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England v Switzerland: Wide boys key to Capello's success

TQ talks us through the betting as England host Switzerland and tells us why Bentley, Joe Cole, Wright-Phillips and Ashley Young are so crucial to Capello's plans

The roadshow that is the England national team parks up in Wembley on Wednesday for the next chapter in a tale with more twist and turns than the average Poirot novel. Fabio Capello is the new man at the helm and I am sure even he is slightly surprised at the mass hysteria that surrounds the role.

Capello is clearly his own man and has demonstrated that already by omitting David '99 caps' Beckham from his first squad. Although we must note that a certain Steve McClaren tried the same tactic in his first squad, claiming he was taking the team in a different direction. We all know how that story ends. Will Capello be more successful? Can he turn this sleeping giant into a world force once more? Only time will tell.

Friendlies are often difficult games to predict due to so many volatile factors. Fortunately for the punter, this one has a slightly more predictable feel to it. It is notoriously difficult for a layer to price up a friendly but I have to feel that the current Match Odds prices are about right talent-wise. The edge comes in the belief that England must surely perform above and beyond their usual level. For any normal friendly you would expect a fairly low tempo affair and that is definitely the approach the Swiss will take. England however have a point to prove and you can be sure that they will raise their levels for the new manager. Expect a fired up England to comfortably beat a more experimental Swiss unit. England are currently trading at [1.48] - get on as early as possible as you can expect the price to drop closer to KO.

Apparently Capello now speaks great English, which is a remarkable effort in just two months. Let's hope he can work his magic just as quickly with England's under-performing stars. One of the bright areas in England at the moment is the quality of the wide players. Wright-Phillips, Joe Cole, Young and Bentley are all top quality and I expect that to be the area Capello builds this team around. All of the aforementioned players should get a run out at Wembley on Wednesday and surely that is where England's attack will be centred. With that in mind I suggest that the market that stands out as representing some value is the Corners Match Bet. England are currently [1.48] to get more corners than Switzerland. This is an absolute must bet for a team awash with quality wide players and who will almost certainly have a far greater amount of possession. Get on now!

England's main failing in recent years is to win the big games. They just can't seem to perform on the big nights when there is a lot at stake. Superstars of the game all of a sudden seem to lack confidence and the pressure simply becomes too much. Fabio has got one hell of a job on his hands to change the mental attitude of these England players. One thing they haven't lacked in recent games though is goals: in seven of the last eight England games there has been at least three goals. In fact England haven't failed to score since their 0-0 in Israel last March. In a match full of expectation there is sure to be a demand for plenty of goals. The Over/Under 2.5 Goals market is always very popular and I feel that the current odds of [2.06] available on Over 2.5 Goals is the stand out bet.

The Swiss come to Wembley as preparation for the Euro Champs in the summer. They are a hard team to judge as they qualified for that tournament as hosts and without much in the way of competitive fixtures to fall back on, it may well be that they are shocked if England come out firing. A fast start is certainly what I expect and that means turning your attention to the First Goal Odds market. The 0-10 minutes option is the one that appeals the most and with odds of around [5.7] it certainly merits a wager.

Fabio Capello has had nearly two months to settle in to his new office and find his way around most of the Premier League grounds, but now the real work starts. All eyes will be on his every move come Wednesday and an expectant Wembley crowd demands success. I am more demanding still as I require a goal in the first 10 mins, three goals in the game, more corners than the Swiss and of course the obligatory victory! Come on Fabio, I know you can do it.

5 February 2008 / About Tareq Quiroz

Tags: England football betting, Fabio Capello, international friendlies, Shaun Wright-Phillips / Digg It / Del.icio.us / StumbleUpon / reddit

Comments (5)

Bentley, Joe Cole, Wright-Phillips and Ashley Young are, no doubt, the assets of the England team. I think, David Beckham is still have some to give for England. However, these players resemble the future of England side.

Biplob Kishore Deb | 05 February 2008

Capello speaks great English now? I saw a press conference today and he wasn't speaking it then...who knows.

I'm quite looking forward to the wide players, for reasons you have already pointed out. I just hope they all manage to get a game. I hope Bentley and Young can both prove themselves and hold their place in the side because they have earned it.

I must admit that I am disappointed that Beckham wasn't in the side, though I've found myself alone on that one recently. I know he shouldn't really just be put in so that he can get his 100th cap, but it would be a shame for him not to get it. I just hope Capello is going to maybe give him it in a friendly at a later date, as he probably wanted to pick his strongest side for his first game in charge.

I'm tempted by the 0-10 minute option actually. I can see it happening - us grabbing an early lead and everyone getting excited..but then playing rubbish football for the last 80 minutes.

Lewis | 05 February 2008

england will win easy tonight, the country will be thinking we have a world cup winning team on our hands, and it will all end it tears

sarah | 06 February 2008

I can't really see Switzerland causing England any problems. The Swiss are without their main striekr Alexander Frei and their recent form is nothing to write home about. England price dropping like a stone so looks better to get on the Overs as suggested.

Matt | 06 February 2008

In the words of Mick Jagger,"but it's all over now."
And what did we learn from the learned Italian? Not much perhaps. England began to hang on to the ball better, once they got over their nerves, rather than the old 'let's defend deep' scenario that we saw letting them down so badly when they went in front. Anybody who doubts that we have the talent should put aside the British press & look at what the top coaches around the world think. At the last World Cup each coach, in keeping with tradition, was asked to pick a team from all those in the tournament excluding his own. This time there were 3 English players in the top 5: Beckham,Gerard & Rooney.Three others: Joe Cole,Ferdinand & Terry were in the top 20 players. So we have the talent. And we have problems. The difference between being an almost regular quarter finalist & winning things, in International football, according to Ruud, Franjk, Marcello & others, is in the detail. Fabio knows this, you couldn't win consistently at his standard, albeit still club level, without being able to focus on the finer elements of how to win. Can he & (for my money) more importantly, will he, show England how to compete against the best, for example, his native Italians? I doubt it. Why? For lots of reasons, some within his sphere of influence & choices and others which are beyond him. Here are just a few. The British fans will not accept the cynical ruthlessness of a Gatuso or Materazzi. Winning as the bad guy, being the spoiler of the beautiful game is abhorent to us, as those old enough to remember the Don Revie years will tell you. If there were a list of 'bad-boy stars' of 60's/70's English football then Revie & Bremner were up there on it. They also won things. Quite a few things. And, I suspect,(despite my deepest susicions about their caharacter) the English FA is equally smitten with a need to see England play creative 'expansive' footy. Fabio will never be able to change the prevailing ethic. Now imagine I'm wrong & England win the next World Cup via a series of 0-0's & 1-0's & by 'taking out' any key creative players on the other team, can you imagine the celebrations? Muted at best is my guess. The truth is though that the teams who have consistently won Euro's & W Cups have all had 'hard men' or 'enforcers' to protect their own talent & neutralise the opposition's.
Erikkson got us to beat the Germans & the Argentinians, both serious bogie teams for England before his reign. Can Fabio take us past Italy? When you've won everything at club level, several times, there are really only three career choices: retire, rescue an ailing club or move up to internationals. Fabio looks healthy enough to me to make me wonder if he's 'the next coach in waiting'looking at when his turn comes for the Italian job. What better place to complete your own education than in the land of the Premier League? Can he take us to the 2010 finals? Yes, I think he will, not by playing Roy of the Rovers all-or-nothing tactics, but by scraping out dull 0-0's & 1-0's in the far flung reaches of outer Europe. It will be during this period that the media,fans,FA & even some players will get to see the football that got him where he was & get on his case. Just as they did with Erikkson. He is also going to have to deal again with 'the Beckham factor', or leave him on 99 caps. Whatever the real ins & outs were of his dropping Beckham from the Real Madrid team, Beckham has continually done what he does, prove he's world class. Over the hill? Here's my theory. Ask yourself.Would you exclude your best penalty taker, your best free kick merchant, your best long passer of the ball? From the team? Maybe. But why wouldn't you at least have him on the bench? For when all else fails? Or when penalties are only 5 minutes away. If it's against the Italians in the next World Cup? In 2 years time will Beckham still be fit & healthy? I think so, but my guess is that he will be sat in the stands eating his heart out watching David Bentley prove that, as good as he is, he's no Beckham. And at those finals, who will be England's Gatuso? Our Nesta or Materazzi? Maybe I'm wrong again though. Fabio will sit down with his England team, pull out his playbook and say "I want you all to read this, it's called 'The Gambeta', or how you say? 'The Cheating Way', I had it translated from Latino." Whether it's in perfect English won't really matter.

Dave Ward | 10 February 2008