Watching England’s midfield struggle against Montenegro, most notably in the second half, overshadowed the fact that the Three Lions got the point they needed to qualify for the European Championships next summer. But in all honesty qualifying should have been the least of England’s expectations, and judging by some of the mediocre performances en route to the finals, this must be a wake up call to Mr. Capello to change the personnel if not the system.
One area of the pitch where England has looked painfully poor at times is central midfield. Time and time again over the last few years, England has been out-thought, out-fought, and simply out-played. Before I continue the onslaught, it must be noted that key players such as Steven Gerrard and Jack Wilshere have been sidelined with injuries, but even so, being one of the top ten nations in the world means we should suitable back up and it is simply not the case.
The one player who has stepped up and does his job to the letter is the ever reliable Scott Parker. Against Montenegro, Parker protected the defence as well as he could, kept the play ticking over, and it is not an unfair to compare him to Spain’s Sergio Busquets. They will most likely never receive the plaudits, but their managers know just how important they are. That’s where the similarities end. Whereas Busquets allows players like Xavi, Iniesta, Villa and countless others to express themselves, Parker has had to make do with an inept partner in the form of Gareth Barry. Barry is everything that is wrong with the current crop of England players.
Another overhyped, overrated English player; really not much else to say. His movement and distribution is repetitive and his lack of tactical awareness is painful to watch.
It would be wrong for me to be target one man, and in fact England have given a very good account of themselves in the past two friendlies; beating the world champions and a decent Sweden team. The truth is however England are incapable of keeping possession for long periods and find it quite hard to string more than five passes together. With expectations far lower for these forthcoming championships, than those of South Africa, maybe England won’t succumb to the pressure they usually fall to; and thanks to the current crop of English youngsters coming through the ranks, there is actually much to look forward to.
Daniel Sturridge and Danny Wellbeck can go on to be much better strikers than Crouch, Zamora or Bent, and the new wave of English central midfielders we see today is quite exciting. Tom Cleverley and Jack Wilshere could very well be England’s answer to Xavi and Iniesta, two extremely talented footballers who have an almost ‘Spanish’ understanding of the game. And if you dig deeper, there any many gems to be found, Everton’s Ross Barkley, Chelsea’s Josh McEachran for example and Arsenal’s Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain are all examples of English players who are all technically gifted and give England a very bright future. But maybe 2012 will come too soon for these players. 2014; well that could be another story.
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