When you try to do too much, you sometimes do too little. That has been Jermaine Jenas’s problem in the past few years: he has seemed under pressure to be a tough tackler, a visionary passer, a goalscorer, the brains of Tottenham Hotspur’s midfield and also the legs. No wonder he has looked lost.
Now, though, he is in superb form and much of the credit must go to Juande Ramos. It sounds odd, but the new Tottenham head coach has freed Jenas by giving him a more limited role. Less worried about tackling, or crossing, or gluing the team together, he’s driving forward with purpose and using his natural abilities to become a direct attacking midfield player, not the all-rounder he has tried and failed to be.
He has not deserved a place in past England squads, but this time he should be on the pitch. Fabio Capello likes match-winners, individuals who can make a difference. They don’t have to be Rooneys or Gerrards – they can be players with lesser reputations, such as Jenas.
He will be 25 in two weeks, so the next 18 months are crucial for him. If he doesn’t kick on he’ll lose his place in the squad and there will be mutterings that if he hasn’t reached his potential by now, he never will. But 25 is the perfect age for a player such as Jenas: maturing fast but his physical abilities are still at their peak.
It is easy to forget how fast Jenas is and he has great stamina; he can run all day. In both legs of the Carling Cup semi-final against Arsenal he was too hot to handle and Arsène Wenger’s team are one of the youngest and most athletic teams in the world.
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Jenas being unleashed is the perfect example of why you bring in a new manager - for fresh ideas, a new perspective, unexpected solutions to old problems. Minor changes, big consequences. England aren’t short of midfield players, but they haven’t played to their potential.
The injured Frank Lampard may be feeling especially nervous if Jenas gets a chance tomorrow and grabs it with both hands. Jenas won’t score as often as Lampard, but he’s quicker and can be effective even without a big target man to link with. Like any top manager, Capello will pick the best players for his system, even if it means that more talented or famous names miss out.
David Bentley is good at taking free kicks and releases the ball early, which would help to harness Jenas’s pace and is an asset, considering England’s slow tempo under Steve McClaren. I’d pick Bentley ahead of Ashley Young, who is dynamic but delays on the ball. It’s worth giving Jonathan Woodgate a game as well.
It may not be the greatest spectacle at Wembley, but I expect Capello to make McClaren look bad.
I expect the many mistakes of the previous regime to be corrected and for the new manager to have an instant impact. It isn’t too much to ask: Capello has had a month in the job. He may not know the players intimately, but he has crammed himself with information and he should know what he wants.
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Remember past England games when pundits, managers and players talked about the need to “change things at half-time”? Well, that’s 15 minutes. There’s a limit to what you can do. How about using the days, weeks and months between games to make a real difference? How about the team lining up before kick-off with some ideas that work instead of being forced into emergency manoeuvres during the match? That will help to breed the confidence that will result in England’s top players strutting with the swagger that they have at their clubs.
No doubt Capello has laid down the law in his first meetings with the squad and made it obvious where he is coming from. Clear thinking and boldness worked for Jenas; it can also reinvigorate England.