Disappionting Walcott and Young Provide Food for Thought for Capello

For all the flashes of brilliance from Wayne Rooney and Hollywood passes from David Beckham in this ever more impressive qualifying campaign for England, it must be remembered that the team is still very much a work in progress. It will still take big improvements for the World Cup to be won next June.

Even amongst all the flowing football that England paraded against the part-timers of Andorra last night, there were still clear signs that there are certain areas Fabio Capello will need to work on with his charges before South Africa comes into view.

The most pressing concern presented was that of the lack of quality on the flanks.

Theo Walcott and Ashley Young tore past their opposition full-backs time after time, but their final delivery was too often too poor. Peter Crouch didn’t make much of an impact until his late scrambled goal, but he would be justified to point out he didn’t receive a great deal of quality service from out wide.

These problems are not new for Walcott and Young, as the pair of flying wingers have been criticised for similar faults at Arsenal and Aston Villa, respectively.

But last night showed an alarming consistency of crosses that were simply not good enough. Even the mechanics and tourism-industry workers of Andorra could head them clear with ease.

If improvements are not made in future matches, then the likes of Aaron Lennon may need to be considered. Joe Cole will recover from injury next season and his raw ability means he too could earn a starting place.

Andorra were such poor opposition with so few talented resources that not a great deal else was learnt from the England’s 6-0 hammering of them, but previous fixtures have shown other areas of concern in the side.

David James has been making more mistakes in the last year, meaning doubts have crept in as to how secure England’s rear-guard would be against the world’s top nations with the Portsmouth stopper between the sticks. Ben Foster or Rob Green might need to be bedded in next season. 

Before last night, the right-back position had also seemed an area of worry, with Glen Johnson struggling against Kazakhstan on Saturday. Johnson excelled against Andorra though, raiding forward to great effect and assisting four goals in the process, as well as picking up the Nationwide man of the match award. 

If he and Walcott can both improve their consistency, then the right-hand side will look promisingly menacing from England’s point of view.

The left will look just as good if Ashley Cole keeps up his sensational form and Steven Gerrard continues to cut inside effectively, picking up dangerous positions on the edge of the box.

If the Liverpool skipper struggles in this position, then Capello could contemplate switching the formation from 4-4-2 to 4-1-4-1, with Rooney instead drifting in from the left as he does for Manchester United.

Emile Heskey would lead the line, with Walcott, Lennon, or Cole on the right, Lampard and Gerrard in attacking central positions, and Gareth Barry as a holding midfielder. Owen Hargreaves could perhaps be more suited to this position if he recovers from knee problems before next June.

And if David Beckham keeps spraying long balls about so perfectly as he did at Wembley last night, then Capello could perhaps consider him for a prominent role. Frank Lampard, watch out.

England are clearly flying under Capello’s wing at the moment, but nobody is getting carried away yet. Nobody is saying this team will win the World Cup.

England fans have learnt from the past. There are still many areas which need shoring up for John Terry to even think about lifting the famous trophy in South Africa next summer.

Let’s hope Professor Capello can drill the needed improvements into his charges in the next 365 days.