Beef Bagel

When Steven Gerrard picked up his second yellow card in the qualifying group on Wednesday night, it’s unlikey he felt that he was doing the nation a favour. With a tricky game next away in Zagreb at a ground where Croatia have not lost a competitive match in nine years, one would think it could only be a benefit to have the whole England squad available for selection. However, Gerrard’s absence does force a decision that Steve McClaren and his master before him were too gutless to make. For all intents and purposes, one of Gerrard and Lampard will effectively have been dropped from the starting XI for the first time in many, many games.

When the ex-assisstant coach was promoted by the F.A. to top dog, he wanted to make it clear to one and all that he was his own man and what better way to do that than to drop his predecessor’s golden boy not only from the team but from the whole squad entirely. Perhaps a little harsh on David Beckham but certinaly a positive move and a move that could create new possibilities for a new look, new style England football team. However, it seemed clear very quickly that this gesture was just that, one for the cameras, like an acrobatic keeper. Having made this move, this space and potential, Steve McClaren has done nothing with it. Instead he has backed up this apparent bravery with the most timid of team sheets. All he has done is move Gerrard to the right and replaced the injured Joe Cole with Stewart Downing.

Steven Gerrard is of course a wonderful player, capable of doing a job on the right wing as well as he can play just about any other position you could care to name, including goalkeeper, team mascot, ball boy, groundsman and probably manager for that mattter but this is a move full of hesitance and fear. Gerrard is not a natural wide player and England’s game suffers from this unimaginative formation. No matter how good the Liverpool captain is, England already lose an attacking dimension with him in this position and ideas in attack are exactly what they are short of right now. Simply put, this choice removes a weapon from their armoury.

Macedonia played well on Saturday but they came to defend. Sure, they played 4-3-3 but don’t mistake that for meaning that the front three were always in attacking positions. They played with eleven men behind the ball and waited for the break and no matter how good any team is, it’s simply not possible to pass the ball into meaningful areas through 22 opposition legs packed tightly into their third of the pitch. This was the only style of play available according to Steve McClaren’s team sheet save one mediocre wide player to deliver the odd cross. None of the players selected are know for their ability to beat men one on one, to get to the by-line, to charge through the middle or indeed any other tactic used to unlock a defence and get the goal they needed.

For a long time now, the England team has been set up to play like a bunch of 1-0 merchants, trying to snatch a goal and hold on to their lead in the face of a superior oppostion. They do not need to play that way. They are the superior oppostion. England has a squad of players, the likes of Croatia and Macedonia can only dream about yet they are fielded with all the confidence of low table minnows. If the manager treats them this way then why should they feel any different? It’s small wonder we see Wayne Rooney throwing his boots down. Where is his Cristiano Ronaldo blazing down the flank for him? Where is his Ryan Giggs? Instead these more positive attacking options are snuffed out in favour of defensive strength and solidity. How can the players expect to be able to break through an all out defense? England has a fantastic defensive line, a unit worthy of the manager’s trust but they have never been given the responsibiltiy to do the job on thier own.

The players are simply not allowed to play the kind of football they are capable of as a team. They have become uninspired. They have become dispondant and what’s more the nation has too. There is very little faith left in the national team but not because they aren’t beating the likes of Macedonia, becuse they aren’t trying, because the team is never selected on its ability to win a game but their ability not to lose it.

This article is not here to demand McClaren’s head or to say who should or shouldn’t be selected. What it is here for is to encourage the manager to play with more balls than just the one on the pitch. You have to risk losing in order to win.

The Bagel

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 11th, 2006 at 11:29 am and is filed under Bagel News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.