Now's not the time to say 'I told you so'. What's done is done and now we must reflect on the consequences. We now know that England will not next year be playing at the European Championship Finals for the first time since 1984.
It will also be the first time England have failed for any major tournament since 1994, so what do we get from last night's 3-2 against Croatia? As far as I'm concerned, it raised more questions than answers.
First, an answer: the way Croatia played last night (i.e. in a comfortable, self-assured and competent fashion), it's fair to say that England do not deserve to be at the Finals because the quality of their play isn't up to that standard.
Question: Was Steve McClaren right to pick Scott Carson? Yes and no, in my opinion. No because last night's critical decider was not the place to give a 22-year-old with no international experience his debut. And yet given the alternatives (see previous article), perhaps some new blood with no previous reputation for untrustworthyness was worth a shot.
As much as I support Scott Carson in his development as a top goalkeeper, there's no avoiding the fact that the first goal was his fault as his technique was all wrong. That said, he made up for it with a performance that saw his early nerves dissipate and his shot-stopping abilities come to the fore once again.
Are the team playing as a team? No. There are undoubtedly some strong individual talents among England's ranks, but a unified strength seems to be lacking at the moment. Something for either McClaren or his successor to work on, perhaps.
Should David Beckham have played from the start? I doubt it would have done any harm. Though he's certainly not match-fit these days, he still retains a great sense of ball delivery in open play and in dead-ball situations. Maybe that would have been more of a factor if he'd had more of the game to play in.
Should Steve McClaren stay on in charge of the England team? For me, no. As one or two other people have mentioned on this blog, McClaren doesn't seem to be able to inspire his players. They play as if lacking any direction, and that could be something to do with a tactical naivety that brought Middlesbrough precious little in the way of glory while he was coach there.
If McClaren goes, who should replace him? Despite being from Northern Ireland, I'd personally like to see Martin O'Neill given a chance. I think the Terry Venables time has been and gone. Jose Mourinho? Sure, why not… although I doubt the job would interest him enough to take it. Alan Shearer? I think it might be worth giving him a go. Yes I know he has no international experience in coaching, but he definitely knows a thing or two and he undoubtedly has the iron will and mental strength to ram home the players' responsibilities when needed.
There are doubtless more questions and answers to come from England's failure to qualify, so feel free to post any of your own here. For the meantime, we'll try and get used to the idea of a Euro 2008 tournament that won't feature England. Strange. All very strange.
Thursday, November 22, 2007
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7 comments:
Question: What is the best Midfield for england?
I reckon if Hardgreaves was fit enough he should have played at the expense of Lampard, and Barrie or Gerard should have been pushed well forward, to leave a midfield of 4 not 5.
Question: 1 Striker or 2?
Without close support, Crouch was always going to be in trouble playing with his back to the goal.
The number of times he won the long high ball was great, but was there ever anyone nearby to pick up the flick/nod on's? No. BUT stick the ball on his head or chest when he's facing the goal, and thats another story.
Just glad I hadn't booked for a summer holiday in the Alps!
Your midfield was dreadful last night and showed no understanding of how to play. If yu are playing one up you have to pass the ball to feet of the striker and then move to receive a return or play a through ball for him to run on to then provide support. What you do not do is lump high balls at him just because he is very tall.
As a Scot is is difficult to take all the comments about how our players as individuals are not as accomplished as the English when your 'class acts' fail to be able to adapt to such rudimentary ideas.
Yes Hargreaves should have played a part. All three Croatia goals came from the middle of the park where your holding midfielder should have been covering. Hargreaves, coached in the German system, would have provided better cover. THe job of the defensive midfielder is As well as taking the ball from the defenders and looking to make build play from the back also involes taking the ball from the defenders and looking to make build play from the back allowing more incisive use of the ball, again that is Hargreaves forte.
For two years I have listened to England fans ask 'What does Beckham offer to the team?' The simple answer was shown again last night. He sets up your goals. He did it in Germany and again in the last two games. There are complaints that he doesn't run and take on players, but that is not his game, he creates space through his positiional sense and having given himself a couple of yards if you pass to him he delivers crosses like last bights on to Crouch's chest. OF course he wasn't fit was he? But look at the stats, he ran further than any player over 45 minutes of the game. If England has any grace they will organise a game at Wembley especially to give him his 100th cap and celebrate what that man gave to you, rather than dump him shabbily as happened, to the delight of the sports writing loons, following the World Cup.
On goalies. Carson probably shouldn't have played, but remember Shilton screwed up to cost England qualification in 1973 and still got another 100 caps.
He wasn't right to pick Carson over Robinson, i think because Robinson had added experience which counts and as was said by McClaren himself he's getting better at Tottenham. However It's nothing to do with who he picked (that team should have wiped the floor with Croatia), it's to do with how the players play.
Lampard, Gerrard, Barry and the whole defence were just strutting around like they had all the time in the world, with below par performances which are unacceptable in league 1. The players are clearly shit and the manager is not all to blame.
However a new manager would certainly help these are my three main candidates.
1. Marcello Lippi
2. Martin O'Neill
3. Guus Hiddink
However if the F.A don't treat this right it could turn out like the Scolari business, and they'll get another crap manager on the rebound, Lippi would be the most obvious and I've purposely missed Mourinho off because he, like most managers, feels it's too high pressure and Mourinho would probably want Portugal Job.
There.
I am just hoping and praying that Alan Shearer isn't the next manager. At least Big Sam has ruled himself out. Maybe they'll go for Stuart Pearce.
So, the depressing thing is it could get even worse.
A sad day in the history of football... once again a Golden opportunity missed.. Maybe the pressure was to high, or they had already booked their holiday for the summer.
It's just to easy to blame it all on the coach.. I mean, it's the players who have to do the job, and they all know how to play football. Not to mention the Croatian team , who are just deadly.. for sure they are going to do well on Euro 2008, and they would have beaten a lot of teams..but beating England at wembley in a match like that is remarkable.
If you ask me, you have to go to the roots..just how many young talented English players are actualy playing fulltime in the premier league at the top teams ?.. with a country the size of England there should be way more talented players out there, so somehow they don't make it to the top..why? I think it's because there are highly payed top players from other countries playing on their spot, and they can't develop the way they should.. the result.. a Class A premier league, but a class B England National team.. Maybe I'm all wrong here..but thats what I saw yesterday.. a B class team.
Start looking at the youth, they are the future..
Who wold you go for as new england manager Chris o?
Thanks for all your comments as ever, folks.
Kedge - One thing that I couldn't understand was that Crouch was been roundly applauded for the way he was nodding the ball down for someone else to shoot when a ball was crossed into the box, but if Crouch was the lone striker, why was he trying to set someone else up? I feel this illustrates flicktokick's point perfectly - he needed to be given the ball at his feet, not to his head. Perhaps the goal he scored illustrated that.
P Shaw - it looks like Mourinho's taken himself off the list now, so you were right to overlook him (as indeed was I!)
Tom - you sound very anti-Shearer! Is that purely based on his lack of managerial experience? I'm still not convinced by the prospect of Stuart Pearce becoming the next manager. I trust you have more faith in him?
Sven - you make a good point there. I think there's something to be said for the sort of quota systems of the kind Steve Coppell's been advocating recently. They would certainly put more emphasis on nurturing young home-grown talent.
P Shaw - As an outside bet, I'd like to see Shearer chosen, and given the fact that he's already picked up a couple of his UEFA coaching badges, it's perhaps not such a remote possibility.
More likely, perhaps, is the appointment of Fabio Capello. He's been very successful throughout his career, he's available and he's said he'd like to take on the job. A strong contender, if you ask me.
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