A Different Week - England's golden generation...
Remember the golden generation? Those gifted souls who were supposed to end England's lack of success at major tournaments. Frank Lampard remembers and he never believed a word of it. Frank Junior has been in the press this week lamenting the fact that these players have never justified the hype that has surrounded them. Will the 2010 World Cup be the time they make the most of their talent?
Saturday’s performance against Ukraine was a reminder of Steve McClaren's reign rather than the excellence we have come to expect from Fabio Capello. Inept defending, a blunt attack and a midfield that played like they have only just met each other. Add the manager standing solemnly under an umbrella and it would have been Euro 2008 qualifying all over again. Of course the match did not mean anything in terms of qualifying, all the hard work had already been done. If you can call a group with Belarus, Kazakhstan and Andorra hard work.
Whilst England reacted to the midweek defeat with a comprehensive victory over Belarus on Wednesday, the scoreline still flattered the home side. The two games have underlined worrying deficiencies that could seriously derail England's World Cup bid. The goalkeeping situation has been debated to death yet it cannot be over looked as whilst England have a group of good 'keepers to choose from, good is not really enough. The argument has been made that a World Cup-winning side does not need a world class stopper, it just needs one who can have a good month as the cup is going on. Yet where that argument falls down is this - look at the candidates for the role of England's No 1, can anyone seriously suggest that any of them will not make a bad error over the course of a month?
It has also been discussed this week that England have too many untouchables, that the likes of Rio Ferdinand, Ashley Cole and Lampard will be in the team no matter how they perform. That is a worry but there is reasoning behind it, quite simply the reserves are not up to the job. Ferdinand for Gary Cahill, Cole for Wayne Bridge, Lampard for some other flavour of the month. There is a marked difference between class and form. England only have about five or six genuine world class players, even McClaren knew not to drop them from the team. Didn't he?
The striking situation is another bone of contention. Whatever angle you come at it, Emile Heskey is not good enough for international football. To be honest, a compelling argument could be made that he is not good enough for Premier League football. Carlton Cole has one good game for every eight played whilst Peter Crouch scores for fun against the lesser teams yet never seems to get a chance when the stakes are higher. Wayne Rooney should be the first name on the team sheet but he needs someone to play off. Although it seems common consensus this should be a big man, that is not necessarily the case. Put Rooney and Jermain Defoe together and they will be a more dangerous combination than Rooney plus any of the other names previously discussed. On a related subject Capello has made a lot of brilliant decisions during his tenure as England Coach but how is Michael Owen not worth a place in this current squad?
It may turn out that Saturday's defeat is exactly what this England team needs. It will hopefully stop some of the hype that seems to state that England only have to turn up in South Africa and the World Cup will be theirs. What cannot be denied is that England have a chance, especially considering a good number of the big nations are struggling to even qualify. Indeed even if the likes of France and Portugal do make it through the play-off's, they will hardly be considered favourites. Yet there is still Spain and Brazil to consider, whilst Germany could field a team of blind Tesco employees and they would still reach the semi-finals.
The golden generation have been a massive let down and they know it. The mystery is how could six or seven players even be called a generation, golden or not. If other countries could cherry pick England's players, who would they actually want? Steven Gerrard and Rooney perhaps. Would Spain's squad for example be greatly improved if they could have any of England's players? Alas the answer is no, probably not. Golden generation? Perhaps the Copper Dynasty would be more apt.
A Different Week Michael Owen's move reminiscent of The Boss - July 10
The City Circus - July 17
Beckham - End of an American dream? - July 24
Trouble at the Toon - July 31
Chester’s plight reflective of modern ways - August 7
What will happen - August 14
Joleon Lescott and the ugly side of a modern professional player - August 21
Defoe is Jermain man - August 28
Deadline day disappoints - September 4
Mixed fortunes for home nations, mixed treatment for English clubs? - September 11
Did Adebayor go too far or did we overreact? - September 18
A matter of race in the beautiful game's ugly side - September 25
Managing the job - October 2
Arrested development - Fergie rants, youngsters Baxter and Osbourne in trouble - October 9
England’s golden generation… - October 16
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