England Team
England Team
Twain chose Jon Webb, whom the English Football Association recommended, to be his fitness coach. He used to work for Manchester City but had been unemployed since.
When it came to the coaching team, the experienced Steve Wigley joined the team. Beginning in 1980, he played for Nottingham Forest for six seasons. After he hung up his boots, he returned to Forest and served as their youth team's coach, and he had also served as coach, assistant manager, and manager of various clubs. He understood the English players very well and was very capable.
The 64-year-old Tony Carr was the oldest coach on the coaching team. He had been the youth team's coach for West Ham United since 1973, and he was also once the manager of the team. West Ham United's youth development was famous in English football, and many great talents came from the club. Tony Carr was the greatest contributor to that. He was a loyal warrior who had only served West Ham United. Now that he was getting older, the English Football Association persuaded him to support Tony Twain. That was why he left West Ham United and joined Tony Twain's coaching team.
55-year-old Steve Gatting used to be Arsenal's youth coach but was sent to Tony Twain to be part of his coaching team by the Football Association.
With the addition of the assistant manager Des Walker, the coaching team was basically complete. This was the first time that the England team was using a psychologist. Twain successfully convinced 46-year-old Miss Emma to leave Nottingham Forest for the England team. This licensed psychologist would take up the role of the psychologist for the England team, and her job was to solve any psychological problems that the players had.
This was a completely local coaching team, and Shaun Harvey was very satisfied with it. He had thought that Twain most likely wouldn't pick anyone from the candidates that he recommended because of the way Twain liked to make things as awkward as possible. However, only the assistant manager was someone from outside the list of recommendations. Even though Clemence was recommended to Twain by Shilton, he had been working with the Football Association for many years.
In general, other than Des Walker, who was slightly less famous, this coaching team was rather well-known in English Football. However, Des Walker was also once part of the England national team, and he would still be able to hold his own.
After the coaching team was set up, Twain needed to think about the players.
Realistically speaking, even though the English Football Association told Twain that the line-up for this match could follow the one from the World Cup, it was impossible to do so. At that time, all the clubs were preparing for the new season, especially those teams who had the ability to fight for the title. They would not let their core players play in a friendly for the national team. Even without thinking about the disruption to the preseason preparation, there was also the risk that they might be injured.
That was why it would be difficult for Twain to call up players like Gerrard, Rooney, and Walcott.
Therefore, Twain decided to take this chance to observe. He called up the borderline players who were usually seldom picked for the national team and observed their performances to decide if they would have a place on Twain's national team in the future. Even though there were lesser stars on the team, which would disappoint the crowd in the City Grounds, Twain had never been one to change himself because of the audience's preferences.
This was a good opportunity. The results were not important for this type of match, and there was no pressure, so Twain could call up the players who would usually not be able to be picked without worry. This was the first time for some of them to be called up to represent their country.
As for the established players who were usually part of the national squad, Twain did not even ask. He did not want to ask them when he knew that he would be rejected.
It only took one day for Twain to announce the name list for this match:
The three goalkeepers were Chris Kirkland, Stuart Taylor, and Andy Atkinson. This was the first time that Taylor and Atkinson were called up to the national team, but Kirkland was not much better - this was only his second time. They were the real borderline players.
On defense, Dan Gosling was a versatile defender who played for Everton. Even though he had made a name for himself at Everton and was once hailed as a genius, his international career was less successful. Before Twain called him up, he had only been selected for the national team four times.
The son of the ex-Wimbledon player Alan Cork, 25-year-old Jack Cork was once the future star of Chelsea. But he failed to make his breakthrough at Chelsea and eventually went to Southampton. Southampton did not have any impressive performances in the English Premier League, which affected his international career. However, he had always been thought of as one for the future. The reason why Twain called him up this time was to see if the rumors were true. This was his first time being called up.
Gary Cahill was already 28 years old, but this was his first time being called up. He had played for many different English teams such as Aston Villa, but he eventually transferred to Lyon and had become one of their key players. However, he did not attract the attention of England manager Capello previously because he was playing overseas, and in the French Ligue One to boot. For him to be called up by Twain, it would send out a signal to everyone—it did not matter if a player was playing in England or outside England. As long as they were capable, the national team would welcome them.
The younger brother of Rio Ferdinand, 28-year-old Anton Ferdinand, made his debut with West Ham but was playing at Sunderland now. He had never represented the national team before.
The Middlesbrough's key central defender, David Wheater, had been selected for the national team six times. However, he was always overshadowed by the likes of Terry and the rest and was not favored. His name appeared in the substitute's list six times, but he only managed to get on the pitch once as a substitute in the 87th minute. Standing at 1.96 meters tall, he was a central defender with impressive aerial abilities, and Liverpool used to be interested in him. He was only 27 years old now, and Twain wanted to see his abilities. If he did well, he would definitely have a spot on the England team in the future.
Paul Pepper was the latest academy product from Middlesbrough. He was still a young player, only 20, had represented England at the U19 and U21 level, and he was the captain of the U21 team. He was a talented youngster with immense potential. When Twain was still with Nottingham Forest, he had been interested in bringing him to the City Grounds from Middlesbrough, but the asking price of 15 million meant that a deal was not to be. He was the key left-back of Middlesbrough, and his specialty was a strong attacking prowess, kind of like Gareth Bale. This was also his first time being selected for the national team.
30-year-old Glen Johnson was a familiar face in the national team setup. However, he had not participated in the World Cup held in Brazil this summer. That was because he had sustained a serious injury two months before the competition and had to be out of action for three months, only coming back from injury now. The reason why Aston Villa agreed to allow him to play for the national team was that they wanted him to get some match fitness.
Ashley Cole might be the most famous player in the national team backline. However, he was already 33 and had gradually lost his place as the key player in the Chelsea team. That was why Chelsea agreed to let him play for the national team, and he wanted to win back his position in the club through his performance in this match.
In midfield, Twain called seven players up.
24-year-old Fabian Delph was the most successful academy product from Leeds United in recent years, but he was part of the Tottenham Hotspurs team now. He had been called up to the national squad three times, and this was his fourth time putting on the national team jersey. His position on the team was on the right of the midfield.
West Ham United's 27-year-old midfielder, Mark Noble, became a core member of the team's midfield after Gareth Barry transfer to Liverpool. This was his tenth time representing the country.
Michael Johnson used to play for Manchester City, but he was now a midfield player for Tottenham Hotspurs. If not for the existence of George Wood, he might have been a key player for the national team. He was a very capable player and had already been called up 11 times. He also took part in the World Cup in Brazil this summer as a substitute once.
James Milner made his debut for Leeds United 13 years ago. When Leeds was facing financial meltdown, he was sold by the team to Newcastle for 3.6 million to help with the financial situation at the club. Later on, he went to Aston Villa, and he also used to be the record holder as the youngest goal scorer for England. Eventually, he moved to Chelsea and had been with them since. He had represented the country 15 times before this.
Matt Derbyshire was a 28-year-old attacking midfielder from Blackburn who could also play as a striker. This was his first time representing England.
Jose Baxter was the next future star that Everton developed after Rooney and Vaughan. He was only 22 and had already been on the national team once. He could play on either wing and as a striker.
Joe Cole was the most famous star in the midfield line up. After many years at Chelsea, he had just moved to Manchester City this summer. His abilities were without a doubt excellent, but his form was affected by his frequent injuries. The reason Twain called him up was that he hoped that Cole's technical abilities would be able to bring about more changes in England's midfield.
Twain picked five strikers to join the team for observation. Stars such as Rooney were all not part of the list of players called up.
The senior of Jose Baxter that was mentioned earlier, James Vaughan, was one of the players called up this time. He was Everton's main striker now, and the personal relationship between Twain and Moyes played no small part in Everton releasing him for international duties. Also, Twain had to promise Moyes that he would only play Vaughan for the first half before he agreed.
26-year-old Fraizer Campbell was a talented product of the Manchester United's academy, but he was only warming the bench at Manchester United now. It was not known if Mourinho's arrival at Old Trafford was a good thing for him yet, but he might be able to take advantage of this call up to showcase his abilities to Mourinho.
Danny Welbeck, 23, was also a product of the Manchester United Academy. However, he chose a different path from Campbell. Campbell was still struggling in Manchester United for a starting position, while Welbeck left Manchester United for Sunderland long ago. He was playing regularly for Sunderland now and performed well, so he was also called up to the national team.
The high-profile striker originally from Charlton, Darren Bent, did not perform up to his standard after transferring to Tottenham, but this did not affect Twain's decision to call him up. No matter what, he was still an experienced player when compared to the previous three strikers.
The last player was Aston Villa's 23-year-old striker, Nathan Delfouneso. Even though his height was not that impressive at only 1.81 meters, he was good in the air and had good physical abilities. This was his first time being called up for the national team.
The 23 players above were the ones that Twain wanted to observe and their clubs were willing to release. None of the major stars were here. Twain did not even give them a call. Similarly, there were no Nottingham Forest players in this name list either, as they were the opponents.
This name list was placed under heavy scrutiny by the English media as it was Tony Twain's first national squad member lineup. Countless people were trying to figure something out from Twain's decisions.
Some people thought that Twain was favoring youth, otherwise, why would he pick so many young players? Many older players were also borderline eligible for the national team.
Some people thought that Twain was taking this opportunity to show his iron fist. By calling up so many players on the border of eligibility, he was issuing a "warning" to the stars: "On my team, fame counts for nothing. I'm only interested in your attitude."
The other group of people thought that Twain had no choice—most of the big clubs were not willing to release their players, and the key players of England were preparing for the new season with their teams. It was not easy for him to find 23 players, so who cared about the quality of the players?
No matter how the media analyzed this name list, all the players on the list received a call from the English Football Association asking them to be part of the England squad.
Some were surprised, some calm, but all of them had their own thoughts about it. For the players who were still preparing for the new season with their teams, working with the new manager first would give them an opportunity to understand the personality of the new manager. This would help give them a leg up in gaining a spot on the new national team.
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"Don't expect to see anything from this match, Tony," assistant manager, Des Walker, told Twain, an opinion that was shared by some other coaches. It was the day before the team was supposed to assemble, and the coaches were having a meeting to discuss the team's tactics, the opponent's tactics, etc.
"We don't even have time for a training session. The team will gather tomorrow, and we'll be playing three days later. This is a friendly match, and everyone will be afraid of injuries. They will be scared, and we'll be scared as well," coach Steve Wigley said.
Twain took one look at everyone and laughed, "They may be afraid, but we don't necessarily have to be scared."
Walker, who knew him very well, muttered in his mind, "Looks like somebody's going to get hurt…"