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England Camp Focus- A night of transition for England
Wednesday night was one of the most important nights in recent English football – no, beating Hungary will not be remembered as the night England proved they are still a major force in football but the revelation that David Beckham will no longer feature for England competitively (under Fabio Capello, that is) on the same night that Jack Wilshire and Kieran Gibbs made their débuts perfectly depicted that we are currently experiencing the transition from an era that brought with it much hope and eventual disappointment, to one that at this moment in time could produce varying degrees of success or failure. A game of football that was not particularly exciting took place on a night that was exciting – Adam Johnson, Ashley Young, Wayne Rooney, Joe Hart, Phil Jagielka, Michael Dawson, Theo Walcott, Gibbs and Wilshire all produced good performances that can be translated into excitement, premature or not.
As of this moment, there is no concrete evidence to suggest that England have the ability to win a major tournament in the near future but there are signs that the new brand may be able to play more expansive and intelligent football, providing Capello’s allowance to do so remains. Adam Johnson was adventurous and on many occasions looked like a younger version of Joe Cole with arguably more potential – the same can be said for Kieran Gibbs. Whilst Ashley Cole is by no means witnessing the end of his international career, he is almost turning 30 and Gibbs looks like a very similar player (with left-back being one of England’s more proficient positions, this can only be a good thing). In front of Gibbs was Ashley Young and although Capello still has reservations over the winger, Young was exploring enough to warrant further selections, as were Jagielka and Dawson who were commanding enough to suggest that they could be a future partnership. Indeed, Wednesday’s friendly brought even more good news –Theo Walcott looked very promising and with Young and Walcott on the wings, England could have a completely new system available to their disposal.
It would have been difficult to expect Capello to completely cull all of the world cup failures but the sight of a largely unchanged midfield that included Frank Lampard, Gareth Barry and captain Steven Gerrard was slightly uninspiring – with this game meaning nothing competitively, it would have perhaps been more constructive for Capello to start with Wilshire, Milner and Walcott alongside Ashley Young. However, Gerrard’s captains performance justified his inclusion and suggested that he may still have a role to play for England in the Euro qualifiers. Gerrard will have to do a lot to reach the levels of respect that Beckham receives but he is a more than competent captain to lead England into the new era. One position that never really troubled England in the early to late 90’s was in goal – David Seaman commanding that position and since his departure from international football, England have struggled to find someone capable of providing a ‘safe pair of hands’. It has been the one position that has troubled England more than any other since the end of the world cup in 2002 but now, in Manchester City’s Joe Hart, there may be a new man to take a sustained role as number one.
Hart was commanding, loud and largely untroubled – the goal was not Hart’s fault and could not have been altered by any goalkeeper and his performance indicated that Capello will have one less selection problem in the future. Worryingly however, was Hart’s admission that he feels he may need to be Manchester City’s number one if he is to remain as England’s. Hart will find competition for that position stiffer at club level with Shay Given battling to be manager Roberto Mancini’s favoured ‘keeper. If Hart is not playing regularly at club level, he may find himself in a situation where Capello will not pick him because he does not play for City – for that, England should hope Mancini gives Hart enough playing time this season.
So, although a 2-1 victory over Hungary does very little to appease with the fans that felt complete despair whilst watching England in South Africa, the performance of England’s younger players bodes well for the future. Time will tell but as David Beckham and co leave the international scene, there are new, younger players, ready to prove that England are not a nation struggling to play football at the highest level.
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