Analysing England's chances at the World Cup - Will they surprise the world?

England’s current crop of young stars,along with Wayne Rooney

England go into yet another world cup campaign on the back of a fair amount of expectation from the English public and media. The question is, what would be a realistic expectation for the English public to have this time around from their team of highly paid stars.

England went into the last couple of World Cups with their squad comprising of players from the “golden generation” of English footballers with the likes of Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, David Beckham, Ashley Cole, John Terry, Rio Ferdinand, Wayne Rooney and so on, who were all highly paid stars at club level,where they produced consistent performances that warranted praise. This in turn led to great expectations from them at the national level,where they were never able to replicate their club performances,and failed to gel as a team to go far in tournaments.

Gerrard and Lampard couldn’t play together, as they played in similar positions. Paul Scholes retired after Euro 2004 after being forced to play on the left to accommodate Gerrard and Lampard. They won the group in 2006, but the performances were unconvincing. They went on to beat Ecuador in the round of 16 courtesy a David Beckham free kick, but were unconvincing again. They went out to Portugal and Rooney was the villain of their exit, getting sent off in the quarter-final against Portugal.

2010 wasn’t very different. Despite being handed an easy group, they failed to beat the United States in what was the toughest game in the group, and then drew a blank against Algeria. They scraped through the group in the last game by beating Slovenia and finished second behind the United states. They drew Germany in the round of 16.

On the night, the German team with young upcoming stars were too good for England’s golden generation of stars, although one might argue what might have been if Frank Lampard’s goal had been given with the game at 2-1 to Germany. Germany went on to thump England 4-1 and it looked to be all over for England’s golden generation.

They go into World Cup 2014 facing the group of death, comprising of the 4 time World Cup winners Italy and the South American powerhouse Uruguay, who are the current Copa America holders. And then there is Costa Rica. The question is, what would be a realistic expectation to have from this English team? Will they crumble under high expectations like English teams of the past at the World Cup?

People expect England to get out of the group. There is enough talent at England’s disposal for them to finish in the top 2 in the group, ahead of either Italy or Uruguay. For one, you would ideally expect all the three big guns in the group to beat Costa Rica which means matches between the three teams deciding the outcome of the group. Ideally, England will need to draw one and win one of the two games against Italy and Uruguay, assuming they beat Costa Rica of course. But knowing England, don’t be too surprised if they manage to drop points against Costa Rica.

England would ideally have preferred playing Costa Rica first as getting a win on the board in these big tournaments makes a huge difference. But the fixtures are as they are and they face Italy first followed by Uruguay. The question is,how does manager Roy Hodgson approach these games? Who would be the ideal eleven players to line up for England in the first game against Italy?

The difference this time around is that England are going in with more younger players, more energy than in previous World Cups. These players are coming on the back of great performances for their respective clubs in the Premier League. Some experienced professionals like Ashley Cole have been left out for a young upcoming talent like Luke Shaw.

The same applies to players like Raheem Sterling and Ross Barkley, with players like Michael Carrick left out to make room for them. Adam Lallana is one player that everyone is keeping an eye on.

English players, after losing to Germany in the 2010 World cup in the round of 16

Make no mistake,all these young players are in the team by merit. Will they be able to produce at the international level? Well, they do deserve a chance. Paul Scholes called for England to play the Liverpool way, with great pressing and intimidating quick football, the way that they played this season, which led to them almost winning the league.

The midfield,for one,is comprised of quite a few players from this Liverpool team. Steven Gerrard will be playing the holding midfield role,with Jordan Henderson partnering him. Raheem Sterling will most likely be starting as well, along with Adam Lallana,who himself, could find himself as a Liverpool player next season.

Will these players be able to sustain the performances they put in for Liverpool for England? It is a very difficult question to answer. It should be the way England go and play, with high pressing, but this system has its demerits as well. For example, a 2 man midfield of Gerrard and Henderson could easily get overrun and might not work as well as it worked for Liverpool.

England have often struggled to retain enough possession in past tournaments to have sustained periods of pressure in the game,and this could happen again if they play a 2 man midfield of Gerrard and Henderson. The other players that they have are Jack Wilshere and Frank Lampard, both of whom are themselves attack minded central players.

Most teams on the international stage play with 3 man central midfields, especially teams like Italy, and England could find themselves coming up short in these games as the defensive qualities of both Gerrard and Henderson are questionable, despite them having great energy. Hodgson might have missed a trick by not including someone like Gareth Barry in the squad,who himself performed very well for Everton in the just concluded Premier League season.

Where else could the other weak links be? Joe Hart is an automatic choice in goal and so are Gary Cahill and Phil Jagielka at centre back. Glen Johnson could be a weak link. He is very good going forward, but his defending is awful at times and players tend to go past him too easily. Leighton Baines thrives at left back for Everton,but his defensive qualities are questionable as well.

Going forward too, he doesn’t have the pace Ashley Cole ever had and he is more of a player who tends to hug the touchline and focus on crossing. This works for Everton where you have players to win headers in the box, but England lack height and presence in the box, unless you have Ricky Lambert playing.

Luke Shaw does offer an exciting young option,and he played in a Southampton team that delighted the public with their performances. Jack Wilshere offers you an option to move the ball forward from midfield as he often tends to driblle with the ball,but his end product and decision making in the past have been questionable. He tends to lose the ball at times in critical positions. James Milner offers a safe option,and you know he will work hard for you and give 100%, but where do you accomodate him?

Ricky Lambert offers another option up front,with very good hold up play and aerial presence. Another question mark is on Wayne Rooney? His performances have been well below par and does he merit a place in the starting line up? Or should England go ahead and play the likes of Barkley and Oxlade-Chamberlain and Danny Welbeck instead? Are England a poorer team with the under-performing Wayne Rooney in the line up?

Leaving out Rooney could mean England drop an experienced-head from the team which could cost them. On the other hand,it could lead to quick,exciting play from the current crop of young English players. They could do what Germany did in the 2010 World Cup . Will Sturridge score the goals at the internatioanl level that he did at club level ? Will Wayne Rooney finally score a goal at the World Cup,and lead England to something special?

The quality in the attacking positions is definitely there,with the likes of Sterling, Lallana, Rooney, Sturridge and the rest but the question lies in whether they will be able to match their club performances at the World Cup. The other question is whether Roy Hodgson has it in him to make decisions to improve England’s world cup chances?

Will England be able to gel together unlike in past tournaments?

Expecting this English team to win the world cup or reach the final would be too much. A more reasonable expectation would be reaching the quarter final , or making the last four. What will happen? We shall wait and see.