WHUFC.com
Robert Green, Matthew Upson and Carlton Cole all played in England's narrow
loss in Seville
11.02.2009
Carlton Cole made his England debut as a late substitute while Robert Green
and Matthew Upson both played the whole of the second half for England in
the 2-0 defeat by Spain. Cole came on in the 75th minute and looked lively
during his late run-out, showing some nice early touches to bring others
into play. The striker then so nearly marked his first appearance with a
goal two minutes from the end when he picked up David Beckham's through-ball
and rounded Pepe Reina, only for Carlos Marchena to clear his goalbound
effort off the line. Green and Upson joined the fray at half-time with the
visitors already a goal down from David Villa's superb 36th-minute opener.
Green looked assured on his second appearance for his country and could do
nothing about young substitute Fernando Llorente's header with eight minutes
to go. The West Ham No1 made several well-taken catches and kicked well
throughout. Upson played confidently alongside captain John Terry in central
defence on his 13th cap for the Three Lions. The 29-year-old did not allow
the Spanish forwards any space and zipped several smart passes forward. The
game was the first time three West Ham United players have been on the pitch
at the same time for England in seven years. The last occasion saw David
James, Trevor Sinclair and Joe Cole line up in a 1-1 draw with Portugal at
Villa Park on 7 September 2002.
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Kovac gets vital game
WHUFC.com
Radoslav Kovac has got some welcome match action under his belt with another
international cap
11.02.2009
Radoslav Kovac got a vital 90 minutes under his belt as the Czech Republic
secured a goalless draw in their Casablanca friendly with Morocco on
Wednesday night. New recruit Kovac played in a holding midfield role and
more than played his part in a tricky encounter that saw the African nation
dominate the play. Morocco went close four times in the second half after a
quiet first 45 minutes but the fact the West Ham United No14 got his first
full competitive run-out since 27 November will be a big boost to the club
ahead of the weekend's FA Cup tie with Middlesbrough. Having played at the
2006 World Cup and Euro 2008, Kovac has every chance of playing for his
country again at next summer's global finals in South Africa. The
29-year-old, on loan from Spartak Moscow with a view to a permanent transfer
in the summer, has helped the Czechs to third place in qualifying Group 3,
two points behind leaders Slovakia ahead of the trip to Slovenia on 28
March. He has been capped 29 times with two goals.
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Collison capped again
WHUFC.com
Jack Collison has underlined his status as a fully-fledged international
with his fourth cap for Wales
11.02.2009
Jack Collison continued his excellent season with his fourth cap for Wales
on Wednesday night as they went down 1-0 to Poland in a friendly played in
Portugal.
The West Ham United midfielder has established himself as a first-team
regular for the club under Gianfranco Zola and looks to have done the same
for John Toshack's Welsh side. Collison played 45 minutes in Vila Real
before making way for Arsenal starlet Aaron Ramsey in a match that saw Roger
Guerreiro hit a late winner for the Poles.
The 20-year-old Collison was the only Hammer on view with James Collins
remaining at Chadwell Heath for treatment - although he should be OK for the
weekend - while Danny Gabbidon is still working his way back to fitness
after a long-term abdominal injury.
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Carrick hails star Collison
E24
11 February 2009
Michael Carrick has backed Jack Collison to become a leading Premier League
star and spearhead a new generation of academy graduates at West Ham.
Manchester United midfield ace Carrick, who progressed through the youth
ranks at Upton Park, credits the Hammers with turning him from a promising
youngster into an England international. Now the 25-year-old believes
Collison is capable of reaching similar heights. He said: "Jack has played
an awful lot of games this season and been a regular in the team. All credit
to him - he's getting better all the time. He looks like he's got a very
bright future. "In our era we had a few lads who came through and have gone
on to do good things and they still seem to be churning them out and that's
a credit to everyone at the academy because it's not easy nowadays to put
younger lads in the team." Carrick was one of eight current or former
Hammers in last night's England squad and he admits that contingent
underlines the club's commitment to developing young players. "That speaks
volumes of what this club's about really," he said. "They keep producing
players and playing football the right way - like people say the West Ham
way.
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Mark Noble: Zola & Clark 'Best West Ham Managers' In Years
The longest serving current West Ham player has hailed the club's management
duo as the finest he's seen in his time at Upton Park.
Goal.com
West Ham United's homegrown midfielder Mark Noble is probably not the player
who would spring to mind if one was asked which current player has been at
the club longest, after all, he is only 21 years of age. But the east London
boy, who cheered his claret-and blue heroes on form the stands before he
ever got the chance to play for them, has been at the club longer than any
other senior player currently there, and, as a result, can probably offer a
wiser perspective than most on the relative capabilities of Gianfranco Zola
and Steve Clark. And Noble is certainly impressed with the pair, with whom
he believes the Hammers will enjoy great success. "I'm on my fifth manager
now. I've seen Alan Pardew and Alan Curbishley and I also travelled a few
times with Trevor Brooking and Glenn Roeder, but the way these two [Zola and
Clarke] bounce off each other is brilliant. They complete each other and
know exactly how they want us to play," he told The East London Advertiser
earlier. "The gaffer came in and he put so much belief into everyone that we
go out and play freely. You listen to him when he talks to you and he builds
that confidence inside you to go out, try your best for him and play with a
smile on your face. "People keep coming up to me and telling me this is the
best they've seen West Ham play in years and years."
Zola's footballing philosophy dovetails nicely with the West Ham tradition
of quality passing football, and Noble has been impressed with the switch of
focus in training changing to maintaining possession. "The standard and
speed has gone up massively from the first day he came in," Noble added. "We
do so many keep-ball practices. It just gets into your head that if you stay
on the ball for more than a couple of seconds, you're going to lose it and
if you lose it against the likes of United, you're going to get punished.
"So everyone's got more confidence and you see boys who were playing within
themselves have really come out of their shells. "Look at how Carlton Cole
has been lately, for example. I think we're really creeping up in the right
way."
Zack Wilson, Goal.com
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Socceroos glad to control own fate: Neill
Ab.net.au
Captain Lucas Neill says the Socceroos are in the box seat to qualify for
next year's World Cup after holding Japan to a scoreless draw in Yokohama
last night.
Australia now leads Asian Group One by two points from Japan, and plays
three of its last four qualifying matches at home. The top two teams from
each group automatically qualify for the Cup in South Africa in 2010. Neill
says his team can all but secure its berth by wining its next match against
Uzbekistan in Sydney on April 1. "[It's] very much in our hands and we'll be
really excited to come back and for once have a proper preparation for a
game rather than 24 to 48 hours," he said. "So after say seven or eight days
of training I think you'll see a team with lots more possession and lots
more creative chances. "I think it's going to be a really good game and one
that if we win, we know that we're technically there."
Neill said a scoreless draw was a fair result against the Japanese. "[They]
possibly lacked a bit of penetration in their final ball, didn't create as
many chances for the possession that they had," he said. "But look a team
that was like us, very well organised, hard to create chances against and I
think 0-0 is a really fair result."
Goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer said he was pleased with Australia's defensive
effort after it kept its fourth clean sheet in as many Group One matches.
"It makes my job a lot easier. We limited them to very few chances of
scoring, shooting at goal," he said. "I know people put credit to the back
four and the goalkeeper but to limit a team like Japan to so few chances, I
think it's a credit to the whole team." He said it was a great result in
difficult conditions. "I think the key was to come away here and not concede
and get a result," he said. "We'll look at scoring more goals at home, and
we've put ourselves in a great position. "We're in such a great position now
that it's all in our own hands and possibly with a bit of luck we can
already qualify in the next match. But we're not getting carried away."
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West Ham chief Duxbury hails medical staff over Dixon deal
12.02.09 | tribalfootball.com
West Ham United chief Scott Duxbury has praised the club's new-look medical
team after securing former Tottenham striker Terry Dixon to a three-year
contract yesterday. Dixon's career was on the skids after a series of knee
injuries while on the books at Spurs, but West Ham staff worked with the
Irish youngster to get him fit enough to warrant a three-year contract offer
- which he signed yesterday. Duxbury told whufc.com: "This signing is a
testament to our medical and technical departments for all the work they
have put in to get Terry to this point. He has worked very hard in the past
few months and we have all been impressed with his determination to start
playing again. His talent is undoubted. "We know that Tottenham felt they
had reached the end of the road with Terry but we are hopeful he can yet
prove himself and build a successful career. He is certainly in the best
place to do that and I am sure if anyone can get the best out of him it will
be Gianfranco Zola and his coaching staff."
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