Caio everybody, Fabio is back, speaking better English but still not understanding "the English".

Did anybody see the extracts from Jamie Carraghers forthcoming book last week? In it he describes how losing for Liverpool hurt him more than losing for his country, this is the man who retired from international football at the age of 29 after being "messed around". Is it not the truth that in spite of receiving the highest honour of being capped by his country his ego could not cope with the fact that he was only 3rd or 4th choice in his preferred position? No doubting he is a fine player who would have certainly added to his 34 caps (especially with the recent injuries to Terry and Neville) but why is it not good enough to be a part of a squad that has a chance of bringing your country glory? Or is individual glory more important? It's not like players don't miss games at league level due to squad rotation. That's maybe where the problem lies; on the continent rotation has been going on for years and maybe they have learned to accept it better, but Carragher is not an isolated case. Paul Scholes is another one who took early retirement stating he wanted to give more to his club. Only this week Paul Parry (Wales) and Lee McCulloch (Scotland ) have called time on their international careers because they were on the subs bench, so big time Charlies,overpaid, over rated, over the top reactions, but the the problem doesn't stop with the big boys.

At local level no body seems to want to be a part of a squad any more, it seems to be "play me or I don't want to play". Some players don't seem to want to serve any kind of apprenticeship, wanting immediate success. At one one time young players were held back for experience and experienced players were always good to have on the bench to provide stability, it builds character and hunger so that when the opportunity arrives you can prove your point on the field with your feet and not in the pub at 10-30 with your mouth. Picking a squad is not easy, picking a team is even harder. You do what you think best. A lot of the time when a team gets beat its not the players that cop it, it's the manager that gets it in the neck for picking the wrong team. Do we go down the road of Rugby League and have 4 interchangeable subs? For God's sake don't let Blatter get hold of that one. So the next time you think "I might be on the bench" take it on the chin and seize the moment when it comes and be a real team player.

Of course you can always take up an individual sport like boxing - no benches there, just stools!!

ARRIVEDERCI FABIO