ケヴィン・デイヴィス初招集

BBCのフィル・マクナルティのブログ、「Capello rewards Davies toil」より。

ボルトン・ワンダラーズのFW、ケヴィン・デイヴィスが33歳でイングランド代表に初召集された。

Of course Capello is indulging in blatant short-termism with his choice of Davies, rightly preferring him to Newcastle United's Andy Carroll to fill the gap left vacant by the absence of Jermain Defoe, Bobby Zamora and Gabriel Agbonlahor through injury and Emile Heskey's refusal to come out of international retirement.

While all the post-World Cup debacle talk of youth and building for the future is admirable, Capello needs players who can fulfil a purpose now and he clearly believes the evergreen Davies fits the bill.

Even though his selection may raise eyebrows among those who have trained their sights on what they regard as the more robust elements of Davies' approach - to which many a bruised defender can painfully testify - it is a perfectly practical choice by Capello.

カペッロが短期的な視点にどっぷり浸かっているのは確かだが、喫緊の要求を満たすには、デイヴィスは最適のFWだと述べている。エミール・ヘスキーが去った後のイングランド代表には、エリア内で身体を張れるパワフルなFWが欠けている。デイヴィスは空中戦に強く、とくに後ろからのロングボールに競り勝てるという類まれな能力をもっている。

And by picking Davies and ignoring Carroll's claims, Capello has made it clear he will not indulge flavours of the month in favour of the more pragmatic selection. As we have said before, the Italian makes his choices based on today not tomorrow.

カペッロは、将来よりも現在を重視している。同じように長身で空中戦に強いアンディ・キャロル（U21代表）より、デイヴィスを招集したことからもそれは明らかだ。

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＜コメント欄での反応＞

I can't really argue with the selections, as there's no-one else out there who should be playing. However, they are as clear a sign as is possible of the lack of quality players available for selection. Decent as Bent and Davies are, should Rooney and A. Cole fall under a bus then our forwards, wide players and full backs looks second rate. Who in those positions would get near the Barcelona squad?

「デイヴィスは一番ましだが、要するにイングランドには大した選手がいないというだけだ」

FWについては同意。ベント、デフォー、クラウチ、ヘスキー、誰をとっても信頼が置ける選手とは言えない。

We need to be preparing a squad for Euro 2012 and World Cup 2014. How does picking a player who is 33 working towards either of the next two major tournaments?

International football comes round every two years. Considering how we threw in the towel this year, we need to start working towards the next tournament right now.

Picking short-term squads is rather pointless?

We need to start investing in the youth of out country, but that wont be ready for 2012, however, neither will Davies. All Capello can do is to work towards 2012, and this squad is not doing that.

「2012年のEUROや2014年のW杯に備えるべきなのに、33歳の選手を選ぶなんてどうかしてる」

The biggest problem with Capello is that he's a big club snob - hence Wilshere being fast-tracked (and I'm an Arsenal fan); if he'd been at Wigan he'd have to wait until he's at least 23 to get in. This is why Andy Carroll hasn't been selected: 1) Capello over-trusts players in their 30s and seems unwilling to give younger players a go; 2) He's at Newcastle.

These two points can be seen in Capello's insistence that 26 year old Darren Bent is one for the future. Bent would be a starter for Fabio if he were either 31 or at Man Utd. And that, however way you look at it, is wrong.

Kevin Davies will give you little more against Montenegro than Andy Carroll would; the difference is, Carroll has another 12 years in the game and can develop into an even better player.

We have a serious problem with our national team in that we only give youngsters a chance when there's a dearth of other options - the classic being Ashley Cole's elevation as a youngster. It's ridiculous how long Joe Hart had to wait to get his chance, Jagielka too.

To my mind, although I don't think youngsters should be chucked into the team straight away, I don't see why we don't have an under-30s (minus keeper) policy when it comes to the bench. That way, if a game's going the wrong way, someone's injured or is simply fatigued, there's a guarantee that whoever comes on has the potential to play in the future for England. That's not true of 33 year old Kevin Davies.

「カペッロの問題は、ビッグクラブを神聖視していること、30歳以上の選手を重要視しすぎていることだ。D.ベントがもし31歳かマンUにいたら、レギュラーになっていただろう。デイヴィスはキャロルと大差ない。唯一の違いは、キャロル（21歳）には12年も成長の余地があることだ。イングランド代表では、若い選手にチャンスが与えられる機会が少なすぎる。」

前半はおかしい。もしベントがマンUにいるとしたら、もう少し良い選手だっただろうからだ。しかし、ケヴィン・フィリップス、スコット・パーカーなど、「ビッグクラブびいき」を疑うような不遇の扱いを受けた選手がいるのも確かである。

The only arguments that people seem to have against Kevin Davies' inclusion are his age and his disciplinary record.

Age, I'll take that point- but should Capello be looking beyond 2012 at this point? This is qualifying for the 2012 Euros. We can all be idealistic and say we'd like to integrate the young players asap but if they are not ready, they are not ready.

Andy Carroll has had a couple of good games. Nothing more yet. I like him and the potential is there, but he has a lot to work on to become Kevin Davies class at holding the ball up. He has also had a bust up with Pearce- not to mention several bust up's with Newcastle teammates. Maybe he needs to get his head down, get a couple of seasons under his belt at Newcastle, prove he can cut it at Premier League level- then he can be seriously discussed.

Kevin Davies is one of the best target men in the country- outside the world class ala Drogba, Adebayor, Berbatov. The only weakness in his game is pace- but his game doesn't rely on pace. Thus why I'm positive at 35 during Euro 2012 he'll still be able to cut the mustard if needed.

The point about his disciplinary record- and being too dirty for the international scene is ridiculous- did you all watch the World Cup final!?

The fouls and yellow's he picks up are all around the opposition box.

He has one red in his Bolton career. He clearly isn't dirty.

The fouls he wins(as the MOST FOULED Premier League player 4 out of the last 5 years) are all around the opposition box and would give us the opportunity to score from free-kicks.

The positives out weight the negatives and the romance of the 100% pro and hard worker finally getting his deserved England cap would be a great story.

「デイヴィスに関して皆が騒いでいるのは年齢とファールの多さだ。だが、予選を突破できなかったらどうしようもないじゃないか？キャロルも含めて、若手は誰も使えるレベルに達していない。そしてデイヴィスは35歳になっても使える選手のはずだ。デイヴィスが受けたイエローカードは全部相手のエリア近くだし、ボルトンでは1度しかレッドを受けたことがない。それに、デイヴィスはここ5シーズンで4回、プレミアリーグでもっともファウルを“受けた”選手なのだ！」

キャロルがA代表で使えるレベルにない、という議論には同意。だが、それは予選突破の過程で若手を育てる必要がないかどうかとはまた別である。イングランドのレベルなら、ある程度若手を使いつつ予選を突破する余裕を持っているべきではないか。