Ben Foster can regain Manchester United place and revitalise World Cup hopes

16 November 2009 14:32
Martyn indirectly issued the words of advice after Foster admitted in the wake of the 1-0 friendly defeat by Brazil that he had been left "disheartened" by events at Manchester United that had seen him slip down Sir Alex Ferguson's pecking order behind first-choice Edwin van der Sar and Tomasz Kuszczak. [LNB]"It is going to be difficult for him but he's just got to get his head down and try to win back his place," the former Everton and Leeds goalkeeper said. [LNB] Related ArticlesDavid James's World Cup place in doubtEngland v Brazil: player ratingsEngland feel the need for speedSilva: England gave ball away quite easilyEngland 0 Brazil 1"I thought he did very well against Brazil. His handling was really good and you couldn't blame him for the goal and he made some important saves to keep us in the game. [LNB]"In a normal game he would have got a red card like Robert Green did in the Ukraine. It was exactly the same sort of thing with the back pass not quite getting there and you are committed to getting your team-mate out of trouble almost. He went for it and because it was a friendly it was just a yellow card. [LNB]"But he has now lost his place (at United) and that puts more of a question mark over him. I just wonder if a Premier League manager out there might just make a little cheeky request to get him in January. [LNB]"I think probably they will want to keep hold of him in case anything happens to Van Der Sar or Kuszczak in the interim period. It's a bit of a gamble should they release him and then something happens after that. So I don't really see them letting him go." [LNB]Martyn, 43, was limited to just 23 England appearances thanks mainly to the presence of Arsenal counterpart David Seaman who was a shoo-in for the goalkeeper's position - a situation that contrasts strongly with the doubts surrounding the current crop of keepers such as Foster, David James and Robert Green. [LNB]"Robert Green is very consistent probably the one that is playing consistently for his club at West Ham, David James has got his knee problem and is in and out and so he needs to get that sorted for himself," Martyn added. [LNB]"I think Fabio Capello knows his best XI but he has just got to keep his fingers crossed that come the end of the season that XI are going to be there and are going to be fit. The next friendly could be the chance for him to play what he perceives is his 1st XI." [LNB]England may have lost to Brazil but Martyn believes the friendly will provide invaluable clues on how to stop the World Cup favourites ahead of next summer's finals in South Africa. [LNB]"They got to our back four a lot easier then we got to their back four and they played in those little holes between midfield and the back four coming in off the line and were able to make passes where we could not get near them," added Martyn. [LNB]"Now we have seen that we can find out ways of stopping them. Once we did get at their back four they were also cynical in one or two of their challenges. They are not silly. If they thin a team is going to get at them they are not frightened to give away a foul." [LNB]

Source: Telegraph