The Ex Bradford
City and Tottenham manager takes control of his first international
this weekend as England travel to Cardiff to face Wales in a battle
of the British friendly at the Millenium Stadium, And Hysen is
taking no chances by naming an almost full strength squad.
It may only be
a friendly but Hysen is taking no chances as he looks to begin
his England reign with a solid victory.
England are fully
expected to win the game but Hysen has stated that they certainly
won't be taking Wales lightly. He said " Wales have some world
class players in their squad so we certainly won't be under estimating
them, You only have to look at the quality of some of their players
to see that a victory is by no means a formality. Players like
Ryan Giggs, Gary Speed and John Hartson are always going to be
a threat and we will have to be on our toes to come away with
a good result." With an almost full strength squad though, England
should still win and Hysen knows that.
After years of
frustration for English supporters Alain Borl restored a lot of
pride to the nation after impressive victories over Belguim and
Australia and although these were victories that England were
expected to win, Borl gave the players belief again and a marked
improvement was evident. The supporters will be praying that Hysen
can continue the good work implimented by Borl as England desperatly
need some stability to the international set up. With the World
cup qualifyers approaching fast, England need to settle down to
some degree of consistency.
Hysen's first squad,
On the whole, Looks extremely strong on paper and offers few suprises,
The biggest being the inclusion of young Coventry goalkeeper Nicky
Weaver, Weaver has been in terrific form during Coventry's rise
to the top of the first division this season and he will be hoping
to earn his first cap. Derby keeper Paul Robinson makes way for
the youngster despite keeping a clean sheet against Australia
a month ago. Wimbledon keeper Nigel Martin also regains his place
after solid performances in the league for Wimbledon. Hysen revealed
his reason for picking Martin ahead of West Ham's Richard Wright
by saying " I feel we need at least one experianced keeper in
the squad and Nigel has been performing as well as any keeper
in the league. He may be over 30 but I think he still has a lot
to offer England and his recent performances have shown that.
Richard is still young and he will get his chance, He is an excellant
keeper and I'm sure he will break into the England set up on a
regular basis in the future."
Sol Campbell is
the only change to the defence that was picked against Australia.
Campbell comes in to replace another youngster, Gareth Barry.
Hysen said " This was a difficult decision because Gareth has
been playing superbly for Tottenham but how do you leave out somebody
like Sol Campbell?, He is such a rock at the back and is such
a commanding figure that I felt I had to include him. I've spoken
to Gareth and explained to him that he will get more chances and
he has been very professional about it. He knows he is still very
young and has a promising England future ahead of him."
The midfield see's
three changes from a month ago. Frank Lampard comes in and may
win only his second cap, He replaces the injured Jamie Redknapp
who is out for at least two weeks. Nick Barmby comes in for Craig
Hignett after impressive performances for Everton. Hignett, Who
made his England debut last month will be unhappy to have missed
out after continuing to sparkle at Charlton, But Hysen has insisted
that it is not the end of a short England career for arguably
the suprise player of the season so far.
The final midfield
place suprisingly goes to Ray Parlour, Parlour has been one of
the main reason's behind Ipswich Town's recent outstanding form
but many will still wonder how he has got into the England squad
ahead of Paul Scholes. Scholes has not been at his best in recent
months but has proved time and time again that he is the man for
the big occasion and always comes up with the goods for England.
Three of England's
brightest young strikers come into a changed forward line. Kevin
Phillips is currently suspended from all competitions and is replaced
by Robbie Fowler, Fowler has yet to reproduce the form he showed
for Liverpool last season but has been in fine form in recent
weeks and Hysen is keen to take a closer look at him. Arguably
the hottest striker in the country at the moment, Francis Jeffers,
Comes in for Andy Cole. Jeffers has been free scoring for Coventry
this season and has already notched up 6 goals. The young striker
has fired Coventry to the top of the first division with his goals
this season and Hysen recalls him after Jeffers was excluded from
last months squad.
Alain Borl suprised
everyone last month by recalling Les Ferdinand to the England
set up after almost three years in the international wilderness
and despite some good performances for Ipswich, Hysen has decided
to go with another in form striker Chris Sutton. Hysen bought
Sutton from Coventry on the eve of the transfer deadline whilst
Bradford manager and knows all about the ex Blackburn star. Hysen
said " Chris has been in outstanding form this season, Both for
Bradford and Coventry, He has been playing well consistantly since
the tail end of last season and now that he has begun to find
the net more, He has become an even better player. Les is a fantastic
player but with the World cup qualifyers approaching I feel we
need to look at younger strikers. Les knows that he will probably
not even be playing when the World cup comes around in 2002 and
he understands my decision. Thats not to say that Les will not
get another chance for England, If he continues to work hard then
I'm sure he will get another chance."
Despite naming a
strong squad Hysen will surely be criticised for excluding certain
players. Lee Bowyer has been in terrific form for Coventry but
finds himself left out in the cold and along with Gareth Barry,
Andy Cole and Paul Scholes being amitted there is also no place
for Gary Neville, Phil Neville, Rio Ferdinand and Alan Shearer,
All experienced internationals who will feel dissapointed not
to have been picked.
Hysen was also
expected to re-introduce many of the over 30 club to the squad.
Paul Gasgoigne has been a revelation for Bradford since his arrival
and many say he has been close to his best. Paul Merson is another
who has rediscovered his form and has broken into the Manchester
Utd first team. Other players who may have been expected to return
are Tony Adams, Martin Keown, Dennis Wise and David Seaman.
Hysen's squad though
is more than capable of defeating a Wales squad which contains
World class players but surely not enough to offer England any
real problems.
The full 22 man
squad is:
Nicky
Weaver ( Coventry City )
Nigel Martin ( Wimbledon )
Ian Walker ( Everton )
Duncan Jupp ( West Ham Utd )
Michael Duberry ( Ipswich Town )
Sol Campbell ( Coventry City )
Gareth Southgate ( Southampton )
Ian Woodgate ( West Ham Utd )
Kieron Dyer ( Wimbledon )
Steven Gerrard ( Arsenal )
Trevor Sinclair ( Wimbledon )
David Beckham ( Wimbledon )
Ray Parlour ( Ipswich Town )
Frank Lampard ( Tottenham )
Darren Anderton ( Wimbledon )
Joe Cole ( Liverpool )
Nick Barmby ( Everton )
Malcolm Christie ( Aston Villa )
Robbie Fowler ( Liverpool )
Francis Jeffers ( Coventry City )
Michael Owen ( Tottenham )
Chris Sutton ( Bradford City )
Stand by players:
Paul Robinson ( Derby ), Gary Neville ( Manchester Utd ), Martin
Keown ( Bradford City ), Paul Scholes ( Manchester Utd ) and Andy
Cole ( Arsenal )
Football
for many is portrayed upon us via the media. Whether it's sports
magazines, televisions programs, the radio or the tabloids. The
press and professional determine how we perceive football as an
audience. The newspaper here at Soccer All Stars is the first place
to publish all the big news stories as they happen as well as
generating it's own amount of fuss throughout the league through
exaggerated or inaccurate articles!