‘Six points, six goals, seventh heaven for Steve Mcclaren’
Two wins from two games add up to fantastic results for the beleaguered no more England boss
England’s position in their group now looks a lot stronger and it now seems a certainty that England will be at Euro 2008 next summer. Despite their struggles before the weekends showing against Israel, it seemed extremely evident that England’s participation in Austria and Switzerland will depend on the outcome of their games with Russia and having won the first ‘leg’ Steve Mcclaren’s hand seems to have been strengthened by his sides performances in both Wembley outings.
If the 3-0 defeat against Israel could have had holes picked in it because of their opponents apparent inability to mount an attack, the threat which Russia posed was certainly much greater and with the comfort which England dispatched them with is extremely admirable.
As Gareth Barry pointed in his post match interview ‘luck’ plays a large part in successes and not to take anything away from the performance particularly against Russia but England were severed a large slice of luck when a perfectly legitimate goal for their opponents was chalked off. Football is full of ‘if’s’ but ‘if’ Russia had equalized, would England have been able to break them down quite so easily or would the away side have put up an ‘iron curtain’ of defense and protected everything they held on to at that point.
That argument is not for now, or ever perhaps as the fact remains that England scored three unanswered goals and performed extremely well throughout.
So often it is the case that when things go right the players get the praise and when things go wrong the manager gets the blame but on this occasion as much praise should be given to Steve Mcclaren as it should do to Gareth Barry, Emile Heskey or Michael Owen. An under threat manager before the weekend, Mcclaren will as Ian Wright pointed out ‘get his first good nights sleep in the job’ and although he denies feeling pressure or answering his critics with results such as the two 3-0 his side have just chalked up, there is bound to be an air of confidence surrounding the manager next time he receives a press hounding.
As on Saturday, Maclaren again got his key decisions right. Before the two games, the doom and gloom merchants had suggested that without Rooney, Lampard, Hargreaves, Campbell and so on, England would be little more than scraping the barrel by selected Wright Phillips, Heskey, Owen and Barry but they really couldn't have been more wrong. Tonight’s performance once again showed that Michael Owen can never be written off, it must be tiresome for the 25 year old to having to keep proving himself over and over again. Owen is a confidence striker and having suffered horrendous luck with injuries since break into football, a person with much lesser determination than Owen probably would have called it quits by now. Like a boxer on the ropes Owen simply loves to perform when everything is up against him. Having played less than a handful of games since December 2005 the way in which Owen has made his critics eat their words is not uncharacteristic of a man who simply enjoys scoring goals. Now just ten away from Bobby Charlton’s goal scoring record, Owen presumably was never a doubt in Maclaren’s mind but who to play him alongside was.
Brining Heskey was nothing short of a master stroke on Maclaren’s part and although his hand was forced and the Wigan man became a victim of circumstance against Israel due to Crouch’s suspension the passion and consistency which the played with vindicated his manager on yet another decision he received an unhelpful barrage of abuse for. For a change, Gerrard plus one was the way forward for Mclaren and once the Liverpool skipper was passed fit and Lampard was not, the England manager clearly knew that Aston Villa’s Gareth Barry was the man for the job and playing like an established International he proved the England manager right yet again and made it a full hand of correct decisions. With Barry in the side ahead of Lampard the team seemed to have more or a balance. The natural left foot of the Villa man enabled England to open up the pitch by searching for Cole and Wright Phillips in equal measure. With no one man required to ‘hold’ and both players games being about different things the team looked more comfortable and it now appears that those missing have their shirts to win back should they desire.
With Russia blown to one side, the crucial match now seems to be the return match in Moscow on the dreaded plastic pitch. An extremely formidable defensive force at home having not conceded a goal Russia will certainly be all about revenge, but go into the game now realizing that only a win against England will be enough to secure a smooth path to the European Championships and will ensure that destiny is in their own hands. With England to face Croatia following the game in the Russia capital the three lions will have everything in front of them and Maclaren’s men now know the required standard to reach the finals. Should England decide to make a hash of things on their trip to Russia as they did in Croatia a year ago, they will be required to beat the group leaders at Wembley next year as well as disposing of Estonia.
Maclaren’s next move will be an extremely interesting one. Wayne Rooney looks set for a comeback this weekend and with Hargreaves and Lampard also likely to be in contention the next time an International fixture comes around, can he get everything right yet again. It looks on paper, very difficult to change a winning team but it is also questionable had Maclaren not had the injury situation if he would have gone with the same players he went into the Russian and Israel games with. Rooney is more than likely to partner Owen up front and although it takes a brave man to leave out Heskey if the Wigan man can add to his tally of goals in the run up to the Estonia fixture it may be Darren Bent, Jermaine Defoe or Andy Johnson who misses out. Maclaren spoke of how ‘vital’ Peter Crouch is, offering something different and seeing how well Owen works with a direct target man, injuries may again dictate his decision.
The much maligned Frank Lampard was one of England’s top players in defeat to Germany but we all know he cannot play well and give balance in the same side as Steven Gerrard. Lampard is likely to feature in the squad but in the likely case that both he and Hargreaves are fit, can Maclaren go back to putting Gerrard on the right in a hope that he freely roams into more central positions, the phrase square pegs in round holes comes to mind.
Interestingly enough the names of those who have not even been considered during England’s two wins are probably more interesting than anything else. What now for David Beckham? Los Angeles superstar was dropped from the national team a year ago after not playing enough club football, will the England manager dispose of him once more now he has the options of David Bentley, Ashley Young and Shaun Wright Phillips. Michael Carrick? Does he fit into all this? With Gerrard unquestionable England’s best central midfielder and Barry putting in two solid performances in succession, something which he has never been allowed to do, is his place in the squad, let alone team under threat.
So many questions to be answered by the manager, but for now he should be allowed his moments peace whilst everyone around him debates his key decisions.
If the 3-0 defeat against Israel could have had holes picked in it because of their opponents apparent inability to mount an attack, the threat which Russia posed was certainly much greater and with the comfort which England dispatched them with is extremely admirable.
As Gareth Barry pointed in his post match interview ‘luck’ plays a large part in successes and not to take anything away from the performance particularly against Russia but England were severed a large slice of luck when a perfectly legitimate goal for their opponents was chalked off. Football is full of ‘if’s’ but ‘if’ Russia had equalized, would England have been able to break them down quite so easily or would the away side have put up an ‘iron curtain’ of defense and protected everything they held on to at that point.
That argument is not for now, or ever perhaps as the fact remains that England scored three unanswered goals and performed extremely well throughout.
So often it is the case that when things go right the players get the praise and when things go wrong the manager gets the blame but on this occasion as much praise should be given to Steve Mcclaren as it should do to Gareth Barry, Emile Heskey or Michael Owen. An under threat manager before the weekend, Mcclaren will as Ian Wright pointed out ‘get his first good nights sleep in the job’ and although he denies feeling pressure or answering his critics with results such as the two 3-0 his side have just chalked up, there is bound to be an air of confidence surrounding the manager next time he receives a press hounding.
As on Saturday, Maclaren again got his key decisions right. Before the two games, the doom and gloom merchants had suggested that without Rooney, Lampard, Hargreaves, Campbell and so on, England would be little more than scraping the barrel by selected Wright Phillips, Heskey, Owen and Barry but they really couldn't have been more wrong. Tonight’s performance once again showed that Michael Owen can never be written off, it must be tiresome for the 25 year old to having to keep proving himself over and over again. Owen is a confidence striker and having suffered horrendous luck with injuries since break into football, a person with much lesser determination than Owen probably would have called it quits by now. Like a boxer on the ropes Owen simply loves to perform when everything is up against him. Having played less than a handful of games since December 2005 the way in which Owen has made his critics eat their words is not uncharacteristic of a man who simply enjoys scoring goals. Now just ten away from Bobby Charlton’s goal scoring record, Owen presumably was never a doubt in Maclaren’s mind but who to play him alongside was.
Brining Heskey was nothing short of a master stroke on Maclaren’s part and although his hand was forced and the Wigan man became a victim of circumstance against Israel due to Crouch’s suspension the passion and consistency which the played with vindicated his manager on yet another decision he received an unhelpful barrage of abuse for. For a change, Gerrard plus one was the way forward for Mclaren and once the Liverpool skipper was passed fit and Lampard was not, the England manager clearly knew that Aston Villa’s Gareth Barry was the man for the job and playing like an established International he proved the England manager right yet again and made it a full hand of correct decisions. With Barry in the side ahead of Lampard the team seemed to have more or a balance. The natural left foot of the Villa man enabled England to open up the pitch by searching for Cole and Wright Phillips in equal measure. With no one man required to ‘hold’ and both players games being about different things the team looked more comfortable and it now appears that those missing have their shirts to win back should they desire.
With Russia blown to one side, the crucial match now seems to be the return match in Moscow on the dreaded plastic pitch. An extremely formidable defensive force at home having not conceded a goal Russia will certainly be all about revenge, but go into the game now realizing that only a win against England will be enough to secure a smooth path to the European Championships and will ensure that destiny is in their own hands. With England to face Croatia following the game in the Russia capital the three lions will have everything in front of them and Maclaren’s men now know the required standard to reach the finals. Should England decide to make a hash of things on their trip to Russia as they did in Croatia a year ago, they will be required to beat the group leaders at Wembley next year as well as disposing of Estonia.
Maclaren’s next move will be an extremely interesting one. Wayne Rooney looks set for a comeback this weekend and with Hargreaves and Lampard also likely to be in contention the next time an International fixture comes around, can he get everything right yet again. It looks on paper, very difficult to change a winning team but it is also questionable had Maclaren not had the injury situation if he would have gone with the same players he went into the Russian and Israel games with. Rooney is more than likely to partner Owen up front and although it takes a brave man to leave out Heskey if the Wigan man can add to his tally of goals in the run up to the Estonia fixture it may be Darren Bent, Jermaine Defoe or Andy Johnson who misses out. Maclaren spoke of how ‘vital’ Peter Crouch is, offering something different and seeing how well Owen works with a direct target man, injuries may again dictate his decision.
The much maligned Frank Lampard was one of England’s top players in defeat to Germany but we all know he cannot play well and give balance in the same side as Steven Gerrard. Lampard is likely to feature in the squad but in the likely case that both he and Hargreaves are fit, can Maclaren go back to putting Gerrard on the right in a hope that he freely roams into more central positions, the phrase square pegs in round holes comes to mind.
Interestingly enough the names of those who have not even been considered during England’s two wins are probably more interesting than anything else. What now for David Beckham? Los Angeles superstar was dropped from the national team a year ago after not playing enough club football, will the England manager dispose of him once more now he has the options of David Bentley, Ashley Young and Shaun Wright Phillips. Michael Carrick? Does he fit into all this? With Gerrard unquestionable England’s best central midfielder and Barry putting in two solid performances in succession, something which he has never been allowed to do, is his place in the squad, let alone team under threat.
So many questions to be answered by the manager, but for now he should be allowed his moments peace whilst everyone around him debates his key decisions.