Having witnessed England scrape past a very mediocre Slovenia side on Saturday, I couldn't help but ponder England's trials and tribulations over the past few years. They're a team who continue to be surrounded by question marks, and I can't see that changing in the near future, no matter how hardCapello works.
Can Lampard and Gerrard play together? Which formation should we be playing? Why is Gerrard playing left wing? Why does Heskey constantly get a start? These are all questions that have been asked in the recent past, and as of today, are yet to be answered by anyone. Despite the Slovenia match being no more than 'preparation' for Wednesday's much more important clashwith Croatia, Capello still fielded a full-strength side, with the odd exception. Jermain Defoe probably should have started instead of Heskey. Nevertheless, on paper England should have hammered Slovenia, who only had 2 players British fans would have recognised. Bostjan Cesar and Robert Koren have both had spells with West Bromwich Albion. Instead, it was a flat, cautious performance from a side ranked 7th in the World. That's 47 places above Slovenia.
The visitors failed to show any kind of attacking intent or ability for the whole of the 90 minutes, yet somehow managed to score through substitute Ljubijankic. Although this was only a friendly, had England been as cautious in attack in a game that mattered, the final outcome may have been different.
The question I want to ask is do too many cooks spoil the broth? England's makeup is one of mainly 'superstars'. Ashley Cole, John Terry, Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard, Wayne Rooney, and David Beckham are all amongst the top earners in World Football, but when it comes down to it, they seldom click for England as a unit. To this day I'm yet to seeLampard play as well for his country as he does for Chelsea, with or without Gerrard playing alongside him. It also continues to stagger me how Ashley Cole gets into the side, let alone being the most expensive left-back in Football. The simple fact is, all these players are picked on reputation. Some of them can back that up, and I'm not denying that. Rooney is a World-class talent, and he often performs admirably for England. Gerrard also, generally plays very wellwith the three Lions on his shirt, and Terry is a genuine winner, but as a team, I'm yet to be convinced.
6 or 7 'superstars' out of a team of 11 aren't necessarily going to win you silverware. The best International sides in the World are made up of one or two, three at the most, players who cangenuinly be called superstars. Brazil have Kaka, Robinho, and Ronaldinho. Spain have Torres, Fabregas, and Villa. The rest of their sides are made up of proven performers who don't always steel the limelight. They work well as a unit, and there's never just one person who stands out. England, however, seem to be the opposite.
All the aforementioned players are classed as World stars. They're players you'd put in your World XI, or Fantasy sides. You forget about the players who have proved to everyone that they are very very good players in the Premier League, the best League in the World. If you take Gerrard,Lampard, Terry, and Rooney out of the side you can easily replace them with Carrick, Huddlestone, Baines, and Defoe. These are not World class glamour-boys but they're players whom you know will do the business. So why aren't they in the regular starting XI at Wembley? If the so-called stars can't work together as a team, why not give the players that you can rely on to do just that a chance?
England has a massive pool of players. Definitely one of the biggest in the World, possibly the biggest. The problem with the English way is that we're afraid to change. We have the attitude that the same players will put it right in the end, but that's not the case. If you look at the England team of 4 years ago, it's very similar to that of today and we've still won nothing. But if you take the Italian team of 4 years ago, a lot of players have gone, whether dropped, retired or what have you. The point is, change isn't necessarily a bad thing. Yes reputations are built and they're built for a reason, but having a reputation for being one of the most expensive players in the World isn't the done deal. In International Football it's the team that counts.
You may think that my argument is unjustified considering that England have won 100% of their World Cup qualifiers under Capello, but it's all very well beating teams like Belarus and Andorra at a capacity Wembley, but when it comes down to the World Cup quarter-final next year against Brazil, Argentina, Italy, I very much doubt we'll come out on top, especially based on performances like the Slovenia game and certainly based on previous performaces in major competitions. Capello will obviously be very reluctant to make any wholesale changes in the build up to South Africa 2010, but after that I'd like to see some change. If I was England manager, I'd get rid of Lampard, in my opinion the most over-rated player on the planet, I'd get rid of Ashley Cole, and David Beckham, and I'd draft in young, homegrown talent who have proved in the Premier League for their clubs, that part of a well-functioning, performing team unit, that they can cut it.
I'll give you a little flavour of what I think the England team should be, right now.
GK - Robert Green
RB - Glen Johnson
LB - Leighton Baines
CB - John Terry (c)
CB - Matthew Upson
RM - James Milner
LM - Ashley Young
CM - Steven Gerrard
CM - Tom Huddlestone
CF - Wayne Rooney
CF - Jermain Defoe
Sub - Ben Foster
Sub - Ryan Shawcross
Sub - Joleon Lescott
Sub - Michael Carrick
Sub - Shaun Wright-Phillips
Sub - Joe Cole
Sub - Carlton Cole
There we have pure talent, and players who have consistently performed well for their clubs over the last few seasons. I may have missed a couple of players off their whom should perhaps be there, but I think you get the idea.
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