Five Things Fabio Capello Learnt from the Premier League This Weekend

With England set to return to action for the first time since last November, and more importantly, for the first time since the all important World Cup Draw in December, Fabio Capello was out and about watching the latest Premier League action this weekend.

With England facing Egypt in their first match of 2010 in nine days time the Italian manager is expected to name his squad for the game next Sunday, but below we take a look at just what might have grabbed his attention this weekend.

1.  There’s still life in Theo Walcott

Capello’s first game of the weekend was at The Emirates Stadium in North London where Arsenal took on Sunderland. Without being overly harsh it’s probably fair to say he wasn’t there to watch how Michael Turner and Anton Ferdinand are shaping up as a partnership at the back for the Wearsiders.

Theo Walcott has been written off in many quarters of the press recently after he’s struggled to find any sort of form since his return from injury, but the fact remains that when he is fit, Capello almost always includes him in his squads.

By no means back to his best on Saturday, Walcott did at least demonstrate that he hasn't lost any of his electric pace, beating George McCartney time and time again. Although the final ball from the by-line was fairly erratic, he did link up well with Emmanuel Eboue to provide a constant threat down Arsenal’s right-hand side.

Nonetheless, Capello will have been encouraged to see Walcott hopefully approaching full fitness. He lasted 77 minutes on Saturday—his longest appearance for the Gunners in the Premier League all season.

2.  Bobby Zamora has picked up where he left off

Now back to full fitness after his recent shoulder injury, which forced him to miss a couple of games in January, Zamora has scored in his last two Premier League games. As well he scored the winner in the Europa League against Shaktar Donetsk on Thursday night.

Fabio Capello was present at Craven Cottage yesterday afternoon, but had already left the stadium to beat the traffic when Zamora rifled in a last-gasp winner from a free-kick.

However, club manager Roy Hodgson talked up the quality of Zamora’s overall performance which he was sure the England manager will have noted despite missing the forward’s winning goal.

Zamora now has 15 goals in all competitions for the season and could yet earn himself an opportunity to impress in one of the Italian’s pre-World Cup squads.

3.  Aston Villa’s all-England attack is back on form

Martin O’Neills’ side cast aside their recent goal-shy form to hit five past Burnley, with all five goals coming from Englishmen.

Five of the Midlanders front six are English, with only Bulgarian Stilian Petrov proving different in the middle of the park. All five had an impact yesterday.

Ashley Young, Emile Heskey, Gabriel Agbonlahor, and Stewart Downing (twice) all found the back of the Burnley net. James Milner was the odd man out, but even he will be pretty content with his afternoon’s work, finishing with three assists.

Milner and Heskey are the leading contenders of the quintet to make the plane to South Africa, but all of the others will definitely be in Capello’s mind, arguably more so after this weekend.

4. Carlton Cole is back in the goals

Like Bobby Zamora, Cole’s hot early season form was curtailed by an injury—the West Ham forward’s injury was more serious as he missed almost two months of the season.  However, he has recently returned to the side and scored in West Ham’s last two matches, which they have both won.

Capello has picked Cole in over half of his squads in his two years on the job and has awarded the former-Chelsea striker six caps in the process.

Cole sometimes appears to be on the periphery of Capello’s selection, perhaps third in line behind Emile Heskey and Peter Crouch for the "target man" role in the England set-up, but if he continues to fire in the goals that keep West Ham up then Capello will have to give his inclusion some serious thought.

5.  Plenty of options at leftback

Make no mistake, Ashley Cole’s fractured ankle was a big blow for Capello. However, at least the timing of the injury gives the Chelsea man a good opportunity to be fit, if not match fit, for England’s World Cup campaign.

In the meantime, Capello must use the few friendly games available to him to establish which player is best equipped to step into Cole’s boots if needed.

Wayne Bridge has featured in pretty much all of Capello’s previous squads and has won eight caps under the Italian, so his return from injury is a timely one, even if the off-the-field headlines are not.

Whether Capello will pick Stephen Warnock or Leighton Baines in the squad for the Egypt game is a tougher one to call.

Warnock made the last squad against Brazil as back-up to Bridge in Cole’s absence, but Baines has been in impressive form for Everton. Capello might take the chance to run his eye over the former-Wigan leftback.