Fifth-choice Crouch Gets His Biggest Chance
England coach Fabio Capello is banking on Peter Crouch to be the fulcrum of England's attack against Ukraine tonight
Fabio Capello has been forced to turn to his fifth-choice striker, Peter Crouch, to lead the line in this evening's World Cup qualifier against Ukraine, with his players guarded against complacency as they try to extend the Italian's perfect competitive start with a fifth consecutive win.
The England head coach broke with tradition yesterday by confirming that Crouch would start alongside Wayne Rooney, who earns his 50th cap, after Darren Bent, who might have been preferred otherwise, hobbled out of the warm-up in training at London Colney after damaging a tendon in his knee. The Tottenham Hotspur striker had only joined the squad as a replacement for the injured Emile Heskey and Carlton Cole, who had suffered hamstring and groin injuries respectively in Saturday's 4–0 friendly victory over Slovakia, before succumbing to the "virus" Capello cited as having stripped him of forward options.
Gabriel Agbonlahor, who missed the Under-21s' game in Norway last Friday with hamstring trouble but has since enjoyed two days in full training with Aston Villa, has been called up and will begin on the bench with Capello, having opted against turning to Michael Owen, placing his faith in Crouch as his only alternative. "My first idea was to have a forward who is fast and has movement," said the head coach. "Now it's another style with Crouch. He is not Bent, not Heskey, but we have to play with Crouch because he's now the best we have who can play."
The Portsmouth forward, who suffered a dead leg against Slovakia, proved a prolific scorer under previous England managers but has failed to convince Capello of his prowess. This will be the 28-year-old's first start under the current regime – the last of his 14 international goals came in the final game of Steve McClaren's brief tenure – and he has begun up front with Rooney only twice: an ignominious goalless draw at home to Macedonia and the subsequent 2-0 defeat in Croatia in October 2006. "This is a big opportunity for him and for us," added Capello.
The irony is that, although the previously out-of-favour Crouch is confirmed as a starter for the game at Wembley, the rest of the first team will learn only this evening whether they are to play, with Rio Ferdinand following Frank Lampard's lead by admitting no one feels certain of their place these days. "You can't say anyone in this team, really, is guaranteed to be in the side whereas, if you look back over the last 25 years, there have been four or five players who would be in even if they were playing poorly," said Ferdinand.
The Manchester United center-half has recovered from a groin complaint and should start, having fretted through Saturday's friendly fearing he may have surrendered his place. "You're left sitting there knowing someone else is getting an opportunity to stake their claim for a place," he reflected. "But this is the way it should be. Look at Michael Owen. He's got 40 goals in 89 appearances and you'd have said he would be bang on to get 100 caps two or three years ago and that it would be a given that he'd be in every squad when he was fit. But this manager has come in and he sees things from a different angle.
"If you're not fit enough, not playing games, or not on form, you won't get in the squad. And rightly so. You don't win what the manager's won by having a lot of sentiment. His approach keeps the hunger in your belly, the desire and the passion. "
Victory this evening would establish a five-point lead over the visitors – quarter-finalists at the World Cup in 2006 – and maintain the sense of optimism currently enveloping the England set-up, though a sense of realism persists.
England have let promising starts unravel in the past. Capello stressed that the outside world "are waiting for a mistake", and Ferdinand added: "It's a work in progress."
The England head coach broke with tradition yesterday by confirming that Crouch would start alongside Wayne Rooney, who earns his 50th cap, after Darren Bent, who might have been preferred otherwise, hobbled out of the warm-up in training at London Colney after damaging a tendon in his knee. The Tottenham Hotspur striker had only joined the squad as a replacement for the injured Emile Heskey and Carlton Cole, who had suffered hamstring and groin injuries respectively in Saturday's 4–0 friendly victory over Slovakia, before succumbing to the "virus" Capello cited as having stripped him of forward options.
Gabriel Agbonlahor, who missed the Under-21s' game in Norway last Friday with hamstring trouble but has since enjoyed two days in full training with Aston Villa, has been called up and will begin on the bench with Capello, having opted against turning to Michael Owen, placing his faith in Crouch as his only alternative. "My first idea was to have a forward who is fast and has movement," said the head coach. "Now it's another style with Crouch. He is not Bent, not Heskey, but we have to play with Crouch because he's now the best we have who can play."
The Portsmouth forward, who suffered a dead leg against Slovakia, proved a prolific scorer under previous England managers but has failed to convince Capello of his prowess. This will be the 28-year-old's first start under the current regime – the last of his 14 international goals came in the final game of Steve McClaren's brief tenure – and he has begun up front with Rooney only twice: an ignominious goalless draw at home to Macedonia and the subsequent 2-0 defeat in Croatia in October 2006. "This is a big opportunity for him and for us," added Capello.
The irony is that, although the previously out-of-favour Crouch is confirmed as a starter for the game at Wembley, the rest of the first team will learn only this evening whether they are to play, with Rio Ferdinand following Frank Lampard's lead by admitting no one feels certain of their place these days. "You can't say anyone in this team, really, is guaranteed to be in the side whereas, if you look back over the last 25 years, there have been four or five players who would be in even if they were playing poorly," said Ferdinand.
The Manchester United center-half has recovered from a groin complaint and should start, having fretted through Saturday's friendly fearing he may have surrendered his place. "You're left sitting there knowing someone else is getting an opportunity to stake their claim for a place," he reflected. "But this is the way it should be. Look at Michael Owen. He's got 40 goals in 89 appearances and you'd have said he would be bang on to get 100 caps two or three years ago and that it would be a given that he'd be in every squad when he was fit. But this manager has come in and he sees things from a different angle.
"If you're not fit enough, not playing games, or not on form, you won't get in the squad. And rightly so. You don't win what the manager's won by having a lot of sentiment. His approach keeps the hunger in your belly, the desire and the passion. "
Victory this evening would establish a five-point lead over the visitors – quarter-finalists at the World Cup in 2006 – and maintain the sense of optimism currently enveloping the England set-up, though a sense of realism persists.
England have let promising starts unravel in the past. Capello stressed that the outside world "are waiting for a mistake", and Ferdinand added: "It's a work in progress."
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