World Cup 2010 Previews: England

This One's For You, Huh-Bob Bradley

Norfolk Ned and I are sick of previewing the World Cup by now. At least, the bit happening on Saturday afternoon (for which some of you will be joining us). I’m tired of the pep talks, the punditry, the liberal use of single-word quotes by players (the one I saw today… Michael Bradley said the USMNT will be “aggressive”, like that’s something of a revelation), the whole nine yards.

Yet, we were compelled to look at our beloved Three Lions squad and answer five questions buzzing around our heads. Feel free to mock in the comments, or goad with more questions. Instead of a regular preview — you know the deal, we won in 1966 and that’s about it — we’re attacking it roundtable-style a la the USMNT preview. Except with two of us, it’s one of those tiny square tables stuck in the corner. You get the idea.

Country: England
Nickname: The Three Lions
Coach: “Don” Fabio Capello

World Cup Squad
GKs:
Joe Hart (Manchester City), David James (Portsmouth), Robert Green (West Ham)

DF:
Jamie Carragher (Liverpool), Ashley Cole (Chelsea), Ledley King (Tottenham), Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United), Glen Johnson (LIverpool), John Terry (Chelsea), Matthew Upson (West Ham), Stephen Warnock (Aston Villa)

MF:
Gareth Barry (Manchester City), Michael Carrick (Manchester United), Joe Cole (Chelsea), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Frank Lampard (Chelsea), Aaron Lennon (Tottenham), James Milner (Aston Villa), Shaun Wright-Phillips (Manchester City)

FW:
Peter Crouch (Tottenham), Jermain Defoe (Tottenham), Emile Heskey (Aston Villa), Wayne Rooney (Manchester United)

Fixtures
(all times ET)
England v. USA – June 12th, 2.30p – Rustenburg
England v. Algeria – June 18th, 2.30p – Cape Town
England v. Slovenia – June 23rd, 10.00a – Port Elizabeth/Nelson Mandela Bay

Home Base
The Bafokeng Sports Campus in Rustenburg. You know, the place that almost wasn’t finished in time, then was, and then fell foul of the local snake populations. Lovely.

And now… the questions…

1. What’s going to make this squad different from the ones that tried and failed in 2002 and 2006?
NORFOLK NED: Experience. In 2002 and 2006 we had a lot of young players lacking the experience of such big events–also the squad today is far superior to the one in 2002, a team that featured players like Trevor Sinclair, Darius Vassel, Nigel Martyn, Nicky Butt, Robbie Fowler and Kieron Dyer. 2006 was a much better squad but still included players like Jermaine Jenas and Scott ‘Rabbit in the lights’ Carson. Also, four years is a long time in football and many of the current crop will have learned from the events of 2006, ya hear me Wayne?

JAMES T: I’d say that the experience is huge, but the manager is the huge upgrade here for me, at least compared to Sven’s quiet, placating style in 2006. Eriksson allowed the players to do what they pleased, bringing all their WAGs in tow to make a mockery of Baden-Baden, the quiet spa town that never knew what hit it. While it made him popular with the players, it also didn’t make him the best manager. Skewing to that end of the Machiavellian scale created a team of divas that sulked and smiled without much real direction.

Capello’s guidance, tactical awareness and fiery character make him a huge asset to the squad. If anyone is going to figure out how to get Lampard and Gerrard to function in the same XI, it’s him. That kind of problem-solving seems well within Capello’s capabilities.

2. Biggest weakness in the team?
NN: The two weaknesses that are a little obvious are as follows: first off is between the posts. Green is number one and an excellent shot-stopper when facing one-on-one situations, but other countries have excellent keepers. That said, it’s not the be all and end all, we have a better defense than most teams, even sans Rio. Tim Howard is a terrific keeper and better than Green, but the defense in from of him collectively resembles a sieve from Williams Sonoma. Another weakness is not having an experienced, tried and tested back-up for Rooney, a player who can come in if necessary and have an impact up top. For instance, Argentina have very talented forwards, all European stars— thank god that’s all they have. If I was Capello I would always take the target-men to play with Rooney, but Defoe is lightweight and another top forward would really make a difference.

JT: Good god. Lack of speed. I really fear the extra gear that so many players are missing. While a guy like Theo Walcott is correctly watching the Cup from his couch, there’s something to be said for that intangible. Deliberate, slow build-up play is relatively easy to defend, and the fact that only one or two players possess a genuine burst of momentum — Rooney, Lennon, Glen Johnson, maybe even Milner — puts more pressure on an accurate passing game in order to make opposing defenses sweat. Can’t just walk it in gently, folks. This is the World Cup! Backline has me panicking a bit too; Rio’s absense is a worry; not for the group stages, but looking beyond that. The thought of needing Ledley King’s knees to stay together against a team like Brazil or Holland is enough to give me night terrors. That said, they’re wily.

Please Play Well, Glen

3. Which player needs to step up and perform to, or beyond, expectations in order to make England’s campaign successful?
NN: For me, Steven Gerrard is the one player who has been around England for a decade and disappointed the most, he really needs to step up and make that move from good player to great one. When he is at his best, anything is possible, however, he rarely is. At 30, he is bang in his prime and has an abundance of WC experience now, he needs to be the difference– Capello gives him a license to roam from the left, something McClown and others haven’t offered. He’s been forced to play with Lampard in the middle where they appear to get each other’s way, it’s likely they will be a pairing this Saturday v the USA but after that, if Barry is fit, or Carrick gambled, Gerrard will have the freedom to be the key factor is pushing this team on to the later stages.

JT: A lot is to be expected from Gerrard, sure, but I need to see something from whoever plays alongside Wayne Rooney. Fact is, England do win with a guy like Emile Heskey in the lineup, but 3 goals and 2 assists in 47 appearances in 2009/10 (31 starts) is not World Cup-quality. I get that he’s the target guy, expected to hold up possession, but call me old-fashioned: this is soccer. It’s not jazz, where guys wax lyrical about the notes not played. Seven games from start to finish and goals are at a premium. Putting the scoring onus on Rooney makes him easier to isolate and frustrate. When that happens, I might weep. Same goes for that young lad at right back, Glen Johnson. His pace is a major asset, but he’s a defensively-challenged guy in the backline. Easy to flummox, constantly caught too far upfield a la van der Wiel from the Netherlands, and we’ll need him to be strong up and down the entire flank in order to have success. He and Lennon can terrorize opponents if they’re in sync. A shaky club season with LFC means that I’m demanding high performances from the ex-Pompey defender.

4. Worried about the age?
NN: The age doesn’t worry me at all, look at Italy in 2006! The England team has experience now and that needs to count for something. The average age of 28.7 is actually to our advantage as that’s when a player reaches his peak, at 27. Even younger players like Rooney are experienced now and it seems like he’s been around forever.

JT: Not especially. The Italy comparison is well-founded, though the age does feed back into my concerns about an overall dearth of pace. Looking long-term, I worry that the bulk of any projected starting XI won’t be playing anymore in 2014 (assuming, of course, that England qualify). In that respect, another young’un like Adam Johnson would be nice, because he’ll be needed in the future.

5. Honest-to-God Prediction… is this the year for England to repeat 1966?
NN: Anything outside of a place in the semi-final and this campaign will have been a failure. We are good enough to be in the semi-final and need to make that happen; the difference this year is a very smart and talented coach who can read the game and make adjustments during big matches–we haven’t had that before. If we make the semi, then anything is possible. In 2006 Autoglass had to hand me tissues, I’ll be praying he doesn’t have to this year—besides, I have a bet with Janusz Michallik of ESPN that we will make the semi-final! I’m coming for the cash Janusz!

JT: Nope. Not buying us to win the WC at any odds. Just can’t bring myself to do it. I remember 1990 far too clearly to ever build up that much hope. I’ll be expecting the same as you, mate; gimme a strong showing in the groups and a semi-final run, something we haven’t had since those halcyon days of Gazza’s tears, Lineker’s goals and Italia.