Carragher just says no, family more important than exhibition football

Blasphemy! Treason! Break out the tar, start plucking the chickens! Someone is talking sense in England and it's not that reputable blog, 'Talking Soccer'.

You can't blame Fabio Capello for trying though, Jamie Carragher is one of the best defenders in England, but years of being abused and disrespected by previous Three Lions heads has left a bad taste in the mouth of the 29-year-old man from Bootle. A brief period away from the national squad has poisoned him with discretion, what's the point of putting up with the unrealistic expectations and negative auspices of small-minded English fans when he could be spending time with his family?

Ultimately though, his return would do neither himself nor the squad any good. At the very most he would still only be available for a couple of more years, basically for some of the World Cup qualifying matches, but mainly for even more meaningless exhibition matches. There's simply no way the Three Lions will make it to the World Cup if they are relying on 30-somethings to get them there, and it's not as if they'll be allowed to win it anyhow. Might as well start breaking-in the chicks.

Carragher's momentous decision to leave the England side this past summer has been a godsend for Liverpool. The fact that he received such negative backlash is beyond rubbish, especially when you consider United players faking injuries and collecting early match red cards to avoid international duty usually go unquestioned. If Carra had remained available to Steve McClaren, he would have certainly been selected to start in most of the Three Lions Euro-qualifying matches in the late summer and fall. Only due to injuries to other players though.

That would have left Rafa with little choice but to force-integrate Jack Hobbs into the squad quicker than desired or have Arbeloa play more at centre back. Either way, with the injury to Agger, we would have been that much thinner and shakier on the back line, as one can't expect Carragher to play two games a week for three months straight.

Jamie Carragher is not the answer to England's national team issues anyhow. In fact, the real problem is that the English still believe the squad should be an actual representation of the country. That kind of thinking is simply passé. What they need to do is go the way of France and treat it more like club football, recruiting promising youngsters from foreign countries, relocating them and their families to England, setting up their parents with employment and falsifying the necessary documentation to make them citizens. Oh, and if there's any inquiry, just slip Sepp Blatter an envelope full of money.