While the headlines are rightly stolen by Zlatan Ibrahimovic for his tremendous individual performance and the stunning fourth goal he scored in Sweden’s 4-2 friendly victory, it wasn’t all doom and gloom for England.
Roy Hodgson summed it up perfectly afterwards to BBC Sport: “I thought it was a good performance.
“For large periods I can be more than satisfied. Many players who got a chance came out with great credit. For long periods we were quite dominant and in control.
With many senior players missing for the Three Lions manager, including Wayne Rooney, Ashley Cole, Frank Lampard and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain – it was a good opportunity to see the strength in depth.
Promising signs
The signs looked promising, although it will take time for everything to come together.
Tottenham defender Steven Caulker was the pick of the debutants that started. The 20-year-old continued his wonderful week in the Friends Arena.
Having netted for Tottenham on Sunday in the Premier League against Manchester City, he found the net again on his international debut.
He did well to turn in Steven Gerrard’s free-kick and when he was on the field, he kept Ibrahimovic fairly quiet.
Caulker was unlucky with the first goal scored by the unstoppable PSG forward. The ball rebounded off him to a fortunate Ibrahimovic, who produced the finish expected of a world class player on top of his game.
Nevertheless, Caulker did very well and I think he looked calm and composed throughout. He is probably ready for the step into senior international football on a regular basis.
At 31-years-old, Everton’s Leon Osman was one of the oldest England players to make his international debut.
Osman brought confidence and Premier League experience to the midfield and combined well with Gerrard in the centre of the park.
Sterling shines again
He tested Andreas Isaksson from distance on a couple of occasions and admitted he was disappointed to not get on the scoresheet.
This underlines that he is a player always looking for goals and for me; he has put Tom Cleverley under even more scrutiny.
The Manchester United attacking midfielder missed another sitter in the first half and put in a largely underwhelming performance once again.
If Osman continues to show his maturity and consistency for Everton through the Christmas run-in, then Cleverley might not just lost his starting 11 berth but his squad position altogether.
17-year-old Raheem Sterling (pictured with Sweden's Martin Olsen) was thrown into the lion’s den in Stockholm and was another to shine.
Sterling took some early knocks and was tentative in both his aggression and his passing in the first 20 minutes.
Once he settled though, he started to drive England forward and played Ashley Young in with a brilliant through ball, beginning the move for the visitors’ equaliser, scored by Danny Welbeck.
He showed plenty of enthusiasm, high energy levels and doesn’t turn 18 for another month. Hodgson might need to keep him refreshed and perhaps some more Under-21 games are required but he needs to be carefully monitored by the scouting staff.
Baptism of fire for Shawcross and Jenkinson
Three other England players came on to make debuts in the second half.
Crystal Palace starlet Wilfried Zaha only got six minutes and didn’t have any time to make an impact on proceedings.
Stoke captain Ryan Shawcross and youthful Arsenal right back Carl Jenkinson also made their international debuts and both looked edgy and nervy when dealing with Ibrahimovic.
However, the experience will come in handy for both players in the future.
There is a pool of young talent that is coming through the England ranks. Along with the likes of Caulker, Sterling and the already proven Oxlade-Chamberlain, the Three Lions have other stars emerging like Phil Jones, Jonjo Shelvey and if he can stay fit, Jack Wilshere.
Hodgson’s task is a work in progress and it will probably take longer than Brazil 2014 to get the talent together and go on a lengthy tournament run that would make the country believe.
However, the signs are far more promising for the future than what has been the case in recent years and at least this England manager is ready to give youth a chance.
By Simon Wright – Follow me on Twitter @Siwri88
Comments
Post a Comment