5 goalkeepers ready to take over from Joe Hart

When Manchester City won their first title since 1968 two seasons ago, Joe Hart was a pivotal member of the squad. Some of his performances that season were outstanding, easily the best goalkeeper in the league.

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Do Fulham Have Reason To Worry?

Things have been largely joyous at Craven Cottages for a number of year now, yet there are murmurings that the waters might just be set to get a little choppy.

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Why Chris Smalling Should Have Gone Out On Loan

Chris Smalling seems to be one of Roy Hodgson’s ‘teacher’s pets’ within the England squad. This is perhaps down to the fact he gave him his big break by putting him in the first team at Fulham which then enabled him to get a move to Old Trafford.  In his first season at United, Smalling impressed so much that he was named on the bench for the 2011 Champions League Final against Barcelona ahead of the more experienced Jonny Evans.

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100 England Caps For Frank Lampard - A Look At The Chelsea Midfielder's International Career

An effective midfielder is said to be one who can tackle, pass and score goals.  Although England have not had too many in recent years, they do have one who is about to receive his 100^th cap. 

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Why Cynicism Is The Wrong Message To Send Out To The England Squad

The favourites for next year's World Cup are undoubtedly the hosts of the tournament, Brazil, and with good reason.

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Do England stand a chance in Brazil next year?

The Confederations Cup serves two purposes: 1. to fill Sepp Blatter's pockets and 2. a dress rehearsal for hosts Brazil ahead of the 2014 World Cup.

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The England national team: failure to launch

Another anti-climax in a major international tournament for the Three Lions leaves a poignant reminder that we need to inspire creativity in our homegrown players to succeed on the national scene. Or does it?

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Lacklustre performances only highlight England's dried up talent pool

Much criticism was directed towards Roy Hodgson following an unquestionably poor display against Ireland last Tuesday night, yet in truth this was just another glaring example of how empty the stocks currently are in regards to picking an England squad.

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Road to World Cup - England’s goalkeeper crisis

Ever since David Seaman misjudged Ronaldinho’s free-kick in 2002, it seems like the England number one has been a cursed position. David James’ rash goalkeeping led to Denmark putting four past England in 2004.

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The Manchester United affect on the England squad

 

It would be fair to say that England’s hopes of achieving any success, relative or otherwise at next year’s World Cup will be heavily reliant on Manchester United players.

With this in mind I wonder whether David Moyes will adopt a

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Did the golden generation fulfill their potential?

One annoyingly loveable question surrounding English international campaigns in the Noughties was when were the country’s alleged world-class players going to add up to the sum of their parts? The question must be asked – was too much expected of them or was the problem ineffective management? A look at the individual club records of each would suggest the latter to be true, but can there ever be a decisive answer, as David Beckham, Golden Balls himself, announces his retirement?

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Keeping hold of your stars - the problem for football league clubs

It is always difficult for smaller clubs to keep hold of their most talented players, especially in today's world where money seems to be the deciding factor in most football related matters. Whilst it can be hoped that a larger, and more financially powerful, club will pay a fair price to sign an up and coming star, what can the selling club do if they don't wish to lose such an individual, and is it often in the player's interest to make the move? 

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Spirited to Sophisticated

English players have been criticised in recent history for lacking in creativity. As a football nation, being ‘Spirited’ seems to be our greatest achievement.

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Will Hodgson consider Beckham recall? (video)

37 year old David Beckham finds himself in Paris St Germain's first eleven this evening against Barcelona in the Champions League Quarter Finals, his starting berth coming within 24 hours of the midfielder admitting that he hasn't ruled out an England recall.

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The minnows of the world.

England put eight goals past San Marino during last week’s World Cup qualification match in Group H. To say that the result was a foregone conclusion is an understatement; we needed to know how many Roy Hodgson's men would score, not whether they would be victorious. Ranked in joint 207th place, alongside Bhutan and Turks & Caicos Islands, San Marino are right at the very bottom of FIFA's list and look like staying there for some time. Should teams such as this continue to participate in qualification group stages and what, if any, benefit are they gaining from doing so?

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