Well it's not been the best season for either of England's first choice centre halves so far. Enough has been written about John Terry's problems and Rio Ferdinand's chronic back injury to have caused meltdown on Google through searching for both issues. Thankfully, Terry's form seems to be picking up again and Manchester United seem […]

With less than 3 months to go until England's first group game against the U.S.A on June 12th in the World Cup and one particular pair of positions are causing more problems than anyone envisaged. At full strength, the English full-backs picked themselves with Ashley Cole easily making a case for being the best left […]

Fabio Capello was always going to have a challenging decision to make about David Beckham. After an up and down season with the LA Galaxy and a more down than up loan stint with AC Milan, Beckham was hoping that his experience and dressing room leadership would allow him to join the England team in […]

He's my hero of sorts, the integral piece of the attacking puzzle to my beloved Manchester United and my (adopted) country of England. He's the bulldog who never gives up, the born leader with enough natural footballing talent to make the recently departed Cristiano Ronaldo raise an eye in disbelief and possibly realize United haven't […]

The halcyon days of the 60's, 70's and 80's were apparently a boom time in England's glorious history of great goalkeepers. From the benchmark that was the great Gordon Banks and his understudy, Peter Springett, to the rotation of Ray Clemence and Peter Shilton in the 70's and early 1980's, England always had a top […]

Tomorrow sees that magical mark of 100 days until the 19th World Cup begins and the chase for places outside of the main names is really beginning to hot up. Fabio Capello will probably have a definite idea of around 10 names who will certainly be on the plane to South Africa injury willing. James, […]

The Marquis De Sade was never short of a quote or two, but one that currently could be applied to certain members of Chelsea's first team squad at the current time sprang to mind after today's latest off field crisis at Stamford Bridge. "Lust is to the other passions what the nervous fluid is to […]

With just over 15 weeks left until the 19th World Cup begins in South Africa and one player is making a real case to force his way in to the starting line up. Joe Hart could have been put out by Manchester City signing Shay Given last January, a smack in the face for his […]

Hello. My name is Fabio Capello. Over the past 18 months, I have been hailed as the savior of English football. Under my stewardship, England easily qualified for the World Cup Finals next year in South Africa. Granted, our qualifying group was fantastically weak, and in our friendlies against other big nations like Spain and […]

Things are very rarely simple at the K.C. Stadium, not while Phil Brown is there. Back in January, he raised eyebrows when he paid £5 million for the effervescent Fulham midfielder Jimmy Bullard. Not that there is any doubting the quality that Bullard offers, but that a player who had suffered so much from a […]

Those of you living in America probably couldn't stop hearing about last weekend's big National Football League game in London, the third such contest in three years, in which the New England Patriots tonked Malcolm Glazer's hapless Tampa Bay Buccaneers — who have cut costs to the bone this season, and we can all have […]

Patrick Barclay is one of Britain's best known and respected football journalists. With a career of over 30 years working for a variety of publications and numerous appearances on television talking about the game, Patrick is always worthy of attention.Currently writing for the Times, Patrick has a wide knowledge of the beautiful game and many […]

Just when Arsene Wenger thought his injury problems were behind him, with Theo Walcott looking likely to return to first team action this week, Nicklas Bendtner decides to off road in his Aston Martin on the way to training on an empty road and Denilson has had a fractured bone in his back confirmed by […]

The sight of Ledley King pulling up when Didier Drogba was running towards the Tottenham goal in Sunday's London derby left me with a resigned feeling of deja vu. Even on one leg, a training regime of swimming twice a week and the frailties of the midfield formation that wasn't working, King was keeping Drogba […]

The influence of foreigners on football in England cannot be underestimated. While Coach Fabio Capello has guided England through the qualifiers and instilled a winning mentality amongst the players, the skills of English players such as Wayne Rooney and the presence of leaders like John Terry must also be credited with the change in England's fortunes. […]