A Carling treat to please the Don

FEB 28 — For the past year, and especially during the World Cup 2010 qualifying campaign, England were looking in fantastic condition. Don Fabio Capello had done wonders, one imagined.

Glen Johnson performed admirably for Portsmouth and got a big money transfer to a Big Four club, Rio Ferdinand  and John Terry seemed like the best central defenders in Europe, Ashley Cole was showing why he is regarded as one of the best left backs in the world, Frank Lampard had just completed one of his best seasons, Steven Gerrard was creating havoc alongside Fernando Torres and nearly caught Manchester United for the league and Aaron Lennon was showing cracking form which seemed to be forcing him into England’s first 11.

Since the latter half of last year however, things have simply gone downhill for Terry and Cole on the personal front, Ferdinand and Gerrard have been abysmal for most of this season while Lampard seems to be fairly anonymous compared to his own high standards.

Add to that the injuries to Lennon and Johnson and the majority of England’s starting 11 seems to be crocked or out of form. One of the things that hasn’t changed is that Gareth Barry is still consistent and England still have the worst goalkeepers in comparison with some of the other international number ones.

The John Terry-Wayne Bridge saga has only made things worse for the manager from Italy. The 29-year-old Manchester City defender has basically pulled out of the England side of his own accord, declaring his position within Capello’s squad as “untenable”.

This decision represents a major blow for the Italian, who could also be without first-choice left-back Cole through injury. Hence, he has not yet given up hope of persuading Bridge to join the squad for South Africa.

It could be argued that Bridge needs to face his demons. So, now that the Chelsea v Manchester City match is over, with an emphatic win for the visiting Blues side, maybe Bridge might have a rethink over his ‘early retirement’ from international football.

Maybe, just maybe, Capello might get his wish and the former Southampton star will reverse his decision to turn his back on the England cause.

However, if Bridge remains resolute, it would seem somewhat unfair that he should be the one missing out rather than Terry, who has been stripped of the captaincy by Capello but is set to be named in the squad for this Wednesday’s meeting with African Nations Cup winners Egypt.

Every cloud has a silver lining, as the famous adage goes. In England, it has taken shape in the person of Wayne Rooney. He is in the form of his life, one could argue.

Hence, that is the only reason I can think that most people aren’t overly worried over England’s hopes of winning the World Cup this year.

Speaking of Rooney, his work-rate and scoring prowess has been a revelation of late. This naturally makes him the player most likely to lead MU’s attack against Aston Villa in the Carling Cup final tonight.

Alex Ferguson has mentioned that his focus will be on picking the right team to defeat Aston Villa in his 27th final as a manager. A number of young players are in contention for a place in keeping with MU’s youthful outlook in previous rounds. But, make no mistake, Ferguson wants to win this final and will pick a strong team of experienced players.

Villa go into the final on the back of an FA Cup replay win over Crystal Palace which secured them a quarter-final place. They’re also the only Premiership side to remain unbeaten since the end of last year.

England hopeful Gabriel Agbonlahor netted Villa’s winner at Old Trafford in December and is the club’s top scorer with 14 goals. Ashley Young and Stewart Downing, also vying for places in England’s final 22 to South Africa, pose a threat down the flanks. And in John Carew, they have another potential match winner.

The hair-dryer also known as Ferguson doesn’t like losing and the fact that MU had dropped four points against Villa this season will be on his mind.

Though I don’t see Ferguson under-estimating them but Villa certainly have the talent to win the Carling Cup.

Regardless of what happens in this cup final tonight, however, this weekend will be long remembered for the amazing 4-2 win by Man City at Stamford Bridge (where Chelsea also lost two players to red cards), and the horrific injury suffered by Arsenal’s Aaron Ramsey.

The Gunners went on to win their away tie at Stoke City by a 3-1 scoreline but mark my words, some action will finally be taken by the FA to reduce the kind of dangerous play and tackles that has now resulted in such a tragedy.

I also believe that the biased British press will finally come to the side of Arsenal, not so much for their liking of the Londoners, but more because Ramsey is a very promising and young Welsh lad.

Hopefully, the beautiful game of football will one day be truly allowed to be played by those skilled with the craft without any illegal hindrance from players who are purely brute and brawn instead of brain.