Everyone from the pundit to the play-by-play announcer to the average-joe-England-slagger who follows his local team from town to town on an Unemployment stipend knows how to fix this.  Knows how to solve the latest England crisis and knows how to get results from the squad.  Some of them offer knowledgeable, tempered conjecture.  Others, many others, would simply prefer to can them all.

    The solution is probably somewhere in the middle.  That place of ground between sound judgment and desperate measures which, for one reason or another, is rarely upgraded into practice.  No, axing the entire England squad would not only be unadvisable – it would be reckless.  Adjusting the tactics is always a possibility – although it would be far more preferable to do such an experiment under less serious circumstances.  Sacking the manager – and there may or may not be grounds for doing so at the moment – is a risk that must be weighed and considered from every angle.

    Since playing to a lackluster 0-0 draw in Tel Aviv, Saturday, football observers have been bombarded with the usual excuses and solutions.  Most are either thoughtful suggestions or crazy theories.  Much of it is absolute rubbish.  Clearly, however, something must be done – and quickly.  The troubles in the England camp go far deeper than a mere European Championship qualification.  If not addressed, the national team is in danger of being enslaved to absurd philosophies for years to come.

    Consider, then, the common-sense approach.  Proselytizing over formations and waxing ecstatic over holding-midfielders is all well and good.  It just doesn’t get you anywhere.  There must be a course of action which makes sense.  Which considers all of the variables and provides a sensible, middle-ground solution.  A solution for every excuse?  Now there’s a thought.

Excuse #1: Israel had ten men behind the ball at all times.  There wasn’t any space.

    Tough.  Macedonia did the same thing at Old Trafford in October.  Andorra will do it again on Wednesday.  It’s the oldest tactic in the book.  When one side is clearly out of its element, it withdraws into a defensive shell.  Frank Lampard has seen it a hundred-times before with Chelsea.  Steven Gerrard has seen it time and again with Liverpool.  Wayne Rooney sees it week-in, week-out at Manchester United.  Although, when Chelsea, Liverpool, and United travel to the likes of Ipswich or Palace, they come away by two or three goals.

    When the opponent is taking away the space, you make it.  It’s that simple.  You make space.  Applying constant pressure by passing the ball along the perimeter of their defense is only playing into their hands.  Sometimes a team has to ease off the gas a little in order to go forward.  Slow it down; speed it up – adjust the tempo.  Let them come at you with the ball and have a go on the counter-attack.  Any football player will take the space he is given.  Give him the space.

    If all else fails, adjust the tactics.  Do not make negative substitutions.  Play three up-front with attacking midfielders on the wings.  Don’t be afraid of surrendering possession now and then.  Don’t be afraid of giving them space. 

    Use players who can whip crosses into the area.  Every ball sent into the mixer is a danger to the opponent.  Each is a potential scoring opportunity.  David Beckham can whip crosses into dangerous spaces.  So too, for that matter, can Gareth Barry and David Bentley.

    There is always space.  It can be made and taken-up.  Of all the excuses which came out of the weekend’s dud, this was the most absurd.

Excuse #2: Gerrard on the right?  Lennon on the left?  Carragher at left-back?  McLaren’s selections are ridiculous!

    Yes they are.  And to be fair to the players, it simply is not realistic to expect world-beating performances when the selections seem to have been picked out of a hat.  That Gerrard has been playing on the right side of midfield should not be as alarming as it has been made out.  And Aaron Lennon frequently plays on the left for Tottenham Hotspur and is merely a stand-in for the injured Joe Cole in any case.  Carragher at left-back, however, is another story altogether.

    In any attacking formation, the participation of the full-backs is vital.  At full strength, Gary Neville and Ashley Cole provide England with two of the very best.  However, while Phil Neville is an adept right-back for the likes of Everton – who, at the best of times, can hardly be accused of playing attacking football – he does not scamper up and down the touchline as does his brother Gary.  He just does not have the pace.  Jamie Carragher, for his part, will never play left-back for any team aside from England – which says a lot, considering that Rafael Benitez frequently reveals a teamsheet which leaves all and sundry scratching heads.  And it is not Carragher’s fault that his performance was a disaster.  He does not have pace; he does not have a left foot; he does not go forward down the flank.  He is a superb central-defender on his worst days.  He is a nightmare at left-back on his best days.

    Carragher’s selection is troublesome for a number of reasons.  Foremost among them is the fact that a perfectly capable and talented left-back was already in the squad.  Gareth Barry, it could be argued, is a top-four left-back in the Premiership.  And while he has played much of the season on the left of midfield, the left full-back position is his natural and preferred spot.  Not only should the Aston Villa player be a regular selection to the England squad, his name should read ahead of Wayne Bridge in the pecking-order.

    Barry’s original omission from the team and his subsequent benching speaks volumes about the engrained loyalties in the England set-up.  It is understood that, while McLaren has the reigns – as Sven-Goran Eriksson did before him – Gareth Barry will not be given active participation in the squad.  It’s madness, really.  And Joey Barton, called into the team for last month’s friendly with Spain at Old Trafford before being dropped this time around, surely could have provided a spark of energy and determination as a second-half substitute in Israel.  David Bentley, one of this year’s top right-sided midfield players in English football, wasn’t even considered.  Kevin Nolan – Bolton’s linchpin and a superb all-round player – was never in the mix.

    What is most disturbing is that McLaren is not using the talent pool which he has at his disposal.  He is not, at certain positions, even selecting the best players.  A national team manager has three fundamental purposes: selecting the squad, ensuring that the players can play as a unit, and motivating them to achieve their potential.  It is debatable that Steve McLaren has accomplished any of the three.

Excuse #3: Gerrard and Lampard cannot play together.

    Can’t they?  Have they ever been used properly?  Has the manager ever had the stones to ask one of them to take-on a certain role?  There are simply too many questions about England’s central-midfield pairing to warrant their undoing.  The fact of the matter is, in Gerrard and Lampard, England possess two of the finest midfielders of their generation.

    One might argue that the England manager’s fourth fundamental responsibility should be to find a way to coax the best out of both players.  Maybe it’s a full-time job.  If it is, hire somebody to do it.  The results will only be positive.  If Gerrard and Lampard could suddenly find some chemistry, it would only be at the opposition’s expense.

    Given the safe assumption that Aaron Lennon and Joe Cole are England’s first-choice wide players in the midfield, a Gerrard-Lampard pairing is inevitable unless one of the two is dropped from the starting-IX.  This is always a possibility.  And if it happens, it will surely be Lampard who gets the axe.  Either one of Owen Hargreaves or Michael Carrick could likely play quite well alongside Gerrard. 

    But omitting Lampard would be such a waste.  The man has scored over 60-goals in his last three seasons at Stamford Bridge and, while his performances with England have not been as inspired as those with Chelsea, finding a way to play him into the squad would be the optimific choice.

    The devil’s advocate may argue that Lampard should be left out of the team in favor of a pure, defensive  midfielder.  Considering the ongoing mindlessness surrounding Kevin Nolan’s international purgatory, Owen Hargreaves is the only true holding-player available at the moment.  And he is a fine player and would be no detriment in the role.  But you miss the chance that something special could happen if Lampard were on the park.  And, if worse comes to worst, would there be any harm in asking Gerrard to perform the defensive duties?  He could do it as well as anyone.  He is one of the finest all-round players in the world.

20 March 2007

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    McLaren, Eriksson, even Martin O'Neill – the suit on the sideline should have little bearing on the results a team such as England can get on the park.  All that any of them need lose sleep over is the answer to the question, "Who are the best eleven players in the land?"  It's a question any eight-year-old boy can answer when he's nodding off in class and drawing up his all-star team.  It's that simple.  But judging by the events of a week ago, it appears that McLaren could use some help; so – here goes.

    Paul Robinson is England's best goalkeeper – end of story.  Take all that nonsense about bringing back David James and shove it.  Next – Gary Neville, Rio Ferdinand, John Terry and Ashley Cole are England's best defenders, from right to left.  Their places in the team are beyond question.  Not only are they an intimidating foursome on paper, they are one of the two or three best back-lines on the planet.

    Next – David Beckham, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, and Joe Cole are England's best midfielders, from right to left.  Say what you want about Beckham, but neither Jermaine Pennant or Aaron Lennon are worthy replacements for the former captain.  The only argument here might be that Steven Gerard plays wide on the right while one of Michael Carrick or Owen Hargreaves plays alongside Lampard in the middle.  But two of Beckham, Carrick, and Hargreaves can be on the bench if they are needed.  It shouldn't be an issue.  Two of this quartet are among the best four or five midfielders in the world.  There is no reason why the midfield position shouldn't be England's greatest strength.

    Next – Wayne Rooney and Andy Johnson are England's best goal-scorers.  Take all this deliberation over Jermaine Defoe and Darren Bent and the obsession with Peter Crouch and shove it.  Just forget it.  Wayne Rooney is a once-in-a-lifetime type player – England's closest thing to Pele and Maradona and George Best.  He could play for Kazakhstan and qualify for Euro.  Johnson, for his part, is good for little else than scoring goals – a quality which may sound significant, but hasn't been enough to earn him a starting place with his country.  He has scored for every club and at every level where he has played.  There is no reason to doubt that his superb striking record wouldn't continue for England.

    Finally, all this business about a holding midfielder, the fussing and worrying and general vexation with assigning roles to players in the team – take all this business about holding players and naturally left-footed players and… shove it.  Designating certain individuals to perform specific assignments is merely an admission that the manager does not trust his best players to fulfill the responsibilities that occasionally arise over the course of ninety-minutes.