England - Out with the Old, in with the New!

IMAGE: Theo Walcott, Jermain Defoe & Steven Gerrard against Bulgaria - 03/09/10

"Out with the Old, in with the New"

After a pretty abysmal performance at the World Cup, including that humiliating display against Germany, it's time to re-evaluate exactly where England have been going wrong in the last few years - particularly the last ten years.

It's always the same story for the English as time and time again the "great" nation is hyped up only to be torn apart when it really matters. The hype can only be blamed on the press who year in year out force us to get behind our country only to lynch mob them when they fall short of international success. The blame is often placed on the manager and rightly so but it's the players who should also the brunt of English anger as it's them who failed to perform.

I may not have agreed completely with Capiello's line up and tactics at the World Cup but it's only fair to blame the over payed players that gave about the half the effort they should of. And why? They were tired. Aw bless - if they tried doing a hard days work first then maybe we might have a little sympathy but with the ridiculous amounts they get paid, they should duly deliver when called on by there country. I remember a time when it was an honour and a privilege not a chore! And I've only been on this planet for nineteen years... my oh my has it changed in so little time.

So where have we being going wrong? Picking the wrong players time and time again. The same players are chosen every year despite playing badly the year before. Who you ask? Lampard is one - if I was a football pundit he'd be slammed by me every week because I personally don't rate him at all, especially for England. Terry is another, about as useful as a chocolate radiator. Carragher, Upson, James and Heskey are others who I wouldn't of let anywhere near the World Cup squad.

Who should we be playing? The youngsters. Stop pissing around during the qua lifers and get a strong squad together that will have enough time to gel. It's now that we need to create a permanent lineup for the Euro's. They will have nearly two years to play and train together and maybe just maybe, we'll stand a chance in 2012.

I may be no expert but the likes of Jack Rodwell, Adam Johnson and Gary Cahill seem a lot more exciting than the likes of Lampard, Terry and co. We need young players who really want to play for their country and not ones who are just waiting to pick up the pay cheque at the end of the tournament. This would be my suggested line-up:

HART (GK)
G.JOHNSON (RB)
CAHILL/FERDINAND (CB)
JAGIELKA C(B)
COLE (LB)
WALCOTT/A. JOHNSON (RW)
GERRARD (CM)
RODWELL/BARRY (DCM)
MILNER (CM)
A. JOHNSON/J. COLE (LW)
ROONEY/DEFOE (ST)

So Ferdinand may not be getting any younger but when fit he can be extremely useful. The back also needs someone more mature but if Jagielka is given a good enough run of games (and considering his form, I hope he does) he should be able to mature into the role which we would free up the second role - which I would hand over to Gary Cahill who looks to be our most promising centre back.

Theo Walcott is a difficult one as while I may not be his biggest fan, I can see how good he can be. But when he's not playing at his best, he's awful. I would much rather hand the position to Adam Johnson who looks a lot better than Walcott who I believe is a little overrated. And as Johnson has taken two goals in two games rounding off two brilliant performances, I'd much prefer him ahead of Walcott. With Johnson on the right hand side, Joe Cole can slot in on the left and with the support of James Milner and Steven Gerrard we would be pretty formidable going forward. Cole may not have set the world a light during the World Cup he wasn't really given much time to shine. He's by far our best option on the left hand side, particularly if Johnson occupies the right wing.

Supporting the back four I would have Jack Rodwell in an anchor man type role connecting the defence with the midfield so instead of Terry's usual hoof up field we can play it from back to front smoothly. The same role could be played by Gareth Barry but like his name, he's boring and as Rodwell is so young, he has the potiental to be ten times better than boring yet depenable Barry.

The final difficult decision is the all important forward. Out of all the England players, Wayne Rooney had by far the worst World Cup. But with a goal tonight and a strong performance against Bulgaria (with two assists), he looks as though he can do the job. But if Defoe can keep scoring goals like he did against the Bulgarians then he could easily challenges Roo for the role.

Rooney is the whole reason I picked 4-5-1 and here's why. With United he had the most amazing season and having spent most of it all alone, I see no reason why he can't replicate it for England. The reason for his killer season but dreadful international campaign this year is all down to tactics. Sir Alex found the perfect role for Wayne and unfortunetly, Capiello decided to ignore it. He had no chemistry with Heskey and while he linked up well with Defoe this week, I think his best lies with 4-5-1. And Gerrard is the perfect man to link up with Gerrard, sitting behind him linking the play effortlessly with someone like Rodwell bringing it out from the back. It may not work but as it's not really been tried - it's worth a go surely!?

After all, you can't get much worse than our performance this Summer.