Fabio Capello has made England one of the World Cup favourites. But lack of English born coaches capable of managing England remains a major concern.

I am simply blogging what most fans of international football around the world treat as a joke! The scarcity of English born coaches in the English Premier League!
Fabio Capello is one of the greatest coaches of the modern era & seems to have at last managed to make England a solid & reliable unit as a team. But shouldn't the mother home of the beautiful game be able to manage to produce an English born coach to lead it to the World Cup?
The answer is simply no! It can't! Outside a few true & trusted old hands such as Harry Redknapp of Tottenham & Roy Hodgson of Fulham, there are very few high calibre English born coaches around these days. The late Sir Bobby Robson was probably the last of that generation.
I rest my case by listing the names of the top 10 EPL Teams Managers for those of you who are not aware of their nationalities. This is based on the league table as of 1 March 2010:
1. Chelsea: Carlo Ancelotti (Italy)
2. Manchester Utd: Sir Alex Ferguson (Scotland)
3. Arsenal: Arsen Wenger (France)
4. Manchester City: Roberto Mancini (Italy)
5. Tottenham: Harry Redknapp (England)
6. Liverpool: Rafa Benitez (Spain)
7. Aston Villa: Martin O'Neill (Northern Ireland)
8. Brrmingham: Alex McLeish (Scotland)
9. Everton: David Moyes (Scotland)
10. Fulham: Roy Hodgson (England)
As you can see, only two out of ten were born in England. Of course, as you know the English would protest saying we & the Scots & Northern Irish are all British! That's OK! My question remains the same:
Are there any coaches born in England who can claim to have the calibre to lead a major footballing national side to the World Cup?
I believe the answer remains negative. As a result the international performance of England will continue to suffer & whilst they are a very good side, I don't think they can win the FIFA World Cup in South Africa in July 2010.

8 Days To Go: I Haven't Left!

I missed yesterday's post.

Please don't boo me out of the building.

I was sick but your friendly neighborhood blogger is back, ready to provide you with news regarding the 2010 World Cup.

8 days away and the news is ratcheted up. There's so much information out there regarding the tournament, it's quite literally information overload.

But that's why I'm here.

Today's Tidbits

1 - Goalkeepers dislike the official World Cup Adidas ball more than Diego Maradona dislikes reporters and photographers, according to the New York Times.

As reporter Jere Longman says, 'the ball is being criticized for being too light and too curvy, as if it were a fashion model obsessed with too little food and too much plastic surgery.'

I love that analogy ...

2 - Spain's sports daily MARCA has the best World Cup fixture calendar I've yet to see. It's in Spanish but I'm sure you can figure it out. It's brilliant.

3 - The BBC has a wicked 2010 World Cup site. It's obviously geared towards the English national team. But what's this? WHAT'S THIS?! Stop the presses ...

One of the blogs there, Piers Edward's football blog, has your friendly neighborhood blogger linked on the side!!!

Sorry, I had to gloat some. It's great to be linked to the BBC ...

4 - The 2010 World Cup is already lucrative to FIFA. You think?

5 - Nelson Mandela will attend the 2010 World Cup. The 91-year-old will attend the opening match between Bafana Bafana and Mexico as well as the Final scheduled for July 11 at Soccer City Stadium. Great news!

And because I wasn't here yesterday, one extra news tidbit:

6 - North Korea tried to pull a fast one on FIFA, listing one of their strikers as a goalkeeper. Tsk tsk ... Bad, bad Korea ...

What I Think I Think

Football's a global phenomenon but for fans, it's also a personal experience.

Let me delve inside my fandom for a bit and touch on a news story.

Today, Liverpool confirmed Rafa Benitez is leaving the club after 6 seasons.

"It is very sad for me to announce that I will no longer be manager of Liverpool FC," Benítez said. "I would like to thank all of the staff and players for their efforts.

"I'll always keep in my heart the good times I've had here, the strong and loyal support of the fans in the tough times and the love from Liverpool. I have no words to thank you enough for all these years and I am very proud to say that I was your manager."

As many of you know, I'm a huge fan of Spanish club Valencia CF, where Benitez made his name. While managing Valencia, Rafa guided Los Che to their first Spanish title in 31 years and two years later, the double, winning the Spanish league and UEFA Cup.

Since Rafa's departure, Valencia's star has fallen.

But Benitez has been a star, capturing the 2005 UEFA Champions League in dramatic fashion over AC Milan in a match no one will ever forget. He also led 'Pool to the 2007 final against the same AC Milan team, losing 2-1.

Ultimately, Rafa's undoing was his failure to capture the English championship, which has eluded Liverpool since 1990.

Where does he go now? Inter Milan? Back to Spain?

Who knows ...

What I do know is that Rafa's provided me with some of my favorite football memories.

From Valencia winning 2 Spanish titles to the UEFA Cup against Marseille.

From the incredible 2005 Champions League final to some heart stopping matches against Chelsea in the CL semifinals, Rafa's teams have consistently provided entertainment and excitement.

Sure, one of Rafa's criticisms are that his teams play 'boring' football. But whatever. The guy's a winner and that's all that matters to the fans.

He didn't win the English Premier League and that cost him his job. But that doesn't mean Rafa doesn't deserve accolades.

Thanks for the memories, Rafa. We wish you the best in the future.