With less than a month to spare until England kick start their eighth attempt at lifting the coveted European Championship trophy, the man in the spotlight Roy Hodgson has several key decisions to master in order for the Three Lions to stand even a remote chance of tasting success in Poland and Ukraine.
The greatest managers to grace the footballing world are ones who are willing to take risks in order to bathe in success, it's a trait which separates Alf Ramsey from Steve McClaren. Ramsey's devilish demeanor led to an eventual fortuity at the 1966 World Cup, an England side blossoming with flair and arrogance terrorised the giants of Portugal and West Germany with notably a less powerful squad. When casting our mind back to the glory days of almost fifty years ago, a significant amount of similarities between the squad of then and now are identifiable. England enter Euro 2012 with a team which can only be described as mediocre. Roy Hodgson's squad choices aren't fantastic, in fact they're petering into the category of average with their unimpressive performances in recent major competitions. The 2010 World Cup display was widely publicised as a nightmare, and as for Euro 2008, we failed to even qualify for the competition, largely due to a twerp under an umbrella. Ultimately, for Roy Hodgson to emulate the hero status of the likes of Alf Ramsey, he must take risks and avoid the death wish of playing safe.
 |
| Carroll is beginning to live up to his hefty price tag |
With England's talisman Wayne Rooney suspended for the opening two matches of the campaign, Hodgson's largest dilemma is who to assign the role of centre forward to. Roy has the option of playing one man up top, or selecting a pair of strikers to link up and hunt for the back of the net. A pain which curses the back of my mind is Hodgson's possible decision to include QPR lump Bobby Zamora in his 23 man outfit, Roy has always been a fan of the striker and has worked with him at clubs in the past. If Zamora is chosen to travel to the championships then I certainly wont be watching, probably because I'd have wedged a knife down my throat in hearing the news of his inclusion.
An interesting dark horse for a place on the plane to Ukraine is Liverpool's number nine Andy Carroll. The big man has endured an extremely difficult eighteen months at Anfield, his hefty price tag has led to a non-existent run of form due to a significant lack of confidence which can also be labeled at the man who wore Carroll's jersey up until a £50m move to Chelsea. At times people could have mistaken the Geordie's £35million status for £35.50 with his performances lacking impact and desire, but over the last month Andy Carroll has shown numerous glimpses of class, most notably in the second half of Liverpool's FA Cup heartbreak and in the midweek Premier League fixture against Chelsea.
 |
| Liverpool's target man celebrating his last gasp FA Cup semi final winner |
In the opening 45 minutes of the cup final, Liverpool looked lost in attack with Luis Suarez an isolated figure. The reds found themselves in wide areas a sickening amount of times but they chose not to deliver the ball into the box as the Uruguayan would be unable to compete in the air with the likes of John Terry and Branislav Ivanovic. Kenny Dalglish was enduring a tactical horror show, and midway through the second half he made the decision to introduce his number nine into the match. Never have I seen a substitute make a bigger impact in an FA Cup final. Carroll won every single areal duel, he scored a goal with nifty footwork to tug the game back in the balance, and was agonisingly close to leveling the match with a header in the dying minutes which was saved emphatically by Petr Cech. The 6'3 presence carried his momentum into the midweek match at Anfield and he supplied a world class, man of match performance to lead Liverpool to arguably their best 90 minutes of a torrid season.
When Andy Carroll is in form, he is any defenders nightmare. The forward will win the header every single time, whether it's striking the back of the net or creating chances for his teammates. His existence on the pitch will allow England a route to goal, whether that route will be Hodgson's plan A or B, his devastating strength and aggression will terrorise centre backs at any point of the match. The thought of an in form Carroll linking up with Steven Gerrard and latching onto Ashley Young crosses is enough to make any England fan's mouth water, and any opposition fans tremble with anxiety. There is no doubt that selecting the powerhouse is a risk, but with Andy Carroll in a delicate run of form, he a risk perfectly worth taking.
If Hodgson plants Carroll at the front line of the Three Lions attack and devises a strategy which supplements his strengths, the likes of Spain and Italy wont be fearing the prospect of Wayne Rooney, they'll be trembling in the presence of Big Andy.
