England's Sorry State

It’s official! Wayne Rooney has been selected as the new England national team captain. It’s actually a matter of time really as the other two candidates, Gary Cahill and Joe Hart, are not quite the England’s best player that the nation wants to shoulder their hope on. In truth this media circus of England captaincy was becoming a joke really. So many attentions were put into this irrelevant issue which made people quickly forget on England’s failure in the recent World Cup Brazil. Even other nations’ new captaincy announcement is not being made as too public as in England, yet they succeed on the pitch when it really matters. When the Rooney’s captaincy news broke up, suddenly all are brimming with a newly-found confidence that England can finally win a major international competition with EURO 2016 in France looks really realistic. But England’s problems are far from being solved and the crisis may deepen with the retirement of two of their better players in ex-captain, Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard.

England loss of these star players even when they are still consistently playing for their clubs is a miserable situation. Surely England may still benefit from having any of Gerrard, Lampard, Terry, and Ashley Cole in their squad. However, excessive media scrutinies in England on poor international showings make these players don’t really care in representing the national team any more even in their golden age of 35 and above. Their absence may bring bless in other young players to come through to the senior squad. The latest selection of Fabian Delph, Danny Rose, and Jack Colback among others, is a welcome news for the England fans who are hungry for the long-awaited success on the international stages. Fans want a new-looked team with a new style of play. Even The Writer wants it too! The constant failure of England is really appalling to people who really want to see them succeed. Roy Hodgson, the England national team manager (don’t know how he is still in the job), must change the system and tactics. England doesn’t have to play a safe and elegant styled of football. It never worked for them. They need to attack other teams with aggressiveness and they need to score more to boost confidence. The sight of their former prolific scorers such as Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer is an important element for the current England team to thrive in the future if they manage to unearthed new prolific strikers of their own. Because goals win the team matches. Hopefully Raheem Sterling, Ross Barkley, Luke Shaw and their teammates will put a braver effort to attacking football in the future and make England a real contender again.

Meanwhile, The Writer is not really satisfied with the latest England’s squad selections. Although there are many newcomers, the squad may still benefit from other unselected in-form players. EPL fans may know Ryan Shawcross of Stoke City and Mark Noble of West Ham. They are a proven consistent performer for their clubs, week in week out. They are also captains for their clubs. Roy Hodgson reluctance to select them into the England squad is bizarre. From The Writer’s point of view, both players can really improve the England squad with their unrivalled determinations and proven ability. Their appearances for small EPL clubs are one of the factors why they are not selected by Hodgson. Hodgson likes to pick boys from bigger clubs. His selections of Phil Jones and Chris Smalling, who are not performing for so long now, are scandalous. Selections must be on merit, and Hodgson seems fail to do that. If Hodgson still carry on this preferred style of managing England, the FA needs to replace him as soon as he can. EPL is one of the best leagues in the world, so the national team must also show the same credential. The last triumph of 1966 World Cup was too old a memory. New generations need new success, for players and fans alike...