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Is this really the ‘Dark Age’ of English football?

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Roy Hodgson EnglandGary Lineker last night added his voice to a number across the football media who are ready to pounce on any perceived defect in Roy Hodgson’s England team.  For the former Tottenham Hotspur striker to base his opinion that the national side have taken a ‘step back to the dark ages’ on the evidence of an end of season friendly, is premature and more than a touch unfair.

When considering the gravity, or otherwise, of Lineker’s post-match musings, his twitter thoughts prior to kick-off provide some context;

‘Always felt post season friendlies were fairly pointless.  Everything will be different come September, but hey, it’s something to watch’.

Lineker is correct.  When the next double-header of World Cup qualifying games, against Moldova at Wembley and then away in Ukraine, are upon us in a little over three months it will be a different England team taking the field.  Health permitting, key players will be available.  Furthermore, the final eleven selected will be fresh of mind and body, as opposed to being wearied by the demands of an English football season.

If, as Lineker contests, these early summer friendlies are ‘pointless’, then his eagerness within two hours of that assertion to condemn the country’s football team as ‘easy to play against’ and ‘predictable and dated’ is some leap.

The display against the Republic of Ireland which has drawn widespread criticism certainly had its limitations.  It was, however, a long way removed from some of the aspersions cast on it.

Lineker’s declaration that ‘If we play just two midfielders against anyone of note, we’ll struggle to get a kick’ overlooks the fact that Wayne Rooney or his strike partner – be that first Daniel Sturridge or then Jermain Defoe – repeatedly dropped off the front to supplement their team’s midfield numbers.  That withdrawn forward role is identical to the tactic utilised by both of this year’s lauded Champions League finalists – Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund.

There were flickers against Ireland of Rooney’s creativity from deep, a particular attribute which marked him out as such a rare talent when he made his international debut as a 17 year-old under Sven-Goran Eriksson in 2003.

On England’s flanks, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain continues to give cause for belief that he will be a pivotal figure in a bright future for his national side under Hodgson. The Arsenal attacker’s end product was actually sub-standard, but he exhibited a footballing bravery and intelligence beyond his years with his willingness to show for, and run with, the ball.

Theo Walcott continues to infuriate, but if Hodgson can locate the key to unlocking a method of utilising the winger’s pace, his side will possess a threat to discomfort even the most assured of defences.

Phil Jagielka and Gary Cahill’s partnership is in its infacy, and there were moments when that fact was patent.  Nevertheless, both are becoming progressively more comfortable in their international skins.  That feeling can only develop with more game time.  Already, the Everton and Chelsea centre-halves respectively, are aerially commanding, and show a heartening readiness to pass out of defence – as well as tentative signs of an aptitude for carrying the ball from the back.

Hodgson has in his ranks two of the world’s best left-backs – Ashley Cole and Leighton Baines.  His options on the right aren’t quite so rich.  England can boast a string of attacking right-sided full-backs, chiefly Glen Johnson and Kyle Walker. Johnson’s enduring defensive naivety was exposed though, when he was culpable for Shane Long’s headed goal on Wednesday night.  Walker’s standard of work in his own half continues to fall well short of that which he offers when driving forward.

Phil Jones’ 45 minutes against the Irish then, could prove that fixture’s greatest legacy.  The rush to pigeon-hole the Manchester United man – who Sir Alex Ferguson recently declared could become ‘our (United’s) best ever player, no matter where we play him’ – is incomprehensible.

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