Little England

I can't claim to be hugely passionate about the England team, though my interest is heightened when Charlton are represented, as they were ably this week by Luke Young. Indeed, it was clear that in the space of just a few weeks, his confidence and sense that he truly belonged in the team was now tangible, and whilst he lacks that 'trick' when going forward, no England fan could fault his commitment and ability to do the simple things very well (not a bad trait for a defender). I suspect he won't make it to Germany though unless Gary Neville happens to be injured, because the 22-man squad is quite limiting, and Sven is likely to take more versatile types like Phil Neville or Ledley King, than our Luke. However picking up six England caps in just four months is no mean feat and it is a reward for several seasons of consistent performances for Charlton.

However one couldn't write a blog about England's games without mentioning Peter Crouch, who clearly has far more to do than Luke Young to convince England fans that he deserves to wear three lions on his chest. My suspicions had always been that he was a 'one-season wonder', and that it could hardly have been a coincidence that he had been transferred from club to club (rejected by Spurs, sold by QPR, Portsmouth, and Villa etc..) without ever having fulfilled his supposed potential. This concept of a 'one-season wonder' is pretty common, with the England manager at the time pressured by the media to play in-form strikers rather than those who are clearly international class (but may be having a short-term blip at club level). Examples in recent seasons would include: Kevin Phillips, Andy Johnson, James Beattie etc.. None of these players were ever good enough to provide a long-term option for the national side, but they were all picked and played to appease the media and the type of people that call 6-0-6 whilst temporarily suspending rationality and logic.

However in the case of Crouch, his unusual physicality implied that maybe he really did 'offer something different' as his apologists suggested (to be fair I would offer something different for England....not better, but certainly different). I watched the Austria game hoping to be wowed by our new direct style and the impossibility of defending against him. Instead, what I witnessed was an almost embarrassing spectacle of a man who moves without grace, and more importantly, without efficacy. A man who seems unable to be a powerful header of a football despite a height advantage that would allow natural headers of a ball (Shearer, Ferdinand etc..) to score 50 goals a season instead of 20 or so. I was truly astonished at how bad he was, and the indication that he is essentially already 'on the plane' to Germany is terrifying (unless you play for one of England's opponents). His apologists also argue that he has 'good touch for a big man' but surely that good touch should be in addition to the taken-for-granted assumption that the guy can actually head the ball. Because if not, he instead is simply a giant player with a poor touch compared to a small man.

Meanwhile our own Darren Bent who has scored eight goals in eight games, three of them powerful well-timed headers, was left warming the bench whilst Sven implemented this grotesque experiment. When you are the best paid person in your profession in the world, there is no place for second-best or mediocrity or defeats to Northern Ireland. Surely the only thing that has kept him in the job is the severance pay the FA would be liable for, and that is a cardinal sin because we have a squad that might actually have a chance in Germany if it was motivated, tactically-astute and properly selected.