GROUP G:FABIO CAPELLO and his England players will today start work on a strategy aimed at nullifying Gareth Bale in Saturday's Euro 2012 qualifier at the Millennium Stadium, with Peter Crouch reflecting the threat posed by his Tottenham Hotspur team-mate by admitting "if we can stop him, we can stop Wales".
Though Wales are ranked 116th in the world, England recognise they will be confronted by a Premier League-type contest at the weekend, with the Welsh whipped into a frenzy by a derby atmosphere. The manager has already moved to focus minds and denied some of his players’ requests to play golf at their Hertfordshire hotel yesterday, instead ordering them to rest in their rooms through the afternoon despite the balmy spring weather.
Capello still enjoys the full complement of his 26-man squad from which to choose and is considering whether to draft Scott Parker into his starting line-up, with the West Ham midfielder offering energy and steel in the centre.
His inclusion, most likely alongside Jack Wilshere, may come at the expense of Frank Lampard. England are expected to double up defensively on their right flank to stifle Bale and James Milner is likely to switch to that side to offer industry up and down the pitch in support of Glen Johnson at right-back. Such a tactic is understandable given the manager’s admiration for Bale, whom he described as “the number one player in the world in his position”.
Crouch acknowledged the quality England must confront. “He’s their biggest threat, that’s no secret,” he said. “He’s a top-class player and has been on fire for the last two years. It’s something we will be looking at. We only assess opponents on the Thursday and Friday and we’ll look at videos and I’m sure Gareth will be prominent in those.
“We might have to double up on him – West Ham coped with our wingers well on Saturday and Gareth had one of his quietest games. But sometimes, with his sheer energy, he can be unplayable.
“When it comes to the “best player in the world”, he’s got some way to go to be Lionel Messi’s standard. He sets the bar extremely high. Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are out there on their own at the moment, with the sheer number of goals they’ve scored. Gareth is only young, developing and in that position [left-back/left midfield] he’s got to be up there with the top players in the world.”
Rio Ferdinand could give Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson a considerable boost in his quest for a Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup treble by making an early return from a calf injury after flying to Germany to see the leading specialist, Hans-Wilhelm Muller-Wohlfahrt, for treatment this week.
Ferdinand visited Muller-Wohlfahrt, the club doctor at Bayern Munich whose previous clients include Steven Gerrard, Ronaldo and Usain Bolt, on Monday reportedly for an injection in his back to try to solve the calf problem he suffered against Aston Villa on February 1st.
Guardian Service
