FIFA Updates

By ROB HARRIS AP Sports Writer

LONDON (AP)—England coach Fabio Capello has urged David Beckham to consider a career in coaching, while offering the former captain the faint prospect of being recalled to the national team.

The Los Angeles midfielder, who has played for Real Madrid, AC Milan and Manchester United, has ruled out moving into coaching when his career ends.

But Capello has seen what the 35-year-old Beckham can offer when his playing career is over after taking him to the World Cup as part of his backroom staff.

“He has big experience,” Capello said. “He knows different styles from Spain, Italy and USA. He knows a lot of different things. I think he can be a manager. The manager is a difficult job, but he is intelligent. I think he can do it.”

Beckham has appeared 115 times for his country – the record for an English outfield player – and Capello faced criticism in the British media earlier this month for announcing on television that he was too old to be considered for England duty again.

Keen to quell any rift with Beckham, Capello broke his usual practice by later calling him to explain the decision.

“I spoke with David because he was a part of the staff in the World Cup,” Capello said during a media briefing at Wembley Stadium. “Usually I don’t speak on the phone with the players. In my career I never did this, but in this case I spoke.”

The midfielder rejected the offer of a farewell match, but now Capello claims – albeit with little conviction in his voice – that Beckham could still potentially play again for England.

But in response to the questions about a recall, Capello repeatedly emphasized that nurturing fresh talent is the priority after a woeful World Cup campaign that saw the team go out in the second round.

“First he has to play a game,” Capello said of Beckham, who is recovering from an Achilles’ tendon injury. “We are monitoring all the players … the door is open always for all the players but now I think about the young players. They need to play more games and get more experience.

“For me some players will be difficult to choose another time because of their age. I have to prepare for the Euros.”

WATFORD, England (AP)—Steven Gerrard has admitted his England team is not
among football’s elite and has urged fans to lower their expectations.

A dismal World Cup campaign which ended in a 4-1 second-round thumping by
Germany highlighted to Gerrard that England isn’t the world power it considers
itself to be.

“At the moment, we’re not up with the best … are you guys going to lower
the expectations?” Gerrard asked media at a news briefing Tuesday.

Going into the World Cup, England coach Fabio Capello had declared that the
1966 champions were capable of reaching the final in South Africa after winning
nine out of 10 qualifiers.

Since returning from South Africa, Gerrard says “it’s been really difficult
to be an England player.”

Chelsea should sign one of Sergio Aguero and David Villa along with French international Franck Ribery to beef up their side for next season, believes their former defender Jason Cundy.

Speaking exclusively to Goal.com UK, Cundy said he hopes top new signings will be supplemented by the pick of Chelsea’s promising academy youngsters in next season’s squad, but that the experienced nucleus of the team must remain in place, despite recent speculation linking Frank Lampard with a move abroad.

“I’d like to see a frontman,” said Cundy, “a David Villa or Sergio Aguero type player, someone with something a bit different, who can maybe play off the front man, whether it be Didier (Drogba) or Nicolas (Anelka).”

Cundy, who represented the Blues between 1988 and 1992, is looking forward to the return of Michael Essien, who “will bring some energy and pace in the middle,” but added that the Ghanaian would benefit from a creative foil. “I’d like to see a bit of pace in the middle of the park,” he said.

“I think we lack pace sometimes, we can be a little slow to react and when we counter-attack teams can regroup quite quickly against us. Someone like a Ribery – or Arjen Robben, though he won’t come back of course – who can travel 30 or 40 yards with the ball, at pace.”

With his contract set to expire at the campaign’s end, doubts remain over Joe Cole’s future at Stamford Bridge. Cundy is concerned and thinks he may have missed his chance to fill the creative role for Chelsea and, with the World Cup fast approaching, England too. “Joe Cole is a surprising one,” he said,  “but he’s really struggled this season, partly because of injuries which have meant he’s struggled to hold down a first-team spot, and if he can’t do that then obviously his World Cup ambitions are going to be severely dented as well.”

Cundy has observed the club’s academy products at close quarters, having covered their progress in his role with Chelsea TV, and sees a few with the potential to step up. He thinks this may tempt Carlo Ancelotti to move on some of the many 30-somethings in the camp. “I think Chelsea have one or two youngsters that can perhaps fill some boots,” he said.

“There’s Jeffrey Bruma for example. The question is, can he come in and replace (Ricardo) Carvalho? I think he probably can. He’s an excellent talent and he could easily become our third or fourth centre-back, as Ivanovic can play there too.

“There’s possibly a space to be freed up with someone like Carvalho, who’s had a lot of injuries and might want to move on. Belletti’s contract is up at the end of June, so you’d have to consider him as a man who’lll move on.”

True Blue | Cundy spent four years at the Bridge

Frank Arnesen was expensively recruited from London rivals Tottenham Hotspur in 2005 to oversee youth development, and despite his optimism over the long-awaited fruits of his labours, Cundy warns that results are now expected. “It takes time to happen, but he’s been there a while, and there comes a time when the talking has got to stop, and you’ve got to start delivering,” said Cundy.

“There’s a couple like Bruma, (Patrick) Van Aanholt, the left-back, and young (Fabio) Borini, who is that type of player I was talking about to play off the big man. He’s not quite ready. And of course Gael Kakuta, who has bags of ability in the middle of the park, and don’t forget Michael Mancienne, who’s been out on loan at Wolves. Jack Cork has had glowing reports about him from his loan spells. Realistically, Bruma and Kakuta are probably the ones who are good enough to step up at this stage, with Mancienne maybe able to fill a place in the squad.”

Nevertheless the TalkSPORT host was quick to praise the contribution of the senior squad members to the champions-elect’s title push. “I don’t think there’s any need for wholesale changes (in the summer),” he said. “I really don’t. Didier’s here to stay, as is Nicolas Anelka.”

Cundy stressed it is imperative that midfield lynchpin Lampard stays at the club, in the wake of rumours linking him with a move to Inter Milan, or even Real Madrid should his former coach Jose Mourinho switch to the Bernabeu.

“I know there’s been a lot of speculation over Frank, and if a club tables a £30m-£40m bid, then it gives the club something to think about,” admitted Cundy. “But when he’s in the form he’s continued to be in this season, how do you replace him? I wouldn’t let him go.”

Cundy, whose also turned out for Tottenham and Chelsea’s FA Cup final opponents Portsmouth during his playing career, was keen to eulogise Ancelotti’s influence at Stamford Bridge. He firmly believes that the Italian’s personality is finally allowing Chelsea to step out of the not-insignificant shadow of the Mourinho era. “This is a different Chelsea side,” stressed Cundy. “There are two ways of playing 4-3-3; as a 4-5-1 when we lose possession and 4-3-3 on the attack, but he tends to go in search of that next goal. There have been games this season when Chelsea have been 3-0 up at half-time and we’ve gone on to win the game 7-0 or 7-1.”

The safety-first tactics of Mourinho’s sides have now been firmly consigned to the past, he said. “I remember under Jose (Mourinho), if we were 3-0 up at half-time, we’d get to full-time and it would still be three or four nil,” remembered Cundy. “I think Ancelotti’s work ethic is to say ‘let’s continue looking for goals, don’t slack and don’t be happy with just three-nil’. That’s definitely something he’s brought to Chelsea in a very short time, and it’s a different Chelsea to that which people are used to seeing.”

Cundy thinks the former AC Milan coach has already carved his name in the club’s annals. “For the team to score more goals than any other time in their history in his first season tells you everything you need to know about how he wants to play the game.”

Jason Cundy appears on a number of programmes on Chelsea TV. He also hosts Sports Bar on TalkSPORT with Andy Goldstein between 7pm and 10pm every Saturday and Sunday.

For more news on England, visit Goal.com’s England section and join Goal.com USA’s Facebook fan page