Is Mikel Arteta the answer for England? A bunch of Evertonians certainly think so. Arteta is eligible to play for Capello's men from January 2010. An on-line Facebook group is up and running to support the campaign.
Twenty five year old Arteta has only played for his native Spain at under 21 level, making him eligible to play for England after he becomes a British citizen at the start of 2010. Another Spaniard considering such a switch of nationality is Arsenal stopper Maunuel Almunia, who is eligible for British citizenship in 2009.
Bigus.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Arteta for England!
The English contingency of U.F has thought long and hard about Arteta slipping into the white shirt and we love the idea (Manuel Alumina? Not so much!).
Arteta will be reaching his prime in 2010 and could be a superb left midfield edition to Capello's World Cup squad. Arteta is a very tricksy midfielder who is capable of playing excellent final passes into the box. He is also a bit of a cross specialist. These atributes have made Mikel one of the most popular players at Everton. He has won back to back player of the season awards at Goodison Park and last season he was voted Sky Sports midfielder of the year by web readers.
So please help us out loyal U.F readers, go here and join the group. Lets show our support and let Mikel know that England wants him!
Of course, I expect Spain to get wind of this and run him out in a pointless friendly against Latvia in late December 2009.
Lets have a try anyway. If you don't ask, you don't get.
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22 comments:
Surely Almunia would be a better option than Calamity, Misses, or Carson, non?
On the Arteta issue, what does he do that Gerrard or, say, Ashley Young couldn't?
"On the Arteta issue, what does he do that Gerrard or, say, Ashley Young couldn't?"
he can get close enough to kill phil neville if we give him forty bucks?
Arteta is excellent. Can take a man on and deliver a cross, thread a teasing ball through the middle. He has more experience than young Ashley and Gerrard does not belong on the left.
If he hasn't killed Phil now, he won't ever.
But Capello's biggest issue in squad selection isn't who plays on the left (tangent: By putting Gerrard on the "left wing" of midfield, he can supposedly make the formation narrower at the midfield, allowing Wes and Cashley to go forward- it's similar to what O'Neill is doing with Reo-Coker at Villa. That said, what Capello should be doing, if he insists on a mid of Stevie, Tubs and Gareth plus an indeterminate right-wing, is using Barry as the left mid. End tangent.). Capello's biggest issue is Wayne Rooney deciding he'd rather track back and make tackles than poach goals from Emule's setup play.
Arteta, Barry, Gerrard/Lampard, Theo.
NIIICE.
See, while that's nice I'd rather use Arteta as a Libero, but that takes away a few weapons (either Theo or the attacking ability of Cashley). so you'd have
standard back four
Barry holding
Gerrard Lampard
Arteta
Rooney Heskey/Cole/Owen/Agbonlahor
or
Rio Terry Cash
Young Barry Gerrard/Lampard Walcott/SWP
Arteta
Rooney Heskey/Cole/Owen/Gabby
This would be 2010 so..
---------Lewis---------
Brown--- Terry---Rio---Bertrand
Theo---Lamp/Gerr---Barry--Arteta
Abonghalor/Crouch-----Rooney
Once again, I need to question (as I did on Saturday) why we're so set on the Lampard/Gerrard combo. iS A 4-4-2 ideal?
A 4-1-2-1-2 seems to offer much more going forward by maximizing our abilities on the wings and up front, but also allowing for more flexibility with Gerrard and Lampard.Would there be such a drop off of talent if Lamps and Cap'n Fantastic weren't on the pitch at the same time?
For instance:
Same old back four
Barry holding
Arteta/SWP and Theo/Ashley Young on Wings
Gerrard/Lamps as attacking mid
DeFoe/Rooney/Agbonlahor/Owen
Can't we let Capello fool around with FIFA 09 for awhile and see if this workd?
And by Owen, I meant Crouch. No way Owen is healthy in two years.
I think in both My and Bigus' lineups, the slash between Gerrad and Lampard implies either/or. It certainly does in mine. . .
There's no way in hell England are going to go with three in the back. The flat back four is too ingrained in the EPL.
@ Keith: Yeah, that's the way I read it. I wasn't commenting on you and Bigus in particular, mostly the obstinateness of Capello in rolling out the same line-ups.
Also, I forgot of Joe Cole. Can't stand him at Chelsea; love him for England.
On or the other! They cannot play together and shouldn't
Surely, Ashley Young will be starting by 2010, won't he? Hell, he should be playing on the full national team by now. Let's just presume Arteta won't join England.
----Some sort of disaster----
Brown - Rio - Richards - ACole
Theo - Barry - Gerrard - Young
Rooney - Abgonlahor/Defoe
If Capello puts in Theo and Young, with Rooney and Defoe/Gabby up top, he's saying, "Why be plodding?" The football could be wonderful.
and inexperienced. Young has not been that great this year has he?
@ Bigus: His play hasn't matched last year's performance, true. I'm thinking in two years time, though.
I can't think of a better manager for a young player to come up under (no homo?) - aside from Arsene - than MON. Both Young and Gabby are fortunate.
As for the experience tack, it does help in getting out of the group stages, but from then on, isn't it about catching lightning in a bottle? A faster, younger line-up out wide and up front with the vets playing through the middle and the back line seems to offer the best of both worlds.
I haven't watched any Villa matches, but most of the write-ups I have read, if I recall correctly, seem to portray him as being central to their offensive success. He has 2 goals and 3 assists in seven games. I think he has played better than Barry so far this season.
To be fair to Young Webcam, Villa have been playing Reo-Coker on the right wing. Which basically means that Ashley's getting shut off while teams dare Villa to attack down the right. I figure that once Milner breaks into the side, and the question is at the cost of which of Barry, Petrov, or NRC (and the answer, on current form, is actually Barry), Young will be freer down the left, and will be closer to what he was last year.
@ Keith: as the resident Villan, can you see Young's ability translating in a positive manner over to the international game? Or does his pace and ability only work against the WBAs and Sunderlands? I think he and Joe Cole have essentially the same game, with Young giving up tenacity for pace.
Edited for clarity:
I think he could certainly be an impact player in the international game. He's a magnificent crosser; the one caveat is that he tends to stay on the ball juuust a bit longer than he needs to trying to get a perfect window for the cross. With a little more experience, he can get that sorted. But in a lineup with Walcott, he becomes even more effective, because both fullbacks have to be pinned back to defend them. Plus, he can cross over to the right occasionally to keep the defenders guessing.
Also, imagine being a keeper staring at Young, Gerrad/Lampard and Barry all standing over the ball for a freekick.
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