Capello pulls Green, James to Play Algeria
English Coach Fabio Capello has pulled Robert Green from the starting lineup for tonight’s game against Algeria. Instead veteran David James will be in net, a decision finalized after Green's shaky final training session.
England’s goaltending was not a huge area of concern coming into the World Cup, so it has been easy to blame Green, 30, for his "dreadful error, the sort that can define a career". But questions have been raised about Capello's hand in all this. Instead of logical choice and previous No.1 keeper for the team David James, Capello went with Green, who has conceded 1.7 goals every game out of 38 Premier League games played.
"Green is hopeless against long-range shots." Mail Online reported."He panics, he gets in the wrong position and he fumbles. And he’s been doing it all season for West Ham, while making enough great shot-stops to cover this fundamental problem." Capello was sympathetic towards Green but in hindsight, has admitted letting Green play was a mistake.
Some comfort is to be had for the English in the speculations surrounding Algerian keeper Fawzi Charouchi, whose most recent blunder in the 1-0 match against Slovenia has Algeria sitting at the bottom of Group C. Capello hopes to see Charouchi in goal, but it’s possible Algeria’s Coach Rabah Saadane will be replacing him for the match against England. On Tuesday Charouchi sprained his left knee in a training session, so regardless of his blunder Charouchi might not be in top shape by Friday.
As for his blunder, Saadane and the rest of the Algerian team stand behind their keeper. "We have a good goalkeeper, we have a young goalkeeper. And it's in matches like these that he must be encouraged, even when he makes a significant mistake. So we still have confidence in him". Captain Antar Yahia added that “These kinds of mistakes could happen to any player. From our point of view he was forgiven straight away, even before he apologized”.
Only time will tell if James will prove if Capello's can still make good decision for his team. James would have played the match against the U.S. had he not obtained a small knee injury keeping him on the sidelines. Conflicting reports have come from James and the English camp, James downplaying the severity of the injury attributed to the 11 hour flight to South African, even though it was evident he was not training as well as Joe Hart or Green.
On 7 February 2008, James was selected as goalkeeper for Capello's first match in charge of the team, a friendly against Switzerland. It was James' first start for England since the friendly with Columbia in May 2005. James firmly re-established himself as England's first choice goalkeeper, starting in each of Capello's first 13 games in charge.
Persistent injury problems over the following year left James' hopes of retaining the #1 spot for the 2010 World Cup in doubt, with Capello stating he would only consider players who were 100% for his squad. After the World Cup qualifier against Ukraine in April, James did not start a match for England until the final friendly before the World Cup against Japan on 30 May 2010.
Capello named Hart, 23, in his provisional 30-man squad and he played the second half of both of England's warm-up games, replacing Green against Mexico and James against Japan. Hart kept a clean sheet in each case but won’t be playing a match, unless James messes up today’s match, because of his lack of international experience.
Telegraph U.K. reported that “Hart has, according to Capello, had the outstanding season, improving dramatically while on loan at Birmingham City while Green has been in a struggling West Ham United side and James, 39, and close to his 40th birthday, has had troubles at Portsmouth compounded by a series of injuries surely related to his advancing age.
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