It’s been an arduous winter for England footballers. Why are so many of our top international players unable to stay fit? David James has played once since November, in limbo with clubs currently and desperate for fitness and quality first team games. Ready to pounce in his place between the net is Joe Hart. Very inexperienced he might be at international level but he is knocking hard on the door of the starting X1 especially after so many back to back great performances for Birmingham.

Glen Johnson only 25 years old, should be hitting his prime, instead he is hitting the physio’s bench. I question his ability as a solid right back anyway; in fact I struggle to select right back in the country who is world class. This is the area I feel is a weak link for England. Notable others are Micah Richards who’s been poor for Manchester City and Manchester United’s Wes Brown who isn’t really consistent but maybe perhaps the only real answer. No doubt with such a huge weakness on the right, opposition coaches will look to expose us with pacey left wingers.

Partnering Captain Terry should be Rio Ferdinand but he faces the realisation that at 31 years old injuries are harder to come back from. If he fails to fully recover other options for centre-back cover are Matthew Upson, Lescott who’s injured himself and the rarely fit for long but incredibly talented Ledley King.

Wide right we would expect Walcott to be causing havoc whipping up and down the wing, sadly the Arsenal youngster is far too injury prone. On the other hand veteran David Beckham who’s sporting a new tattoo of Jesus is still around and looking good for AC Milan but could he start every game at World Cup level? If not Aaron Lennon seems pretty much in the frame now and has progressed well over the last 12 months and would be a reasonable plan B.

My biggest concern in midfield is the maestro that is Steven Gerrard, a player with the ability to win a game and beat teams single handedly. The Liverpool playmaker has struggled with hamstring and groin problems and furthermore has possible surgery impending. On the upside there is Joe Cole, a great player who is back on the up but at present lacking first team games and match fitness. And there is always James Milner a brilliant player according to Martin O’Neill, also a great deputy across the midfield. Out of the question it might be, but imagine how England could solve a few defensive frailties if only Milner could play at right back.

It seems up front we have the least injury problems, but the concern there is all together different. Who exactly is the right striker to partner Wayne Rooney in attack? Sir Alex has expressed that doesn’t fancy Rooney and Owen together for United, but if they hit it off as an attacking force they would have 5 months playing together to create a synergy that could be prolific. Other obvious contenders are Defoe, Crouch, Heskey and Cole.

Despite the fitness problems all over the pitch, and with one friendly left before the start of the World Cup the right selection of strikers may just prove to be the biggest pain in Capello’s neck.

This week Manager Roberto Mancini said he plans to overhaul his Manchester City players' pre-match meal, introducing pizza and wine to the menu. In reaction to his comments most other gaffer’s around the country were against it, some even appalled by the idea and few supported the Italians method.

Most clubs consider themselves bang up to date with sports science and nutrition methods, Sam Alladyce claiming to practically run his sessions using the most stringent scientific approaches, but I believe there is actually some real mileage in the Mancini’s proposal.

UK Stats show a quarter of adults are already obese because of our poor British diets, far higher than figures on the continent.

Many studies have extolled the health benefits of a diet high in fruit and vegetables, low in meat and dairy products, and enlivened with a couple of glasses of wine. Italy comes top of countries where people live longest free of a debilitating condition. And of course we can’t forget the feel good factor we experience from food we like. So Mancini it seems is on the money, it’s all about balance.

I for one certainly wouldn’t complain some of perhaps my most favourite days in my life have consisted of football, pizza and wine: the perfect ingredients to a great day!

The difference a day makes (or not)!

New Years Resolutions, how long can we really expect to keep them?

A few weeks, perhaps at a stretch a month for the more disciplined amongst us. Every year I go through the rigmarole of deciding on a resolution, not in a half hearted manner but with full blown thought and enthusiasm. I don’t clutch to the usual single minded ‘lose weight’ or ‘get a pay rise’ type, instead I carefully choose a resolution that ties in nicely with all aspects of my life. I like to be able to associate the one resolution to various factors of my life; it must be applicable to me as an entity for everything i do. I also like to keep it simple. That’s the idea, good in theory anyway.

As an example, last year I went for two words that I could apply to everything ‘No Waste’. By this I meant: no wasting time, money, food, days off, electricity, water and life in general. See you can apply it to pretty much anything. You can see my trouble here, it’s extremely practical and going to be hard to top this year. Did it work though? Well sometimes yes and other times no. Most importantly I did make changes and it impacted on my life in 2009 in a positive way for the most part anyway. Unfortunately, throughout last year ‘No waste’ didn’t extend to social outings, in fact by far the opposite occurred!

I was pretty happy in 2009 to plod along not wasting ANYTHING, until I go out and get wasted. Yes it is very ladette I know, but I love it, it is fun and an area I excel in. It is at this point that everything ‘No waste’ stands for goes right out of the window. I waste money on drinks that are ludicrously expensive, I waste money on black cabs, I waste great banter on dullards I talk to, waste waste waste! In fairness I sometimes redeem my drunken self by at least not wasting the opportunity to do the caterpillar across the floor. While we are on the subject, it seems that in the 4 years I have lived in London I have worked out I am allergic to the last tube home. This is a regular dilemma I face at midnight when I go out. I always have full intention of getting the last tube every single time I go out, I swear blind I will, I even reassure myself how I need an early night, how I have things to do tomorrow, how I expect to make my 10am spin class. Even so every single time I go out for drinks, it goes frightfully wrong, so wrong. I don’t intend this, it just always turns out that way.

So I have decided that in order to top last year’s resolution and to have it infiltrate my lifestyle in a positive way I need to come up with one single solitary word. Something I can use almost as a mantra, which I can say to myself again and again in situations that require it. I have toyed with ‘new’ ‘now’ and ‘quality’ so far. ‘New’ because it is a new decade and it would be a reminder to always try and do new things, experiences, try new drinks (before the last tube that is), ways of exercising, new music, new work, watching new programmes, talking to new people…you get the picture. The thinking behind ‘Now’ is because I put loads of things on the back burner, usually dull stuff though, chores, anything involving the post office or admin, general bill paying and I always put off talking to people in call centres. If the programme ‘Room 101’ still existed, Call Centres would go in there with Mosquitoes and Caves, all dull, irritating and totally pointless. Trips to caves, I just really don’t get, what is that all about, a hole in the ground or in a rock, cockroaches and rats live there, no thanks. That goes for caving too, ridiculous activity. And Mosquitoes are the top of my most pointless creatures list. Anyway, I think if I do everything Now, my life will be organised, better and leave more time for me and life’s pleasures.

The last one, ‘Quality’ was kind of recommended to me by a friend who said that last year his resolution was ‘Whatever the situation, react with quality’, you have to admit that the sentiment is great, but it is quite definitive and a little too professional, it’s almost like a companies mission statement and therefore too formal for me. I am prone to a few faux pas when drunk, I am pretty sure that doing a headstand in a dress while out certainly doesn't qualify as ‘class’, but hey, we live and learn.

In essence, I have put much thought into this old tradition and have decided on a definitive word, this is ‘BETTER’. This year I will better everything and while I am at it I ‘better’ start getting the last tube home!