I must confess, I didn’t watch Tuesday’s game in its entirety. I actually had something better to do. Yes, better than another tedious England fixture.
And what I don’t want to do here is fall into the trap of typical England fan extremism – we win a game, and we’re the best side in the world. Lose one, and everyone involved with the national team should be sacked. England can’t win every game. There will be times when other sides play defensively and we struggle to break them down. There will also be occasions when we are outplayed and defeated.
From what I did see, the game was disappointing but Montenegro defended very well and England simply didn’t have the creativity to break them down. That will happen. I wasn’t overly depressed by that fact. However, I really did despair when Shaun Wright-Phillips entered the action. Seriously, is that all we’ve got?
I’ve been a Wright-Phillips sceptic for years. In fact, sceptic is polite. I think he’s an awful player, so far from international quality. The best description I’ve ever heard of Wright-Phillips is “a dog chasing a balloon”. The man simply has no control over the football. If he wasn’t quick, I don’t think he would even be semi-pro quality. Time and time again, I see Wright-Phillips bundle the ball out of play, misplace a pass, run into an opponent and generally look like an embarrassment to the England shirt.
Wright-Phillips is barely on the Manchester City bench. How, therefore, can Fabio Capello still be using him for England? I find this genuinely staggering. Wright-Phillips is a woeful excuse for an international footballer at the best of times, let alone when he’s low on confidence and playing time. I just can’t comprehend how this man is still seen as someone to unlock a stubborn defence.
Admittedly, resources are low at the moment, There are injuries in the attacking department especially, and that’s why the likes of Kevin Davies have been called up. While I’m not convinced Davies is international quality, at least he’s playing well for his club and his confidence is high. I just find the selection of Wright-Phillips so negative, so unimaginative. He’s proven to be ineffective at international level. At home, with 15 minutes to go, why not bring on Jack Wilshere? Someone with some creativity. Sure, it might not work but I struggle to believe Wilshere could have been be any more useless than Wright-Phillips. Plus Wilshere is a man for the future, a player who clearly possesses exceptional talent. Wright-Phillips does not fall into that category.
I don’t want to start Capello bashing, but I really wish he would take a risk, and get out of his comfort zone. Ok, you’re not going to start an important qualifier with untested players, but with 20 minutes to go, desperately needing a goal, there simply has to be a better option than bringing on a dog to helplessly chase around a balloon…
Firstly I couldn't agree more with your withering assessments on Wright-Phillips. The fact he is STILL getting caps was arguably the most depressing element of Tuesday’s largely underwhelming game. However, I think the real point that you hit the nail squarely on the head off is the fact that we shouldn’t still be playing the same old, same old, when it’s been proven that they can’t get it done in major tournament after major tournament.
ReplyDeleteMaybe right now Gareth Barry is more accomplished than say Jack Rodwell, but Barry is a proven failure at international level whereas Rodwell still has the chance to make an impact. You keep faith with people like Ashley Cole as they are top draw players, but it is the squad players like SWP, who have proved nothing more than international football is way out of their league that need to be jettisoned and left behind.