The English lack discipline according to this moron,while the Africans don't. And this is written by an Englishman. Would he say that about an African?
No discipline?
WHAT have the following in common?
Mikel (Chelsea), Darren Fletcher (Manchester United), Alex Song (Arsenal), Wilson Palacios (Spurs), Nigel de Jong (Man City), Stiliyan Petrov (Aston Villa) and Javier Mascherano (Liverpool).
They all play in a midfield holding position - though Fletcher, of course, has other strings to his bow.
Their clubs finished in the top seven in the Premier League.
They are all, begging Scotsman Fletcher's pardon, foreign.
Which explains why injuries to Owen Hargreaves and Gareth Barry have rocked England's World Cup plans.
We just do not appear to have anywhere near sufficient numbers in a position that relies on one trait that seems to be beyond most Englishmen.
Discipline.
The discipline to stick to a plan and a specific area of the field without any rush of blood to the head.
In essence, the ability to perform the sort of measured job Mascherano does so astutely for Liverpool and Argentina. The importance of Barry in providing England with a natural balance - his left foot the perfect foil to Frank Lampard's right - is such that he will be given until World Cup deadline day to reclaim fitness.
That means 24 hours before the opening game against the USA in Rustenburg when the City star will not have played for 38 days.
Even then, Fabio Capello may gamble on Barry's availability for one of the later group games.
The perversity of all this is that he doesn't even play in the holding position for his club.
Yet such is his value to Capello, who has started Barry in 19 of his 23 games in charge, that how to replace him has become the big talking point of England's countdown to the World Cup.
This has become even more of a debate after the failure of James Milner and Michael Carrick against Mexico.
Now we have just one game left against Japan in Graz on Sunday to solve the dilemma should Barry fail to recover.
This is why it is essential Scott Parker and Tom Huddlestone be given a minimum 45 minutes each. Should Parker be awarded less, there seems little point in him being called up for the first time since November 2008.
To be blunt, if Parker is the answer then it must be one hell of a problem.
He has his supporters after successive Hammer of the Year awards at Upton Park.
There is concern Parker is not a bone fide international. That he has looked good in unremarkable teams at Charlton, Newcastle and West Ham.
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And that he failed to make any impact at Chelsea where Jose Mourinho preferred run-of-the-mill players like Tiago and Jiri Jarosik.
And then there's Huddlestone. He didn't do too badly against Mexico in his 28 minutes, though Steven Gerrard was credited for battening down the hatches.
Yes, he lacks a bit of pace and mobility, yet in the controlled role he will be asked to adopt this is not necessarily such a bad thing.
There will be many hoping to see him get a start alongside Lampard in Austria.
Should it go pear-shaped again, then what's the betting Capello reverts to a central midfield of Lampard and Gerrard against the USA?
And how amusing it would be if it worked!
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