| Fabio Capello ready to experiment against France but options are thin | Kevin McCarra The England manager will use next month's friendly at Wembley as a chance to try out his younger playersAt least Fabio Capello uncovered one heartening incident in the goalless draw with Montenegro. A question about Wayne Rooney's booking brought an answer that was as candid as it was unexpected. "The yellow card was really, really good," said the England manager, "because it was a really dangerous counterattack." He was carelessly expressing aloud the thought processes of people in professional sport. The Italian cannot have been paying attention last month when the FA saturated Wembley with publicity for the Respect and Fair Play campaigns before kick-off against Bulgaria.Rooney's foul on Elsad Zverotic was memorable merely because it emphasised the jeopardy England were in when their own attacks were so drab. The temperature had dropped and the sunlight was gone, but the fixture was otherwise a remake of the 0-0 draw with Algeria at the World Cup. Far too much rests with Rooney. "He had two clear chances," Capello mused. "In the game against Switzerland he had one chance and one goal."That 3-1 win in Basle now insulates England against the chill induced by this week's threadbare showing, but the manager may still be glad that his contract ends in 2012. While Capello is adamant that he will welcome retirement at his then age of 66, it is also pragmatic for him to take his leave before a potential anxiety about the extent of resources can begin to undermine whoever is in charge. We will be given some indication of the worth of the contenders when England face France in next month's game at Wembley.The manager is clear that the occasion is not intended primarily to give match practice to the usual personnel. "It is a friendly and there will be more substitutions," he said. "It will be important this time for young players." Idealism has an uplifting effect, yet hard facts can get in its way. On Tuesday Capello preferred to plug a gap with the 33-year-old Kevin Davies, who made his international debut from the bench. The Bolton Wanderers forward got himself booked and the referee Manuel Grafe must soon have been tempted to show a further yellow.Considering the context, it was appropriate to inquire whether Andy Carroll would feature against the French, but Capello was resistant to idealism for its own sake. "He has to play," said the manager crisply of the 21-year-old's present situation. The Newcastle United striker was restricted to 13 minutes as a substitute in his last outing, at Manchester City.There are, of course, prospects in whom Capello holds a firmer faith. Jack Wilshere was on the bench at Wembley and mattered too much for the manager to risk tarnishing him by association with the men toiling against Montenegro. That was judicious of Capello, yet it also reminds us how fragile young challengers really are.Many prove unable to fulfil the early expectations. There is every cause to think that the 18-year-old Wilshere will dodge that fate and he has already had the advantage of half a season on loan to Bolton from Arsenal, but the Premier League has not traditionally been renowned for honing native prospects.At least the raw material is noteworthy. England won the Under-17 European Championship this year by beating Spain and some of those players have been promoted swiftly to the Under-19 team, but these are still very early days. Connor Wickham, scorer of the winner in that final, is with Ipswich Town in the Championship. Josh McEachran, a midfielder capable of going past opponents, has had enough impact to convince Carlo Ancelotti, but while that is most creditable he is still to start a game for Chelsea.McEachran and Wickham have merely made a beginning with that trophy-lifting by England's teenagers. It could be that the academy system is flourishing and can proceed to give us a regular supply of top-class precocity, but the glamour of the Premier League still depends to a notable degree on the foreign stars. Although that may be altering, the process is gradual.People are scared to be optimistic over the homegrown batch and any allusion to a "golden generation" has been scissored out of the FA's lexicon.Maybe the country will have a bunch of brash kids who sweep all before them at the Euro 2012 finals, but it is likely that Capello hopes most for people such as Rio Ferdinand, John Terry and Steven Gerrard to be in good shape that summer, with Rooney, above all, restored to his former irrepressibility.Fabio CapelloEnglandEuro 2012Kevin McCarraguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Wayne Rooney struggles to see big picture in England stalemate against Montenegro Fabio Capello's infatuation with target men leaves England's talisman out of his depth as troubles continue, telegraph.co.uk |
Freeman to Speak to FIFA on Behalf of US WCup Bid Academy Award winner Morgan Freeman will join former President Bill Clinton in making the final presentation to FIFA's executive committee of the U.S. bid to host the 2022 World Cup. feeds.nytimes.com |
Football League: your thoughts QPR's victory failed to disguise Cardiff's superiority while a former Arsenal trainee took Dover to the third round of the CupIt seems Neil Warnock and Dave Jones might not like each other that much. At the very least their post-match press conferences at Loftus Road after Queens Park Rangers' 2-1 top-of-the-table Championship victory over Cardiff City provided a bracing alternative to the usual comfortable clubbiness, with both managers carping on about unawarded penalties and launching pre-emptive strikes towards whatever the other might suggest in their absence.Jones in particular was incandescent over Kevin Friend's failure to award a penalty in the 85th minute for what looked like a trip on Jay Bothroyd. He even suggested Cardiff might have gone on to get a winner. If this seemed optimistic you could understand his frustration. Cardiff were the better team overall, if not in terms of goals scored and territory in the second half, then in terms of passing and controlled football.Their dominant spell towards the end of the first half provided the classiest passage of the match and of the two teams it is Cardiff who look currently better equipped to thrive at the higher level if – or probably when – they both get promoted. Rangers are unbeaten because they have an excellent defence (and they should hurl a percentage of their transfer trust fund at buying Kyle Walker from Tottenham), because they have great energy and purpose and are expert at set pieces. Cardiff have more clarity to their style and, already, a dusting of class in midfield and attack.Having said that, the match was settled by a moment of brilliance from Adel Taarabt, the Moroccan who is entrusted almost single-handedly with providing a gloss of butterfly-ish guile to Rangers' attack. Taarabt's winning goal was expertly taken. It was also typically Taarabt-ish in that it was the high point of a scattergun performance. He is a Championship-level attacking genius: give him 10 chances to create something and one will end up in a wonderfully worked goal. At a higher level he will rarely get such a wealth of opportunities.Craig Bellamy was also excellent today, and altogether more direct in style. Not yet fully fit, he worked hard, looked typically jet-heeled and finished neatly after a terrible mistake by Kaspars Gorkss. Bellamy will get sharper: if he stays fit it he has the dead-eyed quality to light up the Championship and ensure that, of these two, it is Jones who leads the way in May. BRTalking points• The decision for Hull City to play in white today was either inspired or absurd, depending on your perspective. Their game against Middlesbrough took place in a near-blizzard, meaning that players were often hard to pick out against the snow. Many felt the game should have been called off, but those fans who chose to tough it out at the Riverside were treated to a richly entertaining game, which ended in a 2-2 draw.• At one point this looked set to be the day of the underdog in the second round of the FA Cup. With more than 80 minutes gone, FC United, who currently play in the seventh tier of English football, led 1-0 away to the League One leaders Brighton, while the Conference National side Tamworth were 2-1 up away to Carlisle United, another League One side. But FC United, playing with 10 men from the 70th minute after the sending off of Scott McManus, were eventually pegged back and eventually needed a Sam Ashton save from Elliot Bennett's penalty deep into stoppage time to preserve a draw that earns them a home replay. Tamworth were less fortunate, conceding twice in the last four minutes to lose 3-2.• One non-league side was able to complete their upset, however, Conference South Dover Athletic beating League Two Aldershot through two goals from the former Arsenal trainee, Adam Birchall. The striker hadn't scored since his team's first-round win over Gillingham, but he seems to be enjoying the FA Cup run – including the qualifying rounds he has now scored 11 goals in this year's competition. Dover weren't the only non-league side to reach the third round today, though – in an all-Conference National clash, York City beat Darlington 1-0 to reach the third round. PBQPRCardiff CityChampionshipFA CupBarney RonayPaolo Bandiniguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Sheffield Wednesday avoid administration after Leicester City chairman Milan Mandaric completes takeover Leicester City Chairman Milan Mandaric completes takeover of League One side Sheffield Wednesday. telegraph.co.uk |