England - Crisis, what crisis?
Fabio Capello has arrived in England to find the game in this country at its lowest ebb for many years. Failure to qualify for this summers European championships has left English football in the doldrums. He must have expected the worst when he started attending Premier League games in order to assess the talent he has available for selection.
This weekend Capello has watched the Premier League game between Aston Villa and Blackburn, and the FA Cup tie between Manchester United and Tottenham. He must have been pleasantly surprised, and wonder why everyone is so gloomy, and how a country with this much ability has contrived to fail to qualify for any tournament.
In the Villa game he will have seen the emerging brilliance of Villa winger Ashley Young. Young’s delivery from set pieces is developing into a World class ability which could be described as Beckhamesque. The free kick he scored with yesterday was also very similar in style to many scored by the LA Galaxy superstar. In open play, Young is quick, direct, and a constant threat.
He will also have seen Gabby Agbonlahor, another quickly developing talent with pace, skill, and an eye for goal. Behind them was the captain, Gareth Barry, who hardly put a foot wrong, as always. Alongside Barry was the former under 21 captain Nigel Reo-Coker, now playing with the drive and determination that brought him to prominence in the first place at West Ham.
Right at the back for Villa was Scott Carson, who has recovered well from his Wembley nightmare against Croatia and is again looking a class act.
For Blackburn, Capello will have been impressed with the former Liverpool full back Steven Warnock who is playing the best football of his career, and with David Bentley who despite being occasionally frustrating, possesses the sort of flair so rarely seen in English players.
Today at Old Trafford Capello saw Tom Huddlestone, Jamie O’Hara, Aaron Lennon and Jermaine Jenas all excel for Tottenham, and United’s Rio Ferdinand, Wes Brown, Owen Hargreaves and Wayne Rooney all near to top form.
In one weekend Capello has seen fifteen fine English players, mainly still young, all playing at the very top of the game. Add the likes of John Terry, Ledley King, Micah Richards, Ashley Cole, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Steven Gerrard, Michael Johnson and Joe Cole, and Fabio Capello must be feeling more optimistic about the future than he thought he would be.
The only question that needs to be answered is how we managed to let our national team hit rock bottom the way that it has. We have the talent, and we do have the pool of players to choose from, despite the number of foreign players in the top division.
Is it just possible that the answer can be summed up in two words? Steve McClaren.
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Graham:
These are very good points.
I also wonder if the players will have a different attitude and/or focus now that they have a manager of Capello’s magnitude. Time will tell.
In my opinion, his visibility since taking on the job sends a very positive message. It will be interesting to analyze his roster for the friendly with Switzerland.
nice article, gr8 vid.
Didn’t he see Michael Carrick and Paul Scholes?
And before anybody says anything, I know Paul Scholes is retired, and what? So was Zidane, leech off someone else.
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha…
Great video. I’m gonna save that one.
Also i’m gonna bookmark this article for future reference to any pricks who think that the ‘foriegn influx’ is screwing over English football. Sepp Blatter & Michel Platini, are you reading this?
There is no lack of quality in English football. All that talk about not having enough quality players is rubbish. What England do lack/ have lacked is a quality manager. Hope Capello can do a good job!
NB I liked this video more http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtbMZaox-S0
Your article was good up until the point where you missed the mark…by naming a bunch of players from the old regime.
Gerrard has been awful for Three Lions. His dribble-and-dive strategy will never work for Capello. He cannot be relied upon for anything at this point. SWP at times has been brillant, but not consistent, and his passing from the right wing is anemic; he has played better as of late as a support forward concentrated in the middle of the pitch rather than isolated alone on a wing, forced to cross ball after ball. Ashley Cole has enough personal problems right now to deal with that the Three Lions isn’t much of a priority. And half or more of us Chelsea faithful feel Wayne Bridge could/should be starting anyway.
Can Becks still play for England??
There were never any problems with English players. The problem were always the coach, game tactics, and the media.
England should have stuck with Sven. He was/is a good manager. Only problem with him were that he played boring football. Personally, I don’t see this changing with Capello. They are much of the same mould. I can understand how England fans’ frustrations and desperation can cloud their judgement, but the reality is that nothing has changed really. What the FA should have done was to appoint Scolari, or perhaps some Brazilian coach that will bring out the flair of the players.
On another note, I think Capello should take a bold risk and appoint Rooney as captain. The team needs his drive on the pitch.
Spiral Architect
Listen, man, I know it’s hard to comprehend, but what Platini is saying, and he is absolutely right, is that any club in the world needs to have homegrown players in addition to foreign ones. Why does everyone think that he particulary cares about English football? This is a matter of common sense, and besides, as Wenger said, he (and EPL in general) are obvious targets. What, you really think that he worries about the English team? Come on…
I’m sorry, but Wes Brown is never cause for optimism.
ttts -
Sure any club needs to have homegrown players…in an ideal world. But just think about this. How many Englishmen play in the top clubs in the rest of Europe? The only shining examples i can think of are Steve McManaman & David Beckham who have really had any sort of success. Now you tell me why that is eh? I absolutely reject this bullshit theory that a club NEEDS to have homegrown players. A club manager’s first priority is to the success of the CLUB, not the fucking national football league. If the FA want their national team to succeed they need to do a whole revamp of the way they do things & not target the ‘foreign influence’. Its xenophobic & stupid & it won’t help in the long run anyway.
In this respect Arsenal are an obvious target of course, & i get annoyed that Platini/Blatter would focus on it exclusively (subtley or not its obvious who they aim their comments at most of the time). I KNOW they don’t give a damn about the EPL (i’ve made comments about this in other posts on similar topics), but the politics of it annoy me anyway especially since those two have so much power to get their own way.
I agree that the club’s first priority is to ensure success for the club.
However (and this is not a swipe at anyone or any club in particular) each business have a social responsibility towards the society that ‘allows’ it to exist within that society. Today, football clubs are business enterprises, therefore, they also have a social responsibility towards its society. With this statement, it does not mean that the club should take responibility for the national team, just that it should take some responsibility towards the society. Is a national team and national pride is not a good place to start?!?
What else are clubs doing for their societies nowadays?
(And no, the entertainment it provides to its fans/customers is not a fullfilment of its responsibility - its their core business)
Karl - I agree wholeheartedly with your interpretation. However, I do find that many clubs are giving more back to the community than in days past. Look at the outreach programmes of clubs such as Spurs and Manchester United, or in particular (and I’ll touch on this in an article I hope to write soon) the education programmes offered by Middlesbrough FC. That’s not to say that they couldn’t do more - but it’s a start.
Karl, the problem HAS been the players. You can’t flame all of the failings on McClaren. When a country historically underachieves at football, it is not only the people in charge.
Steven Gerrard is a shell of what is his best when he pulls on an England shirt. He is one of the best in the world year after year. Frank Lampard, I love him, does not play as he does in a Chelsea shirt. You’re talking about the best midfielder in the world a couple of years ago. Pile on a bunch of underperforming players (Owen, goalkeepers, etc).
Not changing the roster is a disservice; holding out waiting for this generation to yet again put some kind fof magic together on the pitch is an old philosophy, and one that should have gone dead with McClaren.
Brian W, I tend t disagree with the problem being the players. Take Lampard for instance. He performed for Chelsea on the biggest stages, but not for England. Jose knew how to get the best out of him. Same with Gerrard, Terry, Rio, etc. I’m not trying to criticise McClaren, but, he was the coach, it’s his responsibility to ensure that:
1. the players are fully motivated
2. the players are being played to THEIR strenghts
3. the team is properly balanced for his gameplan
Unfortunately, the media did not help him much, and the fact that his tactics were not always spot on (and boring) all contributed the eventual outcome. No fluke.