Following the recent resignation of Fabio Capello (Thank god), England U21 boss Stuart Pearce has been given temporary charge of the England team and today released his first and possibly last squad selection in readiness for our friendly against the Dutch.
Whilst many of us were hoping for some big changes and removal of dead wood, instead we got a very mixed bag, most of which consists of the usual suspects...again...
My first surprise was in regards to the Goalkeeper selections, whilst Joe Hart is our obvious number 1, the other two places are very much up for grabs and on this occasion have been handed to Scott Carson and Rob Green. As a Norwich fan, I've always had a lot of time for Greeno, the problem is that he's never looked the same for England as he has for his club sides, and he's also currently playing in the Championship.
Now I don't have a problem at all with selecting players from the Championship – as long as there aren't better or similar alternatives in the Premiership, or at least in one of the high standard European leagues such as Spain or Italy, and here's where I have my first issue – there is better or similar available.
I've already stated my position as a Norwich fan, so it should come as no surprise that I'm championing the selection of Norwich keeper John Ruddy for England. He's been in excellent form all season and performed consistently well, drawing praise from managers and pundits alike, and yet despite this consistent form and playing at the highest league level we offer, he's not seen as a better choice than Green – never mind Scott Carson...
Carson first appeared on the scene just under 10 years ago, as a promising young keeper at Leeds, since that point he's travelled a fair bit round the country and despite a couple of good seasons here and there, has struggled to maintain form and has also made a number of high-profile errors during this time, including a torrid performance for England against Croatia.
Having been sold in the summer by West Brom to Turkish side Bursaspor, his chances looked very limited, and yet despite playing in a relatively poor league at a side that's struggled badly this year and currently lie 9th in the Turkish league behind 'giants' such as Eskisehirspor and Genclerbirligi, he's somehow seen as a better option than Ruddy is...
I'm really struggling to understand the logic that's being applied here. Both of the keepers selected ahead of Ruddy have made bad errors in their limited England games, both are playing in worse leagues and haven't displayed the same form as Ruddy has all season, and whilst I can live with Green's selection as a more 'senior' keeper at the age of 32, Carson's selection in front of Ruddy is simply baffling.
Leaving the keeper situation behind for now and moving onto the defenders, and I have to say that I'm generally pleased with the selections Pearce has made..
There isn't a single player who really shouldn't be there, and the inclusion of players like Jones and Smalling who I think will help form the backbone of the English defence for the next 10 years (injuries and form allowing) is a very positive step. It's somewhat of a blessing in disguise that John Terry got injured before the team choice was made otherwise I think he'd have been included despite average to poor performances this year and the court case hanging over him which could easily have destabilised team morale.
Moving into the midfield and this is where the cracks re-appear.
First into the firing line is Stewart Downing, who despite some strong games last season at Villa, has been a total damp squib since his arrival at Anfield over the summer, and with a single goal to his name this season and no assists, it's a shocking return so far for the £20 million Liverpool paid, and certainly not the sort of form that should make international selection a consideration. He's never really looked right for England either, and in my mind clearly isn't our best option on the left side of the pitch - or the left side of the changing room for that matter...
Downing is joined by 2 other members of the 'old guard' in the shape of Liverpool team-mate Steven Gerrard and Man City's Gareth Barry.
It's fair to say that Gerrard has been one of the stand out midfielders produced by England in the last 20 years, however his obvious talent has been derailed in recent seasons by a string of injuries restricting his playing time. Liverpool's talisman has only managed 11 league games this season and although he still doesn't seem like he's back to his best, I can understand his inclusion, particularly in the absence of Frank Lampard, as their constant internal battle to be the key attacking midfielder has caused no end of problems for England as they simply can't play together whilst getting the best out of them.
I don't however understand Barry's selection. If we're playing a holding midfielder then one of Pearce's other selections in the form of Scott Parker offers a much better option, and I'd also rather play Phil Jones in the role than I would Barry. His tackling is average at best, his passing isn't anything to write home about - as it's usually sideways or backwards, he has no pace and hasn't looked anything special for years now, I'm actually surprised he's got as much game time as he has this season at Man City.
A couple of positives to take out of the midfield options however are the inclusions of both Tom Cleverley and Adam Johnson. Both have been restricted in playing time, Cleverley through injury and Johnson through rotation under Mancini, yet both are clearly talented players and deserving of their chance. The problem is likely to be that they won't get to play however, as the manager appears to want to stick to what he knows, so it's probably going to be Gerrard with either Parker or Barry in the centre which leaves Cleverley out, and Downing and Walcott on the wings which rules out Johnson.
I quite like Walcott being in the squad, I just don't like him as a midfielder. Walcott's best games have pretty much always been from playing upfront, either for Southampton or England (Wenger seems reluctant to give him a chance there), and that's exactly where I like to see him. His distribution is hit and miss and sometimes his dribbling gets the better of him, but stick him on the shoulder of the defender, play a good ball past and see if anyone can catch him...
The remaining midfield spaces go to James Milner and Ashley Young, again both have struggled for strong form this season, with Young in particular suffering from both form and injury problems. When he's had a good game he's been brilliant, outside of this it's been a bit disappointing. Similarly Milner hasn't recaptured the form at Aston Villa that saw him recalled to the England squad, although this can be somewhat explained by him being moved wider at City than he was at Villa.
Neither of them are bad selections, and certainly an on-form Young can be a strong player, the question is will he be given the chance and be on form if he does?
I would have liked to have seen Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain given a call-up if I'm honest, he's been electric for Arsenal over the past month or so and although he's still very raw, the potential is clear to see, and he certainly offers more threat down the left than Downing does.
I'd also have liked to see Josh McEachran given a chance, as I mentioned briefly in my article on Torres, I think this lad has the potential to a be a world class superstar, and his loan to Swansea is not only giving him much needed match fitness, but it's in a side that fits perfectly with the passing ethos he's so talented at.
It's arguable whether either of them are truly ready for the international stage, but if nothing else the experience would have been valuable for their development.
Finally we have the strikers, and again I see a player on great form with an excellent scoring record this season - ignored completely. I am referring to another Norwich player – Grant Holt.
The big man has been vital for us this season, with outstanding performances against very good defenders, he offers something that none of our other options do. Often misclassified as a simple 'battering ram' by many, or described as a 'classic English no 9' by others more in the know - including potential England manager Harry Redknapp, Holt has the ability to hold the ball up, be strong against even the biggest defenders, has great ability in the air and is no slouch with the ball at his feet either.
He'd be a perfect foil to many of the other players we normally select, but apparently being the joint top 3rd English goalscorer in the league (behind Wayne Rooney and Danny Graham) and being on a great run of form matters not if you don't play for a 'big name' side...
Instead of Holt, Pearce instead decides to call up Fraizer Campbell...
Now I don't think Campbell is a bad player, but he's only just come back from over a year out injured, and he's also a very similar striker to the other inclusions of Daniel Sturridge and Danny Welbeck, so why select Campbell instead of giving Holt a chance? Out of the 5 strikers selected, Campbell has be classed the 5th choice option, and it also means that if we want to change the style of play, we don't have a striker to naturally play the role that Holt can.
Previously we've had Crouch or the lamentable Heskey to play as hold up men, yet now it would have be either Rooney or Welbeck to take over the job if needed, and this doesn't play to either of their best abilities.
Darren Bent makes up the 5, and whilst I can't argue against his goalscoring record in the league, he's been very limited for England, and he also relies heavily on getting decent supply as he's not the type of player to go chasing opportunities like Rooney or Welbeck will. It's not like we're overflowing with top class options here so Bent is a fair choice, but not giving Holt a run is annoying.
Chances are that even the better selections made by Pearce may get a limited chance, as if his team selection is anything to go by, he'll be choosing mainly what he knows rather than taking the opportunity to see what other players can offer.
We all know what the likes of Rooney, Gerrard and Barry offer, so we learn nothing by playing them, whereas giving the chance to players like Johnson, Cleverley, and Jones could help us in the future, not to mention seeing what players like Oxlade-Chamberlain, Holt and Ruddy could have offered.
It's a badly missed opportunity in my opinion, and Pearce has simply taken the safe option, which from a man known as 'Psycho' who was never afraid to get stuck into a challenge, his relatively limp selection is both a disappointment and surprise...
No surprises after the game as I fully expected.
ReplyDeleteEngland went with a 4-5-1 but with Rooney unable to feature due to a virus, it fell to Danny Welbeck to lead the line - the role Holt would have been perfect for. What did Welbeck do with the opportunity? Spend half the match in midfield instead of upfront...
I appreciate that he wasn't getting the best supply, but even early in the opening stages he was constantly dropping back which left a huge hole in our already weak front line.
On the wings we had Young and Johnson, both of whom were guilty of spending far too much time cutting inside instead of providing a bit of width and sending some balls in for Welbeck. This also meant that we were relying on overlapping from the full backs to offer the width yet Baines was regularly ignored as an option by Young, and Johnson didn't really have much support from an attacking perspective from either Richards or Smalling who could easily have interchanged roles at CB/RB.
Barry was his usual useless self in midfield, slow, lazy, poor tackling and no real end product with his limited passing, a total waste of a shirt tbh.
Similarly Gerrard looked well off the pace and had one of his most anonymous England games in a while. I was concerned about his form going into the match, and my opinion hasn't changed after it either.
The defence didn't play too badly in general, although with Cahill's ball playing skills and the ability of Smalling to move out of defence with the ball, I'd hoped to see a lot more of both and yet it was basic defending all round.
Hart again was unspectacular but didn't do anything wrong either.
The standout performer however was Scott Parker, a player overlooked for too long, who's in excellent form for Spurs and who was simply the best player on the pitch. Constantly nipping at the Dutch Players' heels, making excellent tackles and breaking play up, along with some superb last ditch interceptions to block strong and potentially dangerous shots. On this form he has to be the first name on the team sheet, I just hope that whowever does come in as the new manager, puts better options alongside him than Pearce did...