| Defensive strength becomes a weakness Rio Ferdinand's return is another example of England's ever-changing defensive castAsk Peter Shilton what appalled him most about England's lamentable World Cup campaign and he will say: "The way the defence parted like the Red Sea against Germany." There are no prizes there for original imagery but the country's most capped player (with 125) speaks for defensive boffins everywhere in diagnosing vulnerability around the England goal.A truism of trophy-winning sides is that they are hewn around an unchanging centre-back partnership: Steve Bruce and Gary Pallister, or Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic, at Manchester United, John Terry and Ricardo Carvalho in Chelsea's first Premier League-winning team, Alan Hansen and Mark Lawrenson at Liverpool – and so on, until you start to sound like Ron Manager. England, where negation is highly prized, is a production centre for centre-halves, but you would never know it from the chaos of pairings since a successful World Cup qualifying campaign descended into tournament parody.Less significant than the ceremonial restoration of a captain's band to the arm of Ferdinand is the return of a defender who was born to be the new Bobby Moore and has matched those expectations, in spurts, in his best years at United. Now 31, and increasingly infirm, Ferdinand has observed a whole Ryder Cup of centre-back couplings since he broke down in England's first training session in South Africa: a mishap that felt ominous at the time and turned out to be entirely emblematic of their prospects.Since Ferdinand last hooked up with John Terry – in the 2-1 win over Japan on 30 May – Fabio Capello has tried eight stoppers in seven different partnerships. He has reached outside the Champions League elite to recruit Phil Jagielka from Everton and Gary Cahill of Bolton Wanderers. Jamie Carragher was enticed out of international retirement and Tottenham Hotspur's Michael Dawson pushed up the line before injuring himself against Bulgaria. Ledley King lasted 45 minutes in South Africa before chronic knee problems intervened. Capello is unlikely to think of Dawson's club team-mate again without wincing.Joleon Lescott, one of Manchester City's less convincing buys (so far) and Matthew Upson, who was eviscerated by Germany's forwards in Bloemfontein, are also in that mix, with Lescott expected to accompany Ferdinand at Wembley against high-flying Montenegro.To that honeycomb defensive menu must be added Capello's dithering over his first-choice of goalkeeper. Only in the first match after England's second-round loss to Germany did the England coach recognise that Joe Hart was the best of his three options: Robert Green being too permeable and David James too old.By then Miroslav Klose, Mesut Ozil, Thomas Müller and Lukas Podolski had ripped England's back-four open in a 4-1 victory that consigned Upson's international career to shadowland and raised the most serious doubts yet about Terry's capacity to keep overcoming injury. As Ferdinand and Terry laboured to be fit for the great reconstruction, the now injured Jagielka filed the strongest claim to be first-choice back-up, with Cahill having to get used to the hokey-cokey nature of Capello's fancy for this or that new player.With Hart an automatic pick in England's back-five Capello seeks consistent solidity from the four in front of his exuberant young goalkeeper. An additional strain on the two central defenders is that extra scuttling and realignment is required to perform Glen Johnson's work at right-back when the Liverpool man abandons his post.Michael Owen once said that Ferdinand would taunt a striker by offering him a head-start in a race for the ball and then glide by with a smile to pick it off his toe. This Rolls Royce defensive pace – less apparent, these days – is a useful insurance policy for when Johnson goes missing.In a department once regarded as England's strongest Capello is this week down to three centre-backs for the year's last Euro 2012 qualifier. He says: "It is too late to bring in anyone else and I have big confidence in these players [Cahill is the third]. Lescott played very well against Switzerland and Rio is still a fantastic player."That claim has yet to be fully tested in the captain's four outings for United this term but Capello needs it to be true now that the Terry-Ferdinand double act is falling apart. Starting , we see the most cultivated English stopper since Moore begin the final phase of an international career that has never reached the peaks of Premier and Champions League wins with United.Snatching the armband off Steven Gerrard and thrusting it back at Ferdinand might be Capello's way of stopping his classiest defender from cruising through this qualifying campaign in self-preservation mode. Sophistication is rewarded with high office while a seat is cleared on the England bench for Bolton's Kevin Davies: purveyor of a style to which Ferdinand's rich talent was meant to provide an antidote.EnglandRio FerdinandEuro 2012Paul Haywardguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
England v Montenegro: who's who and what's what in visitors' camp for Wembley debut Jeremy Wilson's complete guide to England's visitors at Wembley. telegraph.co.uk |
Ramires coping with 'huge' Chelsea pressure • £18m Brazil midfielder talks of 'huge pressure'• 'I'm not finding it very hard to adapt'Ramires, who signed for Chelsea from Benfica for £18.2m in January, has claimed he feels under more pressure at Stamford Bridge than at any other point in his club career. The Brazilian midfielder says the scrutiny he has experienced at the Premier League champions is a step up from that which he was under playing for their Portuguese counterparts, and Cruzeiro before that."At Cruzeiro and Benfica, there was also huge pressure to get good results," the 23-year-old said. "The difference at Chelsea is that the level of visibility is so much greater. That means you're singled out more when you play badly and there's more hype when you play well."Some foreign players have found it difficult to adapt to the speed and physicality of English football, but Ramires believes he has almost cracked it already.He said: "As well as being a player who tries to start moves when I have the ball, I've always liked a tackle, so that's why I'm not finding it very hard to adapt. I'm already getting used to the speed of the game over here. All I need to do now is to keep working hard to earn my spot in the side and help the team stay as successful as they've been in recent years."An injury to Frank Lampard two months ago gave Ramires his chance at his new club. "Since then, I've played a few times as a box-to-box midfielder, which is my original position and the same one where [the Brazil coach] Mano Menezes has been using me for the national team," he said. "But, to be honest, it's not hard for me to play anywhere in midfield. I'll play whichever way Ancelotti thinks works best for the team at any given time."And Ramires, who missed Saturday's win over Wolves with a groin injury, believes he can only get better, especially once he overcomes the language barrier."I'd never played in a country with a different language before, which makes things a bit trickier, but I'm taking English classes and hope to get a handle on it soon," he said. "There are times when I'll have an off day or not perform as well as expected, just like any other player, but that won't have anything to do with how I've adapted or not. The players here at Chelsea couldn't have welcomed me any better and the club provide me with everything I could need."Chelseaguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Further injury woe for Manchester United striker Michael Owen after hamstring setback Man United striker could be out of action for up to three weeks after suffering a hamstring injury in training. telegraph.co.uk |
Milan moves ahead of Inter in Serie A standings Robinho and Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored as AC Milan beat 10-man Napoli on the road Monday to leapfrog Inter Milan and move into second place in Serie A. cbc.ca |