Source: Daily_Mail
Manchester United's Ferdinand struggling to retain his England place
Ferdinand: out of favour[LNB] Rio Ferdinand could miss out on England's friendly with Brazil in a move that would further undermine his status as the country's No 1 centre half.[LNB] Fabio Capello will not pick the Manchester United defender if he fails to recover from injury in time to play against Chelsea on Sunday.[LNB] His omission would amount to a crushing blow to Ferdinand when his form, rather than his fitness, is under serious scrutiny.[LNB] He has struggled with both for club and country this season and England manager Capello will omit him from the squad he names on Sunday on the grounds that he would have missed United's last four matches.[LNB] If Ferdinand recovers from calf and back problems and returns for Sunday's top-of-the-table Premier League clash at Chelsea, Capello will select him for game in Doha on November 14, otherwise the Italian is expected to employ his usual policy on injured players and recruit from elsewhere.[LNB] Omission would highlight Ferdinand's poor standing in the eyes of Capello after some alarming displays in an England shirt, in Ukraine and Holland.[LNB] It was Ferdinand's glaring error in Dnipropetrovsk last month which led to a penalty and goalkeeper Robert Green's sending off as England surrendered their unbeaten competitive record under Capello, and came a week after a similar slip in the Manchester derby allowed Craig Bellamy in to score for City. Ferdinand was also exposed in England's friendly in Amsterdam, when his nonchalant back pass allowed Dirk Kuyt to intercept and score for Holland.[LNB] Desperate defending: Manchester United's Rio Ferdinand (right) shows his frustration after Manchester City's Craig Bellamy scores his side's third goal at Old Trafford[LNB] Capello called Ferdinand in for talks following the Ukraine mistake, but kept him in the team for England's final World Cup qualifier against Belarus.[LNB] The Brazil match is a friendly but it remains an important game for Capello and he would normally want his best players available for a test that will provide a useful measure of England's progress ahead of next summer's World Cup.[LNB] That he is even considering leaving Ferdinand behind would suggest that the defender can no longer be as confident of his place as he has in the past. Michael Owen is another United player sweating over his inclusion.[LNB] Owen scored again for United on Tuesday night, while his own personal ambitions may have been helped by last night's injuries to Emile Heskey and Carlton Cole. [LNB] Carlton Cole and Emile Heskey injuries open door to Michael Owen for EnglandGRAHAM POLL: Branding Darren Fletcher a cheat was a terrible slur on an honest guy[LNB] [LNB] Explore more:People:Fabio Capello, Robert Green, Michael Owen, Emile Heskey, Rio Ferdinand, CRAIG BELLAMYPlaces:Manchester, Amsterdam, Brazil, The Netherlands, United Kingdom
