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I can guarantee 99.9% of everyone watched the England - Germany match....well, more the case of England bending over for a Germany shafting and I've heard a lot mentioned recently about what next for the national side?
A lot of newspaper writers and ex-professionals are worried about the lack of talent coming through the ranks in order to to help England in the future. I can see there case as who knows where the next Emile Heskey is coming from with an impeccable record of 7 goals in 400 matches (or so it seems) but they clearly haven't looked into the the matter enough. A couple of players to mention coming through at their respective clubs include Jack Rodwell (who will be a real force in the future) Tom Huddlestone (who has come on leaps and bounds since Redknapp took over) Adam Johnson (who was unlucky not to be in South Africa) Michael Dawson, Nathan Delfouneso, Daniel Sturridge, Chris Smalling to name a few players that are soon to be in the England squad coupled with the likes of Milner, Joe Hart et al. and the team at the under-19 Championships aren't exactly crap.
One big thing has to change however, Capello NEEDS to stamp the ego out of the team. Rooney needs to learn, if he has had a rubbish game, fans are going to boo you, the arrogant scouse and why can't players such as Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard replicate there club form onto the national stage? Something needs to be done about it if England are to be a serious threat at the 2012 European Championships. One player that needs to get on the straight and narrow is John Terry.
I saw a few days ago a story on Sky Sports about Fabio Cannavaro, former Italy Captain and someone who has played under Capello, state that he wouldn't be surprised if Terry was axed from the England squad altogether for the 2012 Euros and to be bluntly honest, I can't blame him! Terry completely undermined Capello and then made the whole situation public causing more harm than good. Following Bridgegate, this was probably the last thing Terry should be doing considering he is lucky Wayne Bridge hasn't seriously threatened his career already. I can see Capello not standing for this now that the dust has started to settle on England's World Cup 'campaign' and he will have to think long and hard about the situation now that England have there next game at home to Hungary in less than 3 weeks time. To be honest, Terry should be very, very careful in what he does next as he has to remember that Michael Dawson is more than capable at filling in at centre back alongside the next big England 'star' to come out of retirement to play centre back (probably Emile Heskey).
So here is my suggestion Mr Capello, drop the ego's. Get Rooney, Gerrard, Lampard and Terry out of the squad for the Hungary game and give the likes of Rodwell, Huddlestone, Dawson and Crouch a start so they know they can be dropped if they deserve it which frankly, they do! Oh, and another thing, please, please, PLEASE get rid of the 4-4-2. It has become too rigid and predictable a formation on the international stage and adopt the 4-2-3-1/4-5-1/4-3-3 whichever way you want to look at it, heck, even try a 4-2-4 or a 1-1-8 formation to actually make England a force again or at least an entertaining watch because the England - Algeria match in the World Cup was probably the worst performance I have ever seen and I'm sure a lot of people will agree with me there.
Rant over, gotta dash for work.
Laters
Macca
Hello Macca,
ReplyDeleteI have enjoyed reading your article, but I have to say that you have got close to the issues in this piece, but in my opinion you have unfortunately missed some of the main issues and solutions with present England team.
First of all I do not believe that England’s problem is with the 4-4-2 formation, I believe that with the right players this can be a great setup for England. I said before the world cup that we will never beat a good team with Gerrard on the left, he’s not a left winger and never will be. He constantly cuts inside, no fault of his own as that is where he naturally plays, which gives the England side no shape at all. If we play Theo/Lennon/Milner on the right and Gerrard on the left then we only have one outlet and that’s the right winger. We are unable to switch the ball and therefore it is harder to destabilise the oppositions defence. All the time that the oppositions defence can just sit back and defend against our threat coming down the right, then they’ll limit the amount of clear cut opportunities they give away. By having wingers down both flanks will stretch the oppositions defence over the entire pitch creating more space, not only for both wingers, but for Ronney and co in the middle of the park as well. The only reason why we have Gerrard on the left is because Capello, just as those who have fallen before him, doesn’t either have the stones or the brains to only play either Fat Frank or Steven Gerrard. There is no great team in the world that has two creative centre midfielders in a 4-4-2 formation. Without getting scientific it’s all about formula. In my opinion the best midfield that I have ever seen play is Man Utd in 1999, Becks on the right, Giggs on the left, with Scholes and Keane in the middle. Obviously Becks and Giggsy’s jobs were to be outlet on the edge of the pitch, creating space for the centre midfielders and supplying the forwards. You then also have Scholesy helping out the forwards with Roy Keane breaking up play and busting it up in the middle. Capello had to play Milner or Johnson on the left, Theo or Lennon on the right and then Gerrard and Barry in the middle with Fat frank on the bench. I know a lot of people may have say this now, but this is what I was saying during qualifying and I’ll still say it now.
Just to back up that last argument, if Barcelona were to play 4-4-2, they would not be playing Xavi and Iniesta in the middle together, they would play one of them with Busquets. I would also now like to say that I do not think that England have to play 4-4-2, I personally don’t think the formation should matter that much, it’s about playing the players that you have in the position they know, otherwise the ‘formula’ doesn’t work.
As for the potential players to come into the squad, I do not believe Tom Huddlestone ever has been or ever will be England quality, he’s like Michael Carrick, neither really break up play, neither are very mobile and I do not believe that either of them score enough goals for a ‘playmaking midfielder’. I agree Dawson should now be firmly in the England setup after the fantastic season he has had, he has come on leaps and bounds under Harry, I also believe that Gabby Agbonlahor, Ashley Young and Jack Rodwell should be given experience. Players such as Fat Frank have proved, during that last world cup performance, that they are not world class and therefore are not untouchable in the England setup as they perhaps once were. John Terry was one of our better performers in the world cup, but unfortunately that does not mean he played well. I think he has had his day and it is now time to blood a new generation of players.
I can see Milner, Young, Adam Johnson and Rodwell being ever presents in the squad in the coming years.
I would love to know your thoughts.
Be lucky
TMD