Steve McClaren has not had the easiest of starts as England’s head coach and it is no exaggeration to say that he was facing a somewhat uncertain future before his team’s back-to-back qualifiers against Israel and Russia at Wembley Stadium.
England went in to the game against Israel last Saturday with a sorry record of just two wins in their previous nine games. A defeat at home to either Israel or Russia or both and McClaren might well have been ringing around to see what jobs could be on offer if he needed one.
It was not looking too clever for him either. Frank Lampard, Wayne Rooney, David Beckham, Owen Hargreaves and Gary Neville were all out with injuries while Peter Crouch was suspended for the Israel game.
It was time for McClaren to gamble and he came up trumps.
In came the under-rated Gareth Barry to play alongside Steven Gerrard in midfield. Emile Heskey was beckoned from the international wilderness for the first time in three years. Shaun Wright-Phillips was told to start playing for England the same way he has started the season at Chelsea.
It was an unfamiliar concoction — but the ingredients came together. For the first time in a long time England played as a team.
Unlikely partnerships flourished all over the field: Heskey and Michael Owen in attack, Wright-Phillips and Micah Richards on the right; Barry and Gerrard in the midfield.
England won both games 3-0 to rekindle their Euro 2008 hopes and keep McClaren’s job safe for now.
The circumstances of how he has managed to make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear recall Bobby Robson’s England of Italia ‘90 when injuries appeared to blight their hopes of progress.
Skipper Bryan Robson, defender Gary Stevens and forward John Barnes all started the opening match against Ireland, but none of them remained when England went out on penalties to West Germany in the semi-final three weeks later.
Robson was forced to change his team because of circumstances beyond his control and he almost took England to the World Cup final.
McClaren similarly had to juggle his side in ways he couldn’t have imagined two weeks ago. He admits he has no idea why Heskey worked so well with Owen, for example. “It was just a hunch,” he said. “These things happen. You can’t explain them.”
It might have been luck, or perhaps he’s being modest and he had an insight into the players no-one else saw. As Gary Player once said of his golfing success: “It’s a funny thing, the more I practise, the luckier I get.”
McClaren certainly got lucky this week. All England have to do now is keep practising.
Mike Collett, London
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4 comments so far
they played excellent owen is better than before
- Posted by matty mayThe problem with England is that they have depended too much on their “star” players like Rooney and Lampard. And so when they are out, people start saying, its all over for the boys. But they tend to forget that there are quite a few other decent players who can play at the international level.
Like Gareth Barry for example. The Aston Villa captain, is a good in mid-field and it is really surprising that he doesn’t get a chance, just because there are the “stars” to be accomodated. Hopefully now with the performance he has shown against Israel and against Russia, there will be more opportunities for him.
As for Heskey, he and Owen have combined well even in the past and they both flourish when playing side by side. There was a apt statement by a commentator after the Russian encounter the other day on Star Sports. He said Only if Heskey had played this well more often, he would have had 40-50 international matches by now.
- Posted by Nachiket KelkarHope Heskey’s present form continues through to Euro 2008.
Owen did look sharp, didn’t he? There seem to be a load of people jumping on the bandwagon of leaving Rooney out in future and leaving the Heskey/Owen partnership intact. What do you think will happen if Steve Mc does that and we lose a couple of times with Rooney on the bench? Grahm Taylor and Lineker anyone?
- Posted by LondonI agree entirely that the Engalnd side picked to play this week was influenced heavily by injuries and suspensions. Heskey and Barry, the two lynchpins in the side, would not have played if Hargreaves, Lampard, Rooney and (in the first game) Crouch were available.
The theme that has been repeated several times on this site is that the England manager must have the gumption to stand up to the Press and pick the best team as opposed to the best individuals.
In 66 Sir Alf famously stuck to his guns and played Geoff Hurst in the final rather than give in to the pressure mounting on him to play Jimmy Greaves.
Prior to Sir Alf’s appointment the England team was picked by commitee rather than the manager and Sir Alf had to fight had to win the argument. Over the past few years it seems we have reverted and the team once again has been picked by committee consisting almost entirely of the press.
- Posted by Jim