David Beckham expects to be a history-maker this evening by equalling Bobby Moore’s outfield record of 108 England caps, but the feat has already been met with indifference by Fabio Capello. Rather than stopping at milestones, the England manager is seeking to drive his team forward and, to that end, the more significant appearances could be debuts for James Milner and Carlton Cole.
Both would hope to come off the bench on a night when Capello will use his maximum six substitutes, but the sight of Emile Heskey sitting out last night’s training session in the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán stadium to protect his sore Achilles tendon has raised the prospect of Cole starting alongside Gabriel Agbonlahor.
It would be a partnership with just one cap between them — from the Aston Villa forward’s bright debut against Germany in November — and England’s striking options, or lack of them, may seem stark when set against those of Spain, the European champions, who have Fernando Torres and David Villa.
In the absence of Wayne Rooney, Peter Crouch is another alternative if Heskey is forced to sit on the sidelines, but it was Cole and Agbonlahor who were paired in training yesterday. And if Cole does not get his chance now, on the back of good form for West Ham United, he probably never will.
At 25, it is quite late for Cole to be making his senior debut, but then he did choose a roundabout route, with loan moves to Charlton Athletic, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Aston Villa, after he failed to make the grade at Chelsea through lack of application.
He is playing well under Gianfranco Zola at Upton Park, although his performance against Manchester United on Sunday, in front of Capello, showed both his physical attributes as he brushed off Rio Ferdinand but also the lack of killer instinct as he attempted to score with an overelaborate chip.
Agbonlahor is certain to play some part, and, even without Heskey, there could be an attacking trident made at Villa, with Ashley Young and Milner also hoping to be involved.
“They have a lot of good young players,” Capello said, when asked if he had been keeping a close watch on the side threatening to break up the Barclays Premier League’s “big four”. “They’re in a good position in the Premier League. I’ve followed them and they are very interesting players for me.”
After 40 caps for the under-21s, and the initial disappointment when he was named in the junior squad this week before a late promotion, Milner will feel as though he has served his time. A hard-working, teetotal winger, he has excelled under Martin O’Neill, the Villa manager, on the right flank, but he has strong competition from Beckham and Shaun Wright-Phillips. As someone who can play on either wing, Young will be hopeful of winning his fifth cap.
Capello said that he would take into account the wishes of club managers, although he denied that he was being forced to make compromises. “I know the problems of the managers at the clubs because I was one,” he said. “I can help them. I hope they help me when I need them.”
While Capello concentrates on events on the field, officials from the FA and Uefa, the European governing body, will be sensitive to the behaviour of the crowd after the racist chanting that disfigured England’s last trip to Spain in 2004.
“The referee would have to step in if it gets as bad as it was last time and make a decision,” John Terry, the England captain, said. “If he decides to lead both teams off the field, we’ll have to support that. It’s not nice, but I’m behind my team and my players.” Both camps are confident that it will not come to that.
SOURCE:THE TIMES
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
John Terry reveals split in Chelsea ranks
Chelsea are confident of naming Guus Hiddink as their temporary manager this week, but the Russia coach could be taking on more than he is bargaining for after John Terry revealed the extent of dressing-room divisions at Stamford Bridge.
Speaking for the first time since Luiz Felipe Scolari’s shock sacking on Monday, the Chelsea captain expressed sympathy and admiration for the departed manager, although he added the important caveat that only “two or three” of his team-mates felt the same.
Terry’s carefully chosen words, as he took a detour from discussing England’s friendly international against Spain this evening, go some way to confirming what has long been suspected: that a series of cliques have developed in the camp.
Terry and Frank Lampard have made a point of standing up for Scolari, publicly and privately, all season and Ashley Cole was also sympathetic. But the tone of Terry’s comments suggests that the rest of the team were not. Didier Drogba, Michael Ballack and Petr Cech are known to have had doubts, telling Roman Abramovich, the owner, of their reservations at an informal meeting last Thursday to which Terry was not party.
“I have sympathy for Scolari,” Terry said. “He had my support, that’s for sure. Two or three other players will say the same thing, I’m sure. Unfortunately we weren’t playing well and it falls on his head. Maybe they should look at some of us. We underachieved. It’s unfortunate because the manager is a great man, but the overall picture needs to be looked at. The powers at the club need to look at that.”
Without naming names, Terry also criticised several of his team-mates’ performances this season, arguing that he and the players should take a greater share of the responsibility for Scolari’s dismissal.
“We’ve not been performing well individually and collectively as a squad, and that falls on the manager’s head, which is unfair because a few of us feel we could have done better in our time with the manager,” Terry said. “We started off very well, but things dipped in form and results. That’s unfortunate for Mr Scolari.”
Hiddink will not be in charge for Saturday’s FA Cup fifth-round tie away to Watford, which will be supervised by Ray Wilkins, the assistant first-team coach. The Dutchman will return to Moscow from Russia’s training camp in Turkey today for talks with the Russian Football Union, which confirmed last night that it would allow him to combine two jobs until the end of the season.
Hiddink is expected to earn £2 million for 15 weeks’ work at Chelsea and is considering bringing in Johan Neeskens, who served as his assistant when he was in charge of Holland and Australia, as his No 2. “I must say that this is an exceptional situation,” Hiddink said. “If it was any other club aside from Chelsea my answer would be a straight ‘no’. But Chelsea is different because I have good relations with the owner. This would be a full managerial role, a day-to-day job, but only for the next two or three months.”
Chelsea also insist that Hiddink will be only a temporary appointment, but sources close to him conceded that he would be willing to discuss continuing to combine both jobs next season, with the proviso that he will stay in charge of Russia.
If Hiddink joins Chelsea, but then leaves the club in the summer, they will turn their attentions to Carlo Ancelotti, the AC Milan coach, who turned down an approach last summer. “If the position is open in July he may consider it,” Umberto Gandini, the Milan vice-president, said.
SOURCE:THE TIMES
Speaking for the first time since Luiz Felipe Scolari’s shock sacking on Monday, the Chelsea captain expressed sympathy and admiration for the departed manager, although he added the important caveat that only “two or three” of his team-mates felt the same.
Terry’s carefully chosen words, as he took a detour from discussing England’s friendly international against Spain this evening, go some way to confirming what has long been suspected: that a series of cliques have developed in the camp.
Terry and Frank Lampard have made a point of standing up for Scolari, publicly and privately, all season and Ashley Cole was also sympathetic. But the tone of Terry’s comments suggests that the rest of the team were not. Didier Drogba, Michael Ballack and Petr Cech are known to have had doubts, telling Roman Abramovich, the owner, of their reservations at an informal meeting last Thursday to which Terry was not party.
“I have sympathy for Scolari,” Terry said. “He had my support, that’s for sure. Two or three other players will say the same thing, I’m sure. Unfortunately we weren’t playing well and it falls on his head. Maybe they should look at some of us. We underachieved. It’s unfortunate because the manager is a great man, but the overall picture needs to be looked at. The powers at the club need to look at that.”
Without naming names, Terry also criticised several of his team-mates’ performances this season, arguing that he and the players should take a greater share of the responsibility for Scolari’s dismissal.
“We’ve not been performing well individually and collectively as a squad, and that falls on the manager’s head, which is unfair because a few of us feel we could have done better in our time with the manager,” Terry said. “We started off very well, but things dipped in form and results. That’s unfortunate for Mr Scolari.”
Hiddink will not be in charge for Saturday’s FA Cup fifth-round tie away to Watford, which will be supervised by Ray Wilkins, the assistant first-team coach. The Dutchman will return to Moscow from Russia’s training camp in Turkey today for talks with the Russian Football Union, which confirmed last night that it would allow him to combine two jobs until the end of the season.
Hiddink is expected to earn £2 million for 15 weeks’ work at Chelsea and is considering bringing in Johan Neeskens, who served as his assistant when he was in charge of Holland and Australia, as his No 2. “I must say that this is an exceptional situation,” Hiddink said. “If it was any other club aside from Chelsea my answer would be a straight ‘no’. But Chelsea is different because I have good relations with the owner. This would be a full managerial role, a day-to-day job, but only for the next two or three months.”
Chelsea also insist that Hiddink will be only a temporary appointment, but sources close to him conceded that he would be willing to discuss continuing to combine both jobs next season, with the proviso that he will stay in charge of Russia.
If Hiddink joins Chelsea, but then leaves the club in the summer, they will turn their attentions to Carlo Ancelotti, the AC Milan coach, who turned down an approach last summer. “If the position is open in July he may consider it,” Umberto Gandini, the Milan vice-president, said.
SOURCE:THE TIMES
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