England will no doubt qualify for next years World Cup in South Africa. Every World Cup year the media and England fans have this blind optimism that is inexplicable. I must admit I buy in to the hype of the England teams ability to win every tournament we compete at. Unfortunately for every England fan since 1966 our optimism has been misplaced.
The question is will next year s World Cup be any different from every other tournament we have competed at in recent years? I don t think it will. Our performances in qualification have been promising but that has happened in previous years, hence the optimism. England look like they could qualify quite comfortably from group six. Croatia and Ukraine have arguably underperformed in the group and both sides have proven little to no threat to the Three Lions.
England always look solid until they face good opposition such as when we were defeated 2-0 in Spain in Fabio Capello s first defeat in charge. I hate to say this but I think our team is over-hyped by the previously mentioned media. Yes we have some very good players and a few world-class players, but we just haven t got enough strength in-depth in our squad to prevail at a major tournament.
World-Class Players
The three players in our squad that I would say are world-class would be Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney, Liverpool midfielder Steven Gerrard and Chelsea centre-back John Terry. However Liverpool captain Gerrard has underperformed for his country in the past, but it looks like boss Fabio Capello has found an ideal role for him playing in the deep lying second striker role that he has become accustomed to at Anfield.
The Problem Positions
The goalkeeping position has proved a problem position for England managers in the past and its no different for Capello. West Ham goalkeeper Robert Green has looked nervy and unconvincing in recent games. Unfortunately England are not endowed with great keepers anymore. We have Portsmouth s David James who is 39 and error prone.
We have Wigan s Chris Kirkland who has had more injuries than the A+E. Manchester United keeper Ben Foster hadn t been playing many games until this season, but he too has looked a bit shaky in the United goal. Then there is Scott Carson of Championship side West Brom, but he has only made three appearances for his country.
Another problem position is right back. The current player in possession of the shirt is Liverpool s Glen Johnson. The former Portsmouth star is fantastic going forward and is a good attacking weapon. Unfortunately for Glen he isn t the best defender in the world.
I really like him as a footballer, even though I m an Everton fan, but I think he should be a right winger and not a right back. Hes in the mould of a Brazilian full-back such as Roberto Carlos and Cafu. If he could work on the defensive part of his game he could be one of the best in the world.
The alternatives at right-back are Wes Brown, who is a really solid defender but cant really go forward, quite the opposite to Johnson ironically! If you put Johnson s ability to go forward and Brown s ability to defend together we have the complete full-back. Manchester United s Gary Neville could be another alternative, but the experienced full-back has struggled with fitness and injury problems in recent seasons.
We have lots of ability and a world-class coach, all we need now is a bit of luck and all our best players stay injury-free. In past years the dreaded metatarsal has struck one of our key players before each of the last three major tournaments. I really hope that I am proven wrong and England go on to win the World Cup next year in South Africa. Maybe I have have just endured too much heartache at the hands of the Three Lions. Maybe its time for them to repay the fans and bring home the trophy from South Africa next July.
