England expects…

So once again we’re left needing to not lose a game to qualify for a major championship. Wednesday evening will see the visit of Croatia to Wembley in England’s final game in this qualifying campaign. A draw or a win will see us through to next summer’s tournament. If we lose then the squad will be watching it on the telly with the rest of us. So how did we get to this point? Well some dire results earlier in the campaign, followed by a defeat for Russia at the weekend left us needing a draw is the on-pitch story. But where are we off the pitch?

Every England fan has an opinion on Mclaren, and not many that I’ve spoken to are in support of him. Like Sven before him, his lack of tactical awareness staggers me. Take last Friday for example. What exactly could we gain from that match? Some will argue that it helped to bring the team together and get them playing as a team. What was the point in the game though? Admittedly, with hindsight, playing the game was the wrong decision. But it was said beforehand that the choice by Mclaren to play the starting 11 who will start on Wednesday against Croatia was foolish at best. And so it proved to be.

As a Newcastle fan it frustrates me that, once again, Michael Owen has gotten injured serving his country. The fact that I am one of the fans who help pay his wages, makes it even more frustrating that I’ve seen him play more in an England shirt since he signed for us than in a Newcastle shirt! Mclaren now talks about how he has a striker problem as though this is some kind of dilemma he’s been given by someone else. You picked the team Steve, you live with the consequences of it. After all, that’s what you get paid a ridiculous amount of money to do!

Those of you that know me, and that have discussed football with me since Mclaren’s appointment to the England job, will have heard me say this before. I still can’t believe that, when the powers-that-be at the FA sat down when Sven left and looked at the market, that they really thought the best person to take on the role of England Manager was a man who had just steered his Premiership club to 14th in the league. Certainly a managerial force to be reckoned with, obviously. More I fear that the FA bowed down to the pressure from the media, who seemed intent on England being managed by an English manager. “Look at other countries” they cried. And they will again. Sure Alex Mcleish has done a fantastic job with the Scottish team this time. As a Scot himself I’m sure it made the achievement even sweeter (apparently not qualifying for the tournament is not a failure in Scotland - nothing like setting high standards for yourself!). That’s all well and good when you have such great managers of your nationality. And England does have. Just not Mclaren.

I hate to admit this, but I feel in the sense of full disclosure that I have to. Part of me really didn’t care what the result was on Saturday. Sure if Russia lost then that’s good as it gives us another bite of the cherry (one that we shouldn’t have needed I hasten to add). If Russia had won and we hadn’t qualified then there’s always that part of me that thinks “Great, that’s the end of Mclaren then”, and I really think that is what the England team needs. We need to get back to the days of the Venables-style football. Remember Euro ‘96? How many of you thought we’d go all the way, and I mean really thought (and felt) that we would? I know I did. I remember the stunned silence at the end of that penalty shoot-out like it was yesterday. And it hurt. Now? Who truly expects us to go on and win next summer?

For me Mclaren has to go. He’s tactically inept, doesn’t seem to know which players to play in his “best” system, or which system to play to make up his “best” team. Who should replace him? There are a few names that spring to mind, but none of the English names are available at the moment. So we’re left looking overseas, although that isn’t a problem for me. As long as the team play well I don’t care where the manager comes from. If England qualify on Wednesday night the media will think Mclaren is great again, fickle beast that they are. But surely qualification should be the minimum that English football expects, not viewed as some kind of prize in itself?

Hopefully Maclaren’s reign will be coming to a close very soon, and we can employ a manager who knows how international football works, who understands that a friendly 5 days before a qualifying match is not the time to play a “first” team, and who can adjust the system to fit the team and vice versa. That man is not Steve Mclaren. Looking back I really have to think that the only people who were happy when Steve Mclaren took up the England job were his bank manager, and Middlesbrough fans…