Momentum and continuity are key
Sat Oct 10 07:09AM
They may have already qualified for next summer's World Cup finals in South Africa, but England must still go out and give their all in the final two World Cup qualifiers against Ukraine and Belarus.
So far England have done fantastically well to put together an impressive string of results, but they cannot think that their job is over, even though qualification has already been assured.
With the tournament fast approaching, to sit back and relax with a 'job done' attitude would be disastrous and serve only to undo all the good work put in up to this point.
England need to go on and win as many points from the qualification campaign as possible if they are to keep their momentum going.
Maximum points should be the aim. By refusing to let their intensity drop and achieving that goal a standard will be set, a standard that will stand the team in good stead for the finals.
The last thing England want is to finish the group poorly and for certain players to lose their edge and that bit of belief.
Fortunately Fabio Capello is in charge and there is no danger of the Italian letting that happen.
He is an astute manager and knows that at this stage momentum is key. Two more wins and England will head into the finals with an exemplary qualifying record and full of confidence.
But it is not just Capello who wants to keep things going and the players are just as keen. The absence of swathes of withdrawals for the upcoming 'meaningless games' is testament to that. Just look at Scotland for a prime example of the exact opposite - no chance of qualifying, a total of 17 players unable to make the trip to Japan.
When things are going well, either at club level or on the international stage, players want to be part of it.
A cynic might say that the players are making sure they are there for these two games because of a fear of losing their place in Capello's plans with the World Cup on the horizon.
But either way, it works and England can reap the benefits.
Capello will have a strong squad to choose from in Ukraine and then back at Wembley, and I firmly believe that he should stick to his strongest side for these two matches - and in every game until they head to South Africa.
Continuity is just as important as momentum.
In the time between now and next summer, Capello's top 11 players should be given the chance to play alongside each other so they can get to know one another as best as possible.
Now is not the time to be giving away caps cheaply or bringing fringe players through, as has been happening for the past five or six years. Capello pretty much knows what his strongest line-up is so he should stick to it. Even in 'meaningless' games.
And that means for 90 minutes. The wholesale half-time change-arounds that were so popular under Sven-Goran Eriksson serve no purpose at this stage.
That might upset a few people, but we've got to the point now when we have to put an end to that practice. To play well for your country you need time on the pitch.
And with that continuity on the pitch, momentum can be maintained, helping the team take a real belief that they can win games of football with them to South Africa.
may england win tonite
From faiz_smkasr on Sat Oct 10 07:22AMnot a bad article once again... PP is on a roll!!
also... first^^
From pohdeshengakapds on Sat Oct 10 07:22AM1st to comment on a PP article
...that aint rubbish!
From natty3nx on Sat Oct 10 07:23AMyeah not bad when you actually talk about football - no doubt back to the usual @#$% next week
From dave.hartley on Sat Oct 10 07:36AMParker is improving while Murphy is declining.....oh dear.....well done Parker.....u have finally stopped talking out of your backside and with a bit of brains.....Murphy take a leaf out of this....
From rush_bach on Sat Oct 10 07:53AMYes of course. This is no time to play Tinkerman with the squad. This is time to let players settle into the first XI without the pressure of qualifying.
Maybe he can work on making the potentially devastating Lampard-Gerrard partnership work. These two, if they work together, can knock out any of the world's best teams. They can make Xavi-Iniesta pale in comparison.
From akilesh_radhakrishnan on Sat Oct 10 08:08AMomg comment 7 can you please explain me what does that have to do with England , World Cup , etc. ?
From ceko0oo on Sat Oct 10 08:39AManother key element to success is not to get wasted the night before a semi final, like PP and the boys did in 1990 (ref Gazza:My Story).
From ipmcmanus on Sat Oct 10 08:51AMSounds like Parker thinks that England have already won the world cup! Typically arrogant English. lmao
From etherglide on Sat Oct 10 08:52AManother key element is not to get wasted the night before a semi final, like PP and the boys did in 1990 (ref Gazza:My story)
From ipmcmanus on Sat Oct 10 08:56AMwatch it on hotwallp . com
From price5500 on Sat Oct 10 10:09AMwatch it on hotwallp . com
From price5500 on Sat Oct 10 10:09AMi love how everyone turns into a literary critic when pp writes an article! instead of commenting on the story you choose to comment on his writing ability! brilliant! that said, he is the master of stating the obvious as is the case here.play your best team,play them as frequently as possible,win more games.great input paul.lets hope fabio reads yahoo message boards for insignificant stories.
From jndyball on Sat Oct 10 10:52AMWho cares, another lenghty break to allow the FA'as representative team (England)to play a match which is now meaningless because England have already quaklified for the World CUP.If cappello and the FA had any decency they'd playa second string team from now on. The World Cup is no longer the highest stage for world class footballers, that is the Champions League. Roll on next weekend, these breaks are far too long. You could shorten the Premier season by six weeks if they played these meaningless games in the Summer.
From redgeoff on Sat Oct 10 11:04AMFIFA should change the rule such that managers have to be from the nation they are managing - if the manager is not important to the competition, why are foreign managers employed?!
From david1franks on Sat Oct 10 11:04AMYou guyz won't win the world cup!
From abbakaeryanear on Sat Oct 10 12:10PMThey may have already qualified, parker are'nt yoou english, or are you rooting 4 one of the black nations
From sadamalumfashi on Sat Oct 10 12:33PMI don't completely agree with PP. England need to be more than 11 players who know each other. Anything can happen between now and next summer and you can be sure that some of them will not be able to travel to SA, for example because they are injured. I hope Capello will build a full squad, so that whoever drops out, they can be replaced without the team falling apart. The "meaningless games" are an opportunity to give everyone an opportunity to play with everyone else.
David1franks, as regards your comment 17, I'm glad that has not happened because we would be in the s**t by now if we had to rely on whichever English manager was prepared to accept the England job.
From anthonybalbi on Sat Oct 10 12:36PMParker; you cannot write. You lack a fluency in your writing that is necessary to be a Yahoo sport's blogger. Let me point out a few glaring howlers in your article. 'So far England have done fantastically well'. (So far England have been impressive.) 'The last thing England want is to finish the group poorly and for certain players to lose their edge and that bit of belief'. (You should have put a full stop after the word edge.'). It's time you learnt to write Paul. Either that or learn to keep your mouth shut.
From samuelbanks on Sat Oct 10 12:49PMThis blog and the comments on it are discussed on the mostly football podcast you can find it on ITUNES or podbean.
From mostlyfootball on Sat Oct 10 12:52PMFIFA should change the rule such that "managers"/coaches can only "manage"/coach their OWN national team - if the manager is not important to the COMPETITION, why are foreign managers employed?!
From david1franks on Sat Oct 10 01:13PMsamuelbanks, can you please tell me what is learnt? i am pretty sure it is learned
From red87590 on Sat Oct 10 01:15PMEngland to turn on the style and pulverise UKraine.
Take the 6/4 available from your local bookie.From Franquito.
From francisgalvez on Sat Oct 10 01:22PM25 - THAT IS A TYPING ERROR @#$%. POINTING OUT FELLOW POSTER'S SPELLING MISTAKES IS NOT CLEVER. YAHOO SPORTS BLOGGER'S MISTAKES-THAT'S A DIFFERENT MATTER.
From samuelbanks on Sat Oct 10 01:26PMCapello should use this opportunity to try some Plan 'B' players most of the players that have got England thus far are coffin dodging bench warmers who won't be able to play the full ninety mins in the heat, altitude and latitude of South Africa, unlike the Germans
From arttidesco on Sat Oct 10 01:27PMOn what could be a bland subject - this article entertained and enlightened. All hail Parker
From david.yarwood on Sat Oct 10 01:43PMparker you t. wat shut your pie hole
From elliot_baker on Sat Oct 10 01:58PMWill all of you kiddies on here who cannot spell and haven't a grasp of grammar, stop slagging off Paul Parker. You think you are being clever, when all you are doing is showing yourselves up and how ignorant you all are. For heavens sake, if you don't like what he says then don't read his articles, or is that to difficult for you to understand? LEAVE PAUL PARKER ALONE. He has a right to air his views whether you agree with him or not. Let us keep these posts to football comments only, and not for any other purpose. I for one do not want to read such inanities.
From mayhewkenneth on Sat Oct 10 02:21PMWhat do you expect from articles on football? Genius? Irony? Suspense? I can't believe people come here to talk about Parker's "form".
From hutchcat1 on Sat Oct 10 02:24PMIt is important, that he brings other player's into the group, The players get hurt and the team needs to try to protect against that. Now is a great time to do that. From shapsy over the pond
From shapsy77 on Sat Oct 10 02:43PM
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