City stopper David James has made it into Sven’s squad for this summer’s world cup and as expected is the only City player to get the call.
James, now in the twilight of his career might have been sweating a bit after his faux pas at Ewood Park yesterday, but Sven has taken a balanced view and decided, quite rightly, that there aren’t any other ‘keepers around with better credentials and experience to handle the pressures of a World Cup.
Now James is one of those players that provokes extreme reactions at either end of the scale with no middle ground; you either love him or hate him – I still can’t make my mind up !
The fact is however, that despite yesterday’s gaff, James has been City’s most consistent player for a number of seasons and has pulled of a host of spectacular saves which were been responsible for keeping City up in the 2003/4 season (the penalty save against Wolves springs to mind) and his performances since then for both Keegan and Pearce, have rescued many a valuable point for us.
It’s unfortunate that James has never been able to fully transfer his league form to the international stage, but I’d be relaxed about him taking playing in Germany if he were called into action; in fact I think people tend to exaggerate his failings at international level and his overall record is pretty good. Yes there have been some awful howlers, but name me a keeper that never makes a mistake!
Having just heard the full squad, I’m relatively confident about our defensive capability – it’s where the goals are going to come from that worries me. Don’t forget James’ performance against ‘Boro in the final game of last season – he could be Sven’s secret weapon up front if we’re really desperate 😉
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