Same Old England?

After watching a new look England against Holland last night, I believe there are a few problems that need to be addressed aside from the obvious ones of a new manager and permanent captain.

Although it was a spirited England performance, there were only a couple of positives to take from the match. Number one is that Scott Parker seems the perfect fit for captain; he will keep the team grounded and will always give 110%. The second is that Daniel Sturridge injected some much needed flair and excitement into a workman-like England side. The third is that both full-backs looked very strong both Baines and Richards who are both relatively new to the full international scene had good games and they could be nailed on for the next 5 or so years, especially with Ashley Cole advancing in years.

Parker Really Stepped Up To The Plate

The problem of England strikers will always be around unless they can score at least one every game. Aside from Wayne Rooney, not one forward of English nationality will scare opponents. People like Darren Bent, Jermaine Defoe and Andy Carroll are good enough in the Premier League were only a handful of teams are decent. With the European Championships coming up were much will be expected of England but it will probably be met with disappointment yet again (I would however like to be pleasantly surprised). England will not have enough to get past Cristiano Ronaldo, Spain, Germany or Holland and therefore will not progress far enough to please fans.

Only four players deserve a mention in a positive light , this is not good for an England team that will always be under pressure to succeed, but sadly may never do that. Spain, Holland and Germany are in a completely different league. With England playing people like Gareth Barry, Chris Smalling and Danny Welbeck there is an obvious need for higher quality players. Granted it was a friendly and Wayne Rooney is out of the picture for a while, but Barry has been a main stay for a couple of years now. Robin Van Persie, Arjen Robben and Wesley Sneijder are clearly world –class players and once Robben decided to make something happen he won the game for the Dutch. The Spanish are easily the best team in the world and can put out 11 players who will man to man beat England in every position. With the Germans they do not have the star quality of the Dutch and Spain but have can come together and work around players like Mesut Ozil, Thomas Muller and Schweinsteiger. England are just not up to scratch.

I could just be being pessimistic but I am just not pleased with how this England team is looking at the moment. The Ox, Sturridge and Wilshere will provide a backbone for the future, but will England step up to the challenge?

England Selection Problems

Selections for international friendlies often spark headaches amongst puzzled football fans. With England's friendly with the world's 2nd best team, Holland on Wednesday night, Mr. Capello issued his squad.

First of all without even getting into the argument of what player should be picked and why and vice-versa, why oh why did the FA decide that the best date for a friendly was 3 days before the start of the Premier League season. It is beyond ridiculous and it will give managers such as Arsene Wenger and Sir. Alex all the more reason to impose minute limits on players and therefore making a mockery of the game.

Perhaps the biggest surprise was the inclusion of Manchester United youngster Danny Welbeck, although he did play well in patches for Sunderland last season he is nowhere near England quality. If Capello was looking to include a young striker then he should have looked no further than Daniel Sturridge who was a revelation at Bolton during the back-end of last season, scoring 8 goals in 12 games. Another surprise was that Tottenham full-back Kyle Walker was included as he has only appeared 3 times for Spurs. Although both Walker and Welbeck are promising young players Holland coach Bert van Marwijk has more quality players at his disposal, for example Arjen Robben and Wesley Sneijder. He has included young Georginio Wijnaldum of , Feyenoord who could win his first cap, I have bought him on every single Football Manager game since 2006 and he is brilliant not to say that is anything to go by.

Danny Welbeck in action for the Under 21's

Capello's reign as England manager has not been the smoothest at all. Since last summer when England failed and he selected Emile Heskey over Darren Bent many fans have been calling for his head. A player whose head has been called for many a time, would have been in my squad had I been England manager. Joey Barton, amid all his history and current contract issues last season he was brilliant and more than earned his spot ahead of players who had poor season like Gareth Barry and Michael Carrick. Barton has only played once for England and this should have been his second cap. Another player who has not been recognised by Capello is Kevin Nolan now of West Ham. Having scored 30 goals in the last 2 seasons from midfield, surely he would have been a shoe in to gain his 1st cap, but the likes of Barry and Carrick were selected. Capello branded Barton 'too dangerous', it is obvious why he made those comments but Barton seems (note I used the word 'seems' as I don't want to tempt fate) to have moved on and matured over the last season, maybe he could give lessons to a certain Mr. Balotelli. http://bbc.in/qjBeju

As for players being removed from squads and having minute caps, this friendly will have more than any other and even then, there are usually mass substituions to please each manager. Arsene Wenger has said that Jack Wilshere 'can be picked but he will not play', this is understandable as Wilshere picked up a knock against DC United in pre-season, this begs the question, why select him? Barton or Nolan amongst others could have been picked and featured in the game. As for Manchester United players of which there are 4 and 3 probable starters, Sir Alex Ferguson will not allow Wayne Rooney, Rio Ferdinand and Ashley Young to play the full game, they will be hauled off among many others, like John Terry, Frank Lampard and Ashley Cole.

After the European Championships in 2012 another selection will have to be made, that of a new manager. Personally I believe Stuart Pearce has done a good job with the Under 21's and deserves a chance, the usual names will be thrown in like, Harry Redknapp and Steve Bruce but Pearce will remain a front runner in my opinion. As for Wednesday only time will tell how England will fare against a side of Holland's quality.

500 Word Speech On The Salaries Of Professional Athletes

This is a short 500 word speech on the Salaries of professional athletes for an assignment.

Do professional athletes get paid too much? How much is too much. More than their clubs will pay them or more than the public deem necessary.

The answer is more than their clubs will pay them, therefore professional athletes do not get paid too much. The average yearly wage of a Premier League footballer is £1,761,136. If the chairmen of all the 20 clubs thought that figure was too much then it would be lower, as the players do not put forward the contract offers.

A common argument that will continue in this country is; should soldiers get paid more than footballers? Whether they should or not is not the point, it is the fact that the government pays the soldiers not Russian billionaires like Chelsea chairman Roman Abramovich who can afford to pay his players large amounts. The average salary of a newly qualified soldier is £14,300 and they take their job knowing what the salary is and also the danger that is involved.

It is not only Premier League footballs that receive high salaries 2 two reigning NBA MVP LeBron James will earn $14,500,000 this year, that is the equivalent to £8,904,446. He is good enough to receive a high wage and the Miami Heat General Manager decided to offer him that amount, would you turn it down? The answer to that question is no, nobody would. James is working in his dream job that he chose to work in and is receiving his wage, no matter how large it is.

Professional athletes are not paid a lot of money just so their teams can secure their services, they are also advertising icons. Wayne Rooney received £600,000 a year from Coke Zero to be the face of their product. Tiger Woods received $90,000,000 a year back in 1999. Again the fact that neither Rooney nor Woods would have asked for this amount and still received it shows how companies as big a Coke and Nike can pay stars that much and still rake in profits.

Everybody in a capitalist society gets paid depending on their value and services in the so called market place. If sport and football is the number one spectator sport in our country then the players will keep on receiving these kinds of wages, because the clubs owners will be receiving money from gate receipts, merchandise and other such oddities.

The argument that sports players receive too much money is completely powerless and will never affect how much they receive in the future. It is only because professional athletes receive much more than the average wage that people argue against it and think they are looking out for the wider public. If soldiers were to receive the same amount as athletes people would then complain about that. Do not say you wouldn’t, people’s thirst for money will overtake any of their morals so Soldiers would receive the same amount of slander as athletes do now. Surely that is immoral?