Changing of the Guard – Why England Must Focus on the Future

Jones & Smalling

With the completely unsuccessful ‘golden generation’ of English football slowly fading into the darkness, it appears likely that the England team will soon no longer be blessed with the world beating players from years gone by.

With Gerrard, Lampard, Ferdinand, Terry, Ashley Cole, Barry & Parker all in their 30s, it’s unlikely any of them will still be prominent by the Brazil World Cup in 2014 – is it time to wipe the slate clean and focus on the younger talent?

A Dilemma for Fabio?

I suppose it depends how you view the Euro Championships in 2012. Let’s face it, our squad simply doesn’t compete player-for-player with the likes of the Netherlands, Germany, or Spain (we were very lucky). It’s unlikely we’ll win; there are better teams out there.

Fabio Capello should be facing a dilemma about where to focus his efforts, on the short-term (Euro 2012), or the long-term (Brazil 2014). Unfortunately for English football, the fact that Capello is destined to leave straight after Euro 2012 (a ridiculous situation created by the ever-fumbling F.A.) suggests the decision may have already been made – it’s not in his interests to build for 2014.

If England take a similar squad for the game versus Spain to Poland/Ukraine 2012, preparation for the  World Cup will mean having to start from scratch, 2014 is beyond Terry, Lampard, Barry, Parker and Cole– even the centre-back pairing of Jagielka and Lescott will be deep into their 30s by then.

Assuming we won’t win the Euros with the already-declining senior players, my argument is to thank them for their service, and start focusing now on building a team of young players, using Euro 2012 as a warm-up for football’s pinnacle event, Brazil 2014.

If Capello was willing to put his quest for personal glory to one side, he could begin to create a group of players who would have plenty of time to learn how to play with each other over the next 3 years. The players themselves might not be world-beaters, but if they learn how to play together – they would have much more of a chance of being successful.

The Future of England

So who is the future of England?

Thankfully there is one position that seems to be filled for the next 10 years or so, Joe Hart looks set to become an English great.

In the centre of defence we look to Man Utd’s pairing of Phil Jones and Chris Smalling, who will be competing with Gary Cahill. Right back is a fiercely competitive position with Glen Johnson, Micah Richards, Kyle Walker and Martin Kelly fighting for places. In left back you can pick from Leighton Baines, Kieran Gibbs or Matthew Briggs.

In the centre of midfield there is Jack Wilshere, alongside him it’s likely to be one of Jordan Henderson, Tom Cleverley, Jack Rodwell or perhaps even Chelsea’s starlet Josh McEachran. On the wings there are Aaron Lennon, Ashley Young, Adam Johnson, James Milner & Stewart Downing.

Finally, up front you can choose from Wayne Rooney, Andy Carroll, Darren Bent, Gabby Agbonlahor, Danny Welbeck, Daniel Sturridge and Theo Walcott (he’s not a winger…).

There’s clearly plenty of talent ready to burst through, and it seems we’ll have a great spine of Hart-Jones-Wilshere-Rooney in the years to come. If these players are given time to learn how to play with each other, the prospects could be great.

The Decision for 2012

When Capello sits down to pick a squad for Poland/Ukraine 2012, let’s hope he has at least one eye on the future of English football.

It makes sense to take players like Scott Parker and Ashley Cole, senior members who are still able to perform at the top level whilst using their experience to help the younger players as they slowly take over the reins.

This can’t be said for Lampard, Gerrard, Ferdinand and Terry though – their best days are behind them, and their presence in the England squad is stifling the youth coming though. The same could be said for the bizarre, seemingly ‘sentimental’ selection of an aging Bobby Zamora. His place could surely be filled by an equally talented young player whose experience of a Major International competition could prove vital in 2014.

So it all boils down to what Capello wants to do. Will he leave in 2012 knowing he’s prepared the national team for Brazil 2014 as much as he could have done, or will he shun the youth in order to maximise the small chance of England winning gold in 2012?

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About the author

Oliver Jay has written 41 articles for Soccer On The Brain

Football fanatic desperately trying to get over being ordered to go to cub scouts rather than attending a trial for Fulham at the age of 10. It all went downhill from there. Follow me on twitter @OliverJay_

  • Gary Mcghee

    Agree with most of your comments, and they also raise the issue of who replaces Capello? I think there’s a real case for skipping a generation and going for Stuart Pearce, despite the fact that he’s only managed the under 21′s. I’ve nothing against ‘Arry Redknapp, who’s doing a great job at Spurs, for instance, but international football management is very a different beast to club management, and Pearce is more experienced with it. He also has the advantage of direct involvement in nurturing most if not all these younger players emerging into the senior side. I also think it’s important that he’s relatively young, ( re Joachim Lowe with Germany), because it tends to be easier to relate when the age gap is not so big, and the time when the manager was themselves a player more recent. (Of course Man U/Sir Alex may disagree with that, but he/that is pretty exceptional imo.) Pearce has also been closely involved in Capello’s tenure. Moreover, it is the same argument with regard to players, surely, that a new youthful era must now be established, one that can work towards 2014 without much past baggage.

    • http://twitter.com/ojay1331 Oliver Jay

      Interesting points – I remember seeing somewhere a few months ago that Pearce had supposedly ruled himself out of becoming the new England manager, perhaps a decent performance with the GB team at the Olympics might change his mind. It does look like Redknapp’s pretty nailed on to replace Capello though (assuming he doesn’t get done for tax evasion), he fits the bill in almost every way (English/good man management/tactically astute/popular with fans).

      With regards to having a young manager, I suppose there are likely to be pros and cons – I don’t think Redknapp’s out of touch like Capello was.

      If the choice is between Redknapp’s & Pearce, which it seems it is (maybe Hodgson could throw his hat in), it makes sense to me to give the job to Harry – it’s likely to be his last chance to go for it & his consistent success over the last 20 years warrants the accolade of being given the top job in English football.

      If it doesn’t work out for Harry, there’s no reason why Pearce can’t take the reins next time around

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