Trinidad & Tobago v England Betting: Chance for England's fringe players to shine in the sun

Internationals / Dan Fitch / 31 May 2008 / Leave a Comment

As Wayne Rooney and Steven Gerrard stay at home for some r & r, it's left to the likes of David Bentley and Jermaine Defoe to shine against T & T...

On Sunday night, England face Trinidad & Tobago in the Caribbean sun, as they prepare for their European Championship campaign...

Well, that was obviously the plan. Instead England go into this game with no one really caring about it's outcome and half the squad having already been sent away early on their jollies.

This at least will allow Capello to experiment and introduce some fresh blood. Wednesday's match against USA will have taught England's supporters very little that they didn't already know, though in Capello's defence, he should have the opportunity to see how things are with his own eyes.

Let's just hope that having seen Lampard and Gerrard failing to gel, Capello will have the gumption to choose one or the other. Lampard failed to make any impact in the game and whilst Gerrard was the most effective player on the pitch, I'm not convinced about him lining up on the left side of midfield.

The USA offered so little offensively that Gerrard was able to abandon the left flank whenever he felt like it and find space infield. Against more demanding opposition, Gerrard would not be able to take such a cavalier attitude towards his positional duties.

But can Gerard play as one of two in a central midfield? His club manager doesn't think so, preferring to play Gerrard behind Torres, with two in midfield behind him. He could undoubtedly play well in this role for England, but then it robs our other most gifted player, Wayne Rooney, of his natural position.

Rooney performed reasonably well behind Defoe, though perhaps the fuss regarding his return to his favoured role, made him a little too eager to please. Whether he will be able to retain this position depends much on whether anyone can truly claim the central striker role as their own.

Defoe was lively, but he didn't grab the chance given to him and make himself impossible to drop. This is a familiar story for Defoe. It is something of a myth that he was never given a chance at Tottenham. Defoe was picked ahead of Keane when he first joined the club and was only dropped because the Irishman was outscoring him from the bench.

Unless one of Ashton, Agbonlahor or Walcott comes on leaps and bounds next season, then it will either be Rooney leading the line in our World Cup qualifiers or Michael Owen.

Elsewhere, not much was learnt. Wes Brown is sound defensively but is never going to be Carlos Alberto going forward. David Beckham is probably not as effective as David Bentley these days in terms of general play, but his ability from set pieces makes him difficult to drop at a time when England are struggling for goals.

Unfortunate to be dropped against USA were Joe Cole and Gareth Barry, having both been more effective for England in the last year than Gerrard and Lampard. Barry looks at home at international level and with virtually his first touch set up Gerrard for a goal.

Barry and Gerrard should start together again, as part of Capello's trimmed down squad. I'd also expect starts for Joe Hart, Glen Johnson and Dean Ashton and it will be interesting to see what other fringe players get a chance.

There really isn't much merit in flying the England squad halfway around the world if Capello isn't prepared to experiment a little. I'd like to see either Walcott or Agboblahor given some minutes on the pitch, as well as Ashley Young. Capello has obviously seen something he likes in Tom Huddlestone and there are still question marks regarding his mobility, he is a great passer who like Barry, may flourish in the slower pace of the international scene.

England are [1.37] favourites, with Trinidad & Tobago [12.5] and the draw [4.8]. An England win is a given and I like the 3-0 at [10] and 3-1 at [10] in the correct score markets.

This should be our warm up before we embarrass ourselves at Euro 2008. Instead Steve McClaren will be earning his wages this summer as a commentator on the radio. Like a war criminal profiting from his crimes, this should surely be illegal.