Worrying signs for England on Friday night

England may have qualified for the European Championships with a 2-2 draw in Montenegro but there were some worrying signs on Friday night.

The Three Lions threw away a two goal lead and also had Wayne Rooney sent-off.

Defending

England and Bolton centre-back Gary Cahill has came out in praise of Manchester United defender Phil Jones but the youngster didn’t have his best game of the season. Cahill and Terry had poor games as well and that’s how England ended up conceding two goals.

Another centre-back Rio Ferdinand will return to the first team if fit for the European Championships. However if he doesn’t make it then Cahill and Terry need to step up their game in the centre of defence. Jones started the Montenegro game at full-back but that’s not his best position. His best position is centre-back though.

Half

The game in Podgorica was very much a game of two halves. England were superb in the first half, apart from the late goal. This has became a familiar theme in England games in recent months. Fabio Capello’s team just cannot find any consistency in their performances.

Competitors

The likes of Spain, Holland, Germany and Italy are far more consistent than England. England are worlds behind most of our European competitors. In flashes England have shown they can play well but against relatively poor teams.

At recent tournaments England have proved they are not good enough. There are lots of good youngsters coming through but Euro 2012 will probably come too soon for some of those talented youngsters.

Realistic

England fans have to start being realistic. Every tournament England enter fans believe the team can win. Maybe this optimism is because of our history in the football of the game or maybe its because we believe we have one of the best leagues in the world.

Youth

However one of the reasons the Premier League is arguably the best league in the world is because of the foreign players and coaches. One of the reasons why the Premier League is full of foreign players is because English players just aren’t good enough.

The England youth academies haven’t been able to create the same quality of player as the likes of youth setups in Spain, Germany and Holland in recent years. Critics of the Premier League have blamed the influx of foreign players into the English top flight.

However the foreign players are not to blame for the lack of quality young players coming through the youth system. The clubs are responsible for the fact that they are not producing good enough young English players.

Top English clubs are slowly starting to realise they must produce their own talent if they are to be the best in Europe. Young players are starting to seep through into first teams of the top teams into the top English clubs.

Silly

One of the few world-class players English football has produced in recent years is Wayne Rooney. Rooney is the best English player of his generation and it seemed that he had matured until Friday’s silly sending-off.

Rooney has of course had problems with his temperament in the past but the last few seasons has saw him control his temper in a more positive way. There were questions before the game if Rooney should have played with issues over his dad and uncle in the back of his mind.

Watching him and his body language even in the first half I was slightly concerned. Although he had a hand in the goals he didn’t look like his usual self. His sending-off will now result in either a one match or two match ban.

Unlikely

England had an unlikely chance of winning the European Championships with Rooney in the team. If Rooney gets an unthinkable three match ban then England could have to do without the teams talisman and Fabio Capello may not even take him to the championships.

Answers

The Montenegro game has thrown up some testing questions for England boss Fabio Capello. How can he get his team to perform for a whole game? Does he take Wayne Rooney to next years European Championships? If he doesn’t who can replace the United striker?

These and more questions must be answered by Capello before next summer or England could be heading home very quickly.

Are England good enough to win next years European Championships?