Wayne Bridge must not ruin chance to be a hero

But if I had the chance to say one thing to him, it would be this: "You'll never have a better chance to become a true legend in English football and be remembered as England's World Cup-winning left-back. You've made a decision that you could regret for the rest of your life." 

I'm not saying that England will definitely lift the World Cup in July, or even that we are the stand-out team in the tournament. But we now have a manager, Fabio Capello, who has finally got world-class players putting in world-class performances for their country.

And if we get a bit of luck in South Africa, then those players picked by Capello will never have a better opportunity to be thought of in the same bracket as the legends of 1966.

I'm sure that many things have been running through Bridge's mind recently about his situation. And it's clear he's never going to be friends with John Terry again. But so much can happen between now and June. 

What if JT picks up an injury between now and the end of the season and is ruled out of the World Cup? Capello has said the door is always open for the City man but would Bridge feel he could return to the squad after yesterday's statement?

Even if JT does go, Bridge doesn't have to utter one word to him off the pitch. I've seen players do exactly that but play in the same team together. It's a real shame Bridge feels he can't, as he's the only one really losing out.

Actually, as it stands, even if he did want to go, there are no guarantees that Bridge would be the one to face the USA in the opening game in June, anyway, should Ashley Cole not recover in time.

He should be the natural successor to the Chelsea left-back but he has been injured this season and even when fit, he's not been able to replicate the form he showed in a Chelsea shirt.

I have no doubt in my mind that he will not be looking forward to the game against his old club at Stamford Bridge tomorrow. The pressure he'll be feeling will be like no other game he has experienced before.

Everybody will be scrutinising his play, his touch, passing and defending as well as waiting for that first tackle against JT.

It's quite clear Bridge won't shake hands with JT before the game. And no doubt certain sections of the media will make a fuss of that, especially as Premier League rules state that all players should. But that's not important to me.

What is important is that he takes a deep breath, puffs his chest out and shows the world — and a watching Capello — that he is on his way to getting back to the form that made Manchester City buy him.

This game is a sink-or-swim situation. Fall apart or prove that you're the best after Cole. I believe it will be the latter.

Despite not looking forward to the game, he will have good memories of his time at Stamford Bridge.

I never saw Bridge have a bad game when at Chelsea. When Ashley Cole was struggling to find his best form at first, Bridge was the model of consistency. Solid at the back, good going forward and undoubtedly a better crosser than Cole.

It will be interesting to see if Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti will keep Nicolas Anelka on the right or put Joe Cole there against him, knowing all the pressure he'll be under. Joe hasn't hit top form yet since returning from injury but, and I speak from experience, he is a nightmare to mark when running at you in a one on one situation.

He would hug the touchline more than Anelka, so Joe's always asking questions of the full-back even when he doesn't have the ball and it's on the other side.

"Do I tuck round my centre-half and leave him out on the wing knowing that one crossfield pass from Lampard will mean he can take a touch and get into his stride and run at me? Or do I stay close to him at all times and run the risk of a midfielder running through the gap exposed between me and my centre-half?"

It should be the first but, if it's Cole out there, he can put doubts in your mind.

Ironically enough, left-back has now become a problem position for Chelsea. And if the circumstances were different, I'm sure Ancelotti would love to put Bridge alongside JT.

But now he's made his decision, Bridge just has to concentrate on himself and Manchester City and block everything else out.

If he can do that, then hopefully he can move on from all this publicity and start to get his life back to normal again.

Bridge is a very popular guy among his team-mates, old and present. I wouldn't want him to be sitting at home with friends come July watching England lifting the World Cup, thinking that it should have been him there.

In the future, that might be more difficult to come to terms with than all what's gone on over the last few months.