Tough choices for Capello
Other than two-goal Peter Crouch and man of the match David Beckham, no England player did particularly well against Belarus in the 3-0 victory at Wembley last night.
Indifferent displays like that traditionally pose more questions than they answer for England managers and this is no different: looking at the battle for places in the midfield, Fabio Capello faces some tough choices on who to take to South Africa next summer.
It seems certain that Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard and Gareth Barry are in the Italian's first choice XI, with Gerrard operating on the left, Lampard in an attacking central role and Barry sitting back and protecting the defence.
On the right wing it looks like a straight fight between Aaron Lennon and Theo Walcott, with Lennon seemingly in the ascendancy at the moment mainly due to his rival only just returning from injury. Barring a disastrous loss of form or further injury either one of those will start on the right come the World Cup.
The midfield understudys is where things become a bit more complicated. Beckham's impending return to AC Milan looks likely to see him force his way into Capello's World Cup plans. Although he won't start, his range of passing, not to mention his experience, will be precious at any major tournament.
Then there's the likes of James Milner, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Owen Hargreaves, Michael Carrick and Joe Cole.
Milner's versatility and industry are an asset to any side and his sheer workrate no doubt appeals to Capello. On the other hand, despite scoring last night, it might be hard to see Wright-Phillips imposing himself enough on Capello's thoughts to make the plane.
Capello brought up the subject of Owen Hargreaves in his exclusive interview with ITV Sport yesterday.
The case of Michael Carrick is a strange one: will he get a game if Capello takes him? He'll provide capable back-up for the likes of Gerrard and Lampard but is neither a holding midfielder, or a player that really bombs forward like the Liverpool and Chelsea men.
He's more the sort of player that Capello would build the team around rather than take him as back-up, and that may count against him given that's he not first choice.
Joe Cole brings a level of skill and creativity that no other England player possesses - but will he get enough games under his belt having come back from a long-term injury?
There are lots of questions: It's up to Mr Capello to provide the answers.
Abject Argentina
The ITV Spy was looking forward to Uruguay v Argentina last night. It had all the ingredients of a classic: two juggernauts of South American football, fierce local rivals, 70,000 fans packed into the stadium in Montevideo, the little maestro Lionel Messi.
The result? Quite possibly the worst game of football in history: niggling, stop-start, nervous and downright boring. Each side was more worried about not doing something wrong rather than trying to do something right.
Granted, it didn't help that Argentina only needed a point - they were happy to some degree to sit back and let Uruguay come at them.
Still, the resulting match was so bad it's impossible to see either team light up next year's World Cup. Argentina will be there automatically now, while Uruguay will go into a play-off - let's just hope they don't meet again next summer!
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