England revive golden summer memories
Reuters - Thursday 21 June 2012, 10:00
With every determined
night's work and each slice of good fortune that passes their
way at Euro 2012, the England squad and their manager Roy
Hodgson prompt memories of the nation's most successful team -
the 'wingless wonders' of 1966.
Then, as now, a team built on the foundations of a solid
defence, emerged strengthened after a difficult opening group
stage to prove that great heart, a clear strategy and
well-prepared tactics can succeed.
As England battled to their 1-0 victory against Ukraine in
Donetsk on Tuesday to set up a quarter-final with Italy, that
heart - and much courageous tackling and blocking - was embodied
by several men, but no more so than by Scott Parker.
The 31-year-old Tottenham Hotspur midfielder demonstrated he
was prepared to hurl not only his feet, legs or body into a
challenge, but also his head.
If only he had half his front teeth missing, he would
already have been dubbed 'Nobby' after Nobby Stiles, who snapped
at anything moving in front of England's 1966 World Cup-winning
defence.
But Parker's unsung and gritty work in a defensive midfield
role is only one of many examples of the similarities between
the team that beat West Germany 4-2 after extra time in the
World Cup final at Wembley and now.
Where the belatedly knighted England manager of 1966, Sir
Alf Ramsey, had one of the world's greatest goalkeepers in
Gordon Banks, his 2012 counterpart Roy Hodgson has the
hugely-promising Joe Hart.
Where Ramsey had a slow, but brilliant defender, blessed
with immaculate anticipation and an ability to make
perfectly-timed tackles, in his captain Bobby Moore, Hodgson can
refer to the less visionary but equally dependable John Terry.
Where England, in 1966, had arguably the finest left back in
the world in Ray Wilson, then at the peak of his career, now
they have Ashley Cole.
It would be stretching comparisons to suggest Joleon Lescott
and Glen Johnson recall memories of Jack Charlton and George
Cohen, captain Steven Gerrard fills a similar role to that once
occupied by Bobby Charlton, or James Milner offers even a
passable imitation of Martin Peters but similarities, in
positional play and style, exist.
SIMILAR INDUSTRY
Like Ramsey's men, the 2012 players have been subjugated to
the needs of the team - a Ramsey doctrine, as enshrined in his
approach as much as discipline and tactics.
His 4-4-2 system, without natural width supplied by
'old-fashioned' wingers, was seen as revolutionary, but remains
the blueprint on which Hodgson has evolved the tactics of his
2012 quarter-finalists.
Where Alan Ball scampered and ran and ran, Ashley Young
provides similar industry and a supply line to two central
strikers. For Geoff Hurst and Roger Hunt, two heroes of 1966,
read Danny Welbeck or Andy Carroll and Wayne Rooney.
In reserve, as before, England have a natural goalscorer
from Tottenham Hotspur - Jermain Defoe in a role that was Jimmy
Greaves' fate, as the 'wingless wonders' evolved and he was cast
aside.
But that is not all.
Both Ramsey and Hodgson were natives of the outer reaches of
London, from Dagenham and Croydon respectively, and each took
the job on in his own way, despite reservations in some quarters
and whispers about alleged speech impediments.
To counter the latter, Ramsey used his own version of
'received pronunciation' while the travelled and scholarly
Hodgson has retained his natural style of speech in spite of
ill-judged tabloid attempts at satire.
Both men also found themselves facing France in their first
competitive international fixtures as England manager - Ramsey
losing 5-2 in a European Nations' Cup qualifier while Hodgson
oversaw a 1-1 draw in Donetsk on June 11.
Curiously, Ramsey met France again in the group stages of
1966 when England won 2-0 en route to meeting Argentina in an
ill-tempered quarter-final.
In style, too, both men have common ground - commanding
respect, order and organisation from their players and in turn
treating them as men and allowing the squad some freedom with
responsibility.
On the wall of the England dressing room at Wembley, rumour
has it that Ramsey hung a quotation from Chairman Mao.
It read: 'The enemy advances, we retreat; the enemy camps,
we harass; the enemy tires, we attack; the enemy retreats, we
pursue.'
Close observers of Hodgson's England believe the same quote
could easily have been used again at Euro 2012.