England make the finals

At last, England are in the finals! It might not be the senior squad but the under-21s have done us proud in the European Under-21 Championships. And who are they to meet on Monday, June 29? None other than their old adversaries, Germany.

Is is going to be repeat of the 1966 World Cup finals with England coming out victorious? Let’s hope so. England at least have one secret weapon. Manager Stuart Pearce. Just who would want to mess with him as the boss? England certainly did it the hard way when they squared up to Sweden in the semi-finals. At half-time, they were 3-0 up and it looked as though they were coasting to victory. But do England ever do it the easy way?

England opened the scoring within the first minute when Martin Cranie volleyed home from just inside the box. Then, on 27 minutes, a corner from rising star James Milner set up Nedumonuoha to fire home England’s second and a mistake by Sweden’s Mattias Bjarsmyr saw him slice Lee Cattermole’s centre into his own net. The second half saw Sweden stage a miraculous comeback, with goals on 68 minutes from Marcus Berg and a great free kick on 75 by Olan Tolvonen. Six minutes later, Berg volleyed home the third to force extra time and another heart-stopping conclusion for England who really believe in doing it the hard way.

Berg very nearly sealed the match just one minute from the end of extra time but his shot hit the crossbar. Not surprisingly, Pearce was absolutely furious but only the day before had revealed that he had made the players practise their penalty kicks. There was no way England would go out this way, he promised. What foresight!

However, it started badly for England when Milner hit his penalty wide. Was history going to repeat itself yet again for England? No, luck finally proved on our side, with England finally winning 5-4 on penalties to set up the mouth-watering final against Germany who beat Italy 1-0.

England players won’t be taking any chances to infuriate their manager, that’s for sure. He blasted the youngsters for resting on their laurels and letting others do the work whilst having one eye on the final. “I was disappointed at how we chucked away the lead,” said Pearce afterwards.However, to his credit, he praised the players’ character for fighting back. Life would just not have been worth living had they not succeeded. Pearce is hungry for success and only the very best of efforts will do.

Keeper Joe Hart sadly misses the historic final after picking up his second yellow card of the tournament. An appeal is unlikely to succeed unless England prove mistaken identity! Gabriel Agbonlaher is also banned for his second yellow and Frazier Campbell was sent off in extra-time.

Neverthless, England can put out a strong team full of confidence after a great run of games and will be full of determination to beat Germany. With Stuart Pearce jumping up and down on the touchline, dare they lose!

Friendship a dangerous game

Managers in top flight football have a very clear choice. Their managership style.

Some choose to be pals with the players, others prefer to keep their distance. Fabio Capello has obviously chosen the latter. So what does he get? Criticism about being dour and not having a relationship with his squad.Fortunately, the rather acid attack has come not from the England team but from new Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti who claims the Italian was surly when in charge of AC Milan in the early 1990s.

In his biography, Ancelotti alleges that Capello had no dialogue with his players, an allegation that has totally baffled the England manager. In fact, he says he doesn’t recognise himself from the description.

Neither will England fans. Since arriving, Fabio Capello might not have been a bundle of laughs or a man who jokes, eats and plays with his team. Unfortunately, other England managers have done just that over the years and looked where that got them and the side? Capello might not dance up and down the touchlines or slap his squad on the back every time they secure a win. But it’s obvious to all that he is the thinking man’s manager who demands respect and gets it.

Managers who become close to their players are dicing with a dangerous game. It’s always said there is no room for sentiment in business and the same applies to football. Managers are there to make tough decisions and the old pals act with the squad just won’t wash. Friendships between managers and players can only lead to trouble, jealously, recriminations and back-stabbing.

So far, Capello has managed to avoid all of this and conducted himself in the most upright of manners.Okay, he didn’t go out to dinner with the players at AC Milan or, perhaps even more crucially, with the journalists either. No leaks, no sneaky headlines in the press, no public arguments. If Ancelotti wants to regard this as being dour, that’s his perogative. Let’s see what sort of relationship he strikes up with Chelsea and where that will lead him if and when the going gets tough.

Capello is doing a great job for England and has lifted spirits. He also has a record second to none. A former professional footballer, he won the domestic league title with every club he has managed, namely Milan, Juventus, Real Madrid and Roma.

During his managerial career, Capello has become known as a disciplinarian and has no hesitation in clamping down on even his star players if he feels they are not pulling their weight. Given headlines in the past about England teams – from eating unhealthy breakfasts to playing cards and falling out of nightclubs at the crack of dawn – it’s just what we needed.

Capello gets a lot of money to do his job and he is earning it. He’s no stranger to public fallings-out as David Beckham found to his cost when at Real Madrid and that too sounds a warning to the England team. No player is too big to be brought down to size. Capello isn’t afraid to admit when he is wrong too and to bring players back into the team when he feels the time is right. Did Beckham ever believe he would get back into the Real Madrid team or even captain England again?

Capello may well have been touched with controversy during his career and made some ill-advised public comments but he remains unblemished and a family man. He deserves our respect alone for mastering the English language so quickly. Oh but for us Brits to speak Italian fluently!

Fabio Capello has already indicated that managership of England will be his last role and he intends to go out on a high. There would be few who would bet against it.

England injury list gets longer

Fabio Capello’s injury headache seems to be getting worse by the day with Shaun Wright-Phillips the latest high calibre player to join the injury list. Capello already faces a dilemma in the goalkeeper and defensive positions for England’s big summer qualifiers for the World Cup next year.

The big first choice players all look like they will take part without any problems but the worry is that without much back up then if a Gerrard or Lampard gets injured, there is very little to come in and replace them. It is a thorn in the side for the Italian because he will be hoping that England can secure qualification with six points from their next two qualifying matches.

The depth of the problem is highlighted by the fact that Capello has handed a call-up to veteran right back, Gary Neville of Manchester United. He may also be joined by Nedum Onuoha of Manchester City and the manager of the latter, Mark Hughes, says Onuoha would be the better pick: “''He has really come on this season. He has always been viewed as a kid with huge potential. As an athlete he had the tools to be a top-rate player.”

“If he did get in the full England squad it wouldn't faze him. He is a very level-headed guy.”

England should not have any problems with this current qualifying campaign. They look a lot stronger and tougher than the days of failure to qualify for Euro 2008. The injury news could be pounced upon by a number of players wanting to make an impression. This could well end up lifting the spirit of the side and turn out to be quite refreshing for all concerned.

Opportunities are starting to arise that would otherwise have not been available and whoever gets given the nod by Capello will want to prove to him and all England fans that they are good enough to be able to warrant a regular place in the side. These players will want to make sure that we are all crammed into pubs by midday next summer hoping to cheer success in our thousands.

There is still the massive Champions League final to be played on Wednesday night and no doubt Capello will have one eye on proceedings hoping that no more of his high profile stars goes off with a little niggling injury that keeps them out of any international plans.

However, England should not be down at the injury problems they are facing. It was not too long ago that we took a side over to Germany that was heavily unfavoured by everyone before promptly beating the old enemy with a brilliant display of guts and determination.

This could be the opening of a door for a lot of players, a massive chance to be seized upon and the opportunity for individuals to never look back. It is unlikely that this could happen in any position other than with one of the goalkeepers, but there are a lot of hungry English players and they won’t care who the opposition is if they are given a start.