbol of the distinction between English and German football fans. It’s so polite and also correctly employs a very specific piece of nomenclature; it is a deliberate and charming attempt to communicate with us as a people. I can imagine no circumstances where English fans would manufacture an un-ironic banner to thank Germany - “Cheers for Fritz Lang, his films are wunderbar” - and if they did the German fans would have to hastily daub a bed sheet with the riposte: “Well actually Lang was Austrian but did belong to the cinematic expressionism movement that originated from Germany so thanks at least for acknowledging that. Besides, even if your praise was inaccurate it was clearly well-intentioned and for that we are truly grateful.” There surely can’t be duvets of that size lying about in Berlin unless Helmut Kohl remains as tubby as I recall him. /ppCurly-topped clever-clogs Malcolm Gladwell will tell you that the intelligence of crowds is superior to that of the individual, eg when at a church fete you have to guess how many smarties there are in a jar in order to win them - the average guess of all competitors will usually be better than one individual contestant’s guess. I’m against those competitions in principle as I find them too tantalising and often conclude that it’d be more fun to smash the jar and hurl its multi-coloured contents at the vicar and guess how long it’d be before his faith caves in and he uses his religious powers to summons up an angry disciple to wreak a terrible vengeance (my guess is between seven and 90 minutes). Regardless, Gladwell’s principle appears to be at work here as a collective Germany is communicating love to us through saccharine appreciation and I think it’s lovely. /ppThere was a banner present at Hampden Park too for the visit of Maradona’s Argentina. It read, “Thanks for 86″ - you could argue that this was a general thank you for the way Diego lit up the World Cup that year but given that the banner was written by a Scot it is far more likely gratitude for Diego’s destruction of England in the quarter-final. This is a far more typical banner, amusing, vaguely acerbic and disparaging of a rival nation. /ppBoth banners I think are encouraging for humanity as they could be read as distillation of the consciousness of the crowd and in each instance they indicate positive human traits; in one politeness and warmth in the other humour and awareness. Given that mob mentality is usually regarded as negative and crowds at football matches are often used as examples of the negative potential of the collective these are positive signs indeed. /ppPerhaps we can use this old forum for self-expression for increasingly novel ends, banners could demand “world peace” or “more flirting” or revolution or personal objectives could be fulfilled - “I want a cuddle” or “I like my dog” - either way the reporting of the direct views of the people is a heartening development from the media, it’s certainly more constructive than whipping up a confectionary of disdain and dissatisfaction to sell papers - it might even make print journalism relevant for a few more years./pdiv style=”float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;”ullia href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/england”England/a/lilia href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/germany”Germany/a/li/ul/divdiv class=”guRssAdvert”a href=”http://ads.guardian.co.uk/click.ng/richmedia=yessite=Sportcountry=nldspacedesc=rsssystem=rsstransactionID=1227315071224112201002056189″img src=”http://ads.guardian.co.uk/image.ng/richmedia=yessite=Sportcountry=nldspacedesc=rsssystem=rsstransactionID=1227315071224112201002056189″ border=”0″ //a/diva href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk”guardian.co.uk/a copy; Guardian News Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our a href=”http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html”Terms Conditions/a | a href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html”More Feeds/a

Original post by Russell Brand

divimg alt=”" src=”http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/35094?ns=guardianpageName=Sport%3A+Capello+puts+meaning+into+meaningless+friendlych=Sportc3=The+Guardianc4=England+football+team%2CGermany%2CFabio+Capello%2CFootballc5=Football+World+Cup%2CNot+commercially+usefulc6=David+Laceyc7=2008_11_22c8=1122109c9=articlec10=GUc11=Sportc12=blogc13=c14=Sportblogh2=GU%2FSport%2Fblog%2FSportblog” width=”1″ height=”1″ //divpIn football the conflict of interest between club and country drags on like the hundred years war. The heartening 2-1 win over a href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/germany”Germany/a which a href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/fabio-capello”Fabio Capello’s/a irregulars achieved in Berlin on Wednesday night may have further convinced the nation that at last a href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/england”England/a have rediscovered a taste for serious success, but a number of club managers will continue to insist that such friendly fixtures are an unnecessary encumbrance in an already crowded programme. /ppIt would not have needed Nostradamus to predict the wholesale withdrawals from Capello’s squad which forced him to field a more experimental team than he might have chosen, to the coach’s advantage as it turned out. The usual suspects were absent with aches and strains which may or may not prevent most of them appearing in the Premier League this weekend or the Champions League next week. /ppCapello has been criticised in some quarters for making Steven Gerrard travel down from Liverpool to report in at England’s Hertfordshire headquarters even though his club had already said he would be unavailable due to a torn leg muscle, an injury subsequently confirmed by the Football Association’s medics. But while this smacked of the old army sick parades, when the afflicted had to report to the guardroom in full kit and webbing to prove they were not malingering, Capello was surely entitled to make a stand given the generally casual attitude of clubs to players appearing in non-competitive fixtures. /ppPremier League managers tend to start grumbling about losing players to international weeks when their teams begin to show signs of achieving something more than just a safe place in mid-table. Thus Martin O’Neill, whose Aston Villa side are poised to break into the top four, objected strongly to losing four of his players to England in between matches against Arsenal and Manchester United. That was understandable. For Villa this is the most important week of their season so far. Yet O’Neill chose to vent his frustration by querying both the timing of the friendly in Germany and its value, becoming not so much a little Englander as a little Midlander. /pp”I think it’s pointless,” he said. “I don’t know what it is leading up to. It’s not as if there is a game around the corner. There is such a thing as a meaningless friendly.” /ppSuch criticism might have applied to England’s summer jaunt to play Trinidad and Tobago, whose FA was celebrating its centenary, in the vague hope of getting Jack Warner and his Concacaf votes behind the bid to host the 2018 World Cup. But as a general rule no international is a waste of time whenever it is played and anyone who feels that a match against Germany is meaningless clearly has not been paying attention. /ppEarly in December 1965, more than six months before the World Cup, England played a friendly in Spain and won 2-0. The result meant little but it was in this match that Alf Ramsey switched Bobby Charlton from left wing to play behind the strikers. The critics scoffed and dubbed England “wingless wonders” but that was the template for the country’s only success in a major football tournament so far. Some meaningless friendly! /ppSimilarly, Bobby Robson set up the attacking partnership of Gary Lineker and Peter Beardsley in a friendly against the Soviet Union before the 1986 World Cup and confirmed the potential of Paul Gascoigne in a leg-stretcher against Czechoslovakia before Italia ‘90. /ppThe ultimate arbiters in these matters are the players and on Wednesday Capello’s team attacked a half-awake German side with a relish and a resolution which in effect stuck two fingers up at the managers who would rather they had stayed at home. John Terry, who could have withdrawn as a precaution after picking up a foot injury during Chelsea’s game at West Bromwich last Saturday, set a captain’s example not only by turning up but scoring the winning goal. /ppIf England had not played this week Capello would still be pondering the international qualities of Stewart Downing - a revelation in Berlin - would not have been treated to Michael Carrick’s immaculate exhibition of controlled midfield play and would still be wondering if Gabriel Agbonlahor could make the transition from Premier League repertory to the international stage. At the very least the England coach now knows he has a shadow squad rather than a shallow squad. In short, England are no longer a chosen few. That was the meaning of Wednesday’s friendly./pdiv style=”float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;”ullia href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/england”England/a/lilia href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/germany”Germany/a/lilia href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/fabio-capello”Fabio Capello/a/li/ul/divdiv class=”guRssAdvert”a href=”http://ads.guardian.co.uk/click.ng/richmedia=yessite=Sportcountry=nldspacedesc=rsssystem=rsstransactionID=1227315071281112201002056189″img src=”http://ads.guardian.co.uk/image.ng/richmedia=yessite=Sportcountry=nldspacedesc=rsssystem=rsstransactionID=1227315071281112201002056189″ border=”0″ //a/diva href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk”guardian.co.uk/a copy; Guardian News Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our a href=”http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html”Terms Conditions/a | a href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html”More Feeds/a

Original post by David Lacey

divimg alt=”" src=”http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/59269?ns=guardianpageName=Football%3A+Downing+on+the+up+after+impressing+in+Berlinch=Footballc3=The+Guardianc4=England+football+team%2CMiddlesbrough+%28Football%29%2CFootball%2CSportc5=Not+commercially+useful%2CPremier+Leaguec6=Dominic+Fifieldc7=2008_11_21c8=1121579c9=articlec10=GUc11=Footballc12=Englandc13=c14=h2=GU%2FFootball%2FEngland” width=”1″ height=”1″ //divpStewart Downing believes he will have more opportunity to build on his most threatening performance to date as an England player and become the national side’s regular left-winger under Fabio Capello having grown frustrated with the bit-part role afforded him by previous managers at this level./ppThe Middlesbrough midfielder was outstanding at the Olympic Stadium, stinging the hands of both goalkeepers used by the Germans and setting up the goals scored by Matthew Upson and John Terry en route to the visitors’ victory. It was the 24-year-old’s 21st cap and, while that suggests he features with some regularity, he had drifted in and out of the set-up under Sven-Goran Eriksson and Steve McClaren since making his debut against Holland three years ago./pp”I haven’t always been given the chance at international level, but Fabio has given me more of an opportunity,” said Downing. “Before it was more of a settled team. Fabio came in and everyone’s had a fresh start. He asks players to play with confidence and he’s certainly given me that. That was probably my best performance and I want to carry that on and play in the qualifiers as well./pp”If you do well under Fabio, you have the confidence he will stick with you. That’s how I feel. It’s not all about names or whatever, it’s about performances. If you are not playing well for your club, then you won’t be picked. It’s not only about what happened in Berlin, we have to do it every week with our clubs. There’s always someone there to take your place, so you have to be on your toes every week./pp”But I don’t think the left side is nailed down by anybody. Joe Cole was obviously missing [injured], but he’s a quality player and Ashley Young has come in and done well. There’s Steven Gerrard who has played on the left as well, but I’m hoping Fabio keeps giving me a chance and that I can prove I’m worth the place on the left. I’m sure the other lads think that as well.”/ppThe game in Berlin was Downing’s most consistent yet as a full international, his delivery contrasting sharply with that of Shaun Wright-Phillips on the opposite flank. Indeed, the Middlesbrough winger did much to restore his reputation at this level after suffering a dismal evening against Andorra in September’s qualifying tie in Barcelona. “Andorra stuck everybody behind the ball and it didn’t really suit me,” he added. “But the Germany game opened up and I thought we looked good on the break./pp”There is a lot of confidence in the team and I think it’s showing at the moment. All the players who came in thought: ‘This is a chance to show what we can do.’ A chance to stake a claim and, hopefully, give the manager a few problems. That was my best performance for England so far, but I want to keep going. I don’t just want to be in the squad, I want to play.”/ppIn the end, the numerous drop-outs from Capello’s first-choice side served to indicate that the Italian has unearthed a strong squad rather than merely a competent team. “It showed we have strength in depth, which is vital,” said Michael Carrick, who was excellent on his first appearance since August 2007. “We are not always going to have everyone available and everyone is aware of that. Others will come in and do a job and, against Germany, everyone wanted to prove that this was the level they are at. As a team we were brilliant and as individuals I thought we were brilliant. It’s very exciting.”/pdiv style=”float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;”ullia href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/england”England/a/lilia href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/middlesbrough”Middlesbrough/a/li/ul/divdiv class=”guRssAdvert”a href=”http://ads.guardian.co.uk/click.ng/richmedia=yessite=Footballcountry=nldspacedesc=rsssystem=rsstransactionID=1227226547140112100215136364″img src=”http://ads.guardian.co.uk/image.ng/richmedia=yessite=Footballcountry=nldspacedesc=rsssystem=rsstransactionID=1227226547140112100215136364″ border=”0″ //a/diva href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk”guardian.co.uk/a copy; Guardian News Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our a href=”http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html”Terms Conditions/a | a href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html”More Feeds/a

Original post by Dominic Fifield

divimg alt=”" src=”http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/44142?ns=guardianpageName=Football%3A+How+Capello+lost+his+temper+to+set+tone+for+England+victorych=Footballc3=The+Guardianc4=England+football+team%2CFabio+Capello%2CJohn+Terry%2CFootball%2CSportc5=Football+World+Cup%2CNot+commercially+useful%2CPremier+Leaguec6=Dominic+Fifieldc7=2008_11_21c8=1121624c9=articlec10=GUc11=Footballc12=Englandc13=c14=h2=GU%2FFootball%2FEngland” width=”1″ height=”1″ //divpFabio Capello snapped this week. It was neither the bickering over commitment to club or country that prompted the Italian’s patience to crack, nor even the loss of Theo Walcott to a dislocated shoulder, but rather what he perceived to be unacceptable sloppiness. “We’d started a small-sided game at training on Tuesday and, after about three minutes, he called it to a halt and told us it was all wrong,” said David James. “He sees it, he says it and tells you no matter who you are. There’s no ambiguity. That’s what we’ve needed.”/ppThere is clarity now where only recently there was utter confusion. It is exactly a year since the national side disintegrated into shambles, Croatia ran riot at Wembley, the hosts imploding while a hapless Steve McClaren, cowering under his umbrella, stared impotently from the sidelines as his job prospects went the same way as England’s chances of reaching Euro 2008. Back then, national team training sessions would invariably ring out to a chorus of players’ nicknames with the management staff enjoying games of piggy-in-the-middle with the squad. Those days have now gone./ppCapello’s pre-match session on the turf at the Olympic stadium would ultimately be wrecked by the injury suffered by Walcott, but his furious reaction - arms gesticulating as players bowed their heads - at least provided an insight into his focus. The 62-year-old has the air of the headmaster about him. He had arrived at Soho Square with a reputation as a disciplinarian, the polar opposite to that of his predecessor. That has rubbed off on his new charges, with only seven bookings accrued in 10 games to date./pp”He’s not really a shouter,” conceded James. “It’s a steely glare, and you take it as read that you need to change it. His English isn’t the best, but he says what he means and the beauty of it is that there’s no room for ambiguity. There are a few new players in this squad but, fundamentally, we are the same group of players from the last two or three years. The same under-achieving squad that we were called before Mr Capello came in. But he’s taken us and got us playing.”/pp”Things have come on leaps and bounds since the Croatia game. On reflection, it might be a good thing that we were beaten then. We could have ended up not performing well in the tournament and employing a new manager who would have had no time to turn things round. Instead, in those few months he had as a run-in, he had the chance to look at the players he wanted. Looking back, an appearance in Euro 2008 might have been very detrimental in the long-term.”/ppQualification might have prolonged the McClaren era and he might always have struggled to cajole the best out of the current crop of England players. Certainly, the injection of discipline appears to have invigorated the national squad. /pp”We’ve evolved brilliantly and look a different side now to that of 12 months ago,” said John Terry. “We got that kick up the backside on Tuesday and there have been a few bollockings over the year.”/pp”He looks at you as if to say ‘Just sort it out.’ I remember after our second game when we were caught on the counter-attack a few times, he showed us a video, slowed it down and told us we weren’t working hard enough for each other. After that we knew we’d have to put a lot more in, collectively and individually. The quality’s there but, if we have the work rate to match, we’ll have a good future.”/ppCapello’s re-integration of players has also helped. James was an outcast under McClaren, the team looking mainly to Paul Robinson and then, fatefully, Scott Carson in the qualification campaign for Euro2008. The Portsmouth goalkeeper has proved occasionally shaky since re-establishing himself as his country’s No1 but, at 38, his experience offers reassurance./pp”Mr Capello has picked the players who weren’t fancied before, myself included,” added James. “The previous regime said they wanted to test young ‘keepers so I got bumped. Mr Capello’s gone another way. /pp”Most people would have thought we’d get turned over by Germany but, in two days, the manager told us what he wanted in his normal, straight fashion and that has worked. None of us are surprised it worked out the way it actually did.”/pdiv style=”float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;”ullia href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/england”England/a/lilia href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/fabio-capello”Fabio Capello/a/lilia href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/john-terry”John Terry/a/li/ul/divdiv class=”guRssAdvert”a href=”http://ads.guardian.co.uk/click.ng/richmedia=yessite=Footballcountry=nldspacedesc=rsssystem=rsstransactionID=1227226547135112100215136364″img src=”http://ads.guardian.co.uk/image.ng/richmedia=yessite=Footballcountry=nldspacedesc=rsssystem=rsstransactionID=1227226547135112100215136364″ border=”0″ //a/diva href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk”guardian.co.uk/a copy; Guardian News Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our a href=”http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html”Terms Conditions/a | a href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html”More Feeds/a

Original post by Dominic Fifield

divimg alt=”" src=”http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/52693?ns=guardianpageName=Sport%3A+Barry+cracks+the+Carrick+conundrum+with+the+gift+of+spacech=Sportc3=The+Guardianc4=England+football+team%2CFabio+Capello%2CFootball%2CSportc5=Football+World+Cup%2CNot+commercially+usefulc6=Richard+Wilkinsonc7=2008_11_21c8=1121574c9=articlec10=GUc11=Sportc12=blogc13=c14=Sportblogh2=GU%2FSport%2Fblog%2FSportblog” width=”1″ height=”1″ //divpGareth Barry will have reported for duty at Aston Villa’s training ground yesterday with a nasty bruise on one leg. Up in Manchester Michael Carrick may have been receiving treatment. Both were fouled by Bastian Schweinsteiger in the 68th minute of Wednesday night’s match in Berlin, the Bayern Munich midfield player - once the glittering starlet of German football - seeming to vent his frustration at seeing his colleagues outplayed by an England team composed largely of understudies./ppThe play was in central midfield when the fouls occurred. First Barry and then Carrick had taken possession of the ball and were in the process of playing the sort of neat, sensible passes that characterised their play all night. Schweinsteiger came through late and hard on both occasions, with an apparent edge of vindictiveness, but the ball and the referee’s attention had gone elsewhere. It was, if nothing else, a sign of England’s psychological superiority on the night./ppSo let us hear no more about “meaningless friendlies”. Not for a minute on Wednesday was there a sense of being present at an event lacking consequence. To have more than 74,000 spectators in the Olympiastadion was a helpful start. The German fans were clearly prepared for a contest, even if their team were not./ppIt is worth mentioning once again the list of England’s absentees - Rio Ferdinand, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Wayne Rooney, Joe Cole, Theo Walcott, Ashley Cole, Emile Heskey, Wes Brown, David Beckham. Plus, if you like, Owen Hargreaves - the team’s only satisfactory performer in the 2006 World Cup finals - and Gary Neville, who may now be stalled for good on 85 caps but would surely be approaching Peter Shilton’s record total of 125 had he spent the past few years free of injury./ppOnly in three positions, then, was Fabio Capello able to select from among his leading candidates. His stopper, John Terry, scored the winning goal, his holding midfield player, Barry, gave Carrick the space and time in which to create and in goal he was able to select David James and have a look at Scott Carson after the interval. And even the choice of goalkeeper might have been different had Joe Hart not made a late withdrawal after suffering an untimely injury in a league match at the weekend. Neither James nor Carson was wholly convincing, despite the latter’s excellent flying save from Marko Marin’s powerful drive in the 75th minute, which at least showed his nerve had not been shattered by the earlier misunderstanding with Terry through which England surrendered their lead. In the first half James had made a late decision to come for a Piotr Trochowski cross and muffed his punch./ppThose who claim that the 21-year-old Hart is too young for senior international exposure should spend time examining the record of Europe’s two most outstanding goalkeepers over the last few years. Gianluigi Buffon of Juventus made his debut for Italy at 19 in a crucial World Cup play-off match against Russia and Iker Casillas, of Real Madrid, became Spain’s first-choice pick when he was exactly Hart’s age. Both have been one-club men, in Buffon’s case despite powerful inducements to move elsewhere when Juventus were relegated following the Calciopoli scandal. Perhaps the talented Hart will follow their example./ppBut Capello will be delighted with a result that brings England’s difficult year to a satisfactory conclusion. James was right when he said afterwards that missing the Euro 2008 finals may have been a blessing in disguise as the task of rebuilding began many months earlier than might otherwise have been the case, and the trauma of failing to qualify appears finally to have concentrated minds and blown away the last vestiges of assumed superiority./ppThe manager himself has certainly disabused those of us who feared that he was attracted to England merely by an absurdly inflated salary. He brings realism and common sense to bear on the task of forging a competitive team, and the petty details of his regime - the communal breakfasts, the smart suits, the banning of agents from the team hotel and the restrictions on the use of mobile phones - all contribute to an air of increased purposefulness./ppSome of his predecessors, in particular Sven-Goran Eriksson, have made promising starts while handling the job in different ways. But Capello showed this week that he can prepare a side in difficult conditions for a match that many people said was worthless and come away with a performance and a result that enhanced England’s standing - not flawless, of course, but typified by focused enthusiasm and resolve./ppOther recent victories over Germany - under Kevin Keegan in 2000 and Eriksson a year later - were in competitive matches and consequently had a greater resonance. But it was the relative calmness of this one that, in the circumstances, made it genuinely impressive./pdiv style=”float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;”ullia href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/england”England/a/lilia href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/fabio-capello”Fabio Capello/a/li/ul/divdiv class=”guRssAdvert”a href=”http://ads.guardian.co.uk/click.ng/richmedia=yessite=Sportcountry=nldspacedesc=rsssystem=rsstransactionID=1227226547172112100215136364″img src=”http://ads.guardian.co.uk/image.ng/richmedia=yessite=Sportcountry=nldspacedesc=rsssystem=rsstransactionID=1227226547172112100215136364″ border=”0″ //a/diva href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk”guardian.co.uk/a copy; Guardian News Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our a href=”http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html”Terms Conditions/a | a href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html”More Feeds/a

Original post by Richard Wilkinson

divimg alt=”" src=”http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/31861?ns=guardianpageName=Sport%3A+Restless+Capello+looks+beyond+year+of+progressch=Sportc3=The+Guardianc4=England+football+team%2CFabio+Capello%2CFootball%2CSportc5=Football+World+Cup%2CNot+commercially+usefulc6=Kevin+McCarrac7=2008_11_21c8=1121572c9=articlec10=GUc11=Sportc12=blogc13=c14=Sportblogh2=GU%2FSport%2Fblog%2FSportblog” width=”1″ height=”1″ //divpFabio Capello has the restlessness of all great managers. Though the final match of his first year in charge of England brought a 2-1 win over Germany in Berlin, he was more inclined to dwell on progress yet to be made. Results, however gratifying, evaporate in an instant for people like him./ppA quarter of an hour after the 4-1 triumph over Croatia in Zagreb the Italian had seemed to be discussing the match purely out of politeness. Capello is not so much a lugubrious character as a manager who needs far more than potent results in preliminary skirmishes or friendlies. He will be judged by the 2010 finals in South Africa, where England’s participation looks certain. The standards in the World Cup must be higher and the punishments for falling short more severe. “We have reached one level,” he said after victory in Berlin. “The last percent is not easy.”/ppAll the same, on the flight home Capello went down the aisle to shake hands with every player and each member of his staff. It takes a lot to earn such an expression of gratitude from him. Much has been done and he wanted to recognise the level of commitment from all those who are part of the project. There is no giddiness in his nature and, in any case, he has chastening memories. “It’s a dream,” he said when asked if the current line-up could be genuine challengers for the World Cup./pp”I remember when I played here in Germany [at the 1974 finals] and we came as one of the best three teams in the world. After the first [group] phase we were out.” Capello himself was in midfield and scored when Poland won 2-1 to eliminate Italy. /pp”It depends on the form of the players, the style, whether they are fresh,” the manager remarked of the prospects should they reach South Africa. The whole topic can only strike Capello as intolerably premature. After all, an appreciation of the task before him lingers in his mind./pp”After we played against Switzerland I understood that the work would be very, very hard,” he said. “It would be a big job.” /ppThe friendly at Wembley yielded a 2-1 victory but his new charges were disjointed. Though Jermaine Jenas scored the first goal of Capello’s tenure then, he was not in the party for Berlin. When replacement midfielders had to be summoned, Jimmy Bullard and Scott Parker were preferred./ppDavid Bentley, who started against Switzerland, is another currently excluded and Peter Crouch is marginalised even when other strikers are missing. Every manager speaks of competition for places but seldom can the level of complacency have been as low as it is now for England. Germany were outclassed by what was virtually a shadow line-up./ppThere was no feeling that a random assortment had been put on to the pitch and few spared a thought for all the absentees. That reflects on the accomplishment of someone like Michael Carrick, who complemented Gareth Barry so well, but also on Capello’s schooling of all his players./ppWhen the Italian took over from Steve McClaren he made the usual diagnosis: “Technically the English players are good but only in training or the Premier League, not with the national team.” Capello differs from most of his predecessors in that he addressed the problem effectively./ppThere was cohesion even when understudies were in the majority on Wednesday. Emphasis is put on positioning and concentration. “This is very important,” said Capello, “because the English players are very [good] and we needed this movement with the ball and without the ball, when you have to defend and when you have to attack. This is very important work that the coaches have done.”/ppSpecific attributes have been grafted on to the team. Speed is critical and, with the teenager Theo Walcott injured, Capello employed the unsettling pace of Gabriel Agbonlahor. The 22-year-old caused constant unease in a lumbering Germany defence./ppThe manager may be no idealist but it is practical to let England attack. While prizing possession, Capello also appreciates that the natural aggression of the Premier League has to be tapped. In his 10 England matches the side have scored 25 goals. A dozen players have notched up 24 of them, with the other an own-goal./ppThe occasion on which England could not find the net was the 1-0 defeat in Paris, Capello’s single defeat. Eight of those other nine fixtures have been won. Of course there is still plenty to concern him. David James is the one person to start each of the matches and it would be reassuring if a real rival revealed himself./ppCapello, too, could ponder the fact that the England goals in Germany, from Matthew Upson and John Terry, arose from set pieces. The side ought also to have capitalised on their domination in open play. There will still have to be reflection on the most appropriate system to ensure that happens./ppIn the truly taxing games England could adopt the 4-2-3-1 structure. Walcott, Wayne Rooney and Steven Gerrard might comprise the secondary strikers. While Emile Heskey has shown how well he can serve as a target man, the side may also wish at times for a swift predator./ppAgbonlahor could develop into just such a figure but it would also be intriguing to discover how Capello might react if Michael Owen were to maintain fitness and form. “The door is open for all the players,” said the manager. “I select the players who at this moment are in the best physical condition. They play very well for this reason - when you play international you have to stay 100 %; it is impossible to play international games 60%.”/ppA gruelling test awaits anyone enlisting in Capello’s cause but the first year of his campaign suggests there could one day be glory to grasp./pdiv style=”float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;”ullia href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/england”England/a/lilia href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/fabio-capello”Fabio Capello/a/li/ul/divdiv class=”guRssAdvert”a href=”http://ads.guardian.co.uk/click.ng/richmedia=yessite=Sportcountry=nldspacedesc=rsssystem=rsstransactionID=1227226547180112100215136364″img src=”http://ads.guardian.co.uk/image.ng/richmedia=yessite=Sportcountry=nldspacedesc=rsssystem=rsstransactionID=1227226547180112100215136364″ border=”0″ //a/diva href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk”guardian.co.uk/a copy; Guardian News Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our a href=”http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html”Terms Conditions/a | a href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html”More Feeds/a

Original post by Kevin McCarra

divimg alt=”" src=”http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/50154?ns=guardianpageName=Football%3A+The+perfect+end+to+my+perfect+year%2C+says+Capelloch=Footballc3=The+Guardianc4=England+football+team%2CFabio+Capello%2CFootballc5=Football+World+Cupc6=Dominic+Fifieldc7=2008_11_20c8=1120888c9=articlec10=GUc11=Footballc12=Englandc13=c14=h2=GU%2FFootball%2FEngland” width=”1″ height=”1″ //divpFabio Capello admitted last night that it would have been “impossible” for his first year in charge of England to have gone any better. England will not play again until a friendly against Spain in February, leaving Capello to reflect upon 10 games played in 2008 and only one defeat, to France in Paris. The Italian has a perfect record in competitive qualifiers, including victory in Croatia, and now the scalp of Germany./ppThe set-up is unrecognisable from that which subsided so meekly in the last few days of Steve McClaren’s reign almost exactly 12 months ago./ppAsked whether he could have hoped for a better first year in charge, Capello said: “No. I think it would have been impossible to be better than this. We’ve played 10 games and after every game I’ve seen the players taking another step forward. This evening I saw us take another step forward because a lot of players played very, very well. Like a team./pp”When I started my job, I had to recover the confidence. I think all the players in this team understand and have experienced this. You can see that the confidence is coming back, during training and during games. This is very important.”/ppCapello will have been particularly heartened by the performances of his younger and fringe players, thrust into the fray after eight experienced players withdrew through injury. Gabriel Agbonlahor caught the eye on debut, while Michael Carrick - making his first appearance since the home defeat to Germany in August 2007 - impressed in central midfield. Stewart Downing and Glen Johnson, both considered squad players in the recent past, were just as impressive./pp”I saw some players who have not played a lot of games under me,” added Capello. “Agbonlahor played well but the team’s movement with the ball into space and as a defensive unit was very impressive. There was good balance for the team when we went forward and when we had to defend. The performance was very, very important for us./pp”We played well, with confidence, and with good technique. I’m happy to have selection problems after these players did so well. I needed to know these players better, and now I do.”/pdiv style=”float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;”ullia href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/england”England/a/lilia href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/fabio-capello”Fabio Capello/a/li/ul/divdiv class=”guRssAdvert”a href=”http://ads.guardian.co.uk/click.ng/richmedia=yessite=Footballcountry=nldspacedesc=rsssystem=rsstransactionID=1227147422584112002194839085″img src=”http://ads.guardian.co.uk/image.ng/richmedia=yessite=Footballcountry=nldspacedesc=rsssystem=rsstransactionID=1227147422584112002194839085″ border=”0″ //a/diva href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk”guardian.co.uk/a copy; Guardian News Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our a href=”http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html”Terms Conditions/a | a href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html”More Feeds/a

Original post by Dominic Fifield

divimg alt=”" src=”http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/51497?ns=guardianpageName=Football%3A+Terry+shoulders+the+blame+for+calamity+with+Carsonch=Footballc3=The+Guardianc4=England+football+team%2CGermany+%28Football+team%29%2CFootball%2CSportc5=Football+World+Cup%2CNot+commercially+usefulc6=Dominic+Fifieldc7=2008_11_20c8=1120882c9=articlec10=GUc11=Footballc12=Englandc13=c14=h2=GU%2FFootball%2FEngland” width=”1″ height=”1″ //divpEngland’s captain, John Terry, has attempted to deflect criticism from Scott Carson by taking the blame for the embarrassing mix-up which handed Patrick Helmes an equaliser midway through the second half./ppConfusion reigned as Terry attempted to shield the ball from Helmes and shepherd it back to Carson only for the goalkeeper to hesitate as he approached the edge of his area. The centre-half might normally have hammered the ball clear but, unfamiliar perhaps with the West Bromwich Albion player’s style, he dawdled momentarily before Carson could gather, with the German substitute slipping in to poke the ball through the goalkeeper’s legs and knock the ball into an empty net. /pp”I should have done better and cleared it,” admitted Terry, who made amends with a fine header six minutes from time to secure England’s latest impressive victory under Fabio Capello. “I didn’t deal with it early enough and we conceded the goal, but I hold my hands up to it. I’m disappointed with what happened - it wasn’t Scotty’s fault at all. I should just have cleared it. It was a good performance from the lads and it would have been a shame if we’d only drawn the game.”/ppEven so, Carson looked culpable for reacting slowly as the ball appeared to hold up in the wind while Terry was closed down by the German. This was no way for the goalkeeper to reappear on the international scene, with the year’s anniversary of the costly error on debut that helped Croatia win 3-2 at Wembley to come tomorrow. “The wind stopped the ball and it was a case of, ‘You kick it, I’ll kick it, you’ll kick it, I’ll kick it, oh the German has kicked it,’” said Capello with a smile. /ppCarson did at least spring to push away Marko Marin’s shot from distance shortly afterwards to improve his general mood, if only slightly, with Terry going one better at the other end with the winner. “Thankfully we had one more chance,” the captain added. “I said to Stewart Downing to put the ball on my head at the free-kick and I’d get on to it. His delivery was outstanding. /pp”This was a good performance from the lads. Obviously we had a weakened side and a young squad, but they’ve given the manager a selection problem there with a lot of good performances. /pp”They’ve proved a lot. The pitch was really difficult so we didn’t want to play too much, too deep, but they had confidence on the ball and were always a threat. These guys are fearless, so it’s very exciting to play with them. This meant a lot to the team.”/pdiv style=”float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;”ullia href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/england”England/a/lilia href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/germany”Germany/a/li/ul/divdiv class=”guRssAdvert”a href=”http://ads.guardian.co.uk/click.ng/richmedia=yessite=Footballcountry=nldspacedesc=rsssystem=rsstransactionID=1227143638800112001163356847″img src=”http://ads.guardian.co.uk/image.ng/richmedia=yessite=Footballcountry=nldspacedesc=rsssystem=rsstransactionID=1227143638800112001163356847″ border=”0″ //a/diva href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk”guardian.co.uk/a copy; Guardian News Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our a href=”http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html”Terms Conditions/a | a href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html”More Feeds/a

Original post by Dominic Fifield