Will England ever produce a Pirlo?

A late raft of injuries and withdrawals mean England travel to Sweden with an inexperienced squad, and opportunities have presented themselves to two uncapped wingers, Raheem Sterling and Wilfried Zaha.

Both players have had brilliant seasons thus far and warrant their place in the full national squad, but an appearance on Wednesday is no guarantee that their long time allegiance lies with England. Roy Hodgson indicated in his Tuesday presser, that he was confident both players wanted to represent England at full international level, and expressed the naive and archaic notion that because both players have under-19 and under-21 caps, they would feel obliged to progress to full international status.

With Jack Wilshire’s progression stunted by over 12 months, these two players are the next big hope for the national set-up. Sterling has progressed from QPR trainee to an established Premier League star in three years and looks incredibly assured for a 17-year-old. Zaha, meanwhile, has lit up the Championship this season, after threatening to do so last campaign, at times looking unplayable in the English second division.

I’m convinced that both players will cement themselves as Premier League standard players for years to come and they have the potential to become mainstays of an England national side, but are they the players England need?

They are different players but their speed over the pitch and ability to commit players in one-on-one situations seem to be their main strengths; traits that work perfectly in the rough and tumble of the Premier League, but that are unlikely to transfer success in Europe or on the international stage.

In short pace and individual ability are not integral components of elite football performances, with possession and confidence on the ball now the integral skill for young professionals. Spain are the current trend setters and the history of football indicates that individualistic brilliance is being eroded from the game.

Association Football as pioneered by the British during the mid 1800’s was characterised by individuals who ran directly at opponents, hoping to slalom past them all to score, hence the 2-3-5 formation that existed for almost 100 years. Teams who deduced that a passing game, which utilised the collective of the team, rather than relying on an individual, inevitably started beating the archaic English style of football, and this trend has continued right up to the present day.

Passing was deemed as not being ‘manly’ by early English players and this distrust of possession in favour of a Roy of the Rovers, ‘up and at em’ approach is only just being kicked out of the Premier League. The tempo of the English game is completely unsuited to international fixtures and English teams seldom dominate possession in the Champions League, nor the national side.

Sterling and Zaha are clearly talented players but they are blessed with pace and trickery, not composure on the ball, mental bravery or the spatial awareness to conduct a game from the centre of the pitch. After being reminded of Andrea Pirlo’s brilliance during the summer, a debate briefly arose of whether England could ever produce such a player. Jack Wilshire and Tom Cleverley may be close, Nick Powell and James Ward-Prowse could challenge, but the simple truth is that England are some way from producing a caresser of the football like a Pirlo or Xavi.

Paul Scholes was the closest this country has come to moulding a ‘Pirlo’ and the unwillingness to change mentality away from the break-neck speed of the Premiership and in turn the national team saw Scholes shunted out wide, prompting his retirement from national duty. Glen Hoddle and Matt Le Tissier are another two examples of English technicians who received scandalously few England caps because of this countries distrust of passing.

To those who argue that Pirlo wouldn’t cut it over here, on a cold night in Stoke, consider the comments made by Swansea’s €2 million signing, Michu, after just three games in the Premier League. He articulated that although the game was faster in England the ‘space between the lines’ was far greater than La Liga, allowing him more room and freedom to pick a pass and expose defences. The Premier League’s self styled moniker as ‘best in the world’ takes a further battering by the ease with which Santi Cazorla has adapted to a less than convincing Arsenal team. Imagine what an Iniesta or Pirlo would do?

How many fast and direct wingers do Spain play with? Jesus Navas would walk into most teams in Britain, but hardly gets a kick for Del Bosque’s unit which prides itself on monopolising the ball and in turn the game. Until football is reinvented success will come from passing, the economy of thought and movement. Zaha and Sterling are exciting prospects, but not the template of footballs future. 

England once again find their level

England were left to rue their inaccuracy on penalties as they suffered a 4-2 penalty defeat to Italy after 120 goalless minutes in Kiev. Statistics never tell the full story but with a possession of 34%, joint with the damage Greece inflicted on Germany, and an average of 2.75 shots on target a game it is easy to see why England failed to trouble many teams.

That it took a penalty shoot-out to finally finish England off was indicative of some profligate finishing from Italy and the dogged determination of the England players. Sadly this seems the only trait that English players can excel at in international competition, and bravery and commitment are no longer enough to win a major tournament.

Roy Hodgson has come in and in the space of just ten training sessions done all that he can; make England harder to beat. Hodgson can do little about the scarcity of players brave enough to demand possession of the ball and was denied the presence of one who can, Jack Wilshire, through injury. But to suggest that Wilshire in midfield would have seen us dominating other teams in possession stakes is wildly optimistic and glosses over the deeper issues at hand.

The £750 million invested on Wembley Stadium still has a long way to go before it repays its outlay and the FA must be wishing that more of that money was invested in youth coaching. Other than Jack Wilshire there is a dearth of ball friendly midfielders in England set-ups and the FA are now several years behind other nations in their development programmes.

Germany completely overhauled their youth development eight years ago under Jurgen Klinsmann and Joachim Low, with the tacit approval of the Bundesliga, and their crop of midfielders at Euro 2012 reflects their philosophy. Until the Premier League agrees to a reduction of power and influence in England the FA and national set-up will continue to struggle. There needs to be a readdress towards the FA and the national side, but with the rampant financial success of the Premier League this looks increasingly unlikely.

England could quite easily have lost all four of their games at Euro 2012 and only dictated the majority of the play in one of them, against Sweden. There was no goal-line injustice or red card to rage against or hide behind this tournament. England were given a football lesson by the Italians and a revaluation of how England approach football will need to start soon. Past tournaments have provided the nation with a scapegoat or a reason to put off any major change. England’s meek exit this year may finally see an overhaul of a nation still clinging to 1966 as they finally move on. 

Deconstruction of the 'people's choice'

England ended months of doubt on Monday as Roy Hodgson was confirmed as the new England manager on a four year deal. 

Instead of backing England's new man, the mainstream media seem to have developed a complex because Hodgson is not Harry Redknapp, dubbed the 'people’s choice'.

When Capello departed, in early February, Redknapp was immediately assigned the role as favourite to replace the Italian, despite little evidence to support his elevation. Redknapp was cleared of tax evasion on the same day as Capello's exit, which sparked debate that these things were 'meant to be'. Now Redknapp was out of court the England job was his to stroll into. 

A comparison of the respective managerial records of the two men is telling:

Redknapp – Won: 518, Drawn: 317, lost: 437, Win percentage: 40.76. League titles: 0, FA Cup Wins: 1, CL Quarter Finals: 1, Premier League Manager of the Year 2009/10

Hodgson – Won: 408, Drawn: 283, lost: 257, Win percentage: 43.04. League titles: 5, Europa League Finals: 1, UEFA Cup Finals: 1, LMA Manager of the Year 2010


The 64-year-old Hodgson has been managing since retiring at 28 and his coaching experience has taken him off to Scandinavia, Internazionale, the Premier League, Finland, the UAE before returning to the Premier League, succeeding at Fulham and West Brom.

Redknapp might boast an FA Cup win with Portsmouth in 2008, but in total the former West Ham player totals more relegations than promotions. The FA Cup victory with Portsmouth is an inflated prize; in winning in 2008 Redknapp spent way above the typical means at Portsmouth and the club entered administration two years later.

The 65-year-old is not solely to blame, but the signing of John Utaka on £50,000 a week was disastrous, with the Nigerian pace-merchant only leaving in January 2011 after scoring 10 in 90.

Both men have almost three decades of managerial experience and are only just gaining wider recognition. Redknapp worked the lower football leagues for years, while Roy learnt his trade in Sweden winning several titles.

In terms of recent success the obvious comparison is Redknapp making it to the last eight of the Champions League with Spurs or Hodgson reaching the Europa League final with Fulham.

Both were impressive, but for a squad of Fulham’s stature and lack of substantial investment, to go all the way to the final in 2009 is an incredible achievement, surpassing getting a very good squad of players to the Champions League quarters.

Hodgson also boast more than 80 games at international level. He guided the Swiss to third place in FIFA’s world rankings in 1994 and came three points from taking Finland to their first ever major competition in 2008.

He was head-hunted to be a UEFA’s chief scout in 1996, and in this role produces dossiers on all the major club sides and national associations in European football, experience that could prove vital this summer.

Compare this with Harry Redknapp’s continental experience and all the media favourite can point to is one game in Europe with Portsmouth and one season in the Champions League with Spurs.

To compare the two is a complete mis-match and begs the question, why was Redknapp so widely tipped as favourite for the head role? What does Redknapp count as an advantage over Hodgson? What evidence is there to confer Redknapp as the 'people's choice'?

The lack of evidence to advance Redknapp as an international manager was glossed over by journalists and former players over the last few weeks, with most resorting to that assertion that Redknapp is a good man-manager.

That these qualities were even deemed important for the next England manager suggests why England are almost decades behind teams on the continent and in the Americas.

Hodgson completely surpasses Redknapp technically; his training drills are infamous for their complexity and duration. By contrast, Redknapp leaves training exercises to a coaching team of Joe Jordan and Kevin Bond and once famously told new-signing Roman Pavlyuchenko to “run around”.

Despite these deficiencies Redknapp was dubbed the ‘people’s favourite’ by the majority of the media and their indignation at being proved wrong by the FA exploded on Monday as Hodgson was finally confirmed.

I could find only one journalist who had positive thoughts on Hodgson’s appointment, from the Telegraph’s Henry Winter, with the rest keen to express outrage that their pal Redknapp was impossibly overlooked.

Redknapp has a reputation for being a good talker, his press conferences and Range Rover interviews would always provide journalists with a ready-made sound bite. He clearly had a closer relationship with the media than Hodgson who only has six years’ experience as a manager in England.

Hodgson has had to endure a torrent of negative articles about his style of play, his lack of man-management (despite none of these people having worked under him) and the pieces conclude with his disappointing six months in charge at Liverpool.

To condemn a man’s entire career based on one six month spell is at best simplistic and at worst a falsehood. Hodgson has tremendous experience and prestige around the footballing world, which is not replicated among the British press

The assumption that Harry Redknapp could come in and make the same old group of players start knocking it about like Real Madrid is a wild presumption. Tottenham played good football this season because of the players they have, not because of Redknapp. 

From a completely rational decision process it is clear that England under Hodgson would be the greatest fit. Hodgson has international experience, gets the best out of his players, is tactically astute and is a great choice to develop the St George's Park project. Redknapp is clearly a good manager, but his acclamation as the 'people's choice' was unwarranted and is to gloss over the superior candidate; one who has won over the Football Association, if not the media.

Hodgson deserves England chance

As a prickly Harry Redknapp faced journalists after losing to Everton the incessant pressure of the vacant England job seemed to be getting to the public’s choice. At a loss to explain the result beyond blaming bad luck and insisting “we battered em second half” the Tottenham manager seemed to be growing increasingly frustrated both with the questioning and Spurs recent slump.

In the immediate aftermath of Capello’s exit Spurs seemed, if anything, galvanised and determined to show Redknapp why he should stay as they cruised to a 5-0 win over Newcastle. However, since the Newcastle drubbing Tottenham have drawn with Stevenage, beaten them in a replay and lost their last three league games to Arsenal, United and Everton respectively. The defence, which had been the most effective in the league started looking as if it was carrying an injured player, in Ledley King, and other key performers Kaboul and Assou-Ekotto have disappointed in recent games.

The collapse at Arsenal was most mystifying with Redknapp admitting even with his side 2-0 up after 34 minutes he didn’t have faith in them keeping that score line through until half-time. Despite playing your fierce rivals this admission and dearth in confidence seems to have materialised since Redknapp was roundly touted as the favourite for the England job.

Tottenham’s last three league defeats also highlight some of Redknapps flaws as a manager, which up until the last few weeks had been the best stock for an English manager worldwide. The 65 year old is widely regarded as an excellent man manager (not a wheeler-dealer) who can get the best out of players, which it is presumed he can do with a bunch of mediocre England players.

Tactically though Redknapp must surely admit he is far from the most proficient of the candidates for the England position. Once revealing he told substitute Roman Pavlychenko to “run around a bit” before sending him on against Liverpool, though to be fair it worked as the Russian scored, tactics seem to assistants Joe Jordan and Kevin Bond. The recent repositioning of Gareth Bale through the middle has failed to come off, with the Welsh international looking far less threatening down the middle rather than stretching teams on the flanks. Bale has many strengths but being able to pick a defence-splitting pass is not one of them and as such his move off the wing has coincided with Spurs slump.

There is however a manager with international experience and a great tactical appreciation of the game who has seen his team turn on the form since the England job became available. In terms of top English candidates Roy Hodgson must be at least second favourite, edging ahead of interim manager Stuart Pearce. With sixteen managerial positions, mostly abroad, Hodgson was touted as the successor to Capello if he left after the mess in South Africa.

Since that time Hodgson had his hands singed in a short reign at Liverpool, before the new owners decided they wanted their own man, the ever looming figurehead of Kenny Dalglish. Given Dalglish’s position upstairs at Liverpool it was inevitable that should performances dip, then a desire for the fan-favourite to take over would make the position untenable for Hodgson, as Sir Alex acknowledged recently.

AVB failed to get results at his biggest job, but that does not mean he is a bad manager or cannot handle a ‘big’ team. Hodgson should not be discounted based on one disappointing six month spell, by contrast Redknapp has only won one trophy in English football and ended up bankrupting Portsmouth in the process. Both are ‘journeymen’ managers to an extent, with arguments for both men having a shot at the England job.

Redknapp is the darling of the English media, currently appearing to have the edge, but for my money Hodgson would mould the England team into a more solid unit. England sadly do not have the players to play like a Spain or Germany so the manager would have to turn the players into the most effective team possible. Hodgson with his defensive nous and experience of the game would turn England into an incredibly difficult side to beat and working alongside a Stuart Pearce for this tournament, would have much more of an impact than simply geeing up the camp. The overwhelming favourite appears to be Redknapp but I hope the FA seriously consider the less media friendly Hodgson and listen to what he could achieve with England.

How to look good in England

England have announced the latest incarnation of the national teams home shirt which will be modelled by Stuart Pearce's side against the Netherlands on Wednesday evening.

England Home Kit for EURO 2012

The shirt was hastily announced this week through a blog on the Umbro website, to prevent Joey Barton stealing their thunder by posting a picture of the latest design on Twitter. Comprising just shades of white and red, the shirt was apparently "inspired by the St George's Flag, Tailored by Umbro." The reaction has been underwhelming, with more being made on the FA's decision to launch another kit for a RRP of £55 when the previous home kit was only used during qualification matches to get to this summers tournamen.

Rather than shelling out on the new kit I thought it would make more sense to have a look at past iterations, which frankly have a bit more to them than a plain white shirt with some red piping.

Home Kit for 2002 World Cup

This 2002 shirt was the first England strip that I owned and as such I still hold it in high regard. Despite being over 10 years old it still fits perfectly and with its off-centre red stripe and blue detailing on the edges it still looks the part.

Get one now on eBay for : £5-10

Away Shirt 1998 World Cup

If you can ignore the shiny plastic sheen coming off this shirt then there is a pretty good looking piece of kit. The collar and design are classic 90's fair but this shirt also has a tasteful St George's flag embossed in the red front panel. With far more character than recent all red shirts this 1998 top is a steal at less than a tenner.

On eBay for around: £5-10

2012 EURO Away Shirt

Now if you don't want to go too retro and will recoil in horror at the nicks and pulls on older shirts then I think the current away shirt is a fairly good alternative to the home one. Made from the same pyjama type material as the old home kit, this outing is fairly straight-forward. It works though. The dark blue and baby-blue collar is a new colour scheme, one that I think is a refreshing change (unlike the team).

Still quite pricey: £40 on jjb and sportdirect

England Third Kit: 1990-1992

Saving the best until last is this third kit, that was criminally only used in a single qualifying game for the 1992 European Championship. This kit has all the flair of a James May shirt, a world away from the current tops. England shirts tend to be quite bland so this pop-art design is one of the most distinctive and interesting I've seen. As you'd expect for such a rare and now old shirt it is expensive starting at around £40.

classicfootballshirts.co.uk - £40-70

Parker for Poland and Ukraine

The Football Association acted today to remove the England captaincy from John Terry, in a move which has deliberately undercut Fabio Capello. Terry, who again decided not to resign the armband, did appear to have the backing of the England manager but Chelsea’s wish for the court case to be played out after the European Championship was a stretch of faith too far for FA executives.

His second dismissal from the role leaves Capello in a quandary, as he must again appoint a new captain in time for this summer despite them well knowing that they were second choice. Rio Ferdinand has already ruled himself out of the running, citing his experience of having the captaincy stripped away from him by Capello and alluding to a serious breakdown in relations with the Italian.

Following Capello’s own logic and painful experience from South Africa, the third in line appears to be Liverpool skipper, Steven Gerrard. Whether Gerrard, who is flung the armband when England drift from one crisis to another, would want the cast-off honour remains questionable, but like Ferdinand before him his recent injury record might make the pragmatic Capello think outside of his 30 plus box.

Frank Lampard and Gareth Barry have captained their country before but are not guaranteed a place in England’s starting XI, even more so if current form is taken into consideration. Rooney has game-time leading his country but his petulance and suspension for the first two games in Ukraine casts doubt on how he would handle such a role.

As Capello enters into the final six months of his England career the temptation for the 65 year old would be to play safe and appoint one of the aforementioned names, with experience in captaining their country. However, to many a more appealing prospect would be the introduction of a younger talent, one who could lead England for the next ten years. A younger generation free from the disappointment and pressure of the so called ‘golden generation’ and their flop at the last two World Cups.

Names like Jack Wilshire, Phil Jones and Joe Hart will be thrown loosely into the hat, although at present only Joe Hart is an established England international. Gary Speed was reaping the benefits of naming then 20 year old Aaron Ramsey as permanent captain before his untimely death, and England would do well to learn from this. England need to begin blooding a new generation of players who are comfortable with the ball at their feet and not just suited to the frenetic pace of the Premier League.

Having said that one player who must be considered, even if it is solely to lead the side to Poland and Ukraine, is Scott Parker. Alongside Michael Carrick, Parker has been the standout English central midfielder this season and his role in Harry Redknapp’s Tottenham Hotspur side has been the difference between them challenging for a Champions League berth and challenging for the league.

To describe him as a tough-tackling holding player is to do Parker a disservice. The former West Ham captain through a series of spectacular goals, Churchillian half-time speech’s and box-to-box raiding which saw him named FWA player of the year for 2010-2011. In his criminally few appearances for England he has managed to stake his place in Capello’s thoughts and now looks a guaranteed starter, injury permitting.

Although at 31 he may only have two major tournaments left in him, his sense of throwback to years gone by (just watch him do an interview) and a passion to play for his country means that he deserves a shot on the grandest of stages. He already seems a lynchpin in England’s new three man midfield and what better way to utilise his talent then to send a 23 man squad to the European Championships this summer, then with Scott Parker at the helm.

Sorry and tired - same old excuses from Capello and England

Fabio Capello was back to his hypocritical best yesterday, blaming tiredness for yet another poor England performance at Wembley, a match where in all truth England were lucky to take a point with which to mull over this summer.

Capello went some way to point out how the players had been allowed several days holiday before preparing for yesterdays game and how he had seen his players looking fresh, despite having just come off the back of a gruelling league season. Such was this new found confidence before the game, England's head coach suggested that such a move would also be proposed before next years European Championships, if England make it that far.

Whether England will be competing in the Ukraine and Poland next year does still remain in their hands, following Montenegro's failure to take advantage of England's slip up, but England's fortunes in qualifying still pale in comparison to the rest of Europe. The Netherlands, Spain and Germany have continued where they left off from South Africa by winning every competitive game before them.

By contrast, England and Capello seem to have learnt little from last years debacle. Although much of the deadwood from England's squad last summer have been omitted, the ageing spine of the team remains the same. Rio Ferdinand and Frank Lampard looked way off the pace yesterday, with none of England's 'first choice' team distinguishing themselves. Almost laughably two of the players who did emerge with some credit, Leighton Baines and Ashley Young, started the game on the bench and weren't even part of the 23 that travelled to the World Cup last year.

Along with Scott Parker and Jack Wilshire these fresh faces in the England camp are certainly an improvement but their inclusion like Capello's belated switch away from the his stagnant 4-4-2 formation seems to be an act of desperation rather than acumen. The inclusion of James Milner and Theo Walcott over Young in the starting line-up proved to be huge mistakes, with neither doing much to justify their inclusion. These are basic errors and the inability to select players who are in form is unjustifiable for a man earning £6 million a year.

Despite allegedly being reassured by Capello after the game, Darren Bent's two misses will probably ensure he is back to a berth on the bench when Rooney and Carroll are available for the next round of matches. The fickle Capello seems not to look on to kindly if a emerging player fails to deliver in just one match: just ask Jordan Henderson who seems likely to remain on one full cap for the foreseeable future.

Switzerland despite only accumulating five points in Group G, looked far more comfortable in possession yesterday and England's Premier League stars were given a lesson in movement and possession by the less fancied Swiss. Their teenage prodigy Xherdan Shaqiri excelled, as did Jack Wilshire, but the confidence and ambition of a young Swiss team was far superior to the lack of creativity shown by yesterdays England side.

The first half performance did indicate that the team was playing on empty and were slightly burnt out, but this makes a mockery of Capello's pre-match claim that the players seemed refreshed. His struggle to grasp the English language means that whatever he claims in a press conference can not be taken at face value. This failure in communication and the ease with which Capello seeks to pass the blame do not bode well for a national side short on confidence and bereft of creativity.

England game and Bent slip in under the radar

Given the amount of attention that FIFA and Zurich have received from the English media over the last seven days, you'd be excused for forgetting that this Saturday England face Switzerland in a crucial qualifying match.

England remain top of Group G for qualification to the European Championships next year, only on goal difference from a determined Montenegro side, who came within a crossbar of claiming all three points when the sides met in October. Three points this weekend will see England remain in pole position over the summer and hopefully restore some normality to a week which has seen FIFA and the world game reduced to a farcical state.

A raft of withdrawals from the initial 23 man squad, and Capello's decision not to call up replacements means that a concise team will be asked to overcome Switzerland, on paper the strongest team in Group G.

Already without two of England's most influential players in Rooney and Gerrard, through suspension and injury respectively, Capello has a squad comprising only three recognised strikers. Bobby Zamora, who has only just returned from a lengthy lay-off, Peter Crouch, who has hardly been prolific this campaign, and Darren Bent, the £24 million man at Aston Villa.

Bent appears to be in favour with Capello, getting the nod ahead of other forwards for the Wales game this March and putting in a superb performance which was capped with a goal: finishing a slick move which was assisted by his club team-mate, Ashley Young.

Bent's arrival at Villa in January and his already impressive link up with Young helped ease Houllier's men away from the bottom reaches of the table in the Premier League and this interplay looks to have carried on to international level. The movement that Bent offers to any team proves invaluable, and his runs off the last defender will cause problems for even the most experienced defenders, especially so with talented play-makers in a midfield.

After an excellent season and Capello's belated switch to a 4-3-3, Young finally seems to have established himself within the England squad. Young failed to even make the initial 30 man squad for the World Cup, losing out to midfielders Joe Cole and Shaun Wright-Phillips, who have failed to even make the bench at times for their clubs this season, so his emergence on the international scene marks a remarkable turnaround.

Young and Bent would have watched from home last summer, as England toiled to elimination in the round of 16, but now look like nailed on starters for the game against the Swiss this Saturday. The pair, much like Saturday's game, itself have come into contention with little attention and fuss; although if England do finally get one over on the Swiss on the pitch, there will be plenty of media attention.