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No
manager, no captain, no Rooney for the first two games, no visible or viable
philosophy, no hope: it is fair to say that England have very few, if any,
expectations going into EURO 2012.
There
is plenty of realistic scepticism. Get the tournament out of the way and deal
with the real issues in youth football, the quality of coaching and the general
state of English football. Developing a footballing nation takes generations of
development and well-structured planning, something that is completely
irrelevant to the current crop of players. EURO 2012 is a write-off for
England.
Whoever
does become England manager will be criticised whichever way they choose to
approach the tournament, such is the diverse opinion of English football
collectively. Too much youth will be not taking enough experience and naively
placing too much hope on young shoulders, while too much experience will be a
return to the old guard. Same old, same old.
But
it is a return to a player from the old guard which could be best for this tournament
(and it may only be this tournament alone, which is perfectly fine).
To
like Peter Crouch is unfashionable, and not just because he’s quite tall. His
height makes his every movement seem comically clumsy, almost accidental,
making him immediately unfavourable for the top level of international
football.
He
is easily mocked: the attempts at overhead kicks which almost always fail; his
persistent airborne-fouling which, given his height-superiority over most
players, is rather odd; his lack of aerial prowess and general heading ability;
and the robotic dance moves, moving him more towards a character from a James
Corden sketch rather than an actual footballer.
Make
no mistake, though, Crouch is a good footballer. And this isn’t a reactionary
piece after his wonder
goal on Saturday, either, as Crouch has been in good, solid form for Stoke
all season. Crouch is excellent at dropping deep, linking the play well and
actually looking to find a man rather than just flicking the ball on blindly
and hoping for the best.
Crouch
is effective rather than stylish and, while it is easy to criticise the 31-year-old
in this tiki-taka world, he’s very good at what he does. Let’s be clear,
England can’t play like Barcelona and aren’t going to for some time (if ever at
all). There’s nothing wrong with a long ball flicked on for someone to run on to
and score – it might not be pretty or any use for the future of English
football but, if it works, it’ll do, for now.
Taking
Crouch would be another option, both personnel-wise and in terms of system. If
a fluid attack of two wingers and Welbeck or Rooney centrally isn’t working,
bring Crouch off the bench, have Rooney in behind, the two wingers whipping
balls in and Steven Gerrard delivering from deep. A change of offensive system
for England would mean a change of defensive system for their opponents –
Crouch would simply give defenders something different to worry about.
It
would be far too simplistic to look at Crouch’s international record and say
that he only scores against the lesser nations. A hat-trick against Jamaica,
two against Greece and two against Belarus are probably the highlights, and his
last international goal was in a friendly match against France in 2010, but his
record (22 in 42) still commands respect. And, really, England struggle to
score against lesser nations even now – at least Crouch is something of a
threat, no matter the opposition.
If
Crouch’s weekend strike showed anything – other than a lack of intensity to
close down on City’s part – it was that Crouch is supremely confident right
now.
With
12 goals in 28 appearances, Crouch is Stoke’s top goalscorer this season. Of
course, there are arguments for other ‘big man up top’ options – Norwich City’s
Grant Holt has impressed in the Premier League, scoring 13 in 19 games. He is
perhaps better in the air than Crouch and is an expert at drawing fouls. And, like
Crouch, he
maybe is a victim of playing for a less-than-fashionable club.
And
to argue for or against one another is not the point here – they both have
their plus-points, both have their significant negatives – but it is to say
that Crouch is, at the very least, a viable option and should not be
discredited as such simply because he has ‘had his time’ and England ‘are
moving on’.
If
England really want to move on they need to keep the quality on the pitch to a respectable
level whilst doing some serious graft behind the scenes.
EURO
2012 might be a write-off but England, it surely goes without saying, should
still be looking to put in the best performances they possibly can.
They’re
not going to do that by leaving one of the most in-form strikers at home who,
whether fashionable or not, can play to the strengths of certain England
players. Gerrard would benefit, Rooney, Sturridge and Young would benefit from
running in behind. England would benefit.
Picture
from The Guardian
