Jonathan Wilson says that his fine new book The Anatomy of England: A History in Ten Matches has no thesis, but I believe a thesis is lodged within, though perhaps it can't be expressed in a single sentence. The book's implicit argument goes something like this:

From the beginnings of soccer the English have believed that the game should be played one way: energetically, straightforwardly, and very physically.

Fabio Capello's assertion this week that a clutch of Manchester City players could form the nucleus of a successful England team not only underlined the new status of City in the panoply of English football; it also brought back into focus a time-honoured principle of international team building.

Here in the UK our papers like to build people up and then knock them down. Come the 2010 World Cup, who would be bold enough to say the same won't happen to England manager Fabio Capello in the white-hot heat of a tournament? He too may suffer the fate of those who shone brightly at first, only to realise the media is a fickle mistress.

I couldn't be more delighted to see Jamie Carragher called up into the England World Cup squad. And the rest of the country should be celebrating with me too.
Jamie's no big head, that's for sure. But he is a great player full of self belief and confidence in his abilities and when ex-England boss Steve McLaren repeatedly snubbed him, Jamie's self-respect and his desire to devote himself totally to Liverpool FC told him he should quit international football.

One of Fabio Capello's many dilemmas going into this World Cup has been the emergence of some of his younger squad players as potential starters in South Africa. Some situations have been forced on him through injuries to key players but a few of the rookies have shown potential on their own.

Sadly, I'm not referring to someone playing now who can take Ashley Cole's place on that plane to South Africa if the need arises. What I am talking about is this wonderful piece in the guardian today, about Terry Cooper, the Leeds United left back who seemingly defined the modern role.

Cooper was a part of the famous (now infamous) Leeds United team of the 1970s, remembered nowadays as "dirty Leeds", thanks to Brian Clough's view of the team, before during and after his infamous 44 day reign at the club *(Read or see The Damned United, where teh picture to the left comes from for more), which is quite possibly the reason he's a bit forgotten today.

I recently spotted a press report suggesting a group of "Argentinian football hooligans" are plotting to attack England fans during the World Cup. How likely is a meeting between fans of the two teams and when could one take place?
Let's look at the article first. It's from the Daily Mail, a UK paper which specialises in scaring its readers with apocalyptic headlines.

The excitement is building as we get closer to opening match of the 2010 World Cup. Continuing on with the nations in Group C, as England is up next.
Official Name: The Football Association
Nickname: The Three Lions
FIFA Confederation: UEFA (Europe)
FIFA Code: ENG
How They Qualified: Won Group 6 of UEFA Qualifying
World Cup Appearances (Including 2010): 13
Best WC Finish: Champions, England 1966
World Cup Record (MP: Wins - Draws - Losses): 55: 25W - 17D - 13L
Head Coach: Fabio Capello
Most Capped Player (# of caps): Peter Shilton (125)
All-Time Goal Scoring Leader (# of goals): Sir Bobby Charlton (49)
Brief Footballing History:
England's national team is the co-oldest national team in the world along with Scotland.

Before I start typing this, and before you start reading, I should 'fess up that I'm an England fan. Hopefully I'm not too biased and can write a post about the World Cup history of England in an objective manner. Even when discussing the events of 1966 and 1986.

We ended Part I of England's World Cup history with the quarter-final defeat to West Germany at the 1970 World Cup. World Cup winning manager Alf Ramsey was fired after failing to qualify for the 1974 World Cup, and successor Don Revie jumped ship when it became clear England wouldn't qualify for thee 1978 tournament.

If you're a football fan and you struggle to stomach the thought of a Conservative Government in the UK, look away now. The stats on England's World Cup record under Conservative governments are dire.
1930 – Labour Government led Ramsey McDonald, soon-to-be head of Conservative-dominated National Government.

The task: to pick a team based on the past World Cup exploits of Spurs players.

The criteria: Players to be chosen based on their success at a single tournament (eg. Paul Gascoigne 1990)

Why: The season's over and there's nothing else to write about.

Goalkeeper

Paul Robinson England 2006

Consideration was given to Erik Thorstvedt, who kept two clean sheets in three games in 1994 and Pat Jennings, who having found himself without a club in 1986, registered with Tottenham before going to Mexico with Northern Ireland.

1970 Mexico
I was just 6 months old when England took the real/fake Jules Rimet trophy out to Mexico to defend their crown of 1966. We moan today about the distractions off the pitch for players, but it was no different forty years ago. The squad assembled by Alf Ramsey was regarded as stronger than in 1966, with many players now seen as at their peak.

1974 West Germany
On his 7th birthday Paul Gascoigne woke up in his Dunston home with one thing on his mind the forthcoming World Cup Finals in West Germany... probably. But that day it was another Gazza making the back page headlines a certain Silvio Gazzaniga.

Mexico 1970 – Peter Bonnetti, Alf Ramsey saving Charlton's legs and a great Brazilian side had nothing to do with the outcome of the 1970 World Cup. As champions and favourites, England simply had to turn up and the trophy was theirs. Or so they thought. That was until Howard Marks, the Mexican Drug cartels [.

The consensus at the moment seems to be that Aston Villa's Emile Heskey will partner Wayne Rooney in attack against the US.
Intriguingly, Heskey will have the number 21 on his back. Another famous forward once wore the very same number for England during our one and, so far, only successful tournament.

My GOD, Italia '90 was crap. There's been a recent attempt to rehabilitate the tournament on the basis of the long-term impact of England's relative success. But I'm not about to join in. After I wondered aloud how a team as bad as West Germany were in 1982 and 1986 could reach consecutive finals (compare and contrast with the Netherlands in 1974 and 1978), along came Argentina in 1990.

Please, Mr Capello, give me a chance.

Anticipation turned in one instant to dissapointment last Saturday when Robert Green fumbled the ball into his net. Exposed in the harshest manner possible were the one-chance realities of World Cup football.

And so, on Sunday, Germany will join Argentina as the team we have most faced at the World Cup, as it'll be the fifth time the two teams have met.* So I figure, now is as good a time as any to have a look back at the previous encounters, nearly all of which were explosive.

1966 World Cup Final.

The 1966 final has cast a shadow over past five or so decades: in some ways it's difficult for those of us that do not have our own memories of the game to really believe it happened and that we actually beat the Germans, despite being witnessess to the win in Belgium in the European Championship and the simply astonishing 5-1 win in September 2001.

COS contributor Jake Harrison takes a closer look at what makes the Italian the right man to guide the Three Lions to glory.

Think Germany will lift the World Cup? Bet with Betfair and get £25 free!

Quality CaughtOffside T-Shirts Available

A few bad performances really can create irrational responses.

The 2010 World Cup finals have drawn to a close. Unlike Richard, I can't say I've particularly enjoyed it. Maybe I'm getting old, maybe I just didn't see enough live games but this tournament failed to generate the excitement I've felt with previous years. There were moments though; Ghana did Africa proud, Germany entertained, Spain were incredible and Forlan worked his magic for Uruguay.

Ask any Manchester United or Liverpool fan what the first game they look for when a new season's fixture list is released and you can bet with absolute certainty that it will be the home and away...
Continue to the full story

Yesterday we looked at the major events in the years between 1957-66 today we look at the years between 1967-69 and find out who was the first British club to be crowned European Cup Champions and who was the first England player to be sent-off while representing his Country check it out below.

You've heard of Jimmy Greaves of course, everyone has even though he stopped playing nearly 40 years ago. Greaves was one of the greatest goal scorers England has ever produced which makes his recent...
Continue to the full story

There is a heady list of contenders, ranging from Alf Ramsey's Ipswich through to 02-03 Pompey, via Leeds and Liverpool.

-
- Mark Falco Turns Fifty
-
-For QPR and Football Updates throughout the day, visit the ever-growing (and hopefully, always-improving!)QPR Report Messageboard/quasi-blog . All QPR and football perspective welcome. Or simply feel free to read the football-only updates and discussions.

Booker Prize winner: The English Patient by Michael OndaatjeJohn Peel Festive 50 Number 1: Bang Bang Machine: Geek LovePoet Laureate: Ted HughesPresident of Libya: Muammar al-GaddafiFor a series purporting to cover great teams, our second East Anglian choice of recent weeks perhaps takes liberties with the brief.

It is surprisingly uncommon to find a player whose passing will be marked equally between two different clubs, but the death of Ralph Coates at the age of sixty-four will be marked with sadness at all three of the Football League clubs at which he played: Burnley, Tottenham Hotspur and Leyton Orient.

The road that led to the manager's position as it is currently understood – the man who is in charge of practically everything – has been a difficult and tortuous one.
So domineering is the manager today that it is difficult to reconcile with the knowledge that it is a position that was born of the need to put a buffer between the team and those who owned it, one that was originally routinely carried out by the club secretary.