As they made Moldova look every bit as bad as their Fifa world ranking of 123rd last night, England appeared to have recovered from the bombshell news that they will not win the World Cup next summer. Greg Dyke, the new FA chairman, had delivered that downbeat assessment on the eve of battle and some seemed to fear that it would spread a pall of gloom from which Roy Hodgson’s bereft players might never emerge. Fear not. England are not so delicate — at least not with Moldova as generous opponents — that they cannot stomach a little reality. Dyke’s dose of the stuff was not straight from the PR manual but he has been appointed to his position for some plain-speaking leadership. Suggesting that England will not put the fear of God into world football’s elite was perhaps his least controversial remark. Actually, none of what he said was controversial, unless you think it somehow wrong to suggest that England’s national team should be considerably better at football and, actually, we are all sick of complaining but not doing a whole lot about it. We can pick holes — and we should certainly save the applause until the proposed FA commission starts producing solutions — but it is hard to think why anyone (outside the touchy Premier League, anyway) would not broadly welcome a speech in which it is suggested that England are not producing enough good footballers and we should stop to ask why. As Wembley sank into torpor last night, as David Beckham struggled to hide his boredom up in his executive box and you listened to conversations echo around this great bowl, this was perhaps not the evening to shout that England are worth worrying about. But they are. Yes, you could look at the swathes of empty seats, but, equally, you could marvel that 61,607 people actually wanted to pay to watch a game against Moldova last night that made contests against San Marino feel like nailbiters. Even a team that no one, realistically, thinks is going to win the World Cup in Brazil (to quote the FA chairman) will draw 20 million around television sets next summer in mad, fascinated, deluded hope that England will not be wretched. Assuming, of course, that they qualify. Last night was always going to serve up a victory and it was professionally accomplished through goals from Steven Gerrard, Rickie Lambert and Danny Welbeck, who scored twice. Who can know if Lambert’s fairytale in international football will have a happy ending, but it has been a joyous tale amid all the gloom around England. The Southampton striker looks certain to lead the line against Ukraine on Tuesday in Kiev, which is where we will learn whether England’s chances of reaching Brazil next summer are odds for or against. For a long while they have been 50-50 at best, though going to the top of group H last night at least gives the impression that England are in command. This stuttering journey has not often reflected well on Hodgson’s strategy, which, in the words of one player, tends to be with the handbrake applied. He is naturally cautious, and that trait will probably be proven if he picks James Milner to replace the suspended Welbeck on Tuesday. Yet it would be a harsh judge who did not accept that England’s faltering campaign also reflects the weakness of the talent available. The big team news last night was that Hodgson had left out Tom Cleverley and replaced him with Frank Lampard. Don’t hold the back page. There was a time when an England manager would leave out a notable talent and the nation would instantly divide into two forthright camps and fill the air waves with polarised debate. But it has felt a long while since we had that sort of argument. Perhaps the most recent division was provoked by Fabio Capello’s exiling of Michael Owen, and there is a long line of big names who have been left out by their country. Beckham knows how it is to be exiled and we can go back through Andrew Cole, Paul Ince for months under Terry Venables, Matt Le Tissier, Glenn Hoddle. Robbie Fowler was never a first choice for England but would walk into this England team. There was a time when many England fans wanted John Barnes cast out. This is anecdotal evidence rather than the sort of statistics about lack of English talent that Dyke was throwing around in what may, or may not, prove a landmark speech for the national team. But perhaps we can judge England as being back to health when we can see talent on the bench or sat at home and think “that’s harsh”. And I don’t think anyone is saying that just now about Peter Crouch. And before anyone mentions Michael Carrick, the Manchester United player can hardly complain about being left out behind Gerrard and Lampard. England’s pool is a puddle, which does not mean that they cannot qualify for Brazil. They should. But whatever happens on the road to the World Cup, Dyke has started an important conversation. This week was a good one for England before the four goals and comfortable three points last night.
Posted on: Fri, 06 Sep 2013 22:23:10 +0000
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