World Cup England Football Squad 2010 Betting
2010 World Cup online football betting fans are now setting their wagering sights on just which of the current crop of England players will make manager Fabio Capello's 23-man squad ahead of the tournament which commences next June in South Africa. The decisions on who will hold their place down, who will provide strong competition for an individual role and who hasn't got a hope in heydees any longer are generating increased interest amongst the internet Football Betting community, with online bookmakers predicting up to £1 billion could be spent betting interactively on the 2010 World Cup Finals before it's over. Which begged us to furnish your betting knowledge still further with our very own World Cup England football squad 2010 betting guide.
With England having put their 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying Group 6 to bed (much earlier than expected) all eyes and thoughts are now centred on just which players are going to make the final short-list, and ultimately who'll jet off to South Africa next summer so as to hopefully return with chests suitably puffed and brandishing the Jules Rimmet trophy later in July. The online football betting community is awash with idle banter and chitter-chatter about just who they think will be boarding that Johannesburg-bound flight in June 2010; and as always the internet bookmakers are doing their bit to perpetuate the gossip by bandying around all sorts of names - some familiar, some almost forgotten, some faintly ridiculous. Which is where Free Betting Online step into the fray, and suggest the World Cup England football squad 2010 betting as we see it.
Thank Roo
02/04/2010
After a heart stopping day or so when a nation held its breath once again waiting for medical results to come back ahead of a major international tournament, Wayne Rooney looks as though he will recover in plenty of time to take the plane to this summer’s World Cup.
Punters were understandably concerned at the sight of Rooney hobbling out of the Allianz Arena on crutches and he drifted out to odds of 1.5 (1/2) on Betfair’s ‘England World Cup Squad’ market. Now that the prognosis has been made public he is back in to odds of 1.1 (1/10) in the World Cup England Football Squad 2010 Betting and a nation can breathe once again.
A Bridge Too Far
25/02/2010
Wayne Bridge has sensationally declared himself unavailable for national team selection in response to the recent John Terry scandal. Fabio Capello had stated that he expected Bridge to be part of the squad for the upcoming friendly against Egypt but a statement released by the Manchester City players lawyer confirmed the revelations which had been speculated about in the media. It is a huge blow to Capello and England who already have concerns over the left-back position after Ashley Cole picked up an injury and will be out for most of the season.
Don’t expect Bridge’s name to disappear off the World Cup England Football Squad 2010 Betting but those looking to back him to go to South Africa in the summer will have to hope for a complete reversal in his thought process.
Left-back dilemma
12/02/2010
Sometimes you just have to smile at how things work out in the world of sport. Only days after John Terry was stripped of the England captaincy for his alleged sordid little affair with Wayne Bridge’s ex, Ashley Cole went and picked up an injury which would rule him out for possibly the whole season and the 2010 World Cup. When fit Bridge has been Cole’s automatic replacement in the England starting line-up but undoubted tensions between him and Terry will be an issue for Fabio Capello.
There are other options available to the manager who could opt for Joleon Lescott, Leighton Baines or even Stephen Warnock to take up position on the left side of defence and it could prove interesting to get involved in some World Cup England Football Squad Betting 2010. It’s 1/3 that Bridge makes it into the World Cup squad, 1/2 for Lescott (who can also be deployed as a centre-half), then 7/4 for Warnock and 4/1 for Baines. Capello will have to earn his money on working out this situation.
T-Day
05/02/2010
John Terry will meet his maker (well, Fabio Capello) today in order to discuss the recent revelations regarding his private life. It is expected that an announcement will be made on whether Terry will captain England at the forthcoming World Cup and the bookmakers seem to have mixed opinions on the outcome. William Hill are 1.57 that Terry will captain England against USA in the opening game of the World Cup, whilst Betfair punters seem to think that Terry has a little more cause for concern and have him at 2.2.
Rooney, Gerrard, Terry And Lampard Odds On For World Cup England Football Squad 2010 Betting Selection Say Online Bookies
It would take an incredibly stupid person (or still patently inebriatedfter over-doing the qualification celebrations) to dismiss the chances of the no-brainers that are Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard, John Terry and Frank Lampard making it to South Africa. But what of the perceived outsiders. Those on the fringes of the England squad who like what they've tasted and want some more. Those that might have stepped into the breach in the absence of injured or suspended first-choice players who still harbour fading dreams of turning out for the three lions as they go big game hunting next summer.
We're talking goalkeepers like West Ham's Robert Green (1 - 8 with Blue Square), Manchester United's Ben Foster (2 - 5 with 888Sport), Blackburn Rovers' Paul Robinson (6 - 4) and Birmingham City's Joe Hart (3 - 1) who will be pushing Capello's number one choice for the green jersey, Portsmouth keeper and England stalwart (apart from when he's doing his nerve-jangling ball juggling routine in front of goal), David James. And what of Arsenal's Manuel Almunia (12 - 1), who club manager Wenger claims could pursue English citizenship and force his way in to the goalkeeping reckoning? Not a lot if you're going on Fabio's immediate brush off. On the plus side, England will have to take a few reserve keepers just on the off chance that 'calamity' James sees an untimely return of his almost comedic gaffes and notoriously bad taste fluffs.
World Cup England Football Squad 2010 Betting Fans Gamble On Who'll Defend England's World Cup Final Chances
Prospects of walking across the Gatwick/Stanstead/Heathrow tarmac aren'tttt so encouraging for the likes of Wes Brown (8 - 15 with SkyBet), Ledley King (2 - 1), Micah Richards (2 - 1 with Blue Square), Matthew Upson (2 - 9) and Wayne Bridge (to be announced). Of these, Brown and Upson put forward the strongest case for inclusion, whereas as injury-prone King and inconsistent Richards should probably just head down to the high street travel agents like the rest of us if they're planning on a few weeks in South Africa. The nucleus of the defence remains John Terry, Rio Ferdinand, Glenn Johnson and Ashley Cole, although with the later two's penchant for marauding right down their respective flanks thanks to their attacking style, could well see someone like Joleon Lescott (2 - 5) plugging the gap just in front of the back four.
Capello is spoilt for choice in midfield, that's for sure, and although a pleasant conundrum to have he knows that he wont be able to keep all his midfielders happy, all of the time. Not that the often terse Italian can be accused of letting sentiments cloud his judgements. Liverpool's Steven Gerrard and Chelsea's Frank Lampard obviously have nothing to fear (barring injury), while Manchester City's Gareth Barry is pretty much assured a start these days. But this is when things become tricky and tears before bedtime are forecast. The right side of midfield is the moot point, where pretenders to David Beckham's crown come and go yet never really prise the role from the ex-England captain and veteran of three World Cup campaigns. Priced at 2 - 7 with SkyBet, your heart says he should be sitting with the rest of the squad in the departures lounge next June, whilst your head questions the decision. Not that it's our decision to make, and it's not like his successors in waiting are making consistent stabs at prising the position he's made his own since France 1998.
Online Football Betting Fans Question Whether Beckham Will Make It To 2010 World Cup
David Bentley might share his initials (and his quest for the limelight), yet that's where comparisons start and finish as he continued flattering to deceive at White Hart Lane. A fit Theo Walcott could grasp the nettle given half a chance, yet surely he's better deployed in a more central attacking role. Shaun Wright-Phillips' (4 - 6) club manager - Manchester City's Mark Hughes - reckons that his charge could fill Beckham's boots, yet generally the jury is still out. Turn of speed alone doesn't counter the current number 17's range of passing and pinpoint accurate crossing ability in and around the box. Again, Aaron Lennon (2 - 5) moves like lightning, and like Wright-Phillips is prepared to run at people, but it's the final delivery that still ensures Beckham remains unchallenged for the time being, despite odd flashes that hint the former is the more likely heir apparent.
And then there's the problem of how Capello might figure a soon-to-return Joe Cole (4 - 6) and/or Owen Hargreaves (highly unlikely due to lack of match fitness) into his midfield pack, and whether or not Stewart Downing (11 - 10) will ever realise his potential at international level, how best to deploy the naturally gifted yet recently suffering a bad run of form, Michael Carrick (if at all) and if Aston Villa's Ashley Young (5 - 6) will make the permanent breakthrough to the senior side in the build-up to the World Cup.
England Football Manager, Capello, Has Striker Selection Dilemma Ahead Of South Africa
Indeed, a lot hinges on the Aston Villa connection, as looking to the attacking options Capello has at his disposal, the name Gabby Agbonlahor (4 - 1) grabs the attention. His link up work with Young at Villa Park during the 2008-2009 Barclays Premier League season was at times breath-taking, and if it could be rediscovered and repeated at this higher level then they'd both definitely force their way into the set-up. As it is Wayne Rooney, Jermain Defoe, Peter Crouch (4 - 7) and Emile Heskey (1 - 3) wont be overlooked any time soon. And if for some reason they are, then Carlton Cole (4 - 7), James Milner (1 - 2), Darren Bent (10 - 3) and possibly even Michael Owen (8 - 15, SkyBet) might be next in the strikers pecking order. Probably in that exact order come to think of it.
At the end of the day we can rack our brains, chew the fat and mutter into our facial hair as much as we want, the bottom line is Fabio Capello is very much his own man. He won't bow - or even bend slightly - to any public pressure as to who should be in the England squad or not, and could yet throw in the odd surprise or glaring curve-ball just for the heck of it. Who after all would have predicted that Sven-Goran Eriksson would have opted to take as-then untried teenage striker Theo Walcott to Germany with him in 2006, whilst back in 1998 it was a dead cert that Glenn Hoddle would invite a rejuvinated Paul Gascoigne to accompany the England squad heading for France. You can never tell. And no manager has ever playing his cards as close to his FA-supplied blazer as Mr Capello.