England Watch: Fabio’s Fab Five, starring Johnson, Jones, Parker, Sturridge and Walcott
With Euro 2012 now a little over six months away, the race is on for the Premier League's elite to book their place in Fabio Capello's 23-man squad. Each week, we'll take a look at who is at the head of that queue...
Adam Johnson: Not a regular starter in Manchester City’s free-scoring table-toppers, but the winger with magic in his feet is making a nice habit of being introduced as an impact sub. Admittedly, City were coasting to victory against Norwich at Eastlands when he was introduced for Samir Nasri after 69 minutes, but his 20-minute cameo will have brought a smile to Fabio Capello’s face. He helped create the fourth for Mario Balotelli with a neat turn and pass inside the penalty area, before rounding off the scoring with a trademark left-foot curler into the bottom corner in the final minute. Capello will want men in his squad who could turn games off the bench – Johnson clearly ticks that box.
Phil Jones: His main job at the weekend was to provide a defensive screen ahead of Manchester United’s back four away to Aston Villa in the deep-lying midfield role Capello handed him in the recent friendly win over Sweden. The teenager proved that night he was up to the task, and he provided more evidence at Villa Park. And he even found time to pop up at the other end to score the only goal of the game – his first in the Premier League. You can be pretty sure it won’t be his last.
Scott Parker: Gareth Bale took a lot of the plaudits after Spurs’ 3-0 win over Bolton at White Hart Lane, but Parker’s summer arrival in north London has been key to the early-season form of Harry Redknapp’s high-fliers. His calm assurance helps make the team tick and, safe in the knowledge he will be there to protect them, men like Bale, Aaron Lennon, Luke Modric and Rafael Van Der Vaart have the freedom to drift and destroy. Right now, Parker appears to be at the head of the queue to be handed a similar role in Poland and Ukraine next summer.
Daniel Sturridge: The Chelsea youngster has long been earmarked for greatness, and he is now beginning to fulfil his early potential – and how. He terrorised Newcastle’s rearguard at St James’ Park on Saturday, giving full-back Ryan Taylor a torrid time. He was a constant threat in the north-east and, with Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka seemingly heading for the exit door in west London, he looks to be the future at Stamford Bridge. Come next summer, Capello may see him as one for the present, never mind the future.
Theo Walcott: Interestingly, while people hail Sturridge’s potential, there remain question marks about Walcott, even though he is a mere six months older than the Chelsea front man. But Walcott has had to do all his growing up in the glare of the Premier League spotlight – never easy for a quietly spoken young man - but all the current signs are that he will be a key man for club and country for years to come. Certainly the Wigan defence will testify to that. His pace and trickery was too much for the Latics as he helped the Gunners cruise to a 4-0 win at the weekend. In 2006, Walcott went to the World Cup as a raw 17-year-old and spent the tournament watching from the stands. He’s likely to have a much bigger part to play next summer.
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