Milner’s tale could end in South Africa

FOOTBALL takes on a frenzied air in a World Cup year.

The chance, however slim, to sample life on the grandest stage football has to offer can hoist players to previously unscaled heights and James Milner is a case in point.

The Aston Villa winger is one of a clutch of footballers who can harbour genuine hopes of squeezing into Fabio Capello’s England World Cup squad and, for his team-mates at least, it is an ambition he deserves to fulfil.

John Carew, a man who knows what it takes to thrive in international football, was dazzled by Milner’s display in this five-goal destruction of an admittedly limp Bolton side and the Norwegian insists his colleague should already be inked into Capello’s 23-man squad.

“James should be on the plane for the World Cup – absolutely,” he said. “He has been our most consistent player for a while now and he almost never has a bad game.

“He can play anywhere on the field, he is right and left footed and can be a very important player for England.

“I know on the right side of midfield he could be up against Aaron Lennon, Shaun Wright-Phillips and David Beckham and I know it is not easy to break into the England first team.

“But still you need a player who can come in and do the job for you, whether it’s on the left or the right without lowering the level of the team, and James fits that bill.

“If he is not first choice he can be a very good second choice and is a player you can put in any situation in the game and almost any position on the field, and know he is good on the ball, and is always consistent.

“That versatility might well help him with England and he deserves to go to the World Cup.”

Carew himself was virtually unplayable and made it a torrid afternoon for the former Villa centre-back duo of Gary Cahill and Zat Knight and is now close to his best after early season injury niggles.

“I just needed to get in shape and it takes a month or two before I start going,” he added.

“That is the same every year. You get a few games, and you get the rhythm going first of all and then the chances and the goals will come. I wasn’t worried about that.

“I had a few injury niggles early season and it sets you back and you lose the rhythm a little bit, but now I’ve had a few games in a row and games get me in shape and the goals are coming and I hope it continues.

“I know I normally have an edge on defenders so, if I just go 100%, I normally win the challenges.”

Bolton have now leaked 15 goals in their last four matches in all competitions and have still to keep a cleansheet in the league this season.

They were dire here, trailing after five minutes when Ashley Young tapped in after Carew’s header had been saved by Jussi Jaaskelainen.

The game was over two minutes before half-time when Carew set up Gabriel Agbonlahor for a neat finish and, while Johan Elmander did pull one back just before the interval, Carew notched the goal his display deserved early in the second period as he left Knight sprawling and drilled home.

The final flourishes were added late on, Milner slotting in after his penalty had been saved by Jaaskelainen and Steve Sidwell had knocked the follow-up onto the post, and then Carlos Cuellar heading in the winger’s cross.

Bolton Manager Gary Megson, who has now seen his team conceded nine goals in two games, pulled no punches about his side’s performance. “That display was unacceptable,” he said. “No-one except the goalkeeper was anywhere near the standard acceptable in the Premier League and certainly at this football club.

“Sometimes one or two players are not up to the usual standard in a game but none of the outfield players got anywhere close to what we expect at Villa. We’ve got the international break now and we’ve got work to do in the next two weeks. We are not going to get the results we need playing like that.”

Nobody in his squad was arguing. “There’s nothing positive to say at all,” Kevin Davies acknowledged. “We managed to get ourselves back in the game pretty much against the run of play (at 2-1) but our second-half performance was unacceptable from pretty much everyone really.

“Obviously we’re shipping goals. That’s something we mentioned before the game. Our cleansheet record is the worst in the Premier League.

“We can’t achieve what we want to achieve if we can’t keep clean sheets. We score in pretty much every game but we’re needing two or three goals to get anything out of the game.”

REFEREE: Mark Clattenburg (Tyne & Wear) 6: Authoritative performance from the official.

MATCH RATING: *** Very one-sided, but Villa cannot be blamed for that.