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England’s flat and uninspired display against Montenegro had much to do with the strike force that was available to Capello. With both Bent and Defoe injured and Rooney out of form, it was no real surprise that England lacked potency in front of goal.

After the injury to Bent it is difficult to explain why Owen didn’t find himself included in the squad. Owen has an extraordinary record for England, netting 40 goals in 89 games including representing England in three World Cups. It is a credit to Capello that he saw through the media spin on Kevin Davies and called him into the team but not to only have three front line strikers was clearly a mistake.

With the greatest respect to Kevin Davies he is not a player that will change a tight game from the bench, with only two goals from seven starts before the match at Wembley his record suggests this. With a player like Michael Owen, you get a predatory instinct from the bench. Remember the Manchester derby last season? With Capello asking his wingers to cut in onto their favoured foot, Crouch became an isolated figure and the introduction of Davies did nothing to alleviate the problem. Any loose balls or deflections in the box would have suited a proven goal scorer in Owen rather than Davies.

A call up for Owen would not be a long-term solution for the striking problems England have. However most England fans must agree that with the greatest respect in the world, they would rather have seen Owen come on for the last ten minutes than Davies. Owen started the season in limbo at Old Trafford. With the signing of Hernandez and emergence of Macheda it seemed that Owen’s days in Manchester were numbered.

However, Owen has clearly worked hard in training and his performance in the Carling Cup brought Owen back to starting line up against Sunderland. Owen without doubt is not the same player that left Ayala for dead in 1998 – with the situation England found them selves in he would have given England’s attack a different dimension.

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It is not a convincing argument that Owen is passed it for England. Owen netted a hat trick in the Champions League last season and has been brought on against the top teams in England. Looking from the outside it seems that Capello either has forgotten about Owen or simply has little trust that he can still give something at international level. Maybe when every front line striker is fit Capello is right not to include Owen. Capello and England go into the new year on the back of an abject performance. Owen would not have changed the performance but it is not inconceivable to think a winning goal could have been achieved with Owen on the pitch.

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Given the current state of the global economic scenery and the impending Eurozone crisis it would be foolish to consider football, almost the archetypal boom and bust business, to be immune to such exterior influences.

You only need witness Sky Sports News’ desperation for something, anything, to happen in this January’s transfer window, if only to validate Bryan Swanson’s existence, to realise that football club expenditure has been capped across the board. Sir Alex Ferguson is continuing his frantic quest for value in the transfer market, Arsene Wenger’s fretting over which 16-year old Frenchman he can afford and even Roberto Mancini has been forced to admit he has to sell before he can buy.

On a much smaller scale Crawley Town, the so-called Manchester City of League Two, is seemingly scaling down its extravagant spending following the admittance that the club’s paltry attendances are causing budgetary constraints. Steve Evans, be it through either misguided jealousy or promotion-chasing pressures, deemed it necessary to cast his own aspersions as to Southend United’s spending claiming that Paul Sturrock was throwing money as if it were confetti.

The only problem being that it simply isn’t true. The club’s financial plight is hardly a secret and no matter what Evans may think, confetti stocks are comparatively low. The club continues to lose money on a monthly basis and the development of Fossetts Farm could not come soon enough.

This factor, even if it does seem to elude Steve Evans, only contributes towards Paul Sturrock’s activity in the transfer market. The squad has been strengthened significantly this month without spending exorbitantly, perhaps best demonstrated by the most recent acquisition of Pat Baldwin. An experienced centre-half with great lower-league pedigree has arrived on a free transfer to shore up a defence that has looked unusually fragile as of late.

Sturrock’s ability in the transfer market is almost fabled. Noted as a manager that consistently overachieves what his budget might dictate in the book ‘Why England Lose’, Sturrock was also hailed in a recent article in the Financial Times that considered managerial success in correlation to expenditure. Former manager Steve Tilson also featured, highlighting the successful string of managers the club has had of late.

Given Southend’s parlous financial state and the current economic climate, Sturrock has proven himself to be a highly adept manager of clubs in particular predicaments. Promotion this year would surely be the jewel in his crown.

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By Liam Stoker

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Barcelona may have already claimed their third straight La Liga title, but the competition for European places will be on in earnest come Sunday.Barca’s 1-1 draw at Levante on Wednesday was enough to secure Pep Guardiola’s men the title because of their superior head-to-head record against second-placed Real Madrid, and they can celebrate their win at home when they host Deportivo La Coruna.

Real have second spot sewn up but they travel to meet fourth-placed Villarreal who need to claim full points if they are to have any chance of catching Valencia and securing automatic Champions League qualification.

Although Jose Mourinho’s team have little to play for but pride, they still want to finish the season with two more wins.

“The coach has asked us to finish the league by winning our games and we will try to do that,” said star striker Cristiano Ronaldo, who has scored 36 goals for the season, just two behind the all-time record of 38 set by Athletico Bilbao’s Telmo Zarra in 1951 and Real’s Hugo Sanchez in 1990.

Villarreal are five points behind Valencia and are already guaranteed fourth spot and a place in the qualifiers, which looks like their most likely path to glory with Valencia needing only a point from their home clash with mid-table Levante to be sure of third.

Most of the action centres on the tussle for fifth and sixth place, and the Europa League places that go with them.

Athletic Bilbao are in fifth on 54 points, trailed by Sevilla (52), Atletico Madrid (52) while Espanyol (49) are also still in the mix.

Espanyol travel to Real Zaragoza, who need a win to escape the bottom three, while Bilbao will be looking to rebound from their 2-1 loss at Deportivo on Tuesday.

Atletico have the easiest match of all four Europa League contenders, taking on the already-relegated Hercules at home.

Getafe are just one point outside the drop zone, but will have to beat an Osasuna side who are riding a hot streak of form.

Osasuna have picked up three big wins in succession – posting a 1-0 win over Valencia on May 1 before thrashing Zaragoza 3-1 a week later and then coming from 2-0 down to beat Sevilla on Wednesday.

Sporting Gijon are still an outside chance to go down, and they play host to Racing Santander, while only pride will be on the line when Almeria – who are already relegated – tackle mid-table Mallorca.

Manchester City head coach Roberto Mancini wants to see an end to some of his players complaining to the press about a lack of opportunities at Eastlands.

The likes of Shay Given, Emmanuel Adebayor and Craig Bellamy have all been outspoken about their City prospects, with Bellamy subsequently moving to Cardiff City on a season-long loan.

That situation has annoyed Mancini, who said:"I played football. Sometimes I had this behaviour. I can understand it, so it is not frustrating for me.

"But at the same time it is important they start to change their mentality. If they want to become a top squad and a top team they must change it.

"It is impossible that every three days players do interviews complaining that they are not playing.

"They need to knock on my door and speak with me so I can explain the situation.

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"I want to create an atmosphere like they have at Chelsea and Manchester United, but maybe it is easier for them to accept it because they have had success."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email

Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas said yesterday that he believes the structural set up of the English academy system is fundamentally flawed. The Portuguese former Porto man took over from Carlo Ancelotti in the summer and has had a tempestuous first six months in the English game. The thirty-four year old said:

“The youth development system in England is not right, in my belief. There is plenty of effort and talks to get it right but in my opinion it is not. The reserve team league is not competitive. The youth levels are not competitive enough. The FA Youth Cup: does it favour talent or competition? In my opinion there is a missing link between age groups in all competitions. There should be national championships played between teams from around the country. The older ones should play nationally. The younger ones should play regionally. You promote more talent and competitiveness and it is that which generates talent and willingness to drive.”

This is the latest in a string of attacks on the way young talent is developed in this country. The new Elite Player Performance Plan, or EPPP, was approved before Christmas and will replace the system of tribunal-set transfer fees with a compensations scheme, which essentially makes it easier and cheaper for the big clubs to poach young players from teams in lower leagues. The EPPP has come under intense scrutiny from the Football League teams who, although voting to accept the new system, felt they were pressured financially into allowing it to go ahead.

Villas-Boas lamented the English system claiming that without the competitive side to the youth and reserve leagues the younger players are not ready to make the step up to the first team without first going out on loan, which would mean putting those players at the mercy of an inferior coaching team. Instead the Chelsea manager would rather adopt a system similar to that in Spain where the top clubs have ‘B’ teams, which compete in the tier below their parent club. Essentially all top clubs would have their own feeder club in the Championship. The benefits of this for top clubs are clear for all to see: they would be able to not only give their youth and reserve players competitive matches to play in but they would also gain that experience as a team and benefit from the high level coaching of their parent club at the same time. This model has worked exceptionally well for teams such as Barcelona and Real Madrid, many of whose players have been playing together competitively since they were very young.

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However Villas-Boas’ suggestion merely adds another dark cloud to the possible future of Football League sides, many of who are already struggling on and off the field.

The goal of every non Premier League team is to make it to the top tier and establish themselves there in order to secure the future of the club. However that task would be infinitely harder if they had to compete against the feeder cubs for the best teams. Moreover, how Villas-Boas suggests these ‘B’ teams should be integrated in to the Football League would be a proposal worth hearing. It would be unacceptable at any level to oust teams from a league to make space for the ‘B’ teams of top clubs. The only other alternative is to persuade teams in the lower leagues to become the feeder teams of Premier League clubs, but if that is the Chelsea manager’s proposal then he should be aware that this is already a possibility. Top English clubs already have feeder clubs in England and abroad. At a time when the worldwide economic downturn has lead to a continuous stream of clubs facing existential crises Villas-Boas suggestions, whilst undeniably beneficial for clubs such as Chelsea, could be the final nail in the coffin for many English clubs. Not only would tier mobility be more difficult than it already is but it would present clubs with the option of either losing their identity as a football team or face their ambitions being severely hampered.

At the risk of sounding overly sentimental, whilst under extreme pressure in his own job, perhaps Andre Villas-Boas should recognise that he is not the only manager in the Football Leagues struggling to get the best out of his team at the moment and his proposals could greatly damage effectiveness of many managers who are in similar situations at smaller clubs. The other important factor is that as much as football is concerned with competing globally and being the ‘best’ it is also a sport that provides entertainment and a sense of community for millions around the country, it is a sport that has its roots not in the glitz of the international stage in front of hundreds of cameras but in the small smallest stadiums in some of the poorest sections of the country. To abandon our roots would be to abandon the very aspect of football that has made it such a national institution in the first place. Progress for the elite is important, but not at the cost of an array of historic clubs.

Follow me on Twitter @H_Mackay

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Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger wants his ‘wounded’ team to bite back when they host Manchester United on Sunday.Wenger’s men were on target for a quadruple for a long period of the season, but one by one, Arsenal have fallen out of contention for each trophy.

It was Manchester United defender Patrice Evra who likened Arsenal to a wounded animal and Wenger agreed with that analogy.

“That’s what we want to show. We are certainly wounded and we have to build up the animal until Sunday,” Wenger said.

“We have been hit very hard. In fairness, I believe as well that we had an unfortunate run of fixtures because we played a run of Wednesday, Sunday, Wednesday, Sunday.”

“We missed that little bit extra that Bolton had in the decisive moments when they beat us recently and that is because of our fixtures.”

“That happened to us many times this season where the fixtures did not go our way.”

Arsenal are now nine points behind United which has taken some of the edge out of what could have been a potential title race decider.

Wenger added: “It is disappointing from that point of view. This game was targeted as being a decider for the championship but now it certainly will not be.”

“We still have to give absolutely everything and you never know if we beat United, it would come back to a six point gap.”

“You never know and it is important for us to show some fighting spirit, some fighting attitude and some pride. There is more at stake on Sunday than just the mathematics.”

“We will never give up as long as there is a mathematical chance, because if that is the case we have not the right to be at Arsenal Football Club.”

Arsenal will be missing defender Thomas Vermaelen (Achilles tendon) and midfielder Abou Diaby (groin).

When Joe Hart embarked on his loan move to Birmingham City just over a year ago, even he could not have envisaged the transition to England’s number one goalkeeper being so close.

As a Birmingham fan it does not come as a surprise having watched him all of last season, nor does the fact that his return to a more “fashionable” club in Manchester City means he is being praised far more often.

Hart said: “I can’t stress enough how important that year was at Birmingham, I was very grateful to Alex McLeish for giving me that opportunity.” And if we are to going to revel in the 23-year olds dazzling graduation for England then perhaps Birmingham should be credited more so than any other- the move to St Andrews instigated the realisation of his talents.

And those talents are now blossoming under the spotlight that has always shone on England’s number one spot. Hart’s save from Stanislav Angelov to stop a Bulgaria equaliser was an indicator that Capello was wrong in his suspicion of inexperience and although hardship is yet to blemish his admirable modesty it seems England have their best goalkeeping prospect in many a year.

He claimed he goes out and plays with “enjoyment and not fear” and a keepy uppy cameo did little to disprove his theory against Bulgaria.

Whilst some may have seen it as inappropriate in a competitive game others will have endorsed it, feeling that his spontaneity is just what England need after the dull predictability of the so called “Golden Generation”.

His rise in stature and presence when farmed out to Birmingham City in search of a change of fortune coupled with the failings of his England competitors should be paid homage to, not ignored. Alex McLeish’s faith in the youngster was pivotal in his progression.

Ray Clemence described his performance against Tottenham a few weeks ago “a bit special” and the unassuming manner in which he conducts himself is quite uplifting in the dawn of a new era and as England set upon their road to recovery, they can do so safe in the knowledge they have in my opinion the best keeper in the country right now – the number one spot may finally have met its match.

A welcome addition to the Premier League’s Wag arena – Click on image below to view gallery

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The convincing win over Wolverhampton will help alleviate the fans’ concerns over the depth and quality of Manchester United’s squad, but that shouldn’t stop Sir Alex Ferguson bringing in a couple of players.

A lot of people are harping on the manager to bring in a centre-back or a forward, but those positions shouldn’t take priority over the major concerns in the squad.

The two areas that should be concerning Ferguson the most are the two full-back positions, because United are very light in terms of adequate coverage there.

Right now the club has four natural full-backs on their books – Patrice Evra, young Ezekial Fryers and the da Silva twins – but that’s cly not sufficient enough.

Injuries are always going to happen, which is why you build a squad of players rather than a team, but the current severity of the situation at United are exposing some weaknesses in theirs. Rafael and Fabio are hurt more often than they aren’t – which is causing problems with the Boss being forced to play other defenders out of position to provide temporary cover.

Yes, Phil Jones and Chris Smalling have been showing their natural football ability and athleticism by providing relief at right-back, but they are natural centre-backs and that’s where they will eventually need to play. A lot of fans – right or wrong – complain that Jonny Evans is playing, but the bottom line is that he has to.

Left-back has also been a concern for some of the supporters for a long time, because of Evra’s defensive lapses and more of his focus on attacking. Also, not having any alternatives to challenge him for his place is a real worry, as well. A couple of years ago he was touted as the best left-sided full-back in the world, but since then his defensive weaknesses have been greatly exposed. Going forward is a different story, because he offers tremendous value to the Reds’ attack, but that’s not what he’s paid to do – is it?

There’s no question that Ferguson knows this, because, when fit, Fabio has stepped in and defended much better than Evra has. And yes, Ezekiel Fryers is just being introduced into the first team and he could be a long-term fixture there, but for the club to pin their hopes on a 19-year old kid is unfair to him and the fans, which could happen if Evra goes down with an injury (knock on wood).

Most of the goals that have been scored against United this season, have come from either a cross in from the flanks or an opposing player running at the full-backs. Against Wolves, Smalling was struggling to cope with a very underrated Matt Jarvis and that allowed the them to have confidence to get something from the game – but that was happening more than just for the goal. Thankfully, Wolverhampton didn’t have their shooting boots on, because it could’ve been a much different outcome – as ridiculous as that sounds.

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Injuries, especially the one to Nemanja Vidic cannot be planned for, but when the ones that happen to the da Silva twins are expect – and that’s a problem for Sir Alex Ferguson and why he should spend to get a full-back – or two – for Manchester United.

Article courtesy of David from The United Religion

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What a big loss it was for Tottenham in the build-up to their Champions League Quarter Final against Real Madrid on Tuesday night. Following the positive news that Gareth Bale was fit to play, manager Harry Redknapp was forced to withdraw England winger Aaron Lennon just minutes prior to kickoff. As a last-minute reshuffle, Jermaine Jenas was drafted in on the right-side of midfield as the team were forced to do without one of their best attacking players.

Redknapp attributed Lennon’s absence to an unspecified illness: “He felt rough, went out and had a warm-up, came in and said he didn’t feel well…if he didn’t feel fit enough then there’s nothing we can do” was the official line given to the BBC. And that surely should have been it?

But no. Lennon joined a growing number of fellow players in offering his own take on proceedings publicly through microblogging service Twitter. “Saying I fell ill before the game is bull****… I fell ill on Sunday morning”, he told followers. “Will not be made a scapegoat”.

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But was he made a scapegoat? Admittedly his absence was a big loss for the team and Redknapp was forced into last-minute changes that ultimately altered the whole team’s shape. But illness is illness and those fans labelling Lennon a bottler should give him some credit. And after his fantastic performance against Milan at the San Siro, he can hardly be criticised for failing in big games.

And what about Harry Redknapp? Surely he must have been aware of Lennon’s illness prior to the match as the winger was prescribed antibiotics on Sunday. But you cannot criticise him for wanting to field his strongest available side. Admittedly in this case it was a gamble and one that failed to pay off as Redknapp seemed to be without a suitable Plan B. Jermaine Jenas was seen being briefed on the pitch prior to kick off but you would have thought Redknapp would have had Jenas in preparation since doubts were first raised about Lennon on Sunday.

But why was Lennon so worried about being labelled a scapegoat? Unless he was withholding information about his condition then he should accept that he fell ill and there was nothing more he could have done. Spurs were forced into last-minute changes but that’s in the nature of football. And, if Spurs fans were to look for a scapegoat surely they would look towards Peter Crouch whose two reckless challenges ultimately left Tottenham with a monumental task.

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The only way Lennon has criminalised himself in this debacle is by publicly disagreeing with his manager’s tale of events. Admittedly we live in a society free of censorship and Twitter has been a revelation in helping fans to connect with sportsmen and women. But at the same time, Harry Redknapp is his manager and in publicly disagreeing with him, Lennon has shown a lack of unity and trust in his manager. In the same way that managers are prohibited from publicly criticising referees, perhaps players should think twice next time they vent their feelings so openly.

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Can Fergie complete a double this weekend? His horse What a Friend is 11/1 to win the Grand National. Make sure you don’t miss out on the biggest betting event of the year!

Bob Bradley has emerged as one of the favourites to succeed Martin O'Neill as Aston Villa boss with the American confirming that he would be keen to coach in Europe.

Villa owner Randy Lerner is desperate to bring in a new manager as soon as possible after O'Neill decided to resign just five days before the start of the new Premier League season.

Current USA boss Bradley guided his country to the last 16 of the World Cup where they were edged out by Ghana and has a wealth of experience.

He is currently preparing for his team for this week's friendly international against Brazil, and revealed:"I've said over and over that I'm always excited about new and different challenges.

"Certainly coaching in Europe at some point is something that I'd love to do.

"At the same time, I also consider it a challenge when you finish one (World Cup) cycle and begin the process of working on another one. From the time one World Cup ends, you begin to go through the process of assessing where you are."

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Bradley, who was linked with the manager's job at Fulham before the Cottagers appointed Mark Hughes, added: "People spoke to Fulham on my behalf. I did not actually speak to anyone at Fulham."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email