Sven-Goran Eriksson Urges FA To Consider Jose Mourinho

Sven-Goran Eriksson has urged the FA to approach Jose Mourinho as coach when Fabio Capello resigns. The national team’s coach is one the hardest jobs in football and one where many managers have failed to get the best out of the players.

The Swede insists the special one has more than the correct qualities to succeed as England Manager and would like to see the Portuguese man at the helm. Eriksson himself enjoyed a successful spell as England manager guiding the Three Lions to a quarter-final place in the World Cup where they lost to Brazil in 2002.

Jose Mourinho, who is now boss of Real Madrid, helped guide Chelsea in winning two Premier League titles and the FA Cup during his time at Stamford Bridge.

"I wouldn't be surprised if Jose was a candidate for the England job, absolutely not," the Leicester boss was quoted as saying in several national newspapers.

"Do you think the discussion that you must be English to be the England manager is still going on? I don't think so.

"Nobody would complain if England were to take Mourinho. I think what he has done during the last 10 years makes him perhaps the best, or one of the best, managers around.

"When he's finished at Real he won't be short of offers, so why not? If you've tried English football, you love it, whether you are a player, coach or manager.

"If you've been working in football in England, then leave for another country, it's not the same. So, I understand Jose wants to come back."

Image Credit Flickr User Kate_Lokteva

England Lose Against France

Benzema scored the first goal

England have lost against France 2-1 in a friendly match that was played at Wembley tonight. The Three Lions failed to get off to the best of starts with France dominating most of the possession in the first half. They knocked the ball around with typicla French panache in comparison to their English opponants.

In terms of performance, it has to be admitted that England were woeful.  Unable to retain possession and make any meaningful passes, they gave the ball away on numerous occasions.

England went behind early when Karim Benzema played a nice one-two with Sami Nasri around the seemingly hapless Rio Ferdinand. Benzema lashed in a low left footed shot in the area which went underneath England goalkeeper Ben Foster.

Fabio Capello gave his first international caps to Andy Carroll, Kieron Gibbs and Jordan Henderson. Two of them will probably find cause to regret this. Andy Carroll gave a good performance, winning all the balls in the air that came his way, and holding up the play and bringing in midfield players.

The other pair had an undistinguished time representing their country.

England were unable to create any clear cut chances in first half and were relying on Carroll winning battles in the air, hoofing long balls up field for the Newcastle man to challenge.

In the second half Capello made three changes, taking off Kieron Gibbs, Rio Ferdinand and Theo Walcott for Stephen Warnock, Micah Richards and Ashley Young.  Thein hope was that this would create more chances for England, but this tactic failed miserably as England fell further behind.

Bacra Sagna was allowed space and time to cross on the right hand side for Mathieu Valbuena to volley home making the score 2-0. Moments later Andy Carroll was substituted for Jay Bothroyd who was making his Three Lions debut.

England had more chances in the second half but they failed to capitalize on these opportunities.

Steven Gerrard burst through in the the French area a couple of times, only to see his efforts whisk wide of the goal.

A dangerous move - it was one of those runs from Gerrard that forced the Liverpool player to withdraw due to a hamstring problem.

Peter Crouch was then brought on for the injured Gerrard and made an instant impact getting on the end of a back post cross to volley home, making the score 2-1.  Despite this, England were unable to find an equaliser towards the end of game.

A time to gather thought for the squad, perhaps.

Kevin Davies shock England call-up

Bolton forward Kevin Davies in the shock inclusion for Fabio Capello's England squad for the European qualifiers against Montenegro coming up next week, the robust striker has long been linked with an international chance after impressing for the Trotters in recent years and now got his call-up to international football.

West Ham's Robert Green and Liverpool's Joe Cole have also been recalled to the Squad. Manchester United's Wayne Rooney has also been included despite revelations about his private life still hitting the headlines. John Terry returns to the England setup after missing out last time due to injury. With Emile Heskey snubbing a return to England, Davies has now been given the chance to prove himself at this level.

England currently sit top of Group G and have made a 100 per cent start to their qualifying campaign after wins against Bulgaria and Switzerland.


England squad in full:

Ben Foster (Birmingham City), Robert Green (West Ham United), Joe Hart (Manchester City); Ashley Cole (Chelsea), Phil Jagielka (Everton), Glen Johnson (Liverpool), Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United), Joleon Lescott (Manchester City), John Terry (Chelsea), Stephen Warnock (Aston Villa); Gareth Barry (Manchester City), Joe Cole (Liverpool), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Tom Huddlestone (Tottenham Hotspur), Adam Johnson (Manchester City), Aaron Lennon (Tottenham Hotspur), Jack Wilshere (Arsenal), Shaun Wright-Phillips (Manchester City), Ashley Young (Aston Villa); Darren Bent (Sunderland), Peter Crouch (Tottenham Hotspur), Kevin Davies (Bolton), Wayne Rooney (Manchester United)

Sol Campbell keen on England return

Sol Campbell has refused to accept his England playing days are over and is keen to fight his way back in to the Three Lions. Newcastle new-boy is currently getting back to full fitness and has expressed his desire to get back playing for England. Campbell was overlooked for the World Cup finals in South Africa and has been over looked for the upcoming Euro Qualifiers.

"I think it all comes down to who is at the helm and the people behind the associations," Campbell said.

"They are going to make all the decisions and it is also the mentality of the nation. You go to Italy and defenders and goalkeepers can go on and on and on really.

"You can roll the names off of the guys who have played well into their late 30s at international level so I think it sometimes goes down to mentality.

"It doesn't matter where you are at with your age, if you are fit and you are strong and you are physically there and you want it, then you have got the experience so I think there should be no problem really."