Capello's Fab four prove there is more to come

Simon Johnson
13 Aug 2009

Holland 2
England 2

If some Premier League managers and pundits are to be believed, this friendly was a pointless exercise and should never have taken place.

Well, clearly Jermain Defoe, Carlton Cole, Michael Carrick and James Milner didn't quite agree with their point of view.

England are still one win away from securing qualification to the World Cup, but this quartet have already started the fight to get a seat on the plane which will surely head to South Africa in 10 months' time.

This game may have ended in a draw, yet for these four players it will feel very much like a victory.

Their rivals for a place in the first 11 or a spot in Fabio Capello's squad of 24 may not be quite so jubilant this morning, however the quality of their performances offers England much cause for optimism.

While too many of the team looked like they had the opening fixtures of the Premier League this weekend on their minds in the first half, Fab's four helped change the game after the break and demonstrated that Capello will have a wealth of talent to choose from next summer.

Star of the show was obviously Defoe, with his two superbly taken goals ensuring his side recovered from a 2-0 deficit.

But Carlton Cole, Carrick and Milner also played inspirational roles in the team's renaissance and earned the greatest cheers from the vast travelling support.

The gauntlet has certainly been thrown down to the absent Michael Owen as to the standard of performance he has to reach to have a hope of getting ahead of Defoe in the pecking order.

Gareth Barry, Ashley Young and Emile Heskey all started in Amsterdam, but they will now have serious cause for concern due to Carrick, Milner and Cole respectively.

Whatever happens in the individual battles, England can only end up being the winners.

As David Beckham explained: "We've got a whole squad of exciting young players, not just 11. We've got a whole host of players who can come on and make a difference.

"Without a doubt competition for places is getting stronger. It's like that week in, week out and it's what you want in World Cup year.

"Hopefully once we qualify that will continue because you want competition, it's what makes great teams. If no one is pushing you then you are not pushing yourself so it's important we've got that."

But Holland will point to the fact that they withdrew key players like Robin van Persie and Rafael van der Vaart at half-time as the reason why they let their lead slip.

In truth, the home side had been flattered by the margin having been gifted two goals courtesy of sloppy back passes by Rio Ferdinand and Barry, which Dirk Kuyt and Van der Vaart capitalized on respectively.

Yet England's contest against a side that are currently ranked four places above them in the world rankings in third did demonstrate a gap in terms of depth of talent - for Capello's six substitutions worked so much better.

Holland, who ended up making five of their own, were in disarray in the second half, especially once former Chelsea star Arjen Robben departed just after Defoe had pulled the first goal back having run onto Frank Lampard's pass.

His equaliser was beautifully set up by Milner and both Defoe and Carlton Cole missed with free headers which would have given the visitors the victory they probably merited.

Not that Ferdinand, Barry and Glen Johnson deserved to be on the winning sides after performances which can be best described as abject.

Ferdinand's and Barry's errors were unforgivable, although as captain John Terry admitted, at least they did them in a game with nothing at stake.

He said: "Thankfully what happened was in a friendly and not a qualifier. It still shouldn't be happening at this level and we are disappointed with that. We will move on and learn from our mistakes.

"We took huge encouragement from the way we came back. It's a game we needed.

"The manager said he wanted us to start where we left off last season. We certainly needed that game to freshen up."

Johnson's display, though, was even more worrying and Liverpool fans must be wondering why their club have spent £16million on such an error- prone right-back.

His tendency to lose concentration on a regular basis was why Chelsea sold him to Portsmouth in 2006 and there is little evidence that he has improved in that department.

While Ferdinand and Barry have many strong displays in their past to ensure they rightly get the benefit of the doubt, England fans will remember that only in June, Johnson gave the ball away in the opening seconds against Kazakhstan in a World Cup qualifier and it almost led to a goal.

It is certainly a position Capello will have to think about, but it's just one of few weaknesses in a squad rich with talent.

The World Cup can't come soon enough.