England obsessing over an imagined future

England prepare for their crucial final Euro 2012 qualifier against Montenegro on Friday with more than just Poland and Ukraine on the agenda, writes William Geldart.

It happened prior to the 3-0 win against Bulgaria last month and the continuation of frenzied speculation surrounding the future direction of the England national team has been relentless.

Whether it is discussion about who the new manager should be once Fabio Capello stands down at the end of Euro 2012 (should England qualify) or the current transformation of the squad, the nation’s media are obsessing over an imagined future still inexorably linked with the very real past and present.

Former Three Lions boss Sven Goran-Eriksson has thrown his weight behind Arsene Wenger as a potential successor to Capello. The once pioneering Frenchman is now perceived to be an archaic and isolated figure in some circles. Eriksson, however, believes Wenger would be the ideal choice to lead England’s new generation.

The Swede told SkySports: “Reporters talk about [Harry] Redknapp as the people’s choice and I’m quite sure if they could get Wenger, they would take him.

“Arsene Wenger can adapt to everything. I mean, he lives for football and his family.”

During Wenger’s 15 years in English football, he’s certainly nurtured young talent at Arsenal although it remains to be seen whether he would be able to translate his daily cajoling into a role that would amount to an infrequent journey with the players.

Also, the Frenchman’s laissez-faire approach to tactics and belief in allowing his charges almost unlimited freedom to express themselves might not be too congruous with plotting systems designed to help England topple the best sides in the world.

Eriksson is right to say that the populist appointment would be Harry Redknapp, although Roy Hodgson has also been mentioned. Former England captain Alan Shearer has already ruled himself out of the running, citing his lack of managerial experience. Good call there, Alan…

So it is, when the new incumbent eventually takes their place in the pressure cooker atmosphere of the England job, they will have an abundance of riches at their disposal. Most hacks are loath to start dishing out the ‘Golden Generation 2.0’ tag but should the current crop manage to reach the quarter-finals of Euro 2012, or beyond, a new moniker will soon be adopted.

Now is the future. You’re already watching it. Manchester United’s Phil Jones, Chris Smalling and Danny Welbeck are evidence of the temporal anomaly that has propelled them into Capello’s thinking as the Italian manager prepares to cement some kind of long-lasting legacy from a reign that has conjured as many opinions of him as there have been changes in his pragmatic approach to team selection.

Perhaps the great obsession and endless chattering with regards to England’s future lies with the feeling that no-one is quite sure what it holds. There’s lots of potential but question marks around what it could amount to. Until the young pretenders perform sufficiently well enough to triumphantly usurp Lampard, Gerrard, Ferdinand and company, maybe we’ll all struggle to fully embrace the idea that England possess a new generation of players capable of challenging for honours.

The lingering pain of a decade of failure has seen some of England’s experienced players written off too quickly but can their successors learn from some of the mistakes of the past? Former Manchester United and England midfielder Paul Scholes has recently talked about different cliques forming amongst the squad, something that Welbeck has been quick to dismiss about his current national side team-mates.

Do we side with the younger man in this regard, to show our allegiance to what could be a glorious future for English football with Welbeck and assorted others leading the charge? The 20-year-old striker describes an imagined end to tribalism and a triumph for the collective. March on, comrades!

Still, Capello is still hanging around for the time being. He was once the future-the stern godfather who would cleanse the England camp of all of the frippery and sideshow of the Sven and Steve McClaren era.

Yet we mocked the cantankerous 65-year-old when he locked away our naughty children in Rustenberg in 2010. Oh, how the bigwigs at England Rugby must yearn for such a disciplined approach right now.

It’s healthy to conjure up images of a successful future. It will hopefully be one that involves an appearance at next summer’s Euro 2012 Finals should England collect the one point required from Friday’s Group G contest against Montenegro.

The desire to discard of all of the team’s old-guard and replace them is regarded as obsessional by some and necessary by others. Ultimately, Capello has to make his own decisions on the merits of those he deems worthy of inclusion in any of his few remaining squad selections.

What is certain is that an equilibrium has to be maintained between the competing forces of past, present and future if England are to achieve any kind of success if they end up making the trip east in eight months time.