The Mail Bag
1 England player at a time
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I have been festering on this point since saturday night and its niggled away at me like a bottle of vodka does to AVDM. Why oh why do we only ever have one player called up to the England squad? When Lescott is called up, Jagielka isn't, and vice versa.
I see West Ham have 3 players called up and lucky Villa have 6 albeit they our in the top three and have been playing lucky football all season so Capello must think one of the Villa players will score the winner off their backsides, but for both teams call ups I dont feel it's justified. Jagielka well and truly deserves this call up, he's had Tosser sorry I mean Torres in his back pocket for a couple of hours at least over the last two weeks, but Lescott has been playing just as well and surely Capello and his Italian posse must have seen this.
I know I'm biased and therefore love to see our players in the England team but what has Cole or Bridge done recently compared to Baines, what for that matter has Upson, Luke Young or Glen Johnson done to deserve a place in front of Hibbert or Lescott? It does frustrate me to see this as Capello must have seen these players perform consistently against the sky four and succeed where Villa and West Ham wouldn't.
Yes I am a Toffee even more so than I am English in footballing terms of course so therefore would love to see more blue in that England squad to try and dye the overpowering claret which seems to be infesting this average England team. After all it would have been great to have 3 or 4 blues playing when England take on Liverpool on Wednesday night.
Andrew Fair, Posted 09/02/2009 at 10:41:53
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Hibbert is never going to get a shot and Baines won’t get in above Bridge and Cole even though he has been amazing recently.
No doubt, for whatever reason, playing for an Everton team who are playing well or not, is a hindrance to your International aspirations.
Agreed it?s great kudos for us when our players are involved internationally; but with a threadbare squad I?m VERY happy that Lescott at least has the opportunity to get a well earned rest for the next week.
An injury whilst playing the last 10 minutes or so in a meaningless friendly for England is all we need at the moment.
For the same reason I?m secretly pleased that Arteta hasn?t had the nod from Del Bosque just yet. He?s desperately in need of a few days off, and I?d hope we see the benefits of this on Sunday afternoon.
Fact is it?s such a media-driven load of old pussy these days that one wonders if it really matters. Anyone who has observed Everton of late cannot fail to see the imperious performances of Lescott & jagielka. Furthermore, Leighton Baines is also finally getting the rave notices we all knew he would.
Wayne Bridge has played 2 or 3 games in 6 months. He?s not a "bad" player, but how in sweet Jesus does he get in ahead of Baines? Is Mathew Upson better than Lescott? well, would you swap Lescott for anyone except perhaps Rio? No, of course not. Utter bollocks the whole thing.
FC Lucky are due some form of comeuppance. We can only hope it starts on Sunday. We could do it in true Villa fashion, i.e. let them play us off the park for 90 mins, but sneak a 2-0 win thanks to a jammy own goal and a penalty.
Capello famously says he plays the men in form. Well, I like Capello, but if he was serious then we would see Lescott & Baines in the squad and not Bridge, Crouch or Hart.
Let?s just be thankful of the rest our payers will get. Won?t do us any harm at this stage of the season.
Now his form's picked up, he finds himself left out. Not making an awful lot of sense. IMO Ferdinand is better than Lescott and Jagielka him aside I think we have the two best centre halves in the English game and that includes captain marvel John Terry.
If all our attackers were fit then Gosling and Rodwell would not even be on the bench unless it was 6th or 7th choice. Game after game the same changes were made if we were behind in a game.
AJ looked really miserable playing up front on his own and the Yak is also ineffective without support. I'm afraid that Capello also has his job to consider and he won't change things until they go wrong despite the players in form claims made.... I agree that the friendly against Spain would be the ideal time to try them both out in central defence, but it's a forlorn hope I'm afraid.
Baines has a realistic chance of breaking into the England squad, he must be knocking at the door... he has a great shot too from free kicks but so far has not been allowed to use it. Hibbo has improved no end and I attach a lot of praise to Neville for that... he is talking all the time to players around them and I am sure he motivates people very well. It was nice to read that Jo thanked Pip for giving him the penalty to take... that was a clever move to make by our captain to build Jo?s confidence.
Because of circumstances forced upon us, we have at last ?blooded? some youngsters who have blossomed when given the chance to play... these kids should be nursed and rested at times to help them develop into top flight Premier League standard players. Sometimes things happen for the best!!
Capello?s seen a fair bit of him and knows what he brings to his side, we?ve got the least depth defensively out of any of the top 10 teams in the country with only really Yobo & Neville that could come in.
Feel a bit bad for Baines ? but if anything, it?s just another reason for him to keep up the best form we?ve ever seen out of him!
No comment on Arteta?s continued exclusion ? we all know he?s an absolute superstar.
1/ no international injuries;
2/ no bigheadedness, ie Anichebe went away with Nigeria thought he was great went shite, Lescott the same: before call-up great, after... not shite but certainly not as good as before. Our team spirit is great and after 20 years in amateur leagues I know what a big time charlie does to a team
3/ we haven?t got a squad big enough to rotate it, so our players can get a deserved couple of days off
4/ I hope all 6 Villa players play the FULL game, then us on the weekend.
So I?m dead chuffed, Everton well before England
Re: Baines ? sorry, but he has some way to go before he breaks into the England squad (although I do agree that Bridge is almost in by default).
Hibbert ? I don?t think he?ll ever be international class (he?s just not good enough on the ball or positionally), but I do think he?s better than Luke Young!
Beyond that I?d love to see Osman get a call up, but I don?t think that?s ever going to happen ? he just doesn?t have the pace, strength or end product of a top footballer, despite his excellent technique and work-rate ? and he?s not exactly in the best form either at the moment.
How can Capello say he is his own man and decides who plays when the FA have clearly instructed him to get Beckham past Bobby Moore as the most capped England outfield player, what an absolute joke. This has nothing to do with football and everything to do with a friggin knighthood. If Lescott and Jagielka played for one of the Sky 4 they would be regulars in the England team and Jags would be player of the year!!!
I also agree that its good for a few of our boys to get a rest from these games. Quite a number of them have played a huge amount of minutes this season and I?m sure although disappointed to have been excluded from their respective International squads, they?ll more than welcome the rest.
Heres to handing the fortuitous villains a hiding.
Rooney and Lineker where going anyway and the World Cup just put their prices up = good for us
Exclusion of Lescott? See my earlier post... Carlton fuckin Cole is playing well, Becks should be in squad, maybe not team although Milan are no mugs!
If Jags was at one of the Sky 4 he would never have got a run at centre half. Same as Lescott got in England setup as left back would never have played LB at a sky 4 team.
The surgeon says a Torres extraction from his back pocket is routine and shouldn’t result in any time out of the team lol
Can you imagine the look on Alonso and Torres’ faces if the Everton back four ran out? They’d shit themselves.
During the season sod the England team, in the summer fair enough.
I hated it when:
Big Nev came back injured, costing us the double.
Rooney came back with stars ? and £-signs in his eyes.
Vaughanny came back fucked.
Both the current Tims come back jet-lagged.
Pienaar comes back injured.
And our Nigerian boys only just bother to come back at all...
Despite the fact that the Everton contingent were largely responsible for getting England through the group stages, poor old Reidy’s been blamed for the last twenty-three years for not clipping Maradona before he scored that first goal.
Aye, it is good to have a squad full of players glowing with the satisfaction of international recognition; not so good having a squad full of jet-lagged, hamstrung monomaniacs. (qv Stamford Bridge).
I think the important ingredient in the mix is honesty: Cahill, Neville, Lescott, Jagielka and Arteta are honest players, who appear to regard playing for their respective national teams as a reward, not a right. I’d rather have them raising their club form in an effort to get into those squads, than holding back so they’re fit for international call-ups (no names, no pack-drill).
I probably agree with the exclusion of Hibbert, Neville and Osman, because they are not really world class players, although alot of the current England squad aren’t brilliant either. It’s a shame that James Vaughan has been injured again, because if he had stayed fit and played to his potential then I think he would have had a decent chance of been included amongst the forwards, who are very average with the likes of Crouch, heskey and Carlton Cole!
This brings me to Arteta. Surely Spanish squad's over the last few years haven't been outstanding so why no opportunity for Mikel? Doe's he need to play in Spain? No, maybe he just has to play for Benitez, after all lesser players like Alonso and Riera just keep getting picked. Sounds very devious to me and a shame for Mikel and his great form.
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1 Posted 09/02/2009 at 15:19:37
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