Ingerland (part III)
The Forwards
The forward line for England is confusing. Owen and Rooney are the chosen pair. That seems fairly reasonable. Owen has a good England record, while Rooney has started well. However Owen is clearly not the player he was 5 years ago. He has struggled to score many in the last few years, missing chances that he would have buried a few years back. His move to Real Madrid may help. The change may we just what he needs. Rooney is sadly being build up into the new English hope. Hopefully he’s be able to bear up under the burden of expectation. He is not the finished article yet, and he needs to improve his scoring rate if he’s to be considered a “proper forward”, but he’s on the right road.
Once you get past those two things begin to look dodgy. Defoe, Smith and Vassell are the current backups. None of them has really received a long run in the team. They’ve all had to make do with brief runs in friendlies with no continuity and generally a bunch of other players who are also being thrown in at the deep end. Whether any of them are really international class remains to be seen. Defoe has been the most impressive of the 3 so far (and this was written before the Poland match) and he may be the best long term, but they all need more experience. They also need to start scoring enough goals at club level to force the issue, although that’s not a guarantee of a chance as Beattie and Phillips can tesify.
Form
Phillips and Beattie are fine examples of another England problem in recent years, and possibly for longer than that. Players who are in-form don’t get a fair chance to stake a claim in a lot of cases. Phillips was for many years one of the best forwards in the country, scoring loads of goals for Sunderland in the top division and not getting an England run. When he finally did get a semi-decent chance it came at a time when he was out-of-form and struggling in the league. The chances of him performing then were minimal and, unsurprisingly, he failed to produce. Beattie is in much the same position right now. He has performed well for the last few seasons and merits a decent chance, but he hasn’t got it. He may never get the chance, but if he does it will probably be when he’s not playing as well. This is a constant England problem, sticking with players who aren’t producing and not giving a fair chance to players who are in-form.
The case of Beckham illustrates this right now. He is plainly not playing as well as he can for England, yet gets a game without fail. In my opinion, Shaun Wright Phillips is one of the most impressive players in the country right now. (Yes I’m a City fan). He deserves a chance for England. He actually deserved his chance last year when he was also playing well, but he has got only 35 minutes so far. He is untested at this level, that’s true, but how can he be tested if he’s not played. In both of England’s World Cup qualifiers Beckham should have been substituted purely for his lack of quality. Phillips should have got 30 minutes in at least one of those games; he couldn’t have done any worse. My worry is that he’ll get his chance when he’s not playing as well in league football and that will only affect his confidence.
Management
Eriksson
When Eriksson was appointed I was impressed. A good track record and an excellent reputation, I thought England had made a good choice, especially with the derth of candidates within the English league. I thought his initial few years were excellent with qualification for the World Cup from an unpromising position and a willingness to look at players from the “unfashionable” clubs. I’m sorry to say that my opinion has changed.
I don’t feel that he has done much for England given the 4 years he has had in charge. No coherent style of play has emerged. Performances in the 2 tournaments he has taken the team to have been disappointing. Tactically he doesn’t seem to be willing to try something different. Basically I’m now disappointed with him. If he were to leave tomorrow I wouldn’t be sad to see him go, although I worry about who his successor would be.
The Pretenders to the Throne
There appears to be a scarcity of quality English candidates for the England job. After the experience with Eriksson, I’d be surprised if the next manager of England isn’t English. The tabloids will be demanding an English manager and unless the candidate is exceptional, Scolari maybe, I’d be surprised if the FA try another foreign man for a while.
Looking at the Premiership the English managers are, in order of team position, Allardyce, McClaren, Curbishley, Keegan, Redknapp, Bruce and Megson. Keegan won’t get the job again which leaves the other 6. None of them are particularly inspiring. McClaren would appear to be in pole position as he is the current assistant to Eriksson. However some of the others, such as Allardyce or Curbishley, may be better candidates given their ability to build a team. McClaren has had a lot of money to spend at Middlesborough and hasn’t produced anything spectacular yet, and I would regard him as still on the learning curve.
A few other managers who in previous years were mentioned as possible England managers have slipped out of the reckoning, such as Bryan Robson (thankfully) and Peter Reid. Still no inspiring names.
Experience at a really big club is not a necessity for the England job. Managing a big club with the ability to transfer players and train them each day is very different from only meeting the players once every few months and organising them effectively. Finding the right man is the problem. Eriksson could be safe for a while purely because there is no obvious candidate to replace him.
In summary, England have good players, they just need to play them. Drop players who are out of form. Play players who are in form. Give players who are on the fringe more chances to show it in friendlies. Be more ruthless with the stars. Don’t let players feel that they can be in the team no matter how they perform. Most of all, be realistic about what you have and what they can achieve.