Is Micah Richards pining for Steve McClaren?

Michael Owen is by far the biggest casualty of Fabio Capello's ruthless approach to managing England, but he is not the only high-profile player who might be pining for the Steve McClaren era at present.

Step forward Micah Richards.

Twelve months ago Richards was the one top-class English youngster who was emerging, but since Capello’s arrival the Manchester City defender has not figured for his country at senior level.

Like Owen, he was an unused substitute for the Capello’s first game in charge, the friendly against Switzerland in February, but he would not have imagined at the time that this would be as close as he would get to the action.

Injury denied Richards the opportunity to figure against France in March or the end-of-season friendly matches against United States or Trinidad & Tobago, but there is no reason to suspect he would have been involved anyway. Capello has named three senior squads this season and on each occasion he has left Richards to the Under-21 set-up. It is quite a fall from grace.

Capello does not see it that way. He believes the Under-21 set-up carries great importance, as it does in Italy, and that, if a young player is unlikely to get on the pitch for the senior team, it is better to have him in the Under-21 squad. It is an understandable policy, but it brings us back to the original question: is Richards really not good enough to get into the senior squad?

If Capello has looked at Richards and decided he is a rough diamond in need of more than a little polishing, I quite agree. Like many English youngsters, he is not as good as his hype would suggest. Although an excellent right-back, he is far from the finished article as a central defender. His assets are his pace, his strength and his aggression, but Capello is evidently troubled by the 20-year-old’s lack of positional sense. If Richards regards himself as a central defender, rather than a right-back, he is a long way off being good enough to challenge, let alone break up, the Ferdinand-Terry axis.

But let us look at the other central defenders in the England squad: Joleon Lescott and Matthew Upson. If Ledley King were fit (no, seriously, bear with me on this one), it would be more understandable. As it is, Lescott has made a dreadful start to the season, the epitome of the inexplicable confidence crisis that seems to have swept the Everton team. On form, Richards would appear a safer bet. Upson is a steady defender, but little more – and he did not exactly cover himself in glory during West Ham United’s home defeat by Bolton Wanderers on Sunday. 

So, if not at centre-half, how about at right-back? I am not one of those who regards Wes Brown as a weak link for club or country. He has had some jittery moments for England, but who hasn’t? Far better to look at his form for Manchester United last season or for England in Zagreb last month.

If Gary Neville were fully fit and back to his best form, which remains a possibility, it would be a little easier to see why there was no space for Richards in the England squad. But Glen Johnson? Nothing against the Portsmouth defender - who is a decent player at Premier League level and a vast improvement on Luke Young, Danny Mills and the like - but Richards appears a far better prospect, whether for the long-term or the immediate future.

As stated earlier, Capello prefers to keep young players in the Under-21 set-up rather than have them make up the numbers in the senior squad – hence his reluctance so far to call up Gabriel Agbonlahor, whom he rates highly – but Richards could do more than make up the numbers. Johnson, do not forget, started the opening World Cup qualifying match away Andorra last month.

It is possible that Capello was unimpressed when he first watched Richards at close quarters before the game against Switzerland eight months ago. It is also very possible that the Italian watched the video of England’s calamitous defeat by Croatia at Wembley last November and concluded that Richards, still raw, was out of his depth at international level. But if he was judging his players on that awful night, Lescott and Wayne Bridge, to name but two, would never have played for England again.

For now it seems that Richards must prove himself in the Under-21 team before he can think about a recall to the senior squad. So much more the pity, then, that he withdrew from the squad yesterday for the European Championship play-off against Wales, citing a knee injury. That could set him back further in his bid to impress Capello, which, as Owen will tell him, is not as easy as it sounds.

***********

Findng yourself in agreement with Sepp Blatter can be an unnerving experience, but it happened three times yesterday. It comes to something when Blatter, who has also spoken up against the heinous idea of the Premier League’s “international round”, is the voice of reason in football, but he did hit the right nail on the head a few times yesterday. No, seriously, he did.

First of all, Blatter talked of the “danger” posed by the growing number of foreign investors in European clubs – particularly in the Premier League, where things really are spiralling out of control. Everton hope to become the latest club to sell their soul and the most depressing aspect of this is that so many other clubs will be praying that they follow suit.

Second, he lambasted Uefa’s decision to launch the “Europa League”, which replaces the modern-day farce that the Uefa Cup has become. The Europa League is, like so much else in the game these days, designed to maximise revenue – by increasing the number of guaranteed matches for those clubs in the group stages – and, as Blatter notes, it appears to be another irrevocable step towards the kind of pan-European league that will ultimately dwarf domestic football.

And third, Blatter called the expansion of future European Championship tournaments from 16 to 24 countries “silly”. Silly is about right. The appeal of the Euros, as they have become known, is that there are few, if any, weak links. The standard is high from the start – and it has to be. Not any more.

The FA and other national associations will be rubbing their hands gleefully at a development which makes it so much harder to miss out on a tournament, as England did in Euro 2008. The rest of us just shake our heads and wonder where all the self-interest in modern football will ever end.
Save us, Sepp. You are our only hope. (God help us ... .)

Comments

[Fabio Capello]

For Richards to be in consideration for the right-back position, he has to be playing there at club level, which he isn't. You cannot judge a player's ability just by working with him in the few days of training allowed to the national side.

If Richards is playing as a right-back for his club, then will I be able to judge how he does in that role, until then, pose your questions towards Mark Hughes and not me.

As for Michael Owen, he is in consideration, behind Kevin Davies. So until you see Davies getting called up for England, don't expect Owen. Period.

Lastly, I am trying to build a great team, not a group of great individuals. It is little wonder why England have been a disaster, you people don't understand what a team is all about, you keep getting it mixed up with a group of individuals.

Fabio

[Darren]

Neil: "Unfair comment. It wasn't that playing for his club meant more (he's an Everton fan, remember?) It was that he was tired of being messed around"
He admited in his autobiography that club meant more. Before he said that I completely understood stepping back when he was only used as a utility player however I would rather not have him at all if he wont give his all.

[Neil Turner]

Darren: Unfair comment. It wasn't that playing for his club meant more (he's an Everton fan, remember?) It was that he was tired of being messed around - in the squad one week, out the next - and thought, "That would be OK if I was 21, but if I'm 29 and not a regular in the team, I never will be, so I might as well pack it in."

[Darren]

'Damn shame that Carragher no longer wants to play for England. A consistently high quality performer for Liverpool that rarely got the chance to perform for his country.'

You mean the same bloke who retired from England because playing for his club meant more? No thanks.

Blatter will always complain about anything in football which does not line his own corrupt pockets. If he had a slice of that pie, you wouldn't hear squat out of him.

[Timothy Tanner]

Is Richards better then some of the squad options? Probably. However what will benefit him more? Sitting on the bench or maybe the stands or playing international football against the best young talents? If Capello thinks it is the second then that is fair enough.

Mind you, not much room in the U21 defence for Richards either. Wheater has one centreback spot sown up, while Steven Taylor is off form he is still the captain. At rightback, Craine has done a very good job and hasn't been at fault for a goal, unlike Richards in his last U21 appearance where he struggled to contain Etien Velikonja. Be harsh on Cranie if he gets dropped.

[adam]

There has been far too little condemnation of the Scottish FA proposal to expand the European Championships to 24 teams.
We have just enjoyed Euro08, one of the best ever tournaments. Three weeks of competitive group and knockout football. Perfect duration, rest periods, format.
Did anyone in Scotland even watch the tournament ?

[Tom]

Can't help but agree, it's very hard to agree with the buffoon Blatter usually but all three points are valid. The one saving grace of the Euros in comparison to the World Cup is that, apart from the South American nations, a majority of the toughest teams to face are from Europe, and therefore likely to be competing at the Euros and enabling it to lay claim to being pretty much as difficult to win them as the World Cup.

[N/A]

Damn shame that Carragher no longer wants to play for England. A consistently high quality performer for Liverpool that rarely got the chance to perform for his country.