England expects. but rarely delivers
McClaren cut a very glum figure in Tel Aviv... and rightly so
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Tuesday, 27, Mar 2007 12:44
There is one ray of sunshine in the wake of England's latest inept performance - there are still seven games left of the European Championship group E qualifying campaign.
Given that the fixture on Wednesday in Barcelona is against Andorra, dare it be said, three points is all but ensured. But there is the overwhelming feeling that a win would merely represent a stay of execution for Steve McClaren as the media vultures circle in ever-increasing numbers.
Three points behind second-placed Russia and a comprehensive five points behind leaders Croatia, McClaren's men are now in serious danger of repeating the qualifying failure of 1994.
In all honesty, it would be little more than England deserve. One poor performance now follows another and what's more, it seems all-too inevitable.
The one player willing to probe Israel in Tel Aviv, willing to add that little element of invention and creativity was Spurs winger Aaron Lennon. However, along with his blistering pace he also showed a propensity to cut inside, common with most right wingers stuck out on the left wing.
McClaren's refused to swap Steven Gerrard and Lennon around was bordering on the incompetent. Lennon would have arguably run the Israeli left-back ragged with his raw pace on the outside, giving him space to whip crosses in for the eager Andy Johnson or out-of-sorts Wayne Rooney.
However, Lennon was inexplicably replaced by Stewart Downing, who has shown nothing in his international career that shows he has anything to offer other than a left foot. The England fans' chants of "you don't know what you're doing" seemed like valid criticism.
An offshoot of the 0-0 draw was the confirmation of just how important Chelsea's Joe Cole is to this England side. Prodigiously talented, Cole offers something unconventional in a midfield that, despite boasting two seemingly world-class talents in Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard, is at the moment completely devoid of creativity.
Until Cole returns to action it appears McClaren will keep the midfield we saw in Tel Aviv as England's left-hand side continues to pose problems. For this reason, Lampard's latest failure to find the target, the chief factor behind his effectiveness at club level, is all the more galling.
How the England manager must still be ruing Paul Scholes' refusal to come out of international retirement. His deft touch in front of goal is sorely missed, even moreso than his uncanny ability to time his late runs from deep.
And Scholes is also arguably the most technically gifted English midfielder of his generation.
In the wake of this latest failure, McClaren has some soul-searching to do. The 'drop Lampard' bandwagon is now trundling along at quite a pace and the boss must decide just when enough is enough and reputation alone is not sufficient to warrant a place in the starting XI.
There are no easy answers to England's predicament. Two draws and a defeat from five qualifying matches tells its own story, as does just one goal in the past five games.
If only Rooney could turn his raw aggression into goals, then all may be forgiven for McClaren. The Manchester United forward picked up another petulant booking to add to his collection of cards for continuing his war of words with Tal Ben Haim and he generally looked like an angry young man all night.
If only Michael Owen can recover in time for the Estonia game in June. England sorely miss his clinical finishing - a "fox in the box", in the words of Arsene Wenger, that McClaren's side urgently require.
"We understand the fans' reaction and everyone else's but we feel it was over the top," McClaren said afterwards.
Many people would disagree with that denouement.
His comments definitely cannot mask the rising discontent that pervades the newspaper columns and radio phone-ins, and maybe even the dressing room if the Rooney rumours are to be believed.
This scenario has been vigorously denied by McClaren who described such reports as a "load of rubbish". It is a shame he did not reserve the same conclusion for the Israel performance.
The bottom line is that England must start performing. A win against Andorra may quell the tide of unrest, albeit in the short term, but a show of attacking prowess, a goal or two from the underperforming midfield and a superstar performance of Euro 2004 proportions from Rooney may just rejuvenate a side in urgent need of a spark of any kind.
It was Admiral Lord Nelson who famously cried "England expects that every man will do his duty" before the Battle of Trafalgar commenced.
It is now time for England to deliver a performance they are more than capable of producing or face the unthinkable prospect of failing to qualify for Euro 2008.
Adam Bushby