With the news this week that Wayne Rooney will be banned for the group stage of Euro 2012, after an impetuous sending off against Montenegro, it becomes ever more apparent that the national side must not build the team around him. There’s no doubt that on his day he can be England’s key man and greatest talent, but an international team has to have quality and cohesion throughout the squad.
It’s almost become a bit tiresome now to talk about the technical ability and team spirit of the world champions Spain, but they are a prime example of how to win tournaments. They work around the same ethos, no matter who is on the pitch there is no key man and no individual that is relied upon to pull the strings. One of the main reasons they were able to win the World Cup was because they had a perfect system to suit their mentality, with people like Silva being brought on after about 70 minutes regularly allowing them to use their squad and still keep a sense of calm and continuity on the pitch.
When England play, particularly without Rooney, it’s as though every attacking tactical move is more a throw of the dice than a methodical strategy. You can’t argue that England have the same depth of talent as teams like Spain, but they really haven’t got into a system of using their best players and getting the most out the team. Now that there is an international friendly coming up against Spain before the European Championships, with hopefully more after that (and not mickey-mouse ones against minnows), Capello needs to give some players a run of games and try and integrate them. It would be nice to be at a point where instead of asking how we are going to play without certain players, we are confident with who is going to come into a vacant position and not adapt the style to suit the players.
It’s a good thing that some of England’s top players like Young, Rooney and possibly Welbeck are used to playing with each other at club level, but this is not always beneficiary. Other top sides are brought together by their international jersey and work under the unification of their national team. Fabio Capello needs to really work on bringing the English players together by playing a defined style of play and building an identity, as opposed to relying on individuals or little partnerships. When Rooney isn’t available, who is going to lead the line? If it is Darren Bent for example, give him a run of games and experience in that exact same role, or pick someone like Bobby Zamora or whoever that can do it, and just stick by them. Don’t just give someone a run out because they are in good form for their club side and adapt the whole system and balance of the national side just to accommodate the striker’s style of play.
Rooney often likes to come deep to get the ball and initiate attacks, sometimes seen in his own half wandering around with the ball. But when he isn’t playing, do we get another striker to play their own game or do we get Rooney to do a specific job and when he isn’t there we get someone else to do it. Teams like Spain, Holland and Germany would do the latter and interchange without compromising their fluid style of football. As soon as England can become confident in playing a system and being used to certain players playing the roles involved (not just 11 players but a whole squad being able to rotate in), then they can become accustomed to what is required of them. This is why Spain are so good at the moment. They have so much experience at playing a certain style of football that all 25, or however many squad members can play, have momentum, are interchangeable and confident in an international environment. They day England can do this will be the day they learn to live without Wayne Rooney and contend for major Championships.
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