July 2009
F.A. Indicate expectations; Qualify for the forthcoming World Cup.
Already being in a very strong group position, i decided to treat these games almost like friendlies (I know these have been faults to both Sven and McLaren, but trust me, i'm going somewhere
)
First decision i was faced with; Almunia for England?
He is obviously a very good keeper, but do i really need him? I would consider David James my first choice goalkeeper but he has his injury worries. Would i have sufficient back-up? I Attended a couple of Man Utd fixtures and witnessed Ben Foster keep a clean sheet in both the Community shield, in which he saved 2 penalties, and looked dominant of his area. Also, a cleen-sheet against rivals Man City, facing the likes of Robinho, Tevez, Adebayor. I was very impressed.
Witnessed Blackburn's Paul Robinson concede three goals against Bolton (Yes, Bolton Scoring 3 away!) and didn't look a shade of the once Tottenham player.
I then opted to watch a league cup game between Leeds United and Charlton Athletic, to have a look at a local boy, Shane Higgs (previously at Cheltenham Town). He impressed with his ability to come off of his line and helped Leeds to a comfortable 3-1 win.
If David James was kept fit, i had no reason to replace him as the England number 1. If not fit, i had great confidence in Ben Foster to step up, so they took two goalkeeping places respectively. As i needed to register three goalkeepers, it was basically down to a choice of Almunia and Higgs. Maybe my soft spot for my old Cheltenham boy got the better of me, but i couldn't see myself playing a Spanish person, in an English team. Shane Higgs got the call up.
