England v USA Betting: Pointless match that England are no gimme to win

Internationals / Mike Norman / 27 May 2008 / 1 Comments

"Mystical" Mike Norman puts his crystal ball away to have a good old rant at end-of-season friendlies. As far as the betting on the match goes, he tells us why Capello's troops are a lay at the current price

It seems like only yesterday that England were playing (and winning) friendly matches against teams such as West Germany and Spain. The reality is that these games were more than twenty years ago, and the reasons I remember them so fondly was because they were entertaining, had great results, and were very worthwhile playing.

It's all a far cry from what we have now, where I would strongly argue that current England friendlies are totally pointless!

On Wednesday, Fabio Capello's England team of largely over-hyped underachievers host USA at Wembley, before travelling half way around the world a few days later to play..... wait for it..... Trinidad & Tobago!

For most of the England squad the end of season probably couldn't have come quick enough, yet they will all feel obliged to turn up and represent their country in two friendly matches that are as much about 'England' the brand as they are about football. David Beckham will play on Wednesday in order to boost interest in America, while Sunday's game in the Caribbean will be a plain and simple 'sun-tanning' exercise.

England should win both games convincingly - but as we know, they won't! It will all end with more questions than answers, an unnecessary injury to a key player, and the whole world wondering just who is the England captain! Capello will come out with the usual spin that we now expect from an England manager - except when he tells us that the thirty or so players that he used will have benefited from the games, it will be in Italian, rather than in English.

Ok, so a few 'warm-up' games just before a major tournament (like Euro 08) isn't a bad thing, but I really can't see one advantage to the two England games that will be played over the next few days.

What is Capello going to learn that he doesn't know already? What is he going to learn that he can't learn by having the squad together for three or four days participating in training sessions or practice matches? He has seen all his players at club level, he can work out who plays best with who on the training pitch, he knows the strengths and weaknesses of each individual - so why go all the way to the Caribbean to play a bunch of part-timers who are ranked between China and Ethiopia in the FIFA World Ranking list?

Look, I'll be honest with you - I probably couldn't name 20% of the teams that England have played in friendlies over the last five years. The reason is I don't care. Ever since Sven started using friendlies to substitute his whole team at half-time I've lost interest.

If England must play friendly matches, then play them properly. First off, play against a level of team you would want to be competing against in the knock-out stages of a major tournament. Then play your best eleven players available to you at the time rather than give five or six players their first cap - a player should get his first cap when he becomes the best player available in his position, not when he is the third or fourth choice but needs some international experience. Finally, treat the match exactly as you would a competitive match - don't make seven or eight subs, use the three that you would under normal circumstances.

I love England as much as anyone, and I am just as passionate about them as I am the club I support, but these friendlies baffle me. Playing Australia in-between two weekends of Premiership football is bad enough, but playing Trinidad & Tobago when most of the lads just want to take a break with their families is crazy. We didn't qualify for Euro 08, so let the lads have a break - they might just come back next season fresher, better and hungrier.... you never know!

If the FA haven't realised it then let me spell it out. We haven't exactly been successful adopting this 'random friendly game' approach have we?

England are [1.47] ([1.48] to lay) to beat the USA on Wednesday, while they are [1.38] ([2.24] to lay) to beat Trinidad & Tobago on Sunday - I'll be having two lay bets; after all, this is England.

Comments (1)

1. maddy | 27 May 2008

   england will win for sure,usa they dont know whats the meaning of foot they know hands onley