Lampard out, Cleverley in - rudderless England should bin the old guard & lay foundations to be contenders in Brazil 2014

As England’s caretaker manager, Pearce will be cast in the same role as Peter Taylor, another coach with vast experience of the under-21s, was 12 years ago when he took charge of the friendly with Italy in Turin that is remembered for David Beckham being made captain for the first time.

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Like Taylor did then, Pearce is likely to capture the feeling around the country for a new era. Old faces will be rested and a new broom will be swept into Wembley for Wednesday’s friendly against Holland.

The question is whether this breath of fresh air should represent a permanent wind of charge or whether the man in charge of England’s fortunes in four months (for argument’s sake, let’s call him Harry Redknapp) would benefit from the staler but more recognisable perfume of the old guard.

England stank out the 2006 and 2010 World Cups and did not even make the plane bound for Austria and Switzerland in 2008. Does this mean the last remnants of the ‘Golden Generation’ should pay the price for past failings? Or should the manager simply pick the best available 11 (minus Wayne Rooney against France and Sweden) out of the finest 23 players in England?

FROM GOLD TO OLD - 3 PLAYERS TO AVOID
RIO FERDINAND | MANCHESTER UNITED
	Age: 33 Caps: 81 Club appearances 11-12: 23
FRANK LAMPARD | CHELSEA
	Age: 33 Caps: 90 Club appearances 11-12: 29
JOHN TERRY | CHELSEA
	Age: 31 Caps: 72 Club appearances 11-12: 28

If he does, the over-30 brigade of John Terry, Steven Gerrard, Rio Ferdinand, Ashley Cole, Peter Crouch, Gareth Barry, Michael Carrick and even Paul Scholes, plus late developers Scott Parker and Bobby Zamora, have bona fide credentials to be on the plane to Krakow, where England’s training camp will be based. Frank Lampard and Ledley King present slightly less compelling cases, as both are locked in power struggles, one with his manager and the other with his knees.

Should Redknapp decide his only objective must be to take England as far as he possibly can at Euro 2012, a strong case could be made for half of his squad being the wrong side of 30.

Pearce’s squad selection, which will not include the injured Terry or Ferdinand, could be regarded as completely irrelevant by the new man, particularly if the match against Holland does not throw up a performance significant enough to enhance the reputation of a fringe player or two.

It could also signal a sea change in thinking. Most English bookmakers (note: English, who must recognise the patriotic sums being lumped on the home nation) rate England fourth favourites to win Euro 2012, behind Spain, Germany and Holland.

How they can legitimately be considered more likely to triumph than Italy and France is beyond this correspondent, even taking into account the notable November double over Spain and Sweden.

England will not win Euro 2012. They will not be runners-up. They will, in all likelihood, not make the last four, either.

They are a nation in disarray, manager-less, captain-less, rudder-less, deprived of their best player for the opening two matches and there is no certainty that their second best (Jack Wilshere) will be in prime condition, or even feature at all, after missing the entire season to date.

There is no coherent playing style, no fixed or reliable tactical system and several senior squad members are nursing mental scars from previous tournament failures.

Throw in the effects of a June tournament on the back of a gruelling Premier League season, which might only be partly negated by a disastrous Champions League campaign for the English clubs, and it is hard to find a compelling reason for England to end 46 years of hurt.

Would Fabio Capello have walked away over an argument regarding Terry if he thought England were genuine Euro 2012 contenders? It is highly unlikely, isn’t it?

The arrival of Redknapp, who is able to tune into the English players’ mentality far better than the aloof Capello ever could, might conceivably pump up the squad and add another 20 per cent to their performance.

But even the replacement of the cold shoulder with the warm embrace is not going to allow technically deficient players to pass the ball to one another.

The chief problem is that a generation spent in the dark ages has highlighted a glaring absence of a good education to youngsters, one that the much-delayed home for England and university of football, St George’s Park, can alleviate. As things stand, there is no style. No culture. No two-footed footballers.

LION CUBS - 3 YOUNGSTERS WORTH PICKING
TOM CLEVERLEY | MANCHESTER UNITED
	Age: 22 Caps: 0 Club appearances 11-12: 8
JACK RODWELL | EVERTON
	Age: 20 Caps: 2   Club appearances 11-12:15
DANIEL STURRIDGE | CHELSEA
	Age: 22 Caps: 1 Club appearances 11-12: 26

What England must do is forget about winning Euro 2012 and concentrate, instead, on the more realistic ambitions of being contenders at 2014, 2016 and 2018.

Forget about whether Terry is fit or a proper person. Forget about Ferdinand, Lampard, Crouch, Barry and King. Forget about a romantic return for Scholes. Put the golden generation in chains and set fire to it.

Well, most of it. Room should be made for some A-list soldiers. But only a few trusted campaigners and only if their fitness and appetite is beyond dispute. Gerrard, Cole and Parker, who has been outstanding for club and country in the last 12 months, should complement a youthful core that is geared up for the future and not another short-term failure.

This summer has probably come too early for latest flavour of the month Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain but the time is ripe for Rooney, Wilshere and Joe Hart to lead a new generation of Phil Jones, Kyle Walker, Jack Rodwell, Chris Smalling, Daniel Sturridge, Tom Cleverley and Danny Welbeck into battle this summer.

The more experienced likes of Ashley Young, Theo Walcott, James Milner, Glen Johnson, Leighton Baines, Aaron Lennon, Micah Richards, Michael Dawson and Darren Bent are also deserving of further opportunities at the highest level.

Capello began to look to the future with his selections last autumn and was delighted at the aptitude some of the young guns had shown for the top level. But more must be done.

An established system, preferably 4-2-3-1 or a derivation of it, from the senior team down to the Under-16s needs to be put in place. The 4-4-2 relic of South Africa might have a place in the Natural History Museum but is completely irrelevant to the modern game.

Someone needs to be daring, brave and forward-thinking. Starting with Pearce.