England booster

Tuesday, 09/02/2010

England have been drawn in a great group for the Euro 2012 qualifiers. Nobody could’ve wished for a better draw than the one we have been given in Group G.

One immediate advantage is being drawn in a five-team group, meaning one less opponent and two fewer games.

(Check out the full draw in our international section).

There’s no long-haul trips like we’ve seen in recent years, no major unknowns. We’ve been drawn against teams we do know well, and when you look around you see that there are much harder groups.

Much like the World Cup finals draw, Fabio Capello and his men are in pole position to qualify.

The media will always build up the nation’s hopes, particularly when a seemingly ‘easy’ draw such as this is made, but Capello is an incredibly professional manager who takes nothing for granted.

He is very studious and aware of all potential pitfalls so his planning for each game will be meticulous – there will be no chance of complacency in this campaign. I have the utmost confidence that he will steer us through.

Wales, despite being the lowest-ranked team in the group, have been highlighted as England’s biggest rival. This is purely down to the ‘derby factor’ where everybody in the Welsh camp will be incredibly motivated to play against England and try to secure a famous result. A very real banana skin for Capello’s men.

Wales will be the under-dog, which will suit them just fine, and the specific focus will be to record a memorable victory against their neighbours.

That said, Wales are arguably best placed of all the remaining home nations to qualify alongside England. It is a wide-open group behind England as favourites and John Toshack’s men are certainly in contention for second place.

Switzerland, Bulgaria and Montengero are all decent footballing nations, but if you compare it to Scotland’s draw - Spain, Czech Republic, Lithuania and Liechtenstein - Wales have a decent draw.

They have some great players in their squad and I’d love to see them join us in the 2012 finals.

The Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland and Scotland all have very difficult draws on paper but, conversely, this is the best chance for a long time of there being two or more home nations in a major football tournament.

Scotland have got a few things to sort out, with Craig Levein’s regime change needing to take shape pretty quickly. The Republic have got a lot of travelling to do and Northern Ireland have some big asks in their group, but anything is possible.

I think that, whoever you are, the key is getting momentum in these groups. If you don’t start well, in your first two fixtures, then you are fighting an uphill battle, playing catch up with some big teams.

If they can start the campaign positively then all the home nations will be in with a chance, but it’s a two-year process and calls for consistency as much as anything.

A lot has been said about the captaincy issue for England, but I think Capello conducted the whole process perfectly and, if anything, has reversed the negativity around the situation into a positive.

The England squad knew previously exactly where they stood with the Italian and this incident has served to reaffirm the precedent set by Capello upon his arrival as manager.

With things off-field smoothed out, let’s hope that England’s

Euro 2012 qualification is equally as smooth as the World Cup qualifiers on the field.

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