The Beautiful Game

Last night at about 8:07PM I was able to begin to wipe from my mind the memory of the last time I saw Croatia play at Wembley on that dark, wet and miserable night back in 2007 when England were eliminated from qualification for UEFA Euro 2008. As Frank Lampard stepped up to convert the penalty it felt like it was going to be a great night. The team playing well, keeping the ball, creating chances and scoring goals - but there was one element which I was getting a bit stuck on. Good old Emile Heskey.

Before the game I was fully bought in to starting Heskey over Defoe. Sure Defoe has been on fire for Spurs so far this season, but the England team look so much more balanced and get the best from Rooney and Gerrard when there is a big guy who can hold the ball up. However, the two chances that Heskey missed in the first half are ones that I am confident Harry Redknapp's wife could of scored - and if we have designs on winning the FIFA World Cup then we need two strikers who can offer a goal threat.

He is great at doing his job, has pretty good movement and makes Rooney play well - but I think that now we have the luxury of secured qualification Fabio Capello should turn to Carlton Cole. We know Heskey can do the job well. However, could Cole offer the complete package that as well as the hard graft and link play delivers an eye for goal?

It stunned me to find this from the Daily Mail;

Cole is easily the best option to replace Heskey.

I believe that he should start, and finish, both of the remaining competitive FIFA 2010 World Cup Qualifiers. There are 9 months for the team to be developed and refined and you could argue that with a fully fit crop of players only the right midfield and partner for Rooney are the ones that do not pick themselves (assuming David James is fit and playing well). Lennon deserves a run in the team - and he should get that after his MoM last night - but if we do not give Carlton Cole the minutes on the pitch we will never know and then what happens if Heskey gets injured in the first match?

Come on Carlton, don't let me down

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We all know that there is previous between England and France. It started a long time ago and still seems to rumble on. With Michel Platini's surge to power at UEFA it seems as though each season there is something new to talk about that demonstrates his passion against the success of the Barclays Premier League.

Right now it is the amazing decision against Chelsea that will stop them buying any new players till 2011. The punishment was dealt out by FIFA after the club was found guilty of getting a young winger, Gael Kakuta to break his contract with Lens in 2007.

Since achieving UEFA Presidency in 2007 Platini has tried to launch, and shared an official opinion on a number of new ideas and innovations to the game. However, to me it seems that often these are born out of Platini trying to fight the dominance of the English game in Europe.

The vast TV Rights money, huge transfer fees, foreign ownership and clubs mounting debts has created an aura of negativity across Europe against the Barclays Premier League, and the Chelsea ruling seems to be the latest battle. I am sure that this kind of thing has gone on in football for decades and all the top teams from all the top leagues must be guilty of it. I am not saying that I agree with it, and think it is very harsh to punish the young player as well as the club, it is just that it always seems that English teams suffer most.

I grew up watching Italian, Spanish and English football and Eduardo's 8.0 against Celtic looked like a cruncher compared to other examples I have seen throughout European football. Yet it is Arsenal who suffer the ban. It would not surprise me if the paper talk is proved right and Manchester United are the next team to suffer the same kind of ruling as Chelsea, then probably Manchester City. With these two incidents the authorities have set the precedent, and they now have to enforce them each time - I can't wait to see what happens the next time there is a dodgy penalty award against Arsenal.

Platini has recently backed the 6+5 idea (six home international players and five foreign players) to be introduced in top flight team in Europe. Platini has also backed caps on wages and transfer spending - and all foreign ownership of clubs. He has stated that he wants to cut the number of Italian, Spanish and English teams in the UEFA Champions League to a maximum of three instead of four and has also talked about banning clubs from European competition based on the debts of the clubs. All are valid ideas, but it seems that English clubs will get hit the hardest.

Too much money, not enough home-grown talent, clubs built on debt and foreign ownership, money taking over the game, players running clubs. These are Platini's view of the English game and he seems set to try and disrupt it.

I love the Barclay's Premier League, and it is so great because of the big business it has become and I have enjoyed English clubs having success in Europe (and the benefits this seems to be having on the national side) and hope that an English team can lift the UEFA Champions League trophy in Madrid in May and see Platini grit his teeth and applaud.

Sod it, I even wouldn't mind if it's Chelsea.

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Later on this season I shall be making a football pilgrimage to the home of the holders of the UEFA Champions League, FC Barcelona. Over the coming years I plan to visit all the major footballing arenas across the globe. From Wembley Stadium to the San Siro to the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu and one day the Estádio do Maracanã in Brazil. The list goes on. It is a long one, but a great one and my plan was to take in a match at Camp Nou this Autumn.

However, the logistics of my trip have clashed with the recent La Liga fixtures and instead of witnessing the Messi and Pep show at the Camp Nou I will instead be heading over to the other side of Barcelona and taking in RCD Espanyol v Tenerife. Some may see this as a disappointment, others a failure of organisation and planning and frankly a bit of a waste of time.

However, to me it is a footballing opportunity.

Chances are that RCD Espanyol/Tenerife, Fulham/Wolves, Genoa/Bari or Cologne/Vfl Bochum would provide a clearer indication of the power of the top European leagues than the standard matches that happen at the tail end of the UEFA Champions League. Sure the players are not considered as good (they are probably earning a lot less than Cristiano Ronaldo) and get less headlines but that does not mean they can not play. We are still talking about elite professionals. For example, I will get to see Iván de la Peña, Carlos Kameni and Shunsuke Nakamura play for RCD Espanyol - all International footballers.

I am excited by RCD Espanyol v Tenerife and the true experience at the new Estadi Cornella-el Prat stadium, and I encourage others to not always be drawn to the flame of the glamour clubs - there is more out there to experience and enjoy within the game we all love.

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Each season, more and more players are involved in more and more fixtures. There has been a big debate around Theo Walcott and his involvement in the seniors prior to the UEFA U-21 European Championships , and that he will end up without any rest before getting stuck back in to pre-season training.

However, that has now gone away (although bound to resurface if he gets any injuries next season), and the fact that Gerrard plays 65 games in a season does not surprise anyone anymore. It is always going to happen as the game continues to grow and be the global power that it is. What is interesting to me in these days of huge squads (and teams with a number of star players) is whether resting players actually helps the team.

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So Spain have finally lost a match, there 36 match unbeaten run that looked set to carry them to glory has come to an end, oh wait, no. This is the U-21 Spanish.

England's young lions who turned them over in the UEFA European U-21 Championships 2-1 . A powerful performance masterminded by Stuart Pearce that saw England play intelligently with the ball, create chances and be solid at the back to cement their place in the Semi-finals.

Although nowhere near the same level as the FIFA World Cup, it does start to give hope that the next crop of England players and I am sure that a number of these lads will be starting to think this could springboard them on to the plane to South Africa if they return with the trophy. Muamba and Gibbs were excellent and Milner, despite missing a penalty, again looked a solid player. Walcott perhaps had a point to prove and hopefully his impact in the 2nd half with make him believe in the tournament again and not keep dreaming of the Seniors.

I will be intrigues to see what happens after the tournament, as there are bound to be numerous scouts attending these championships over the FIFA Confederations Cup - if you recall it was this tournament that launched  Massimo Maccarone, Mark Hately and Bobby Zamora, so watch this space...

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