IT WAS Terry Venables who described the task of managing England as “a great job — until a ball is kicked”, but Steve McClaren, his new boss, may not concur; not yet, at any rate.
McClaren’s first match in charge of his country last night brought an impressive 4-0 victory over Greece, the European champions, and initiated the process of restoring confidence after the World Cup finals.
Not since Walter Winterbottom’s England team thrashed Northern Ireland 7-2 in 1946 has a new manager begun his reign in such convincing style and if, in the scheme of things, that statistic counts for little — a defeat on his debut did not harm Sir Alf Ramsey too much — it continued the optimistic tone established by McClaren’s appointment. All in all, the Yorkshireman has enjoyed a good week.
“I couldn’t wish for a better start,” McClaren said. “I’ve waited two weeks for this, it’s been a strange, in-between period and I couldn’t wait for the game. I’ve only had the players together for three days and they’ve had to take in a lot of information, but they took it on board and delivered a performance we know we need to consistently produce. That’s the key. They’ve set the standard and now we’ re looking for consistency.”
While Greece were dreadful opposition — after their triumph two years ago, they had failed to qualify for Germany — McClaren’s players were not afflicted by their listlessness. Owen Hargreaves carried on where he left off in Gelsenkirchen — “phenomenal” according to McClaren — Steven Gerrard was promising in David Beckham’s old position on the right of midfield and John Terry added polish to his captain’s role with a goal.
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It will not have made comfortable viewing for Eriksson’s erstwhile captain. Banished by McClaren for the foreseeable future, the Real Madrid midfield player had the good grace to text Terry his good wishes before kick-off and although he is too patriotic to wish England ill, it must have galled him that he was scarcely missed. Having taken a firm decision, McClaren was spared testing questions.
Beckham’s name will be the first mentioned should England struggle in their qualifying campaign for the European Championship, yet next month’s games against Andorra and Macedonia are unlikely to derail them and morale has been lifted. Old Trafford had 30,000 empty seats, but those who turned up were richly rewarded.
Two goals for Peter Crouch, who would not have played had Dean Ashton been available, lifted his total to a healthy eight in his 12 games. The Liverpool striker will be needed in the light of Wayne Rooney’s suspension and Michael Owen’s long-term knee injury, while Frank Lampard, after a miserable tournament, also returned to the scoresheet.
Hargreaves was named last night’s man of the match on what could soon become his home ground. Manchester United are trying to complete a £13 million deal for the midfield player, though Bayern Munich are reluctant to sell.
There were few reasons to gripe, but even McClaren cannot have been so enraptured as Chris Kirkland’s father, who saw his goalkeeper son win his first England cap as a substitute and won £10,000 courtesy of a bet he placed several years ago. If McClaren is as lucky over the next four years, nobody will complain. “I’m in a very privileged position and proud to be,” he said. “It’s a big challenge.”