Michael Carrick: Your Country Needs You

First of all, an admission: I didn't watch England labour to a 2-2 draw against the Czech Republic last night. But then again, I didn't need to, and watching a high-lites package edited to try and show the English performance in a good light confirmed that. An England friendly comes with a few guarantees nowadays:

1. You will not be entertained.

2. You will be disappointed.

3. You will sit there and struggle to watch it almost as much as the floundering players on the pitch struggle to perform.

One thing is evident when watching the English national team, so abundantly clear yet without a seemingly obvious solution. A blatant lack of creativity. This is a team that generally lines up with four central midfielders, playing in a line across the middle of the park.

The four that lined up against the Czechs were Gareth Barry, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard and David Beckham. Hardly sets the pulses racing, does it?

The lack of a player who can provide genuine quality on the left flank is something that has plagued England for well over a decade. Stewart Downing certainly isn't the answer, and putting a right footed player out there only means that the position is often left vacant as the incumbent wanders infield to look for the ball.

The right wing, in theory shouldn't be a problem, but this being England, it is. Shaun Wright-Philips flatters to deceive, Aaron Lennon  hasn't improved since his promising cameos at the last World Cup and David Beckham is bereft of the pace required.

The real problem though, lies in the middle of the pitch, and the answer is Michael Carrick. Here is a player that, on his day, can grab a game by the scruff of the neck, not by putting in bone-crunching challenges, or making driving runs into the heart of opposition territory, but by controlling the pace of the game.

Not since Paul Scholes played in the heart of the national side has there been a player who puts his foot on the ball, and with a cool head plays the right pass, whether it be a defence splitter or one that simply retains possession.

But here's the problem. Michael Carrick is only that player when he is in the right frame of mind. Watching Carrick when he's on form is a joy, and you could be mistaken for thinking you're watching that most talented of deep lying play makers, Andrea Pirlo, at work.

But when Carrick is having a shocker...he really does have a shocker. And then there's the games where his performances are so non-descript you would be forgiven for forgetting he was even on the pitch.

Now is the time for Michael Carrick to step up and become the player he has the potential to be. A player who can become the creative heartbeat of a team, who will play the defence splitting balls after he has won it from an opponent, who can, potentially, become one of the finest midfield play makers in the world.

If he can discover that in himself (and his performances at times for Manchester United have shown that on his day, he has it in spades), then all of a sudden the creative crisis that the English national team finds itself in could be resolved.