Here we look at performance data supplied by Castrol EDGE to assess what impact these bright young stars will make on the Saturday’s game.

Overall Jack Wilshere comes out ahead of Ramsey in one on one situations, while the Welsh midfielder is better around the box.

Comparing Ramsey’s 2009/10 campaign with Wilshere’s first full season with the Gunners, their stats tell a story. Ramsey thrives in attacking situations, scoring three goals in the league before his leg-break against Stoke, averaging at a very respectable rate of one every 260 minutes.

He also delivered three assists, all of which is more than Wilshere this season (one goal, two assists) and all the more telling since the England international has played more than double the time Ramsey spent on the pitch last season.

Wilshere’s importance lies in his capacity to beat his direct opponent and unleash his more attacking teammates. He boasts higher success rates than Ramsey in duels, dribbles and tackles. The effort he puts in can sometimes be “over-enthusiastic” as shown by the number of cards he’s picked up this season, 4 yellow’s and one red.

Finally, their impeccable delivery is highlighted by their passing accuracy. In the final third, both players complete more than three in every four passes.

Wilshere v Ramsey – Premier League

Wales main problem appears to be in scoring goals, they have so far managed to convert a ridiculous 3.6% of their shots in the Euro 2012 qualifiers, well below the 13% average in the competition.

Wales only goal in the competition so far came from Gareth Bale in the 4-1 defeat away to Switzerland, and with the Spurs wing back ruled out of the game with a hamstring injury it is hard to see where the goals are going to come from.

Wales currently have zero points from there three games played so far, and in their combined total of 408 minutes of action in the Euro 2012 qualifiers, Wales’ strikers have mustered just six shots on target between them. With no goals to their names so far, the Welsh forward line will need find their shooting boots if they are to trouble Fabio Capello’s Three Lions.

Welsh Strikers In the UEFA EURO 2012™ Qualifiers

The Castrol EDGE Performance data makes a strong case for the inclusion of Liverpool striker Andy Carroll in the England starting line up, the player has notched up an impressive 11 Premier League goals in 1,712 minutes of action this season, only Darren Bent can compare, but the Aston Villa striker has played 717 minutes more.

While Rooney’s place in the Three Lions’ first 11 is set in stone under Capello, the second striking berth has yet to be claimed on a permanent basis. However, Carroll’s strike rate of a goal every 156 minutes in the league this season and a total of three assists, are both superior figures to those of his fellow England hopefuls.

Aston Villa’s Darren Bent comes closest to matching Carroll’s figures, and the striker has hit two goals in his last two appearances for England. However, the Liverpool man’s physical presence, along with his goals, makes him an ideal foil for the more creative Rooney.

English Strikers In Premier League 2010/11

Castrol prediction:

Wales win 15%
Draw 22%
England win 63%

Sports betting fans knew that the game had little meaning overall in the grand scheme of things but as friendlies go, the game was played at high tempo and though neither team were committed to 50-50 challenges, the game was a good test for both England and Denmark before their next European Championship qualifying matches against local opposition in Wales and Norway, respectively.

18-year-old Christian Eriksen used the game as a shop window for all Premier League teams to sit up and take notice of this teenager midfield general currently playing his football with Ajax; and after a magnificent performance I would be surprised if he doesn’t follow his former team-mate Luis Suarez with a move to England in the summer.

There were several Premier League players in the Denmark team including Stoke City goalkeeper Thomas Sorenson and Liverpool’s Christian Poulsen and Daniel Agger.  Agger opened the scoring with a great headed cross though it was helped by poor defending by Michael Dawson.

After falling behind 1-0 in the seventh minute, England quickly responded just three minutes later. Wayne Rooney crossed a great pass from left to right, finding Theo Walcott on the edge of the Denmark goal area.  Walcott’s determination to get a cross in left him with a cut eye from a flailing arm. The ball was drilled across the six yard line and met by Darren Bent in the 10th minute.

As with all international friendlies, Fabio Capello had agreed to use six substitutes and only play 45 minutes to certain key players. It was apparent that Capello was doing his best to keep on good terms with the teams in the Champions League as the substitutes were made.  Chelsea’s Frank Lampard, Tottenham’s Michael Dawson, Arsenal’s Jack Wilshere and Manchester United’s Wayne Rooney were all substituted.

Two more Aston Villa forwards joined Darren Bent in the second half, Ashley Young and  Stewart Downing; and they combined with Glen Johnson for Ashley Young to score his first international goal and the winner for England in a good second half performance.

Jack Wilshere had an impressive 45 minutes before being substituted at half time, even though he was played as a holding midfielder.  Whether this was Capello’s plan to see if a young Wilshere who loves to go forward was disciplined enough to play simple passes and keep his position or just a way of fitting him in alongside more seasoned midfielders Frank Lampard, Theo Walcott and James Milner, it marked Jack Wilshere’s arrival as an England player.

Castrol say that the former Middlesbrough starlet has also been in impressive form for Manchester City in the league this season, netting once and creating a chance every 54 minutes on average. Of the widemen named in Fabio Capello’s squad, only late call-up Stewart Downing has netted more often than Johnson in the league while Johnson’s minutes per shot and minutes per dribble rates are significantly superior to any of the other wingers.

It is with England in the  Euro 2012 qualifiers where Johnson has really excelled in recent months, creating two goal-scoring chances and completing 80% of his dribbles along with a two-goal haul. With Theo Walcott and James Milner both out of action with injuries, along with Aaron Lennon, Johnson now has the chance to cement his place in Capello’s first 11.

Performance of Wingers in Current England Squad in Euro 2010 Qualifiers

The case for Frank Lampard

According to Castrol Performance analysis, despite enjoying an impressive start to their Euro 2012 campaign without the injured Frank Lampard, England have still performed better in their competitive games when the attacking midfielder has played, winning 65% of those games compared to 63% when he hasn’t appeared.

Lampard, who is currently sidelined after undergoing surgery for a hernia, also compares favourably to fellow schemer Steven Gerrard in terms of England performances as well as the now-retired Paul Scholes. Indeed, since 2000 (when Gerrard made his competitive debut), the Chelsea star has scored more goals on average, mustered mores shots per game and won a higher percentage of his tackles than either Gerrard or Scholes. While the Three Lions may be coasting through their Euro 2012 campaign so far, the importance and influence of Lampard should not be dismissed.

Lampard, Gerrard and Scholes for England in Competitive Games since Euro 2000

The Castrol verdict for tonights Euro 2012 Qualifier:

England win 80%

Montenegro win 6%

Draw 14%

Lineker went to Spain to see how they had turned around their own misfortunes.  It’s difficult to see how, now they are currently European & World Champions but before this latest wave of success, Spain had an even worse record than England for underachieving in the big competitions.

Comparisons were drawn to the way La Liga attracted some of the best players in the world in the 1980’s while ignoring the importance of nurturing home-grown Spanish talent.  Gary Lineker himself was a success at Barcelona, as was English manager Terry Venables; and though Spain have only conquered Europe and the rest of the world in the past four years, it was a revolution that allegedly started when Dutch maestro and former player, Johan Cruyff, returned to manage Barcelona in 1988.

Cruyff stated that the national side would be perennial underachievers if the top teams in La Liga continued looking to foreign players for short-term success. Cruyff’s model was to produce better quality indigenous players by a matter of inclusion and focus on a longer term strategy that started at grassroots and ended with national success.  This coupled with the fact that when boys are coached to play football at an early age, they should be learning the skill of playing with the ball, not simply competing to win.  A criticism levelled at English football.

Jurgen Klinsmann kick-started a German revolution after replacing Rudi Voller as manager of Germany in 2004.  Klinsmann initially attracted criticism from some quarters with some poor results leading up to the 2006 World Cup.  He had axed many aging stars and attempted to change the way Germany play.  He wanted Germany to be less rigid, offensive and less constrictive in their play.  For change to take place Klinsmann, like Cruyff at Barcelona, needed to think long term and have the backing of the German FA to see it through.

England wasn’t the only nation to have a poor World Cup in South Africa.  Italy and France had shockers too.  But England’s last and only glory was 44 years ago now; and the England crisis is far deeper than other nations.

While English Premier League teams continue to enjoy European Champions League success the England national team have become worse.  So, as Jose Mourinho said, look at the clubs that have done well in Europe over the past few years (Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool & Manchester United) and count their English players.  That is definitely a factor in England’s demise.  But England was failing to qualify for the World Cup and European Championship finals long before the Premier League and English football was filled with top foreign players.

Another cause for England’s poor standing in European and world football is a more entrenched problem.  Boys are told to compete and win over learning to be skilful. I left secondary education in 1981 and I remember way back then we were being told the reason every Dutch football player looks so comfortable and skilful on the ball, is because he is; and England players hoof the ball around and get the ball into the opponents’ penalty area as quickly as possible because that’s what they are taught to do from an early age.

Italy and France relied on past glory and older players, and England juggled unrealistic hope and expectation once again.  All were found out in South Africa, while Spain and Germany, along with Holland, were the best and most exciting teams in the World Cup finals.

Tonight England host Montenegro in a Euro 2012 qualifying game at Wembley.  Look at their squad and ask yourself, how many of those players would get into the Spanish or German starting eleven?

Will England win the next World Cup?

The short answer to ‘will England win the next World Cup?’ is definitely not. Furthermore, they won’t win it again until these deep-rooted problems are addressed; and that can only be achieved with a long term plan and strategy in place. By appointing Sven Goran Eriksson and Fabio Capello, the English FA has put its head in the sand and attempted to buy the World Cup in the same way as the Premier League buy the best players in the world. So, the only thing England fans can do right now is be grateful they’re not Scotland!

joe hart

Well, England put in a sound performance against Bulgaria at Wembley last Friday in the first of the Euro 2012 qualifiers, with Fabio Capello seeming to fill the gaps left by the withdrawal of regulars Frank Lampard, John Terry and Rio Ferdinand with apparent ease.

But most of all England fans will surely be happy to have kept a clean sheet against a reasonable Bulgarian team and Joe Hart has emerged as the leading contender to keep the England goalkeepers jersey.

Castrol Performance research proves that Hart is indeed the current number one choice for England, his performances so far in the Premier League shows that he is well ahead of his English rivals and the Manchester City keeper is statistically second only to Chelsea’s Petr Cech so far this season.

The former Shrewsbury Town starlet has ousted Shay Given from the number one spot at City and in the first three games of the season he has conceded only once, saving an amazing 94% of the shots fired at his goal.

In contrast other contenders such as Ben Foster at Birmingham has conceded five times with no clean sheets and West Ham’s Robert Green has let in nine goals with no clean sheets.

In fairness, Manchester City are considered to be title contenders and Joe Hart is surrounded by international defenders of repute, while taking nothing away from Birmingham or West Ham, neither team has resources similar to those available to City.

None the less, Hart has started in superb form and fully deserves the opportunity to stake his claim for England, he appears focused and confident, so long may that continue.

Hart and the England defence will be aware of the aerial threat posed by Switzerland, twelve of their eighteen goals in World Cup 2010 qualifiers came from headers.

Switzerland were as disappointing as England during the World Cup finals, so both teams have a lot to prove. With Congolese born Blaise Nkufo not included in the Swiss squad expect the aerial bombardment to come from Alexander Frei and Marco Streller.

castrol performance research

Castrol make England favourites to win the game in Basel with a 44% chance, Switzerland to win 27% and a draw 29%.

castrol performance research

Using data collected over the last two years of competitive international games, Castrol Performance have analysed some of the key individual head to head areas of tonight’s Euro 2012 qualifier between England and Bulgaria.

On paper the statistics are stacked in England’s favour and it would appear that Bulgaria need a miracle to get anything out of this game.

While Glen Johnson poses a massive threat to any team with his frequent excursions into the opponents half of the field where he produces his best football, it is a commonly held opinion that he still has a lot to learn in the art of defending.

This is borne out by the stats that claim Zhivko Milanov has won an incredible 100% of his tackles compared to just 78% for Johnson. However the Bulgarian is not prolific at pushing forward and has completed no dribbles compared to 59% completed by Johnson, no goal assists and no shots on goal. Johnson meanwhile has assisted in four of England’s goals and had seven shots himself.

In midfield Stiliyan Petrov proves to be a fantastic ball winner, claiming 94% of tackles won compared to Steven Gerrard’s measly 65%, the Bulgarians pass rate is also superior to the England player with 86% success to Gerrard’s 77%.

However the Englishman comes into his own in front of goal with four goals scored to Petrov’s one, 23 shots compared to 11 and an incredible 21 chances created including assists to the Bulgarians four.

In the front line England’s Theo Walcott has shown that his blistering pace can unsettle some of the best defenders and compared to Martin Petrov he is a far better dribbler of the ball, but both players have created nine chances and one assist, while Walcott edges it with eleven shots on goal  and three goals scored. Petrov very close with nine shots on goal and two scored.

It is not so easy to compare Wayne Rooney with his opposite number in the Bulgarian team as between them strikers Dimitar Rangelov and Valeri Bojinov have completed half the time on the field compared to the England striker.

Neither Bulgarian has managed to hit the target during that time though, while Rooney has scored nine times for England. Between them the two Bulgarians have managed eleven shots to Rooney’s 42 and created nine chances compared to 26 for the Manchester United player.

On the evidence of these facts England will find the Bulgarians a difficult team to break down through midfield and defence, but England have enough strike power to win the game comfortably and put some points in the bag for the Euro 2012 qualifiers.

theo walcott

Maybe as a a consequence of missing out in the South Africa World Cup finals, Theo Walcott has started this Premier League season in sparkling form, easily the most dangerous of England’s wide men he has already bagged four goals in 187 minutes of football action.

He will surely have earned himself a starting place up in Fabio Capello’s team who take on Bulgaria this Friday in the first of the qualifiers for Euro 2012.

Castrol Performance analysis confirms that Walcott has compared very favourably to England’s alternative wide men, scoring more goals, mustering more shots, being more accurate with his crosses than all apart from Ashley Young and only behind James Milner in terms of successful dribbles.

Also Walcott will feel he has a point to prove and where better to do that than at Wembley in an England shirt.

With the statistics showing that Bulgaria were at their most vulnerable during the first 15 minutes of their World Cup 2010 qualifiers, Walcott may never have such an opportunity to prove his ability at international level.

Walcott shows lightening pace at the start of any game and the Bulgarians will have their hands full contending with the nippy Arsenal player as he runs at their defence at speed, hopefully creating chances of an early goal or two for himself or his colleagues.

While the Castrol stats show that England were more potent later on in their World Cup qualifying games, Bulgaria will be mindful that four of England’s goals in the campaign were scored inside the first 15 minutes and three of those were scored at Wembley.

Bulgaria will have to be at their most focused if they are to get anything out of this game and England are massive favourites to get themselves off to a winning start on Friday.

castrol performance research

Castrol say England are 76% most likely to win, 15% for a draw and Bulgaria have a 9% of upsetting the odds and winning the match.

England started well with a fluent 4-3-3 system that gave Steven Gerrard a free roaming role, often dropping deep but always looking to push up to support of the loan striker, Wayne Rooney. But by half-time the initial enthusiasm and head of steam had run out, and England left the pitch to a chorus of boos.

Four changes were made by Fabio Capello at half-time.  Michael Dawson, Kieran Gibbs, Ashley Young and Bobby Zamora for Ashley Cole, John Terry, Frank Lampard and Theo Walcott; and second-half substitutes saw Wayne Rooney replaced by James Milner and Steven Gerrard, after scoring England’s two goals for the 18 year old debutant, Jack Wilshere.

Wayne Rooney was substituted midway in the second-half while England was 1-0 down to the biggest boo of the night.  Rooney had become frustrated as England’s midfield increasingly left him isolated.

Phil Jagielka looked comfortable in central defence and of the debuts and young players on show for England, in what has been dubbed ‘the beginning of a new dawn’, Kieran Gibbs made a great impression in both defending and rushing forward when he replaced Ashley Cole.  And though he made a nuisance of himself with darting runs and a couple of decent crosses from the right-hand side, I still believe Theo Walcott shows naivety and immaturity by continually running into defenders or cul-de-sacs when he should have his head up, looking to pass the ball.

But like Fabio Capello, who didn’t once get out of his seat, let alone stand in the technical area, throughout the whole match, let’s not get over excited to see England looking to its passionate youth.  After all, this is only a meaningless friendly match.

Next month England will begin their Euro 2012 Qualifying campaign, and it is only then that we will see if Fabio Capello is ready to back younger players like Ashley Young, Adam Johnson, Kieran Gibbs and Jack Wilshere. Though it looks likely he is going to make Joe Hart his first choice goalkeeper, as long as Manchester City is prepared to show similar faith. Hart had a good game and looked ready to pull on the vacant England gloves.

Yes it was clearly a goal, and yes it could have changed the course of the dismal England performance against Germany, and ultimately the game.  However, it cannot be used in an attempt to gloss over the fact that, apart from the first 10 minutes in their opening game against the USA England were not bad, they were shocking!

Capello should be slating his players for being absolutely crap in the same way fans and pundits have; and as a show of intent be addressing the issue by dropping more so-called ‘star players’, not just for this meaningless friendly, but by delivering a statement to all England’s young players – if you are playing regularly in the Premier League for your club, you will be considered for England!

Promoting the likes of Arsenal’s youngsters Jack Wilshere and Kieran Gibbs from the Under-21 team is a start but doesn’t go far enough.  After England’s World Cup disappointment there should be a wholesale clearout of any disruptive personalities and prima donnas who feel it their right to play for England, rather than be proud to do so.

The international retirement of Paul Robinson and Wes Brown after their inclusion in the squad to face Hungary raises another issue.  This comes after Paul Scholes stated he may not have turned down the chance to come out of international retirement and go to the World Cup if only Fabio Capello had bothered to call him personally instead of leaving it to his assistant.

When Capello took charge of England he immediately brought a much needed air of discipline to the England camp and stated no one would be guaranteed a place in the team because of previous achievement or star factor, but that he would pick the team on merit.

I believe, for whatever reason Fabio Capello lost the players after England qualified in style for the World Cup by a series of blunders.  Firstly, he went back on his words by enticing Jamie Carragher out of international retirement after Carragher played his worst season for Liverpool for several years.  He also decided to take the almost disabled Ledley King ahead of his Tottenham team-mate Michael Dawson.  Neither Carragher or King had played for Fabio Capello.  For me that suggested panic on his part, and also a wrong signal to other defenders who had already played for Capello’s England.  How did that make Mathew Upson feel?

Why take one-and-a-half old boys ahead of young talent like Michael Dawson and Phil Jagielka?

Furthermore, with the exclusion of both David James and Robert Green from this week’s squad, and the retirement of Paul Robinson, Capello has now given England a ‘real’ goalkeeping crisis.  Ben Foster’s move from Manchester United to Birmingham will give him the chance to stake his claim as England’s no.1 while it is still uncertain if Joe Hart will be first choice goalkeeper for Manchester City, ahead of the Republic of Ireland’s excellent Shay Given.

For me, time has run out for the England players who showed no commitment in the World Cup, and time will soon be up for Fabio Capello too, unless he makes some big changes and shows he is building an England team for the future. Capello needs to return to being strong and focussed.  Forget offering a golden ticket to old or unfit players like a FastPass at a Theme Park and go all out for youth.

Move over Rover and let Jack Wiltshire take over!

England lose Nationwide sponsorship

The Football Association have been left with egg on their red faces after Nationwide announced that they would not continue to sponsor the international team beyond the end of the current deal that ends at the end of this month.

Expecting the England team under the guidance of Fabio Capello to fare better than the mediocre showing in South Africa, the FA turned down a £5million per year deal from Nationwide prior to the World Cup.

It turned out to be an ill fated gamble by the FA who obviously imagined that a good run in the World Cup would have sponsors champing at the bit to improve on the Nationwide offer.

With England due to play a friendly against Hungary at Wembley in three weeks the FA will be exploring every avenue for a new sponsor before that game, but face an impossible task.

Already discounting ticket prices for the upcoming game, such is the disillusionment of the England fans with the teams performance in South Africa, the team are likely to play the friendly in front of a half full stadium of supporters.