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Title race back on, blah blah blah, Aston Villa torn apart like a dingo on a newborn, yada yada yada, England expects ahead of international week—wait just one minute there, pal.
It would be safe to say that Villa is a sort of stand-in England B side in the Premier League, at least according to the English press in light of Capello’s on again/off again preference for the once-potent duo of Agbonlahor and Young.&nbsp; So while Sunday’s thrashing of Villa by Liverpool is good news for Gerrard’s form heading into internationals this weekend, it gives the lie to recent claims that England has achieved some measure of depth in the senior squad.
Villa were very poor, and while O’Neill’s decision to field a more open 4-4-2 at Anfield <a href="http:\/\/www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2009/mar/23/aston-villa-martin-oneill-liverpool-david-pleat">has taken much of the blame</a>, the form of Heskey, Young, and Gareth Barry certainly didn’t help the cause.&nbsp; O’Neill even seems to have lost some measure of faith in the latter—he’s already said he’s open to <a href="http:\/\/www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/aston_villa/article5946929.ece">letting Barry go wherever he wishes </a>at the end of the season.
But beyond their current league woes, Villa are at risk of losing out to “mostly-foreign” Arsenal in Champions League qualification for next season.&nbsp; The CL would have given Villa’s English players invaluable experience playing the best teams and players in club football’s most important knockout competition, surely decent&nbsp; preparation for South Africa 2010.
The case might be made that England is strong enough with out its younger players or its aging but still useful internationals.&nbsp; At the moment, Steven Gerrard is worth ten Gareth Barrys.&nbsp; But Gerrard, like Michael Owen and Wayne Rooney, has missed big tournaments to injury before (Euro 2004).&nbsp; If England is to expect any measure of success in South Africa next year, it will need a strong group of second strings.&nbsp; Villa’s current slide in form will not help toward that end.

Villa's Poor Form Should Give England Fans Pause - World Soccer Talk

Villa's Poor Form Should Give England Fans Pause

Anyone who’s caught Tottenham in action recently will not fail to have been impressed by Aaron Lennon’s recent form on the right hand side of Spurs’ midfield. For me, it’ll be a major surprise if he’s not in Fabio Capello’s next England squad for the Friendly against Slovakia and the qualifier in Kiev against the Ukraine. Lennon has an opportunity to finally step up and show everyone outside of White Hart Lane just how well he’s playing at the moment.
Lennon is one of those players that can infuriate and delight in equal measure, his pace and jinking runs coupled with a poor goal return for such pace and some very wayward deliveries and crosses. Yet, this season he was one of the best players under the dreadful start Ramos endured but was still short of reaching his full potential. Slowly though, under Harry Redknapp he has begun to recapture the level of performance he showed toward the end of Martin Jol’s 2nd full season, his performance against Chelsea away in the F.A.Cup particularly. With Ramos playing him out of position to accommodate David Bentley, his game was tested but he still gave 100%.
4 goals and 3 assists in his last 5 Premier League games, coupled with a superb performance against Patrice Evra in the Carling Cup Final has seen him play his best football since he joined Tottenham back in 2005 for £1,000,000. That fee gets cheaper by the week and Lennon is on fire at the moment. Sure, his distribution needs to improve and his first touch can sometimes let him down but let’s not forget he’s still only 21 years old, he can only get better. Redknapp has really got the best out of him recently and he’s worthy of at least a squad place for England, of that, there is no doubt. The Ukraine game notwithstanding, England have 3 pretty easy games coming up and Lennon can cement his position in the squad for South Africa if he keeps performing to the level he currently is. Capello loves his attacking players to have pace and Lennon has it to burn, making him easily one of the quickest players in the Premiership.That alone would have made Fabio sit up and take notice. Another great performance against Chelsea on Saturday wouldn’t go amiss either.
Now it’s all down to Aaron Lennon how far he goes, he needs to really deliver the level of performance he’s showing currently, week in, week out for Tottenham and England when he gets the opportunity. He needs to keep working down the training ground to get his crossing ability up from inconsistent and push himself onward to get the rewards that await him if he wants them. When Spurs signed David Bentley, I was worried that Lennon would be on the way out but Bentley’s dreadful form since joining from Blackburn Rovers has seen Lennon make the right wing his own and Bentley occasionally get a run out on the left. Unfortunately for Bentley, the signing of Palacios and Jenas’ return to form has seen him drop on to the bench, as Redknapp has changed the midfield set up until he can fetch a left winger in, so he has to enjoy the sight of Lennon dancing past him most matches.That goal against Arsenal must seem a lifetime away.
Now all Lennon has to do is maintain his form and that, in the most part is going to be his toughest opponent.

Time For Aaron Lennon To Show Consistency - World Soccer Talk

Time For Aaron Lennon To Show Consistency

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The latest episode of I’m On Setanta Sports is back with program director Fabio Capello meddling with the show, the return of Arsene “Voyeur,” and Setanta Sports making fun of RTE’s Eamonn Dunphy. Be champions!

I’m On Setanta Sports: September 20, 2008 Episode

I'm On Setanta Sports: September 20, 2008 Episode - World Soccer Talk

Latest news from Fabio Capello. Find out about all the news related to Fabio Capello on worldsoccertalk.com

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Villa's Poor Form Should Give England Fans Pause

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Time For Aaron Lennon To Show Consistency

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I’m On Setanta Sports: September 20, 2008 Episode