England in need of a solid number one goalkeeper
Although Fabio Capello selected David James as the starting goalkeeper in England's recent 2-1 win over Switzerland, the new manager doesn't really have a first choice keeper at the moment.
"Only 38 percent of the players [in the EPL] are English. The pool is reduced. I have had to reinstate a 37 year old goalkeeper but I have spotted one in the Under-21s who is very interesting," Capello told Italy's Radio Anch'io.
The Under-21s goalkeeper that he was talking about is Manchester City's Joe Hart. It can be inferred from Capello's comments and actions -- this was not the first time he praised the young Mancunian -- that he may be selected for England's next friendly on the 26th of March in France.
The sooner somebody can establish themselves as the first-choice English goalkeeper, the better. England has been lacking a consistent goalkeeper since David Seaman retired from international football in 2002. Seaman accumulated 75 caps in his international career, leading the Three Lions to a semi-final appearance in Euro 96 and a quarter-final defeat in World Cup 2002. On both occasions, they were beaten by the eventual champions.
Under David James and Paul Robinson (whose 36 and 41 caps respectively only outnumber David Seaman's caps by one), England has only reached the quarter-finals of World Cup 2006, and failed to qualify for Euro 2008.
Italy's Gianluigi Buffon has won 80 caps and a World Cup at both full national team and U-21 levels. Brazil has won the World Cup, Confederations Cup, Copa America, and U-21 World Cup with Dida between the sticks, the latter earning 91 caps in the process. Oliver Kahn carried Germany to the 2002 World Cup final and also starred for the team in their Euro 96 tournament win, earning 86 caps in his career.
The lesson from the above paragraph is that consistency breeds success. At the top of the national team level, which is where all of the above mentioned countries are, the little things are what seperates teams from one another.
Although squad rotation may have its benefits for the field players, I believe that continuity is a must for the goalkeeper position to keep the squad in balance. Mostly, it comes down to player preference. If the starting goalkeeper doesn't have the support of the other ten men on the pitch (especially the back three or four), then the team will not play up to their potential.
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Liviu Bird
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but many MLS teams come to Miami for pre-season because of the weather and the possibility of playing scrimmage games against colleges all the time and yesterday I got to meet Bouna from Colorado as well as Chris Seitz from Real Salt Lake (we played them last saturday in a scrimmage) and they are very cool people. Bouna impressed me the most because he is a super agile keeper with a very solid game all around, from air to kicking.