COMMENT: The much-maligned 'Golden Generation' provided some
threat of quality, on paper at least, but the latest crop of players cannot even
rely on that
By Peter Staunton
Roy Hodgson's
squad for Monday's Euro 2016 qualifier against Switzerland caused a storm
because it revealed how bare the cupboards of English football currently are. It
might not be the case that Jack Colback has reached England standard but,
rather, England standard has reached him.
Liverpool aside, it seems
English players are largely there to fill out the squads in the big teams now
with very few playing major roles for the top clubs. Joe Hart keeps goal for
Manchester City but his position as No.1 will only come more under threat as
Willy Caballero recovers from an inauspicious start.
Wayne Rooney is
England's captain now and Manchester United's too, but it is telling that he
struggles to gel with those around him whether he wears red or white. Daniel
Sturridge is arguably the best of them all now but even he is only 18 months
deep into the consistent run his career promised and failed to deliver early on.
Raheem Sterling, at 19, is the latest 'Hope of a Nation'.
Arsenal are
doing a good job of producing a core of young potentials but, like their club,
they must still make the step up.
English players, simply, are no longer
in demand by the top clubs. Look at the current squad, how many are starters for
the teams who finished in the top four last season? About six.
ENGLAND
LATEST
While Steven
Gerrard and Frank Lampard only occasionally brought the force of their club
games to the international arena there was always that threat that they would
contribute. Opponents looked down the England team sheet and saw goals and star
quality. Their names alone put opponents on their guards. That sheen of power is
now scuffed in the wake of their retirements and the kicking England took at the
World Cup.
Expectations were already low but Brazil was worse than anyone
expected, in terms of results and performances, and the year 2014 should be
regarded as rock bottom.
So no Lampard and no Gerrard. Just like there
is no longer a Terry or a Ferdinand or a Campbell or a Cole. There is no
Scholes, there is no Owen, there is no Beckham. It doesn't feel like too long
ago that England had world class or close to world class players in almost every
position. They didn't get it right then, with the 'Golden Generation', and there
are no signs they will get it right with the current group of
players.
You may have wondered what Hodgson was doing at Villa Park for
Aston Villa versus Newcastle United at the end of August, but the inclusion of
Colback and Fabian Delph highlighted exactly where he is now casting his
net.
With Lampard and Gerrard around, you could scan down the England
squad and be fooled into thinking there were difference-makers in there. It was
easy to scan over the filler names and let your eyes rest on those two as
evidence of a high-quality side. There isn't even that now. All filler and no
killer. The English public has grown intolerant of the England team, its brand
of football and its players. Like those on the field, the public at large seems
strangely remote and indifferent. Its attention is elsewhere.
The
Premier League provided no major boost to the standard of the national team as
it was supposed to in 1992. Instead it has created a short-term outlook with
little or no time given for coaches to develop their styles or young players to
settle into a well-defined career path.
Twenty years ago, English
football had its own stars comparable to any. They were dotted around the
landscape, playing their club football mostly in their own country. At their
clubs the likes of Matt Le Tissier and Steve Bruce were leaders of those filler
footballers; excellent players who never got a look in. Once upon a time there
were England players and merely English players. No more.
Look through
the squad lists for England's Euro 1996 campaign all the way through to Euro
2004. They don't have anything like the options or the talent in the current
ranks. It's a problem entirely of the Premier League's making. Club loyalties
and entertainment by the national team seem no longer compatible. Perhaps that
is because fans are accustomed to seeing their clubs winning and solutions
bought in to solve on-field problems. Things aren't so rosy when the best
players amount to an average team; it's no wonder that apathy has set in.
Germany took stock of how low its football had sunk at Euro 2000.
England never have. Fourteen years later, they are world champions while the
England national team remains a quarter-final team at best in any given
tournament.
And the coach's own viewpoint does not lend itself to the
notion that the ills of the game in England will be addressed. Hodgson should
have walked after the World Cup but he remains. Moreover, he remains wedded to
the thought that his team are playing well.
The coach of a national team
is never going to be the man responsible to right all the wrongs in the country,
but an admission of where things go awry might be a start.
COMMENT: The much-maligned 'Golden Generation' provided some
threat of quality, on paper at least, but the latest crop of players cannot even
rely on that
By Peter StauntonRoy Hodgson's squad for Monday's Euro 2016 qualifier against Switzerland caused a storm because it revealed how bare the cupboards of English football currently are. It might not be the case that Jack Colback has reached England standard but, rather, England standard has reached him.
Liverpool aside, it seems English players are largely there to fill out the squads in the big teams now with very few playing major roles for the top clubs. Joe Hart keeps goal for Manchester City but his position as No.1 will only come more under threat as Willy Caballero recovers from an inauspicious start.
Wayne Rooney is England's captain now and Manchester United's too, but it is telling that he struggles to gel with those around him whether he wears red or white. Daniel Sturridge is arguably the best of them all now but even he is only 18 months deep into the consistent run his career promised and failed to deliver early on. Raheem Sterling, at 19, is the latest 'Hope of a Nation'.
Arsenal are doing a good job of producing a core of young potentials but, like their club, they must still make the step up.
English players, simply, are no longer in demand by the top clubs. Look at the current squad, how many are starters for the teams who finished in the top four last season? About six.
|
| |
|
ENGLAND LATEST |
Expectations were already low but Brazil was worse than anyone expected, in terms of results and performances, and the year 2014 should be regarded as rock bottom.
So no Lampard and no Gerrard. Just like there is no longer a Terry or a Ferdinand or a Campbell or a Cole. There is no Scholes, there is no Owen, there is no Beckham. It doesn't feel like too long ago that England had world class or close to world class players in almost every position. They didn't get it right then, with the 'Golden Generation', and there are no signs they will get it right with the current group of players.
You may have wondered what Hodgson was doing at Villa Park for Aston Villa versus Newcastle United at the end of August, but the inclusion of Colback and Fabian Delph highlighted exactly where he is now casting his net.
With Lampard and Gerrard around, you could scan down the England squad and be fooled into thinking there were difference-makers in there. It was easy to scan over the filler names and let your eyes rest on those two as evidence of a high-quality side. There isn't even that now. All filler and no killer. The English public has grown intolerant of the England team, its brand of football and its players. Like those on the field, the public at large seems strangely remote and indifferent. Its attention is elsewhere.
The Premier League provided no major boost to the standard of the national team as it was supposed to in 1992. Instead it has created a short-term outlook with little or no time given for coaches to develop their styles or young players to settle into a well-defined career path.
Twenty years ago, English football had its own stars comparable to any. They were dotted around the landscape, playing their club football mostly in their own country. At their clubs the likes of Matt Le Tissier and Steve Bruce were leaders of those filler footballers; excellent players who never got a look in. Once upon a time there were England players and merely English players. No more.
Look through the squad lists for England's Euro 1996 campaign all the way through to Euro 2004. They don't have anything like the options or the talent in the current ranks. It's a problem entirely of the Premier League's making. Club loyalties and entertainment by the national team seem no longer compatible. Perhaps that is because fans are accustomed to seeing their clubs winning and solutions bought in to solve on-field problems. Things aren't so rosy when the best players amount to an average team; it's no wonder that apathy has set in.
Germany took stock of how low its football had sunk at Euro 2000. England never have. Fourteen years later, they are world champions while the England national team remains a quarter-final team at best in any given tournament.
And the coach's own viewpoint does not lend itself to the notion that the ills of the game in England will be addressed. Hodgson should have walked after the World Cup but he remains. Moreover, he remains wedded to the thought that his team are playing well.
The coach of a national team is never going to be the man responsible to right all the wrongs in the country, but an admission of where things go awry might be a start.
No comments:
Post a Comment