There's no doubt that Lennon adds pace to Capello's team but as he approaches his 22nd birthday, he needs to start showing that he does indeed WANT to be Beckham's successor. I get the feeling sometimes that he's as unsure about his play as we are and if he doesn't lose the inconsistency, his England days will come to an early end. And while that may seem a little unbelievable to say given his youth, let's be honest - Beckham can play until HE decides he doesn't want to. Say what you want about the guy but there is no one who gives more playing for his country or who cares more ABOUT playing for his country. He's perfectly happy coming off the bench as a late sub (much like Lennon did at the World Cup in 2006) and can still contribute those deadly, pin-point crosses that set-up goals. Based on his fitness, he can keep going well past 2010. The other thing Beckham has that Lennon doesn't is consistency of play. Beckham can be relied upon to deliver every time. Anyone who's watched Tottenham Hotspur play over the past few months knows Lennon just isn't that guy.

Another thing against Lennon is that if Theo Walcott can ever stay healthy for more than five minutes, HE will be the one adding pace and Lennon will be the one discarded.

Time to step up.

IS CAPELLO WRONG TO DISCARD MICHAEL OWEN?

No. Next question.

Ok - I'll qualify. Owen is a hurtbag - this is not news to anyone. I'd have been utterly amazed if Capello were to call him up during the current injury crisis. Capello is right - he's not match fit.

But perhaps more importantly - Owen doesn't fit into the system Capello is trying to implement. He's only featured once since the Italian was brought in and apparently that was enough.

Under his system, Capello wants a strong central striker that can occupy defenders, hold the ball up and allow Steven Gerrard and Wayne Rooney the freedom to roam.

Anyone disagree that this is NOT Owen?

The thing I love about Capello is he is a NOW coach. Unlike McLaren (and even Eriksson to some extent), he's not picking players based on past performances. His number one question when picking players is 'What have you done for me late-ly?'

And that's the way it should be.

KLASS-JAN HUNTELAAR - THE BEST DUTCH STRIKER EVER?

A recent article in 'The Independent' hinted that Huntelaar (AKA The Hunter) is the new Marco van Basten - and the stats sure seem to back that up.

Consider this - he's averaged ABOVE a goal every other game for both club and country over the last six years!!

He's scored 143 goals in 194 games - a strike rate of 0.74 goals per game. Head over to Real Madrid (where many though he'd struggle) and his 8G in 11-games cuts the average to 0.72. For Holland, he scored 18G in 22-games with the U-21 side (0.82) and including this weekend has tallied 12G in 20-games for the Sr. side. That 0.60 return rate makes him the best scorer on the squad eclipsing Van der Vaart (0.20), Van Persie (0.36) and Robben (0.27). His numbers also put him historically ahead of Kluivert, Bergkamp, Van Nistelrooy and Van Basten.

He's still very young but by the numbers, he's definitely on pace to becoming a new Dutch legend.

LIVERPOOL HAVE 62 PROFESSIONALS ON THEIR BOOKS

Is there any wonder UEFA and FIFA want to limit squad sizes when you read something like that? Four more players and Rafael Benitez could field SIX Liverpool teams!!

Jamie Jackson wrote a wonderful article about squad sizes in 'The Observer' this weekend and while stock-piling players is something most of the big teams do, there is little consideration given to how sitting at the end of a list affects the playing career and psyche of a young teenager signed with dreams of walking out at Anfield.

I'm not a real fan of some of the things that UEFA wants to do - but this I fully endorse.

It's a travesty that some likely VERY good players are rotting in Liverpool's reserves.

Give the article a read, it's worth the time.

WOULD IT BE THE BELE-DIVISIE?

Speaking of UEFA plans I do NOT like - Michel Platini's latest brain-burp (thanks GUARDIAN) was that the Dutch league and Belgian league should merge into one.

Under the proposal, the top eight teams in each division would mesh into one top division with the rest forming 2nd and 3rd divisions. And looking at the current table - that merging would NOT include one of the Holland's biggest clubs - Feyenoord. They have the biggest stadium in the country and one of the largest fan bases.

It's especially stupid when you consider that the Eredivisie appears to be entering a bit of a 'golden age'. The financial gap between the BIG three (PSV, Ajax and Feyenoord) is slimming and the distribution of the league's top talents is wider than it has ever been. In fact just three of the division's top players are members of the BIG three.

For their part, it looks as equally dumb for the Belgians. Their top teams would likely struggle and before too long we'd have a mostly-Dutch top flight and a mostly Belgium lower division. Who wants that? Oh yeah - Platini.

The upside to the whole plan is the UEFA coefficient. With no Dutch or Belgian teams remaining in either the Champions League or UEFA Cup, more spots for either league could increase their chances of reaching the latter stages.

And with the way the coefficients work, Holland is in danger of losing more European slots once the 04-05 results are wiped off the books.

Overall though, it's still NOT a great idea.