McClaren awards England 6½ out of 10 for effort

[Delima]

When you look at the list of players we have, you should realise that England are not short of talented world class / good players who could alow us to compete in the international stage with pride. No one, but McLaren, should shoulder the blame if England national squad continue to underperform.

 

PS Robinson should be replaced by Ben Foster.

 

McClaren awards England 6½ out of 10 for effort

 

McClaren awards England 6½ out of 10 for effort

 

Coach opens door to Joey Barton by hinting at need for more abrasiveness in approach to Euro 2008

 

Kevin McCarra

Wednesday December 13, 2006

The Guardian

 

Steve McClaren has two months more to wait before England return to action with a friendly against Spain but there is a great deal to occupy his mind in the meantime. His start to the job has been chastening and he judged that the displays have been worth "six-and-a-half out of 10; everybody will say we could do better". McClaren has decided there are about 50 players capable of turning out for England and the indications are that a new face or two will be introduced.

 

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He was appearing yesterday with Walter Smith, Lawrie Sanchez and John Toshack, the respective managers of Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales, to promote Nationwide's "Cats' Eyes for Kids" child road-safety scheme. Conscious of their limited means, McClaren's counterparts felt entitled to award higher grades to their sides for their efforts in 2006. If a shake-up is intended, the Englishman need only press on with the notion of calling up the 24-year-old Joey Barton, Manchester City's man of many controversies.

 

"I was trying to buy [him] at Middlesbrough," said McClaren. "He's had his troubles and he's coming through that. He's one of the players we talk about. Through the years he is maturing. He's a leader; he's got a great character. Sometimes you need forthright people, not just on the field but off it."

 

There was a hint there that McClaren would welcome a little more abrasiveness in the group. Friction comes as standard for anyone employing Barton. The midfielder recently aired his views about players with new autobiographies out. "England did nothing in the World Cup, so why were they bringing books out?" he asked, before paraphrasing the contents: "We got beat in the quarter-finals. I played like shit. Here's my book." People might pray for his call-up, if only to see how he mingled with authors such as Steven Gerrard, Wayne Rooney and Rio Ferdinand.

 

McClaren would surely not drop any of his regular midfielders to draft Barton into the starting line-up, but an appraisal of the candidates for the national team is in progress. "We had a meeting with all our scouts and went through the players, all the way from Under-21 level to senior," he said, "and people over 21 who are pushing for the squad. We've got a core of about 15 you can guess at. We've identified about 50 players we're going to concentrate on who have all got an opportunity. We're going to whittle that down by the end of the season and that would be the squad for the push for qualification, and to go into [Euro 2008].

 

"Excluding the Under-21s there would be about seven or eight [older players who could still come through]. There's players out there who are late developers and who are in form, who have been given an opportunity and who are maturing."

 

Barton, Gareth Barry and Kevin Nolan could come into that category. It was natural that McClaren's mind should turn to freshening up the squad following a home draw with Macedonia and the loss to Croatia in the Euro 2008 qualifiers. That, all the same, does not prevent him from accepting that the after-effects of the World Cup were virtually inevitable. McClaren could have pointed out that the champions Italy drew with Lithuania in their next competitive match while the losing finalists France have been beaten by Scotland.

 

He insists, too, that "losing for the national team is the biggest disappointment" so far as the England players are concerned. "There was a huge hangover because we had high expectations that were brought crashing down. I always thought it would take five or six months for players to get their form back and move on after such a disappointment. I expect to see that in the New Year."

 

McClaren argues, too, that the Champions League groups impose stresses that are only relieved now that the quartet of Premiership clubs have progressed. With England third in group E of the Euro 2008 qualifiers it is understandable that McClaren favours the wider perspective: "It's got to be long-term. You have to develop things and it takes a while. That's what we're going to do. It's where you end up, not where you are after the initial period." From such a standpoint, it makes sense for him to re-evaluate all the native talent in a Premiership where the squads and even the academies can seem to be dominated by foreigners.

 

He will continue to be aided by Terry Venables, an assistant who was reported to be uncertain whether the post would suit him in the long term. The former England manager had also raised eyebrows when explaining in a newspaper piece that Stewart Downing had been dropped for the match in Croatia because his confidence was faltering.

 

"I don't take on yes-men," said McClaren. "I take on people who have experience, who I believe will help England win. We're developing our relationships. He's got fantastic knowledge of the game. I benefit from it, the players are benefiting from it and everybody will. We speak most days. He tells me what's going to be in his column and he always backs the England team and he always backs me."

 

50 players in the running . . . plus one

 

The core squad

 

Paul Robinson, Tottenham

 

Gary Neville, Manchester United

 

John Terry, Chelsea

 

Rio Ferdinand, Manchester United

 

Ledley King, Tottenham

 

Ashley Cole, Chelsea

 

Michael Carrick, Manchester United

 

Steven Gerrard, Liverpool

 

Frank Lampard, Chelsea

 

Owen Hargreaves, Bayern Munich

 

Joe Cole, Chelsea

 

Aaron Lennon, Tottenham

 

Wayne Rooney, Manchester United

 

Michael Owen, Newcastle United

 

Peter Crouch, Liverpool

 

The fringe players

 

Chris Kirkland, Wigan Athletic

 

Ben Foster, Watford (loan)

 

Wes Brown, Manchester United

 

Jamie Carragher, Liverpool

 

Wayne Bridge, Chelsea

 

Michael Dawson, Tottenham

 

Scott Parker, Newcastle United

 

Phil Neville, Everton

 

Kieran Richardson, Manchester Utd

 

Shaun Wright-Phillips, Chelsea

 

Stewart Downing, Middlesbrough

 

Kieron Dyer, Newcastle United

 

Jermaine Jenas, Tottenham

 

Jermain Defoe, Tottenham

 

Andrew Johnson, Everton

 

Darren Bent, Charlton Athletic

 

The wild cards

 

Matthew Taylor, Portsmouth

 

Jonathan Woodgate, M'brough (loan)

 

Gareth Barry, Aston Villa

 

Joleon Lescott, Everton

 

Joey Barton, Manchester City

 

Kevin Nolan, Bolton Wanderers

 

David Bentley, Blackburn Rovers

 

Jermaine Pennant, Liverpool

 

Dean Ashton, West Ham

 

Alan Smith, Manchester United

 

The under 21s

 

Scott Carson, Charlton Athletic

 

Micah Richards, Manchester City

 

Anton Ferdinand, West Ham

 

Nigel Reo-Coker, West Ham

 

Leighton Baines, Wigan

 

Lee Cattermole, Middlesbrough

 

James Milner, Newcastle United

 

Gabriel Agbonlahor, Aston Villa

 

Theo Walcott, Arsenal

 

. . . and still waiting for the call

 

David Beckham, Real Madrid

[shido]

No stevie taylor mentioned in the U21s? Thats a shame..although his last few U21 apps have been a bit dodge to say the least...

[Dr Spectrum]

Marks for "Effort"? What is this, school sports day??

England - 0 out of 10 for being shite more like!

 

 

There was a hint there that McClaren would welcome a little more abrasiveness in the group. Friction comes as standard for anyone employing Barton. The midfielder recently aired his views about players with new autobiographies out. "England did nothing in the World Cup, so why were they bringing books out?" he asked, before paraphrasing the contents: "We got beat in the quarter-finals. I played like shit. Here's my book." People might pray for his call-up, if only to see how he mingled with authors such as Steven Gerrard, Wayne Rooney and Rio Ferdinand.

 

 

That is such an ace quote...

 

I like Barton as a player and would lke to see him get a chance to replace Hargreaves short term...I don't think he's good enough to be a starting XI player but I think he has enough quality on top of the legs and the heart to be a good backup player - I think he's a much more rounded player than Carrick and could do a good job for us.

 

Not too impressed with a lot of the other names listed there tho.

Robinson - Worst established England #1 in my memory, definetly needs the boot

Barry - Don't rate him going backwards, don't think he's agile enough to deal with someone running at him to play LB, not quick enough to play LW

Agbonlahor - Not got enough in his locker aside from pace yet, Needs more time before being considered

Cattermole - Eh??

 

Players not mentioned; I think Ashley Young deserves consideration.

[Guest nufc16]

when you look at the talent, we should certainly be able to compete. but the talent certainly doesnt justify us being spoken about as potential winners of anything. not when stacked up against other countries. the listed players prove that.

 

results wise id give mcclaren no more than 3/10. he's making a complete balls up of an easy(ish) group.

 

the fact that he's picked phil neville during his tenure should lead to immediate dismissal.

[Guest Amanda]

McClaren would be lucky to get four out of ten from the England fans.