If you want to try football betting and bet on the outcome of the World Cup this year then you are probably compiling your short list of candidates just like I am. Of course all the usual suspects are on the list, Brazil, Spain, Argentina, Germany, Italy, France, Holland etc but do England deserve to be on that list?
One could argue that we are 8th in the world rankings but just how accurate are those rankings? They take into account all games and some countries experiment more in non competitive games than others. In years gone by we have been behind the likes of USA and Mexico in those rankings when if we were to play either of these sides then England would be favourites on a neutral ground.
But you have to pick a side that is playing well and players who are playing well. When you play football at the level that we are looking at this summer then most of it is played in the mind. So anything that detracts from that like injuries and lack of games or personal problems is going to be a problem.
Fortunately we seem to have a manager in Capello who realises the importance of these factors and he strongly favours players who are playing and doing well with their clubs. This is correct in my mind…….do you automatically pick people like Joe Cole, Ashley Cole, Theo Walcott and David Beckham merely because they have done well in the past?
What worries me about England is their defensive record against very good teams. We always concede and when you cannot keep a clean sheet against the best when you get to the quarter-finals and beyond then you have a problem.
We gift too many goals by a lack of concentration or other defensive mishaps. Last night Egypt scored after a slip by Matthew Upson……this is England’s Achilles heel.
