England’s striking options- cause for concern?
March 6, 2008 by Rob Scanlon
If you were Fabio Capello, firstly you must be delighted at the message that greets you at your local cash point, but when you watch the current group of English strikers at your disposal- would you still be happy?
In the first 30 man provisional squad that Capello picked to play against Switzerland, five strikers were selected. Between these five (Heskey, Owen, Rooney, Agbonlahor and Crouch), they have, at the time of writing, scored 22 league goals this season. Most teams have played 28 games this campaign, and though obviously some players have had injuries- Owen and Heskey for example, this seems a very poor return. There isn’t an English player in the top 10 goal scorers this season- Steven Gerrard is at number 12 with 8 league goals. Cause for concern?
Jermain Defoe was drafted into the revised squad after Heskey became unavailable, and due to limited opportunities at Tottenham, he himself has only managed 7 league goals this season, largely thanks to 3 in 4 games at his new club.
Of the ‘up and coming’ brigade, particularly players who featured in the England Under 21’s Euro campaign in the summer, most seem to be drifting in their careers.
David Nugent has been on the periphery of Portsmouth’s squads and has angered Jim Magilton by not responding to a loan offer from Ipswich Town. Leroy Lita, who hit 16 goals last season but only 1 in this, has just been sent on loan to Charlton amid concerns over his attitude. Matt Derbyshire hit the winner against Newcastle but is used sparingly at Blackburn, behind two very good foreign strikers. Theo Walcott has just recently scored his first ever Premiership goals for Arsenal and claimed an assist in the San Siro, but remains a bit raw and is still an emerging talent who has largely struggled when starting games.
It’s hardly a plethora of goal scoring machines at Capello’s fingertips. Wayne Rooney, though looking energetic and passionate in games, seems to need so many chances in order to score a goal. Andrew Cole was always criticised for this, with people dubbing him a player who needed at least 4 chances to score. If you watch Rooney carefully, it is a similar story. He’s obviously a better all round player than Cole and works well within Manchester United’s system of play, but he does miss a good amount of open chances. An experienced international defence will also prey on his volatile nature too, as Portugal did in the World Cup, which can still take over his game at times.
It seems a concern that the current group of English strikers are firing very sporadically, and the next generation are barely getting a game.
What do you think? Is this a bit too grim? Let me know, add a comment!
Great article Rob, totally agree with everything you have said.I believe that Jermaine Defoe should be in the squad and given a chance as he is a natural goalscorer, something of a rarity in the England squads of late. With the squad Capello has just named for the France game, i would go with Rooney up front on his own with Joe Cole and David Bentley on the flanks in a 4-3-3 type of formation, with Lampard, Gerrard and Hargreaves in midfield. The defence will pretty much pick itself with Ashley Cole, John Terry, Rio and Wes Brown. As for the goalkeeper it just has to be David James, who for me, is in the form of his career.