After watching England play Montenegro last week, I was struck by a few things. Firstly the appearance of both Barry and Parker in the same team at this level is quite remarkable. Certainly both are good players in their own rights but, their lack of pace caused the English defence significant problems as the game progressed. Why Gareth Barry is playing continues to baffle, for my money he should be not even be in the squad. Against Napoli this season his fallibility contributed to the visitor’s goal and at this level he offers nothing! Parker is an even stranger case a man who never featured for England regularly suddenly becomes a mainstay after one good season in a relegated team! Imagine any serious nation selecting these two players in the middle of their team. England will improve with the ascension of Wilshere and Cleverly into their squad but to be brutally honest they still wouldn’t grace the pitch for any of the leading European nations.
Now to the back four, over the course of the last year or perhaps longer John Terry has become increasingly dogged by poor defending. In fairness to Terry he is a wholehearted lad but, imagine him facing Van Persie, Villa, Rossi or even Benzema in the last ten minutes of a Euro game and we all know who we’d put our money on. The time has come for England to place their trust in their youthful talent. A centre back combination of Jones and Smalling with Jones as an inspirational captain is certainly an exciting prospect for football fans across the continent. In addition to these two the option of Lescott, Walker, and Richards but to name a few offers much promise. The sight of such a youthful backline would undoubtedly contribute to a quicker and more agile team that could take the championships by storm.
Now onto the man of the moment Wayne Rooney, the criticism after his red card has been totally out of order. Remember Zidane, Blanc, Keane, Maradonna all world class players who each have had the occasional bout of red mist during their international careers. For England to succeed then Rooney must be given the support he needs to prove his place amongst the game’s elite. A one game suspension is not the end of the world, it will be up to Walcott, Bent, Carroll and Welbeck to secure England’s opening game goes off without a glitch. The need for England to finally perform on a major international stage is long overdue and frankly the parts are all in place for them to realise their potential with the talent at their disposal. If they played Spain tomorrow in the European Championship final the team should be: Hart, Richards, Jones, Smalling, Cole, Young, Gerrard, Wilshere, Walcott, Rooney and Welbeck. Now that team with some practice and encouragement could certainly trouble Spain, Germany or whatever else the continent has to offer. If this happens then maybe, just maybe Fabio may be Sir Fabio before long and Harry will have to keep his mouth shut over how he should be the next England manager.
Original post:
Why The Problem With The English National Team Can Be Easily Solved
