England needs to rebuild from scratch

24th June 2012, Ashley Cole walks up to the penalty spot to take England’s soon to be last kick of the ball in Euro 2012. He launches it low but not quite wide enough to score as the once World XI keeper Buffon makes a save. Italy, Buffon’s team, calmly convert the next. Hearts are broken. English fans had just started to believe that they could go all the way and win the tournament. But history, sadly for them, repeated itself in the most brutal manner possible. Another Quarter-Final, another Penalty Shootout, and rue another missed chance.

England started the tournament as Underdogs. Roy Hodson, their new manager, knew his short term goals pretty well. Stabilize a team, broken by ego’s, torn apart regularly by scandals. The team he inherited had to be rebuilt with the European Championships just a few weeks away.

The new manager’s team choice was widely criticized but to the more observant eye he had done well. The team’s defense built around a core of Terry and Lescott, one a champions league winner and the other a Premier League winner. Behind they had the Golden Glove of Joe Hart, the Man City Number 1. Ashley Cole and Glen Johnson on the flanks.

Midfield was built to defend. Steven Gerrard and Scot Parker, captain and former captain, knew they had track back to defend for majority of the match. The flanks was where the counterattack was built with two men and two more for back up who would work hard and get the ball forward and at the same time defend the flanks.

The strike force of Danny Welbeck, Andy Carroll, and the standby Wayne Rooney(unavailable for 2 games due to suspension) looked brutal. England were tipped by many to fizzle out of the competition in the group stages, but they emerged as winners.

However the Azzuri proved to be too much for them to handle in the penalty shootout even though England withstood attack after attack by the Italians. Roy however would do well to not disband the old guard in a hurry. ABV tried at Chelsea and see where that got him now. No. He needs to build through them, not around the, not without them.

Smalling, Evans, Cleverley, Jones, Wilshere, Walker, Ruddy are prospective talents. England have a teenage Ox in the ranks and have many more such talents under the folds of Youth Academies around the country. Roy should build around them, the new talent, and by 2012 should have a team that go into the tournament as at least dark horses, but maybe with much more controlled ego’s. Definitely.