bradley headstone
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Posted: April 2nd 2010
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It was only a few short weeks ago that I was speculating that England’s slim chances at the upcoming football festival would depend on taking a full, injury free, first team. Not what you’d call a left field prediction but I felt it was worth pointing out the paucity of our reserves once we got past the obvious first choices.
Boy, was that ever shown in sharp relief, Ashley Cole’s injury, followed by Rio Ferdinand and Glen Johnson going missing, David James and the travails of Pompey, Terrygate still rumbling on and to top it all David Beckham’s Achilles tendon went pop!
Capello is generally considered a trusted and skilled guardian of our national team, pretty much everyone trusts him to make the right decision, but frankly if he can get England out of this particular pickle then he is the best ever.
Beckham’s injury highlights the problems with assembling the squad. Forget the jaundiced, self-serving and out of touch hacks that are happily trumpeting the positives of Beckham’s demise. Wapello was taking Beckham, no question. Nobody else has ever done what Beckham can do and the simplistic argument that a good squad is some kind of footballing Noah’s ark with two of everything is ridiculously outdated.
World Cup squads consist of 20 outfield players, the emphasis in the modern game is placed on flexibility and adaptability, to choose a right winger who is a byword for inconsistency, operates a headless chicken approach and delivers occasionally at best would seem a risk, to choose two seems foolish yet most ‘seasoned’ observers appear to be trying to crowbar three in…Wright-Philips, Lennon, Walcott, the choice is aaargh-inspiring. Yet Beckham is often seen as a fourth option in this company? Despite being a better passer, a better reader of the game and causing opponents to change the way they play, some still doubted his worth.
We’ll never know now, I suspect that Walcott will go because he can operate as a forward too. Wright-Phillips will possibly get the nod because Lennon will have played so little football by May. Personally I’d like to have seen Adam Johnson get more of a look in, if only to have reminded the others that one good game in four isn’t really good enough.
Ashley Cole’s injury was disappointing, but the effective removal from the squad of his experienced effective natural replacement, Wayne Bridge (or team Bridge as he appears to be known now) is a potentially bigger blow. Leighton Baines is a likable premiership performer, but no one would seriously have considered him in December. I can understand why he’s bailed out, given the constant titbits fed to the media by ‘sources close to Terry’, Bridge the bottler etc, it’s not going to go away because a cheap thug like Terry won’t let it.
It’s not as if Terry has been in anything like impressive form himself. Force of personality isn’t enough at international level and when that deserts JT the lack of pace and positional sense is only highlighted.
But all this means nothing. It won’t matter that England won’t have Becks or half a defence. The never ending debate about Lampard and Gerrard will rendered obsolete and no one will care if we never find the solution to the left side conundrum. None of these eternal pub conversations can hold a candle to the real nub of Capello’s job. He has to find a goalkeeper!
In essence this has always been the big question for England Managers since Sir Alf. Gordon Banks was good enough to render debate futile, but since then the question of the number one shirt has not been so straightforward.
For a while the relative paucity of keepers in England was hidden behind the Clemence v Shilton show. Both were good keepers, never world class and the winner of their private contest, Shilton, will always linger in the memory as being hopelessly wooden when facing the inevitable German penalty defeat in 1990.
Chris Woods wilted, then blow wave Dave took over. The not so divine ponytail held the position for a long time without ever really convincing the world that he was invincible. There was always someone or other lobbing the ball over him. In truth, whether it was self inflicted or foisted on him by the FA’s colour confused fashionistas, he just looked ridiculous.
Since Seaman we’ve had many false dawns, Robinson, Carson, Wright, Foster, Kirkland and a liberal sprinkling of Calamity James in between each. All have looked too horribly fallible between the sticks.
Now we are being asked to believe that Robert Green could be considered as World Class. Am I missing something here? All I’ve ever seen of him is the ball hitting the back of the net and he never ever seems to move. We’ve had all manner of potential replacements for the mighty Banks, but Green is by far the least physically impressive. I don’t mean he’s small, in truth I’ve no idea of his height, but great keepers fill the goal with their sheer presence. The best get bigger as a threat approaches. Green is the invisible man.
My hope is, and this puts me in the implicitly trusting Capello camp, that the Italian is ensuring his no2 Keeper has plenty of game time, just in case. You’d think that James would still be the right option. At his best he can be inspired, we just have to hope that the increasingly erudite commentator on the game feels like going out on a high (a legal one obviously).
None of the above will prevent, half the nation, three quarters of the media and the whole of Andy Gray from believing that England will carry all before them. There’s nothing we can do to prevent this collective hysteria. I guess it’s time to strap on the anti-reality helmet and enjoy the ride.