Free Kick: Terry's disastrous form warrants stint on bench

John Terry should surely not play for England against Spain this Saturday, not on any moral grounds — in the midst of the tangled ‘racist' imbroglio with Anton Ferdinand (who didn't even hear whatever insults there were or weren't) — but on his present shaky form.

Overwhelmed in the second half of Arsenal's bombardment at Stamford Bridge, he sat out Chelsea's subsequent flaccid Euro display in Genk, when they couldn't even beat a team whom they walked over 5-0 at Stamford Bridge.

But neither should the senior Ferdinand, Rio, be used against the dazzling Spanish attack. He, too, has looked plainly out of form and off the pace and his own manager Alex Ferguson has admitted that pace has been deserting Rio.

The bleak problem for Fabio Capello, potentially faced with the formidable likes of Cesc Fabregas, David Villa, Silva and Alonso, is whom does he draft in at centre back?

Bad season so far

Not long ago, Bolton's Cahill was all the rage, but he hasn't so far had a happy season. Joleon Lescott is a reasonable alternative but has yet to really assert himself at this level. And, of course, there can be no Rooney.

Capello has already indicated that come hell, high water or the three-match suspension, he will be taking Rooney to the European finals hoping they will come through the initial stage.

The present England team has to meet a Swedish side in lively form three days after Spain.

No Jack Wilshere to provide the vital passes from midfield. All Parker's bustling energy cannot make up for that. And no obvious centre forwards with unanswerable claims.

Against pallid Romanian opposition, Rooney played in central midfield last week, in a limp win by Manchester United. Alex Ferguson passed his performance but begged the question of why he had to use Rooney there at all. Paul Scholes has gone and with him a vital creator from midfield. And that 6-1 thrashing by rivals City will take a very long time to digest.

With Arsenal labouring a dull and uninspired goalless draw at home to Marseille, and showing, whatever Wenger might say, that Robin Van Persie, a hat-trick scorer against Chelsea, is utterly essential to an otherwise limited attack, it is clear what the Gunners are very distant outsiders in the European Cup.

And their half-baked, heavily restricted, Annual General Meeting last week gave no great hope for the future. Stan Kroenke is an amiable enough charman but his address was a brief bunch of platitudes. Chairman Peter-Will Wood, scion of a famed Arsenal dynasty, is an elderly figurehead but he won't stand down.

Manchester City cruised through away to Villarreal, deprived of the essential, injured Rossi, out now for months. In Manchester, he'd given City a great deal of trouble and their odd-goal win had come breathlessly late. With Mario Balotelli at last expressing himself as he did as sole striker at Villarel, City's attacking options seem infinite.

Cardiac problems

The horrors of heart attacks. Harry Redknapp's, though seemingly not severe, will presumably prevent him taking the England role. Who knows how much strain has been placed on him by the endless wait for court proceedings by the revenue.

More serious was the heart attack suffered by Antonio Cassano, gifted striker, endless maverick, now at Milan and out reportedly for months. Born in the backwaters of Bari, variously with them, Sampdoria and briefly at Real Madrid, he wasn't taken to the 2010 World Cup by Lippi. An error!