Neville for England

Thursday, 22/04/2010

As the weeks countdown until the end of the season and the start of the World Cup, many questions are starting to be answered. Who will go up and down? Who will grab silverware? And who will be fit to play in South Africa?

With England boss Fabio Capello attending Premier League matches at greater regularity than Paul Scholes miss-timing a challenge, it seems that certain issues are yet to be resolved in the mind of the Italian.

Capello will clearly be hoping that his match-winners and irreplaceable players, like Wayne Rooney and Steven Gerrard, can maintain the necessary fitness and sharpness to be a threat this summer, but a few problem positions will be causing him plenty of deliberation.

One area that will be causing concern is the number one spot, with Robert Green’s form slightly faltering as West Ham struggle to stay in the Premier League, David James still as likely to perform a world-class save as a miss-kick and Ben Foster as close to a first-team start for Manchester United as Jamie Carragher.  In all likelihood, Fabio will take the on-form Joe Hart alongside the experience of James and the match sharpness of Green.

Another position which is far from certain is right-back. Glen Johnson, out for large parts of the season with injury, is back playing regularly for Liverpool and despite his defensive deficiencies, the former Portsmouth right-back is likely to be first choice, but who will back him up?

Possible candidates are Manchester City pair Micah Richards and Nedum Onuoha. Richards has been out injured of late and is targeting a return before the end of the season. Whether he’ll have enough time to secure his place remains to be seen and Onuoha probably hasn’t played regularly enough this season to put himself into contention.

One previously popular Capello pick is Wes Brown, but he’s another out injured. The answer could just be Brown’s Manchester United colleague Gary Neville, a man drenched with big game international experience after playing at five major tournaments and collecting 85 caps.

Hardly an England fans’ favourite and written off by many who doubted he’d ever wear the Three Lions on his chest again, Neville has returned to prominence for United this season, starting more games and finding some of the form that made him England’s first choice full-back for more than a decade.

The United captain lacks the pace and ability to bomb forward that he used to posses, but showed in the recent Manchester derby victory that his reading of play and big game composure more than makes up for that. Neville kept Craig Bellamy is his pocket for large periods and not many defenders have done that this season.

The 35-year-old’s leadership qualities and man-marking expertise could also be a major factor in Capello’s decision. As a back-up to Johnson and if England needed to tighten things up, Neville would be a great option to have on the bench.

Also capable of playing at centre back, another position where the Three Lions aren’t exactly blessed with options, Capello may just be thinking that the presence of Red Nev in South Africa answers one of his crucial questions and could be exactly what squad needs.

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