Norwich City,England,Spain,Arsene Wenger,Bert Van Marwijk,Robin Van Persie,Frank Lampard,FIFA,Alex Song,Barcelona

Is that the faint glimmer of real football ahead. Yes, just the slightest sight of Arsenal away to Norwich on Saturday lunchtime to bring an end to this long dull interlude.

I’m afraid that I find international football less and less exciting with every passing year. I will probably still watch the tournament itself, but the qualifying stages no longer stir me and friendlies can pass almost unnoticed.

Apparently we beat Spain at some point over the weekend. In fact I did see the goal on the news and Lampard won’t get an easier one in his career.

Attracting far more attention was the massive media fuss over whether or not FIFA would allow England to play with the poppy emblem on their shirt. Given that England have played many internationals at the same time of the year before, without the issue ever being raised, I think that the massive media fest and political posturing says more about how newspapers get sold and how politicians and pundits get themselves on telly than it does about football. So I’ll leave that one to people who blog about politics and such things.

If you share my boredom with the whole business then what you really want to know is whether the various traveling Gunners have picked up an injury or not.

The news appears to be good so far with no stories of hobbling Gunners limping home at all. Some will have a second game to play of course, but so far so good. Most importantly, Robin Van Persie won’t be making a second appearance for the Dutch side. His national coach, Bert Van Marwijk has gone along with some friendly lobbying from Arsene Wenger and agreed to use him just the once. Even better he doesn’t even have to hang around like a spare part and is going home.

There are still fifteen other Arsenal players out there though, hopefully ready to leap over sliding studs and not planning to rupture hamstrings chasing desperate over-hit passes.

That’s about it for Arsenal news though. We could work ourselves into a lather about Alex Song being linked with Barcelona and I could go back and change the headline to a more tarty ‘Star Gunner set to leave for Barcelona’. But there will be plenty more opportunities for such stuff when the transfer window is actually upon us.

So thanks for popping in on this foggy Monday morning. Thoughts on the Norwich game to come.

Have a nice day now!

In recent years I’ve been finding international football a bit dull and uninspiring.  So yesterday afternoon I almost didn’t bother.

But in the end I was sucked back in to see how Jack, Theo and Johann got on.  Plus there was that Scott Parker who many suppose could supply some diligence and maturity to Arsenal’s midfield.  Then there were a couple of lost boys too: Ashley ‘never been the same since…etc’ Cole and Phillippe Ponderous, sorry Senderos.

England started with ten minutes of quite spirited stuff, looking quite promising, but then lost there pace and purpose.  Inler and Behrami established Swiss control over the midfield and England were on the back foot.

Then those England boys seemed to come up with the tactic of confusing the hell out of the Swiss with a startling different way of defending free-kicks.  Rather than the zone method they adopted the ozone method, as in les make big holes in it.  The Swiss will be so confused they won’t understand what they’re up against!

Two direct free-kicks later the Swiss are so confused they’re two goals up.  Two free-kicks in which no-one, attacker or defender, touched the ball on its journey over the line.  The first came from a slightly high ball into the the middle of box that neither Terry nor Ferdinand judged right.  Hart decided not to come for it, which was not necessarily the wrong decision, and was left stranded as it crept inside the far post.  Even if he had managed to reach it and parry, the two nearest players were both Swiss.

The second was from a tighter angle.  Hart set a two-man wall of Walcott and Milner to guard the near post and crouched ready.  This time the free-kick was hit low and at the wall with a Swiss player making a late run into the box.

Milner obviously decided that this was the threat and started to move, despite the fact that the ball was heading straight for the wall.  It was a bit like a snooker player concentrating so hard on where the cue ball is going to end up that they miss the pot.  So the ball sails past Walcott, who had stayed put, through the space where Milner had been positioned by Hart and in the goal at the near post.

So, two-nil down and it’s looking a bit desperate.  At this point England woke up and went back to playing football.  Jack Wilshere won the ball and went on a determined run into the box where his club team-mate Djourou obligingly brought him down for a penalty.  Frank Lampard almost messed up with poor placement but had enough pace on the shot to score. So England ended the first-half still in the game.

Much of the pre-match debate had been about how knackered Jack Wilshere must be by now, but actually it was Lampard who looked most short of pace and form.  So it wasn’t a massive surprise to see him replaced at half-time.  In the end it was a draw, after a good goal from Young. But for a lot of the time the Swiss were the better side and if they’d taken three points you wouldn’t have called them lucky.

So what of the Arsenal boys, old and new?

Jack Wilshere is looking a bit worn round the edges now and needs time on the beach, but he was one of the better England players yesterday with determination, good running and intelligent passing.

Theo didn’t get in the game as much, but did okay.  He made some good runs but didn’t get a lot of support.  He also did his bit defensively making some good covering moves when Johnson got overlapped.

Djourou had a bit of a ‘mare.  He made some strange choices positionally and could have conceded a second penalty.  Senderos was the same as ever – committed, direct, reasonable positioning but little finesse and no pace.  Ashley Cole wasn’t too bad, but not stunning.  Someone landed on his instep early on which left him limping.  For some reason Capello waited an age to replace him with Baines, so he spent half his time on the pitch looking rather half-hearted.

So what of Scott Parker?  He certainly is diligent and mature, again yesterday as ever, and there are times when Arsenal need that.  But he doesn’t have have massive skill on the ball.  For a good price he would be a good option to have, but I hope we can do better.

At last some football on the horizon!  If real winter breaks are introduced they are going to take some getting used to or we will have nothing left to do with our time than to take Caught Offside and Bleacher reports seriously  – and then where will we be?

Merry Christmas one and all, hope you’ve been having a good time and over-indulging in the traditional manner.

So Chelsea at home.  Some are labelling this a must win game, Arsene Wenger says the top four tussles aren’t the big deal they always used to be.  All I know is that we’ve already dropped plenty of points this season and somehow got away with it.  But luck like that doesn’t last for ever and United are top with a game in hand.  So I’m hoping for something special tomorrow.

Injury-wise it looks like nothing has changed in recent days – Vermaelen, Gibbs, Frimpong and of course Almunia‘s mystery elbow.

So I guess that the goalkeeping choice is simple – Fabianski to start.  Likewise, the fullbacks – Sagna and Clichy.  Easy so far and I’m happy enough.

Next up central defenders.  Well, who gets to keep Drogba under lock and key?  Perm any two from Squillaci, Djourou and Koscielny?  I’d love to see Djourou get a run in the team and I think his size would help against Drogba.  But I don’t think it’s going to happen tomorrow.  In front of them goes Song, hopefully with a pretty limited remit as defensive midfielder.  If Lampard plays he’ll be trying to get back into the swing of providing  for Drogba and we need someone to keep the task of blocking that supply.

As for the attacking half, I think we need a bit more sense of adventure than we’ve shown recent games.  So I would like to see Walcott play.  I wouldn’t drop Nasri for him though.  Nasri is already doing fine out of position on the right.  I’d put him out of position on the left.  Arshavin needs to worry about someone other than Rosicky getting his place!

Fabregas in the middle with Wilshere, Van Persie in front.  Unless your having a bet on Arshavin’s performance, I think that’s the strongest attack we have.

__________ Fabianski __________
Sagna _ Squillaci _ Koscielny _ Clichy
___________ Song ____________
____Wilshere ____ Fabregas ___
Walcott ___ Van Persie ____ Nasri

What do you think?

Wayne Rooney has just had his best ever season, playing as a lone striker supported by attacking midfielders.  England have Wayne Rooney.  England has attacking midfielders.  Capello seems to favour a big traditional centre-forward who can receive the ball reliably, hold-up the play with strength and pass accurately.  Heskey does this well and if Capello sticks to his system, I would think he sticks with Heskey.

But I also think that to do this would waste the fact that England has one of the best forwards in the world at the moment.  Anyone who has watched Rooney’s powerful acceleration and determination to put himself in the box on the end of a pass knows that he doesn’t need someone to hold up the game for him.  He is the game.

Play him at the front, with Gerrard or Lampard just behind.  On current form that would be Gerrard.  Then play three supporting players behind them.

Put Barry in front of the back four.  This does two things.  It sets Lampard and Gerrard free because they know they don’t have to check to see if the other one is covering the defence.  It helps to cover the fact that England have lost their two most agile central defenders.  Terry and Carragher are going to have to rely on their experience of reading the game and their strength.  They could do with Barry cutting out the pacey runs through the middle when they are caught square with their backs to goal.

Come on England.

England 1 : 1 USA

Flags by abflag.com

Last night’s game was hard work to watch.  It wasn’t so much that England found some new low, rather that they rediscovered an old one.  For ninety minutes it was as if Capello had never been there.  The familiar dilemmas had returned.  Can Lampard and Gerrard excel together?  What do you do on the left? Who should play in goal?

I haven’t added ‘who should start up front with Rooney’ because I thought Heskey played a blinder.  Yes he buried a decent chance into Howard’s midriff rather than the net, but we all expected that anyway.  He was a fantastic target man, winning every ball and laying it off for a team mate, and was good in the build-up to England’s goal.

The injuries are a worry, particularly at the back. King and Ferdinand were the ones to deal with pacey strikers.  Let’s hope King’s groin strain isn’t serious.  The decision to replace Milner with Wright-Phillips is a curious one.  If Joe Cole is only the third best option on the left, why did he make the final twenty-three?

As for the goalkeeper.  Green’s nervous blunder on his tournament debut was a nightmare. Personally I think that Capello should have picked one successor to James and stuck with him to give him the experience. Goalkeepers need a run in the team.  The choice wasn’t an easy one, there have been several similar contenders, but by making it and sticking to it the keeper chosen would have got the maximum experience.  I wouldn’t rule out sticking with Green.  Sticking with someone is the key.

Gerrard and Lampard? They are two great players, they should both play, but side by side in a flat four midfield just doesn’t seem to work. They are so similar in style that if the formation doesn’t dictate what they do, then identical instinct or indecision kick in.

There are plenty of teams that successfully play 4-1-3-1-1 or 4-4-1-1, call it what you will.  Maybe Heskey should be dropped, Gerrard sit behind Rooney, Lampard in the centre of the three and Barry, or King, in front of the back four.

Well that’s my view from the armchair, I suppose it’s just possible Capello knows a hell of a lot more than me!

Hopefully this was just a nervy start and guys will get into their stride.  None of the teams have really impressed so far and maybe we all expect too much from the eagerly awaited first games.

I still expect England to progress by winning the group.