England: Reasons to be cheerful
Come on John. Cheer up. It might never happen again.
Also In The News
|
Peter Crouch netted a hat-trick, despite missing a penalty, as England eased past Jamaica with a 6-0 victory. |  |
Sunday, 04, Jun 2006 11:49
Ok so England went out at the quarter-final stage of a major competition. Again. And faltered in a penalty shoot-out. Again. And the Premiership's superstars failed to shine. Again. But there are still some things to smile about. Honest.
If we set aside the obvious failings of the tournament, not least the string of inept performances from star players like Frank Lampard, Michael Owen pre-injury and Steven Gerrard, then we can take a shred of hope for the future away from Germany 2006.
Owen Hargreaves for one. He was vilified, belittled and even booed at first but showed true English grit to overcome those hurdles and win over the knockers. The fact that he's the only player in the squad not to have been born in England may be more telling than it first seems.
The guy is relatively low-profile compared to the Beckhams, Rooneys and Ferdinands of the world and faces a constant battle to prove he is worth his place in the Bayern Munich side, not least the England set-up.
But after filling in wherever he was asked with aplomb and a gutsy, unrelenting performance against the odds in the Gelsenkirchen defeat his stock has risen more than even he could have hoped for.
Before the World Cup he was linked with the Middlesbroughs and Evertons but now the heads of the bigger fish should be turned. Manchester United are after a decent holding midfielder in the Roy Keane mould. Maybe they'll now look away from Michael Carrick and towards Hargreaves instead.
And what about Joe Cole? Pele reckons he's good enough to play for Brazil and despite the great man's judgment being somewhat questioned by his assertion that Nicky Butt was the best player of the last World Cup, he has a point.
The Chelsea pocket rocket was in great form throughout, leaving his club and country captains in the shade. And that goal against Sweden was a shining light in an otherwise gloomy tournament for the English.
Aaron Lennon is another who has done his reputation no harm in Germany and Tottenham must be thanking their lucky stars that they were spending a million on getting him from Leeds while Chelsea were (again) breaking the bank for Shaun Wright-Phillips.
His directness and ability to bamboozle defences is a rare quality and David Beckham's resignation as captain should be the precursor to his resignation from playing as well. Harsh? Maybe, but the Real Madrid star will be 33 at Euro 2008 and it is time to look to the future.
Theo Walcott has also had a good World Cup - bear with me on this one - and the experience he had in Germany will only benefit England in the long-run.
I don't for a moment believe that Sven-Goran Eriksson was behaving altruistically in his decision to pick the young Arsenal striker - he, wrongly, believed the former Southampton starlet was ready for action - but his punt will stand the 17-year-old in good stead in two years' time.
By then, with Dennis Bergkamp and Robert Pires both out of the way in the Arsenal pecking order, Walcott should be a regular for his club and will have had his desire to represent his country sent sky-high this summer.
Yes, so he's not ready yet but training with the country's elite for a month will only help him progress as a player. Remember a certain Mr Rooney making a considerable impact in his 19th year at Euro 2004? Well Walcott could be set to do exactly the same.
So there are reasons to be cheerful. And with a seemingly straightforward route to Austria and Switzerland in front of him, Steve McClaren should be chomping at the bit to get stuck into his new job.
John Terry lifting the European Championship trophy after a Theo Walcott brace against Germany in the final. Steve McClaren looking on in quiet satisfaction at achieving what his mentor never looked close to doing. I can see it all now. Or is it all just another false dawn?
Martin Ashplant