Home > Football > England's heaven and hell for Chelsea - Joe Cole in and Lampard out!
by Stuart Webb on 07 September 2008
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Huddled round my laptop watching a blurry constantly-buffering 4x4 screen, I was taken back to my childhood. When all football was on terrestrial, our Mum would often opt for the soaps rather than the big match. luckily my brother had a 3.5-inch portable TV, and we'd gather round the dining table to watch. Happy days, but I digress.
All too predictable - but job done. The severe lack of confidence spreading through the England team meant the fact the Andorrans would tire would prove to be key. England started OK, but again as the first half ebbed away and frustrations grew. England started to revert to the long ball and I don't think there was a soul in the crowd who wasn't praying for the half-time whistle.
Fabio Capello didn't need 15 minutes to put a rocket up his players. It was interesting to see them take to the pitch so early with the manager's short, sharp half-time talk still ringing in their ears. Two changes were made, Emile Heskey for Jermain Defoe, ending yet another frustrating performance from the Pompey front man. And Joe Cole on in place of Stewart Downing.
One can only hope that this will finally put an end to Downing's international career; the only reason the Boro wide man has any caps to his name is the fact he is left-footed. Cole was rightly restored to the left flank and in a quick fire five minutes early in the second half, the supersub proved his worth with two well-taken strikes. Special mention must also go to Wayne Rooney - his reverse ball for Cole and England's second was quite sublime.
Unfortunately, that was pretty much it and the game fell back into the first-half pattern. Andorra don't make it easy; they don't play to score, will kick lumps out of opponents and hit the floor rolling at every opportunity. It was England's job to break this stubborn side down, and they did - just.
You cannot make the mistake of reading too much into this game, just take the positives - most notably Joe Cole. The left flank should now be his for keeps, the Chelsea man's inventiveness is priceless and he seems the only player in the squad to be playing with confidence.
Wednesday will be a totally different affair. For a start, David James will have to put his gloves on when we line up against the Croats. Capello's starting 11 may yield yet more surprises. Theo Walcott's position hangs in the balance; David Beckham's experience will be needed - and that may cost the Arsenal youngster. Question is where? And will it be for 90 minutes? Was Beckham's cameo as sweeper a clue for Wednesday night?
Maybe Frank Lampard's inability to recreate club form for country has cost him his place. His Chelsea team-mate Joe Cole must start, while Everton's Joleon Lescott will make way for a fit-again Rio Ferdinand. Glen Johnson put in a good shift, but his desire to get forward may mean that the more defensively-minded Wes Brown will slot into the right-back position.
Up front is again where all the questions lie. Rooney is a shadow of his former self; he needs performance and the sooner the better. Heskey will most likely get the nod ahead of Defoe - the Wigan front man's ability to hold the ball up could prove to be a valuable commodity.
England will come under a lot of pressure come Wednesday and Capello will look to Heskey to provide an outlet and give our back four some respite.
Game one is done and dusted, three points are registered. You can't help but feel that this is going to be another roller coaster of a qualification campaign.
Comments (3)
by Sam Johnson on September 08, 2008
DOwning is picked on his club form and the fact he is the best winger in the country. joe cole is an attacking midfielder who can play on the left. Downing is a crosser off the ball and playing two 4 ft strickers is not going to help his game.
by Steven Bevington on September 08, 2008
Joe Cole is a terrific player, but he is no left winger. Cole should replace the out of form Rooney as a second striker. Downing is the best Left Winger in the country and deserves a run of games in this England side. He was poor last night, but EVERY England player was poor last night and it is unfair to single him out.
by Kenny Leonard on September 08, 2008
I personally wish stuart would kick team england into touch & concentrate on giving his all for the Boro we know what a player he really is & appreciate him (cue numpties saying yes i wish he would too). The way this man is treated by not just the media but the team england fans themselves is at times disgraceful team england fans seem to prefer players who run round like headless chickens without any end product than a player like Downing who actually provides an end product. As mentioned playing 2 strikers who are not renowned for being prolific in the air rooney who couldnt hit a cows backside with banjo at the mo & defoe who at pompey plays alongside a big man was not going to make life easy for Downing on the night. I still cant fathom what capello was thinking surely he must see what is as obvious to us as the nose on his face to take off Stuey & defoe at half time & replace them with cole & Heskey ??? heskey was the target man that Stueys delivery was screaming for not only that replacing Downing with what i would say is the best left winger you will never see on the left wing how many of his goals have actually come from the left wing position even his 2 on saturday came through the middle he doesnt even supply much from the left its all down the middle dont get me wrong I rate jo cole even though he is part of the overinflated ego's & paychecks that comes with the chelsea clique but not on the left . But hey even though there were 10 players who were just as bad as Stuey on the night Stuart Downing will be as usual blamed for everything from us not qualifying for the euro's to the assassination of kennedy by the press & the team england fans alike lets be honest its not like they got it wrong about players before have they IE: Owen Hargreaves
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