When Fabio Capello was appointed as England Head Coach it heralded an exciting new dawn for our disgraced and disinterested national team. However, after just 3 months in his new role, the much anticipated new beginning we were promised seems to have a consistent and worryingly familiar look to it.

England Need a Tranfusion of Fresh Blood

When Sven Goran Eriksson took the England job back in 2001 he possessed an outsider’s outlook on the players plying their trade in the Premier League. This led to first caps for the likes of Gavin McCann and Chris Powell; player’s previously not on the England radar. Despite a similar outlook to the Swede, Capello’s first two England squad selections (vs Switzerland & France) have illustrated a distinct lack of available fresh talent and paints a worryingly dark picture of our national team’s future.

England’s got Talent, apparently

The Italian did call-up the likes of Villa’s Gabriel Agbonlahor and Boro’s David Wheater to his provisional 30-man squad but neither made the final cut. Instead the same tried and the not so trusted faces have retained their white shirts from both Sven’s and Steve McClaren’s unsuccessful era’s in charge. However, are these two young stars the best of the uncapped talent we possess in this country? Agbonlahor may be the leading light of the nation’s uncapped talent but a scoring record of 1 goal in his last 18 appearances at club level hardly constitutes his growing reputation as a future world-class star.

Surprise Call-ups from Switzerland Match Discarded

Fabio’s first England line-up included a number of interesting inclusions, most notably the first starting appearance for the enigmatic heir to David Beckham’s position, David Bentley. However, the Blackburn midfielder had already been involved in a number of senior squads including two substitute appearances under McClaren. Wes Brown and Matthew Upson’s call-ups were hardly mouth-watering prospects as they were born out of necessity due to an ever growing injury list rather than offering us a new approach to the national side’s outlook. Tottenham’s Jermaine Jenas won his first starting appearance in 3 years against the Swiss, however despite scoring the first goal of Fabio’s reign, he has been discarded in favour of the return of the old guard.

Capello Fails to Ring the Changes

Which brings us back to Wednesday’s friendly match against France in Paris where Capello’s England line-up will bear a striking resemblance to the chosen line-up’s of his predecessor’s Eriksson and McClaren. The players who’ve failed to deliver for the national team under previous managers like bad pennies have all returned. The list begins with David Beckham returning to win his 100th cap, Frank Lampard is back to reopen the eternal debate regarding his ability to play alongside a certain Steven Gerrard. Once again Michael Owen is being touted as a world-class centre-forward and even calamity keeper Paul Robinson is back in the fold. Is it me or are you getting a horrible feeling of Déjà vu? Just what is the Italian for ‘Groundhog Day’?

A Stark Lack of Starlets

But can we blame Signore Capello for failing to bring new faces and fresh talent into the full national squad? The answer unfortunately has to be a resounding…no! If you don’t agree, just have a look at the last few England U21 line-ups.You’ll soon realise just as Fabio has in just 3 months, that there’s no exciting, young cavalry waiting in the wings to make our national side world-beaters again. The main stars of the U21 team consist of the likes of Man City goalkeeper Joe Hart, West Ham midfielder Mark Noble, Newcastle winger James Milner and Arsenal young gun Theo Walcott. Worried about the next generation of talent coming through yet? I know I am.

Why Walcott?

In fact, Walcott’s inclusion in the national squad for the match in Paris is both an interesting and baffling turn of events. The Arsenal youngster has hardly set the world alight this season in his 30 appearances for the Gunners. His goal tally for his club now stands at five for the current campaign. It’s hard to imagine the likes of Lilian Thuram and club team-mate William Gallas quaking in their boots at the prospect of facing the former Southampton player. Sven found himself widely ridiculed for including Theo in his 2006 World Cup Squad and Fabio faces the risk of a similar backlash. After all, he’s ignored in form Jermain Defoe’s claims for an England spot despite the Pompey striker outscoring Walcott’s total for the season in just 6 games for his new club.

Create a New Team or Mould the ‘Golden Generation’?

So is the future for the English national team really as bleak as it seems? On paper Fabio has inherited a squad possessing a number of star players such as Ferdinand, Terry, Lampard, Gerrard, Hargreaves and Rooney. The real question facing the England team’s future is just what is Capello’s job brief? Was he appointed to create a new look England side by discarding of those who’ve failed in the past? Or was the Italian taskmaster brought in to finally fulfil the promise of our so-called ‘Golden Generation’ by moulding the current squad into a mentally strong, tactically astute outfit? Whatever the Football Association had in mind, it’s clear that due to the lack of talent coming through, Capello is stuck with the squad he inherited. Unlike his past roles at European giants Milan, Roma and Real Madrid he can’t splash the cash on expensive, world-class talent. Instead he must scour our scepter’d Isle as Shakespeare put it to unearth what little talent we seem to be producing. Therefore, we shouldn’t be too surprised that the England squad has a familiar look to it. After all, Fabio doesn’t have much to choose from, does he?

England Squad (v France):
Goalkeepers: David James (Portsmouth), Paul Robinson (Tottenham), Robert Green (West Ham)
Defenders: Wayne Bridge (Chelsea), Wes Brown (Manchester United), Ashley Cole (Chelsea), Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United - capt), Glen Johnson (Portsmouth), Joleon Lescott (Everton), John Terry (Chelsea), Jonathan Woodgate (Tottenham Hotspur)
Midfielders: Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Gareth Barry (AstonVilla), Owen Hargreaves (Manchester United), Joe Cole (Chelsea), David Bentley (Blackburn Rovers), Frank Lampard (Chelsea), David Beckham (LA Galaxy), Stewart Downing (Middlesbrough)
Forwards: Michael Owen (Newcastle), Wayne Rooney (Manchester United), Peter Crouch (Liverpool), Theo Walcott (Arsenal)

Written by Christian Goodbrand