Arsenal keeper considers change of nationality

Hot on the heels of last week’s revelations that Sven-Goran Eriksson was eager to call-up Carlo Cudicini during his reign as England manager, attention has turned to the fact that Arsenal goalkeeper Manuel Almunia is eligible for a British passport in July. The debate is now about whether Fabio Capello should call-up the Spaniard if he becomes a British citizen.

Personally, I have never rated Almunia particularly highly and considering he will be 32 years old before he is eligible for a cap, calling him up seems a bit pointless. England goalkeepering coach Ray Clemence is leading the anti-Almunia camp. He said:

“I am sure Almunia would be happy to play for England, but he can’t get in the Spain squad, can he?

“I am for English goalkeepers in the English team - as simple as that. People have been saying for a number of years the English goalkeeping situation is in crisis. But now we have got six or seven, of which only one is over 30. So we are heading in the right direction.

“We have got some promising young lads. Joe Hart is playing exceptionally well for Manchester City week in, week out and Scott Carson is coming back to the form we know he can produce.”

Capello would have to steamroller this through over some considerable opposition on grounds of national pride. Portugal has Deco, Spain has Marcos Senna, and even Poland has Roger Guerreiro. Should we have a more flexible approach to nationality? Have a little vote and see what you think.

England gaffer learns the lingo, but doesn’t tell Ray Clemence to stop dancing

At his inaugural England press conference way back in December, Fabio Capello nonchalantly stated that he would learn English fluently in just one month - bearing in mind a great deal of young people come out of the British educational system with little more grasp of the language than a Polish cleaner, this is quite a ballsy claim.

The ‘one month’ boasting, however, turned out to be a worrying display of over-confidence (or perhaps a cruel trick from his interpreter), as Don Fabio was still jabbering away in Italian at the France friendly last month.

But things are looking up for USA friendly in May, as Mr Capello