With
Euro 2012 kicking-off - it's time to profile the countries taking part, from
their footballing beginnings to the present day.
Coach: Roy Hodgson
Group Winners
One to Watch: Andy Carroll
In
the next of my Euro 2012 team profiles, England come under the spotlight.
England have the joint oldest national football team, having been formed in
1870. They have a proud footballing history and see themselves as inventors of
the game which has become their national sport. Needless to say, England have
been a regular feature at major international tournaments, appearing at the
World Cup Finals on thirteen occasions since 1950 and participating in the European Championships eight times, the first being in 1968.
Success
however, has been harder to come by in the competitions themselves. The English
have only ever won the World Cup once, on home ground in 1966, defeating West
Germany 4-2 at Wembley in the final, after a famous hat-trick from Geoff Hurst.
The closest that the English have come since then, was an agonising penalty
shoot-out defeat by West Germany in the semi-final at Italia 90.
The
European Championships, formerly the European Nations Cup, has proven an even
more difficult nut to crack. England’s best achievements in that tournament so
far have been a third place finish in 1968 and, another penalty shoot-out
defeat by the Germans, this time in the semi-final of Euro 96, in front of
their home fans.
Since
then successive England managers, Glenn Hoddle, Kevin Keegan and Sven Goran
Eriksson have fared no better, all successfully negotiating tournament
qualification groups and then failing to deliver, from the tournament phase,
anything more than quarter final elimination at best.
Following
Eriksson’s unsuccessful 2006 World Cup campaign he was replaced as head coach
by Steve McClaren. Under McClaren’s direction the England team slumped to a new
low in modern times. Failing to qualify for Euro 2008 was the first time that
England hadn’t reached a major international competition since their failure to
qualify for the 1994 World Cup. McClaren was duly sacked and became the
shortest serving England manager ever, he was replaced by Fabio Capello.
Capello
arrived with an “Iron Man” reputation, he would instil the discipline required
to turn England’s ageing, so called “Golden Generation” into “lean mean winning
machines” and, for a while, it looked like he had. England qualified for South
Africa 2010 in impressive style, with a game to spare, sealing their place with
a 5-1 home win over Croatia.
Things
were looking rosy. However, once again at the tournament itself, England
started off in shaky fashion, only just scraping through the group stage. It
was clear from the very start that the problems of old hadn’t been fixed.
Capello was unsure who his goalkeeper should be, Gerrard and Lampard were still
being used together despite their obvious deficiency as a partnership, and the
4-4-2 system employed by Capello looked totally out of date.
By
the time England faced Germany in the second round, the team were at sixes and
sevens, bereft of drive or confidence in themselves or each other and pretty
quickly were being put to the sword by a dynamic, exciting, young German side
who knew how to play together. England went home.
After
that, Capello was forced to ring the changes and changed things around a
bit, bringing in some younger, fresher
talent. It seemed to do the trick, with the England side qualifying unbeaten
for the Euros in Poland and Ukraine and recording an impressive victory over
World and European Champions Spain in a friendly.
However,
the F.A.s decision to unilaterally strip John Terry of the England captaincy,
because of the criminal charge of racism
which is hanging over his head, without mentioning it to Capello,
resulted in a public disagreement and Capello's eventual resignation just a couple of months before
Euro 2012 was due to begin.
The
F.A. took their time over replacing him. After placing under-21 boss Stuart
Pearce in temporary charge, the top brass took months to name their successor
allowing the rumour mill to flourish and the fans and media to select their
favourite. Their favourite was Harry Redknapp who was, needless to say, snubbed
by the powers that be, as Roy Hodgson got the vote.
Hodgson
is a journeyman manager with plenty of experience in various countries,
including at international level with Switzerland. He is an old-fashioned type
of manager who believes in strict defensive discipline, two banks of four
working hard without the ball. Hodgson is not a man who has time for the finer
arts of possessional football, he is happier to contain the opposition and soak
up the pressure whilst trying to nick a goal on the counter-attack. A great
organiser, his success level improving small clubs and pushing them up the
table is without question, however, he famously came unstuck at Liverpool
attempting to play this way and question marks must be raised over his tactics
and adaptability to change at the highest level.
The
new manager's final squad raised some eyebrows, the omission of Micah Richards
and Rio Ferdinand for example, along with the inclusion of John Terry have been
major talking points. Frank Lampard's thigh injury means that he will now miss
out, with Jordan Henderson being called in to replace him in the squad.
Lampard's misfortune, although a big loss, may work in England's favour as
Hodgson cannot now be tempted back into re-forming that fatally flawed
partnership in the centre of midfield.
Gerrard
has been handed the captaincy, something which he has desired for years, and we
can expect to see him play a major part in the Championships from his preferred
central midfield position. With Gareth Barry also ruled out through injury,
Scott Parker will likely partner Gerrard. His tough tackling and positional
discipline should allow the Liverpool captain to join up from midfield and get
forward where he can be most effective.
Whether
England play 4-4-1-1 or, as is Hodgson's default formation, 4-4-2, a player to
keep your eye out for is Andy Carroll. At 6ft 4" it's impossible to miss
the big striker and, having had a tough start to his life as England's most
expensive player, the Liverpool front-man arrives at the tournament in great
form. Rooneys suspension, coupled with Carroll's improvement in recent times,
has earned the Geordie the coveted no.9 shirt and he intends to grasp the
opportunity with both hands.
At
his best Carroll is a nightmare for defenders; fantastic in the air, with great
strength and good link-up play, he packs a thunderous left-foot and, when he's
fully fit-as he is now- he has a quick turn of foot. If England can play to his
strengths and get players like Ashley Young , Danny Welbeck and Steven Gerrard
around him, the big man could be a revelation.
It
is almost impossible to predict England’s chances of success in Poland and
Ukraine, they have only had about a fortnight to work with Roy Hodgson and his
rigid methods/philosophy can take time for players to adapt to. There are a
couple of wildcards in the squad, such as Alex Oxlaide Chamberlain,
Arsenal's direct and quick attacking
midfielder, and Danny Welbeck of Manchester United, but on the whole I wouldn't
anticipate England to play an expansive, attractive game under Hodgson.
Expect
England to be well-organised and difficult to break down, they won't score many
but they won't concede too many either. The form of goalkeeper Joe Hart will be
crucial. Fresh from winning the Premier League title with Manchester City, he
has shown himself to be one of the best young goalkeepers in Europe. A
continuation of that kind of form is imperative.
The
level of expectation in England going
into Euro 2012, as has been widely reported, is lower than it has been in a
long time going into a tournament, partly to do with the situation and partly
do with the squad selected. This could work in England's favour as often in the
past English teams have cracked under the weight of the nation's hopes.
However, drawn in group d, they face no "easy" matches. England will
play France first, followed by Sweden and, host nation, Ukraine.
France
are coming to Poland and Ukraine on the back of a twenty match unbeaten run,
Ribery is on fire and they have quality throughout the team. I expect France to
dominate possession against England and therfore, with the players they have,
win the match. As I don't envisage England scoring too many, they will need to
be at their best defensively to shut-out a free-scoring Sweden in their second
game.With Rooney back available for the third game, I can see England having
enough to beat Ukraine but again, it will be hard-fought game against one of
the hosts who will be keen to progress in front of their home fans.
Whilst
I think England will have just about enough to get through the group, it will
be touch and go and they could be edged out by either of the other teams
(assuming France win the group). That's what is so great about the European
Championships, especially this time around, the groups are just too difficult
to call with any level of certainty.
By Neil Patterson
Email:
neil.b.patterson@gmail.com
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