LETS BE RIO-LISTIC

After Japan/Korea world cup in 2002,Rio Ferdinand was bought for 30 million by Manchester United. Since then he has been regarded as one of the best defenders in the world. Severn years at the top of his game. But now after a handful of recent errors it`s not just his England spot going up in smoke, but his club spot too.

This is the man who was in contension to become Englamd captain. A man who captained United to champions league glory in 2008.

After United`s loss to rivals Liverpool at the weekend, Rio Ferdinand once agian had the critics on his back after Torres`s opener."He`s lost a yard of pace" is the new one people are saying. WHY cause he couldn`t out sprint Torres? name me a centre back who can? he sure kept up with im though. The goal was because of a perfectly waited pass from Benayoun and Torres blistering pace and finish.

I`m not defending the errors against Holland and Man City, but how many other defenders errors this year have been mentioned? Jamie Carragher was lucky to stay on the field against United. John Terry moaned about his teams defending aginst Villa. If you watch his marking of John Carew though it was dismal, like the rest of his team. Lescott hasn`t been a saint at the back either this year.

Its not just premiership stars either. Real Madrids best back four conceded four goals to Spanish minows Alcoron.

"He`ll need to get his form right." This was the response given by Alex Ferguson when asked wether Unted defender Rio Ferdinand will be going to South Africa with England.Extremely true. I have always said international players should get picked on form rather than the name on the back of the shirt.

Ferdinand is a top player who will always have class. Form is tempory . Ferdinand said "I take each game as it comes." He`s a confident player who brings composure to players around him. Im sure he will regain form and prove critics wrong for both club and country.

COULD ASH CAP IT?

WELL some players are still trying to impress Fabio Capello, others are already cemented into the Italians plans. Ashley Cole is defiantly one of those players.
Even though there have been a few lapses in concentration recently for England, Cole is still one of the first names on the team sheet.

At 28 years old, the Chelsea full back already has 77 caps under his belt. Now I’ve started thinking how many will he get by the end of his career?

With David Beckham 10 caps off Peter Shiltons impressive record of 125 caps, I think Cole may be the man who passes the great goalkeepers record if Beckham fails.

Cole made his England debut in a routine 3-1 against Albania in 2001. Since then he has been an England regular filling the void left by Stuart Pearce, which we struggled to fill. If England make it through their next two campaigns like this one, Cole could feature in 2012 euro’s and the next world cup.

Now with England in the world cup finals, he will be able to extend his caps into the mid eighties. I’m sure he has more important things at the full front of his mind, such as Chelsea getting back on top of the League. But somewhere deep in his thoughts must be the ambition to become England’s most caped player.

Cole has already set one record though. He is the only player to have won the FA cup a breathtaking five times. With the only other decent young English left backs being Kieron Gibbs and Leighton Baines, Cole should continue to have a long run in the England set-up.

WEEK IN WORDS

FIRSTLY I’ve got to mention England’s successful qualifying campaign. For once the boys in white have done it the easy way and done what was asked of them. Still I’m not going to get carried away there’s a few tweaks to sort out, mainly who’s going to play between the sticks. Also we need to stop making schoolboy errors at the back and giving away soft goals. With the experience of Ferdinand, Terry and Cole along with the confident Glen Johnson I’m hopeful that will be stopped.
Also who will support Rooney up front? If it were my choice Jermaine Defoe would be that man, but again there is a long way to go yet, and surely a few injuries.

SPECULATION surrounding Emile Heskey’s future at Aston Villa has been put into the public eye. According to various papers the 31 year old will leave the midlands club in January if he fails to claim a starting spot. Heskey has failed to carry his international form, which has seen him link up well with Wayne Rooney, to his club form. I can’t help thinking if he can’t make the Villa starting line up how can he start for England in a world cup?

RAFEAL Benitez hit out after star players Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres came back injured from international duty. He said, “both players played with us and they were fine, then came back from international duty injured.” Its extremely unfortunate timing for the reds as they face Sunderland today, Lyon midweek and Manchester United next weekend. A loss to Sunderland will near enough end Liverpool’s title hopes, and defeat to Lyon will leave them falling behind in the champions league. This a big week for the reds and their boss.

ONLINE SHOCCER

TODAY’S game between England and Ukraine is being shown online and viewers will be charged to watch it. Online company Kentaro, who bought the rights to the game after Setanta went bust will be streaming the game to viewers after failing to sell the match to ITV or the BBC. England fans have posted their anger online already, but some people are now saying this is the future way to watch football, but is it really?

The plus side is that we would be able to choose which premier league match we wanted, instead of watching the games Sky or ESPN broadcast. Also if every football match could be streamed people who support smaller clubs with no live TV coverage such as league two sides would be able to watch their side’s week in week out.

But is this really the root we want to take? I dislike watching sports on a small screen let alone on a laptop. What would happen to going to the pub to watch Manchester United v Chelsea only to find out their showing Burton Albion v Bristol Rovers? because the landlord is from Burton. Also if pubs were paying £10 per a match and were screening three or four would the have an entry fee to enter your local?

England fans have supported the team so much through this campaign. They have put less pressure on the team, got behind them all the way and packed Wembley out for all the qualifiers. But now we are told we have to spend extra money to watch our country play football. I personally think it’s a disgrace and leaving more fans out of pocket.

If England were still in the hunt for qualification this issue would not have surfaced for a long time and I would be happily sat in the pub with a pint, surrounded by hundreds of others doing the same.

Darren's Hopes Bented

THE England squad to face Ukraine and Belarus was announced last week and without the premierships 2nd top scorer. Yes Darren Bent will not be taking part in England's last two qualifiers this week.

Instead Mr Capello has opted for Gabby Agbonlahor, Emile Heskey, Carlton Cole, Peter Crouch and Wayne Rooney as his striking options. I couldn’t help thinking with Defoe injured Bents our only other player who is a natural goal scorer and would be a certainty for a call up.

I fail to understand how a player who has scored more goals than any other player of the same nationality and has started every league game this year can fail to be picked over a player such as Emile Heskey who has only started 3 games and failed to score. I’m not saying he should start For England or even that he’s proved he’s international quality, but as goals and form go he’s on fire at the moment. Surely any English striker who has scored all most a goal every game in the premiership should be picked for the national team, whoever they are.