England 2-1 Slovakia: Are English players getting worse?

Okay. I’m sorry. England won their two qualifying games and are all but secured a place at next years World Cup in Russia. 4-0, and 2-1, worthy results. Maybe I should be happy about it, and for once, have something positive to say about the England football team.

But that would be uncharacteristic.

In fact, despite coming out on top in both games, England’s performances deserve no congratulations or plaudits. They do say the best teams win even when they haven’t played well – but England don’t usually seem to play well.

The victory against Malta was a desperate one. A late goal from Harry Kane may have opened the floodgates, but up until the second half, England were struggling drastically. Against Slovakia, we went behind after two and a half minutes. No excuses.

England’s problem seems to be what some would classify as no less than arrogance. Nobody but the players and the managers know what goes on behind the scenes, in the dressing room before the match. But from how we appeared to start on Monday night, it looked like the england players came out playing for england, rather than playing against Slovakia.

It is a standard procedure in football to have a plan going into a game, to research the opponents, assign man-marking roles, etc. But England came out onto the Wembley pitch on Monday evening to be undone within two minutes by football that was simply way too quick for what they were expecting.

The manager can only be blamed so much before it is down to the players to take the butt of the disdain from the fans and pundits. But the truth is, and it is quite plain to see considering at least one pundit complains about the state of our national side post every game without fail, that England haven’t had a good team since, well, 2006.

Ah, the classic cliché again. England are… awful. For want of a better term.

Now that’s not exactly what I’m saying. The team at the moment has small pockets of quality in it. But what I am saying is that, come the world cup in june next year, England have absolutely no chance. And at this stage, I can’t see past the group stage.

Compare the two teams from 2006 and 2014.

The Goalkeeper

The goalkeeping position is one that England have never been very prolific in. Our last proper hero between the sticks was one Peter Shilton, who retired in 1990, and perhaps David Seaman, who’s England career of course came to a sorry end after the 2002 world cup. Since, we’ve had a wealth of different players try their hand at stopping shots. David James was there, and then Paul Robinson came in 2006. He wasn’t amazing but he certainly wasn’t bad, and lead Tottenham to secure finishes in the premier league around the same time. We trawled through Robert Green, Scott Carson for a few games and ended up with Joe Hart, who, albeit, had a few good seasons, but his recent performances have been pretty shambolic. Dropped from the Manchester city team by Pep Guardiola because of his shaky performances in 2015-16, he should’ve done more to stop Slovakia’s goal on Monday and seems like a man who is lacking in confidence. It’s time for a shake up. Fraser Forster could be our best bet next summer.

2006 rating: 6/10    2016 rating: 6/10

The defence

Right back

It would be harder to recall a time in history when England managers have been more prolific at ‘giving players a chance’ than now. Kyle Walker looks to be a pretty surefire choice for Gareth Southgate for the time being, but he has competition in Nathanael Clyne, and that’s where the problem lies: there isn’t one stand-out candidate. Neither player is as good as Gary Neville was, and neither is as intelligent or has as much stamina. Walker is nowhere near worth the money Manchester City paid for him; his touch is wobbly, he finds himself caught upfield far too much and despite having an eye for a tackle, he isn’t as robust or up for a challenge as past players.

2006: 8/10  now: 5/10

Centre backs

Rio Ferdinand and John Terry, who both won the champions league with their team, were a pretty much unmovable partnership at the centre of England’s defence from around 2005 until 2010. That’s five years. It was that strong that Jamie Carragher, Liverpool’s captain, could not get a look in and retired from international football in 2008. He only achieved 38 caps in his career, though Carragher was a better player than today’s generation of centre backs. Since John Terry lost the captains armband in 2010 due to allegations surrounding his affair with Vanessa Perroncel, England have had a multitude of centre back pairings and never stuck to one. Phil Jagielka, Chris Smalling, Jonathan Woodgate, Matthew Upson, Phil Jones, John Stones and Gary Cahill have all been swapped around and toyed with over the years, and no solid partnership has ever been formed. Cahill is a good player and a leader, but no John Terry, whereas Phil Jones has never made over 26 appearances in a league season. Why is that good enough for us? John Terry was chelsea’s league-winning captain and had played 36 games in the previous two league season leading up to the world cup, whereas Ferdinand played 33 and 37 respectively. England’s centre backs now are like a championship version of the players that we had to pick from ten years ago.

Terry (left) and Ferdinand were stalwarts of the England defence until 2010.

2006: 10/10

2016: 6/10

Left back

We talk about players being promising, about looking to the future, but how about looking to the now? The World Cup is nine months away and we’re still playing club rejects such as Ryan Bertrand. Bertrand couldn’t get a look in at Chelsea, plays for a club who are not challenging even for Europa league positions in the league, and is 28 years old. If he is our first choice left back, then who’s our second? Ashley Cole won countless trophies at Chelsea and Arsenal and was a fantastic all-round player. He could tackle, head, pass, cross – Bertrand can run a bit. I don’t even think he thinks he should be playing for England.

2006: 9/10

2016: 4/10

The midfield

Right midfield

David Beckham is a player who divides opinions. Some think he was overrated and became too much of a celebrity, some think he  was an important player for his club and country. The facts speak for themselves. He played for Manchester United and Real Madrid – the latter in their glory days, alongside the likes of Luis Figo, Zidane and Ronaldo. In his day, he was the best crosser of the ball in the world, and probably the best dead ball specialist as well. He scored goals from the half way line. He could land a pass on a sixpence. Of course he was good. He was a figure head of the England team and he scored goals for England too. Raheem Sterling is not a bad player: I for one, am a fan. But you think he’d ever score from the halfway line or deliver a world-stunning ball for a striker to nod into the back of the net? Me neither. He’s got a few tricks up his sleeve and he’s a very good dribbler, but he’s no better than Beckham was in his position.

2006: 8/10

2016: 7/10

Centre midfield

This one is hardly worth talking about. Eric Dier can play, pops up with goals, but he is too aggressive and not a mature enough player. Jordan Henderson is like Cahill – a good leader, but has nothing on his former mentor Steven Gerrard. Gerrard was one of the best all round players the world has ever seen – genuinely. He could basically play anywhere between each box, and could tackle, run, and shoot like no-one had ever seen. We don’t have a player of that calibre anymore. No one is going to score goals like Gerrard’s against West Ham or Olympiacos. He was world class. Henderson and Dier are just squad players. They were the days when English players got you excited by what they might do next. Not now.

2006: 10/10

2016: 6/10

Left midfield

Joe Cole's goal against Sweden during the 2006 World Cup.

Marcus Rashford is one of the only gems in the England squad at the moment. We just need to hope he fulfils his potential. With enough playing time, he can mature into a very good player. He is quick, can shoot and can dribble, and isn’t afraid to try and go it alone or pull off a few stepovers. What he needs to do is work out when is the right time for it. He messed up against Slovakia by trying to dribble in the wrong area of the pitch. When he gets it right he could be a good player for England. In 2006 we had joe cole. To be fair to today’s players, cole wasn’t anything special. But he could play, and that goal he scored against Sweden – we haven’t seen a better one since. Alli and Rashford have scored worldies in recent times but come on – someone bring that back out!

2006: 7/10

2016: 7/10

The Forwards

Harry kane is probably the best English player to enter the scene for a long time. His record of scoring 20+ league goals in the past three seasons speaks for itself. By contrast, wayne rooney, who everyone hails as one of the great English players, didn’t have such a record. Alright, sometimes he played behind the striker, he played on the wing, in midfield even during the latter stages of his career. But you need only to look at the statistics to see that the striker position is possibly one where we could flourish now compared to ten years back. Rooney only ever reached the 20+ goals mark twice in his entire career, whereas Kane has already blown that out of the water.

Harry Kane was the Premier League's top scorer in 2016/17
with 29 goals.

Behind Kane is Dele Alli, another ‘child prodigy.’ You might not even notice it when he plays, but this is a player whom many football journalists and magazines rate as the best young player in the world right now. In the world. That’s the best out of millions. ‘He’s scored more goals than Gerrard, Lampard and Beckham had at his age combined’ is a statement you may have heard countless times from optimistic Tottenham and England fans. The thing is, none of those players played behind the striker, and Lampard was a better scoring midfielder at the height of his career. Alli isn’t even a ‘young player’ anymore in footballing terms; he’s practically the first name on the teamsheet. Yeah, he’s good, yeah, he can produce a moment of magic, but not often. Can he change a game? It’s questionable. Michael Owen was England’s second striker in 2006 and even though his goal record never spoke it, Owen was technically the best England player we’ve seen for perhaps the last twenty years. Alli can’t dribble or finish like Owen. But we’ll see.

2006: 7/10

2016: 8/10

Overall rating:

2006: 65/80

2016: 49/80

So there you have it. England were in fact a better team in 2006 than they are now. This years’ bunch is probably the best we’ve had since around 2009 (maybe), but World Cup chances are still minimal. We can beat Slovakia 2-1, but when faced with a player like Neymar, or Robert Lewandowski, they’ll cut us open within minutes and we simply don’t have the class to match or even put up a fight against that sort of quality.