Following the squad announcement of the England national team for their friendly encounter with Czech Republic, the stunning re-emergence of Emile Heskey into the international setup is a decision which has to be looked at with considerable surprise. The Wigan striker has a worthy 45 caps to his name and it is clear that Capello is one of Heskey’s leading supporters, but is it not time to give others a chance rather than reverting back to old tactics? Heskey was named in Capello’s first squad for the friendly against Switzerland but had to withdraw due to injury. His presence in the team is not one that I question, his comeback in the England shirt for the Euro 2008 qualifiers was fully deserved and his performances fully reflected how important his contributions are. Former England and Newcastle legend Alan Shearer perfectly summed up his return from the international wilderness when he said “Never in a million years did I expect to be discussing whether Emile Heskey should keep his place ahead of Wayne Rooney but the Wigan striker was outstanding over both games.” It is those who are absent from the squad which is ultimately disappointing and there are few who definitely warrant a place.
Peter Crouch in particular will feel aggrieved to have missed out following his move to Portsmouth for first team football, where he will at least have the opportunity to start consecutive games. In this respect it is mystifying why when he made the switch for more football he has been dropped from the international team, yet when he was on the bench for Liverpool week-in week-out he was still in the England side. Crouch scored five Premiership goals last season to Heskey’s three, but Crouch managed eleven in all competitions and it is this figure, in a year of limited opportunities, which was superior. Another striker who could have made the team was Darren Bent who scored the most pre-season goals out of any other footballer. His absence is understandable as again he did not make the starting eleven for Tottenham on a regular basis, but there would be as much sense as including Bent in the England squad as Heskey. Other than Crouch, the one admission I was most surprised about was Aston Villa’s Gabriel Agbonlahor, who is yet to make his international debut. Two solid seasons constantly in the starting eleven for an upcoming and exciting young team has seen the U-21 international on the verge of breaking into the England senior team. Last season Agbonlahor scored a credible eleven goals and is one of England’s most exciting prospects for the future - a friendly would appear to be a perfect time for him to make his debut. His omission is therefore all the more stranger. Rather, the inclusion of Heskey suggests that England have in fact not advanced or developed over the past few years and are relying on more experienced players rather than moving forward with one or two younger options. The strikers mentioned all have their own strengths and weaknesses, but in reality the attacking options available to England are fairly poor in terms of number of goals scored last season. Heskey is one of the best footballers in the country for link-up play in a partnership, but some will feel Capello should look for options who are the future of England and his record of three goals last term is fairly abysmal. There is no doubt that Heskey will carry out a fine job and will assist England’s attack, but his goal record is particularly poor and I would have thought others would have been ahead of him in the pecking order. Few would have thought Heskey would be leading England’s attack in a bid to secure qualification for the World Cup 2010, which is a more than realistic vision should he impress in the friendly next Wednesday.
The immediate priority for Capello is to secure the qualification needed to progress to the World Cup in the summer of 2010, but this has not diminished his ambitions and expectations. "I will win the World Cup. If I didn't think that, I would not have taken the job.” From the embarrassing state of affairs of Euro 2008 to World Champions by 2010, for that dream to become reality there is still much work to be done. England will have to overcome foes Croatia once again and actually beat them this time to finish top of the standings. They have the manager to do so, but the self-christened ‘Golden Generation’ has proved to be nothing but hype to this point. It is hard to foresee a World Cup win with the current squad and seemingly over-reliance on their older players. To miss out Ashley Young is a bizarre decision and the Aston Villa winger was a talisman for creativity. Only Cesc Fabregas claimed more assists and he comfortably led the English chart and chipped in with a fair amount of goals. Micah Richards too will feel disappointed to have been dropped to the England U-21 squad after impressive performances at right-back for his country.
Since McClaren’s well-known decision to drop David Beckham from the setup back in 2006 when he declared "I'm looking to take this team in a different direction, it's a new direction, a new era and a clean sheet of paper for everybody”, England have found themselves recalling players whose international careers appeared to have come to a halt. The international team hasn’t move forward much at all and is evident in the past twelve months. David Beckham, Sol Campbell, David James and Emile Heskey had been recalled by McClaren and now Fabio Capello at some point - if a footballer is talented enough and is in strong form then there is every reason for them to be included in the international team, but it is safe to say that England has not developed and will surely continue to underachieve until they do so. Still, at least there's some sense in Joe Hart and Theo Walcott's inclusion.
England squad for Czech Republic friendly
Goalkeepers: David James (Portsmouth), Paul Robinson (Blackburn), Joe Hart (Manchester City)
Defenders: Wayne Bridge (Chelsea), Ashley Cole (Chelsea), John Terry (Chelsea), Wes Brown (Manchester United), Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United), Glen Johnson (Portsmouth), Jonathan Woodgate (Tottenham), Matthew Upson (West Ham)
Midfielders: Theo Walcott (Arsenal), Gareth Barry (Aston Villa), Joe Cole (Chelsea), Frank Lampard (Chelsea), David Beckham (Los Angeles Galaxy), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Michael Carrick (Manchester United), Stewart Downing (Middlesbrough), David Bentley (Tottenham)
Strikers: Wayne Rooney (Manchester United), Jermain Defoe (Portsmouth), Emile Heskey (Wigan)
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