England drifting towards Euro 2012
Reuters - Thursday 01 March 2012, 11:46
Little more than three
months before England kick off against France at the Euro 2012
finals, the country's planning for the tournament appear to be
at the "blank sheet of paper" stage.
While a 3-2 home defeat against World Cup runners-up
Netherlands on Wednesday appears no disgrace, the scoreline
papers over the fact that England have rarely appeared less
prepared for a major competition.
Fabio Capello's resignation last month, while cheered by
many, has left England looking like a work in progress when the
serious contenders for Euro 2012 such as Spain, France, Germany
and the Netherlands are all-systems go.
The problem is, nobody is quite sure of what England's
finished article will look like, who will create it or who will
lead it on to the pitch in Donetsk on June 11.
"Get on With it" was the Daily Mail's headline on Thursday
in response to the uncertainty.
While Stuart Pearce, the under-21 manager, proudly took
charge of the senior team at Wembley on Wednesday he conceded
afterwards he is not a long-term option as England manager.
The team he sent out against the Dutch on Wednesday,
surprisingly captained by Tottenham Hotspur's Scott Parker ahead
of obvious candidate Steven Gerrard, displayed plenty of English
attributes like running, aggression and chasing lost causes.
It also lacked creativity, rhythm and the kind of nous that
wins major tournaments - an all too familiar failing.
Pearce cannot be blamed for that and there were mitigating
factors. Wayne Rooney, England's one world class performer, was
unavailable, as were defensive leader John Terry and Rio
Ferdinand and injured frontman Darren Bent.
It was a chance for others to stake their claims but in
attack, midfield and at the back, England looked short of
quality against an experienced Dutch side playing within itself.
'OUTSTANDING SIDE'
Manchester United's Ashley Young capped an impressive
display with a goal and Daniel Sturridge and Danny Welbeck
showed flashes of promise while Manchester City's back in favour
Micah Richards offered a muscular outlet at right-back.
England's midfield seemed designed more for
damage-limitation and were timid as a creative unit while the
defence buckled alarmingly when the visitors moved through the
gears with Chris Smalling and Leighton Baines both looking lost
against world class opposition.
Pearce remained upbeat despite the defeat.
"We came up against an outstanding side and the exercise
will stand our young players in good stead," said the former
England left-back, who has offered to take the team to the
finals.
However, with just two friendlies, against Norway and
Belgium, left to craft a team capable of challenging in the
summer, England are running out of time to come up with a
coherent tactical plan for the tournament.
Harry Redknapp is the favourite to take charge, but he is
still heavily involved in Tottenham Hotspur's quest for a
top-four finish in the Premier League and the FA Cup.
Redknapp may yet take over for the Euro 2012 finals but
England are in desperate need of direction and the longer the FA
delay over Capello's replacement the slimmer the hopes of
success in Poland and Ukraine become.
The one positive for England is that the normally sky-high
expectations before a tournament are not there this time and a
quarter-final exit, usually viewed as failure, would be about
par for the course.