Frank Lampard may be back in the England reckoning following his thigh injury but after his understudy Gareth Barry performed so well in back-to-back 3-0 victories last month, England manager Steve McClaren is faced with a real dilemma over who to thrust into the spotlight against Estonia on Saturday.
Five weeks ago talk of England's UEFA EURO 2008™ qualification aspirations was doom-laden. With a host of stellar names out McClaren was forced to turn fringe players for pivotal fixtures against Israel and Russia at Wembley, Emile Heskey and Barry being called in from the international wilderness at a time of crisis. England won both games 3-0, with the incoming players receiving plaudits for providing much needed balance and Barry in particular forging an impressive partnership with Steven Gerrard. The cries of "Barry for England" that have volleyed between supporters of his club Aston Villa FC have since stopped – their demands have finally been met.
How times change. The 26-year-old had all but given up hope of establishing himself alongside the country's leading lights after being consistently passed over by Sven Göran-Eriksson, his first eight England appearances spread over nearly seven years having made his debut in 2000. "People have their own ideas and, when your name isn't mentioned for so long, you do give up hope. Under Sven, I gave up hope," said Barry, who made a then record 27 appearances for the national Under-21 side, all in defence where he played before switching to midfield over the past two seasons. "For two or three years, I hadn't even made a squad so I felt that, under a new boss, my chance would come again and it eventually did."
He took it with aplomb. Playing the deep foil to Gerrard in central midfield, he gave passing masterclasses against Israel and Russia, adding a few key interceptions into the bargain as England put their Group E destiny back in their own hands. Now as McClaren gears up for another home game against Estonia before travelling to Moscow to face Russia on Wednesday he faces a welcome selection dilemma. Lampard is back and it is never going to be easy to leave out a consistent UEFA Champions League performer with over 50 international caps who, in 2005, was rated the second best player on the planet.
McClaren certainly has options but whatever he decides he insists the collective is more important than the individual, saying: "We always say that my best team will not necessarily be my best eleven players. It is about players, of course, but more about the team and about blend and balance." That bodes well for Barry, who does not relish the manager's decision, saying: "It's always a tough one and until the decision is made I'm not sure how disappointed I'll be if I'm left out. At the moment it's just great being talked about playing for your country in these big games."
No comments:
Post a Comment