Time for England to make amends
After the disastrous World Cup campaign, England’s opportunity to begin the reconciliation with their long-suffering supporters begins tonight as the qualification campaign for Euro 2012 begins at Wembley.
Although England fans largely passed up the opportunity to vent their frustrations at their underperforming stars in a recent friendly against Hungary, as Steven Gerrard saved England’s blushes in a 2-1 win, the real work begins now with an opening tie against Bulgaria.
England failed to qualify for the 2008 European Championships, ultimately costing Steve McLaren his job, and the pressure will be piling on Fabio Capello and his new-look England to avoid yet another disappointment in a group that also contains Switzerland, Wales and Montenegro.
Capello is playing down the effects of pressure on his side, claiming that he believes the expectations will “bring out the best” in him and his side. The bookmakers certainly think that England will get off to a winning start, pricing them at a miserly 1/3 best price whilst Bulgaria can be had at as much as 12/1.
Stand-in captain Steven Gerrard took a different approach however, claiming that he wanted his troops to make a “statement” with their performance tonight to prove once and for all that England’s stars do care about those three lions on the shirt.
“I think the players and the manager realise that we are under pressure at the moment,” he claimed. “It’s normal after underperforming at the World Cup so it will really help if we put a good, positive performance tomorrow to get the maximum points and then we can take the confidence from that into the Switzerland game on Tuesday.
“We qualified for the World Cup playing good, attacking football and if we can play to that level then I’m sure that we will get out of this group in similar fashion. The difference this time is that there is the pressure on us but we have the exciting players to help us get off to a winning start.
A number of fringe players, left out of the South African shambles, will once again be given their opportunity to perform on the international stage, with Joe Hart set to continue in goal and Everton’s Phil Jagielka at the back alongside Matthew Upson. Theo Walcott is expected to start although Adam Johnson may have to settle for a place on the bench.
It is still unclear whether Capello will stick to the much-maligned 442 system with Jermain Defoe partnering Rooney although the Spurs striker has struggled with an injury since Tottenham’s Champions League first leg defeat to Young Boys.
