In 1953 Hungary’s Magical Magyars came to Wembley and thrashed England 6-3. To prove it was no fluke, the Magyars beat England 7-1 the following year in Budapest. Until the 6-3 result England had not ever lost at home. The professional game at the time was run by the amateurs at the FA and the then manager Walter Winterbottom made a good fist of running the side even though he had to answer to a selection committee (I can’t imagine Capello letting someone else pick the squad for him). With their W-attack formation (with a deep lying centre forward as a playmaker), the Magyars were the precursor to the total football philosophy of the Dutch twenty years later but the English game ploughed on rigid, stuffy and out of touch until Ramsey’s wingless wonders won in 1966.
Fast forward 57 years and we are now in the same sort of position. Having been totally outplayed by Germany, even counting the goal that wasn’t given and that may have changed the course of the game, the game ended in abject humiliation for England. Capello can be criticised for selection and tactics but in the end it’s the players who have failed; the Sunday morning defending of Upson and Terry, the Billy’s Boots style of play of Gerrard, the sulky indifference of Rooney, the one pace of Barry, the failure of Lampard to reproduce his club form and so on. Unlike the failure to make the necessary changes after 1953, there must be big changes to the England team and we must expect some time in the wilderness whilst we re-build. The so called golden generation have had their day and we must try something different.
But why were we so poor ? We looked pretty good in qualifying especially in the two games against Croatia. There was still the Lampard/Gerrard debate and without Ferdinand we looked very one paced at the back but with Wayne Rooney in great form and us seeming to be able to score goals at will, the shocking performances at the World Cup couldn’t have been foreseen. Tiredness could be factor. We have a very commercially successful league that enables the players to be paid handsomely but it also contains too many games. It’s exciting stuff which is what we love but in terms of quality, it can be lacking. The clubs aren’t going to swallow fewer games on commercial grounds. Factor in the pursuit of Champion’s League gold and there’s simply not the will from the clubs to make sacrifices for England. The watering down of the amount of English players in the League must also be a factor. Whoever is the manager is having to deal with an ever decreasing pool of players to pick from. The Premier League product relies on foreign players and again unless they are forced to, the clubs won’t limit the foreign players in their teams.
Chris Waddle was on the radio yesterday ranting and raving about how the FA should do more to produce players who can dribble and go past people. We seem to have them (Walcott, Lennon and Wright-Phillips spring to mind) and we all know what their end product is like. I think Chris misses the point. What beat us was a team that could control and pass the ball, had pace, excellent movement off the ball, were organised when they didn’t have the ball and most importantly made the right choices. England needs players like Schweinsteiger, Xavi and Inestia, players comfortable on the ball, who work hard to get the ball back and most importantly again, make the right choices.
So what would I do ? In the short term I’d leave out the older failures such as Lampard and Gerrard and never play Terry again due to the disloyalty he showed during the World Cup. I’d stick with the goalkeepers and put Hart as first choice. I’d give Dawson his chance, keep Ferdinand and make sure Jakielka and King were there as cover. I’d play Baines or Warnock at left back and push Ashley Cole into midfield to give us pace, balance and someone who’d track back. Right back is more problematic. Johnson is a liability but he hasn’t many challengers so that would be a challenge. Micah Richards hasn’t come on as expected. I’d keep Milner down the right hand side with the headless wonders (Lennon etc.) as backups or impact players. Carrick would give us a bit of rhythm in the middle, along side a youngster like Rodwell (but again there’s not much choice). Joe Cole would play just behind Rooney dropping back into midfield if necessary.
But what do I know ?
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