England, my view - part I
England started the World Cup qualifying campaign with a lacklustre display in the 2-2 draw against Austria on Saturday. After taking a two goal lead they let it slip away too easily against an unspectacular Austrian team. Since the game I’ve been thinking about what England need to do to improve. In theory England have a decent pool of players to choose from and should perform more consistently in international competition. I’m not unrealistic (unlike the tabloids) and I don’t think England can and should win every competition they enter, but I do believe they’re better than two semi-final appearances since 1966.
If we’re going to look at where England go from here we should take a look at the performances against Austria and in other recent games. Starting at the back we’ll take a look at the supposed “villain” of the game, David James. However if we’re going to work out how England should proceed we should have a quick run down of the Austrian game and recent history.
Goalkeeping
James has been the target for most criticism following the draw, much of it deserved. He had a bad game, the worst he’s had in a long time. The second goal was his fault. It can be argued that the defence should have closed the player down, but he should not have been beaten by a shot from that distance. He had other bad moments too, such as when Terry saved him from embarrassment after he rushed out of his area and was easily beaten by the Austrian forward. There was also the time when he saved a shot with his ankles after letting it slip through his hands. It was a bad game, no doubt about that, but I feel that over the last few years James has played well for England. He has kept them in some games when they’ve been under pressure and overall has been a decent performer. He is under pressure, and rightly so, and Robinson should get a full 90 minutes in the next friendly, but I think England have more pressing concerns than the goalkeeper.
In reality, England don’t have the depth of goalkeeping they had in the past. There is no outstanding candidate. Robinson and Kirkland are seen as the future and I think Robinson could be the one, but he’s not clearly playing better than James. Kirkland is injured more often than not and needs to start playing on a regular basic before he can come into the frame. Richard Wright and Nicky Weaver who were viewed as probable England goalkeepers at one point are either injured or on the bench. There are few England goalkeepers in the Premier League; the top teams all play foreign goalkeepers on a regular basic. In reality James is the best candidate right now.