As Cruyff observed wryly: "He is failing with so many passes it is absurd." West Ham's Joe Cole may be England's salvation, eventually, but he is only 17 and has barely won his irons for West Ham. Alternatively, the time may not be too far removed before both Sir Alex and King Kev will consistently bring David Beckham into the central midfield, though the United man, crosser supreme that he is, has yet to demonstrate that he is consistently capable of releasing the penetrating ball of a Gascoigne at the highest level.In the likely event of Gascoigne remaining a treasured, but flawed, England memory, Keegan and his supporting team face a rigorous test of their tactical acumen to circumvent the absence of a true playmaker. In Sofia, there was not so much a failure of tactics, despite deploying the full gamut of three centre-backs, a flat back four and, ultimately, a return to that subtle old English gambit "knock it long", as a misfunction in too many individual performances. However, you might well question the removal of the Leeds prodigy, Woodgate rather than Michael Gray, who began competently in his wing-back position, but by the end was consistently outwitted by Radostin Kishishev.Keegan's mentor Bill Shankly was fond of proclaiming that, "football is a simple game complicated by coaches", and England's current head honcho has always been perceived as an advocate of laissez faire rather than a strict strategist. We all knew what we were getting when Mohamed Al Fayed bequeathed him to a grateful nation. He was the man for a particular moment, who established the right tone, an articulate, charismatic character who could maintain harmony within his camp, but not one to plot the finer detail of a campaign.
Venables would have been the man for that, but he was discounted.Instead, it is the FA's technical director, Howard Wilkinson, who dominates training sessions with hand gestures, stopwatch and clipboard in place of a baton and clearly has a substantial role in orchestrating matters, on-field as well as off, although it concerns many that neither the former Leeds manager nor Keegan's assistants Derek Fazackerley and Arthur Cox are exactly steeped in the international game.Although he clearly leans heavily on Wilkinson, Keegan refutes inferences that the latter's influence is too pronounced. "If I found the situation stifling I would have changed it before now," he said. "Howard is a tremendous help and has never done anything I have not asked him to He does a lot of preparation because that is his domain I pick the team and nobody interferes. Blame me because the buck stops here."No doubt they will if it all disintegrates on 8 September and England find themselves Poles apart from qualification. It will be Keegan, not Wilkinson, who could turn from Mr Motivator into the Fall Guy. But casting him aside would not alter the inescapable truth that our League has spawned quantity at a certain level, not quality. Until we address that fact, Keegan and those who follow him will continue to survey the vista with frustration..
AS A TINNY, taped rendition of the National Anthem blared across the Bulgarska Armia Stadium, a young man inspected his new environment with an expression that suggested exhilaration, not apprehension. His apparent insouciance, as he chatted with his Leeds team-mate David Batty between anthems might well have been masking a million fears, but you suspect not. He had spoken of not being "fazed" by the whole experience and when a player can enter the international arena determined to enjoy the experience that half the battle is already won. If ever there was a 19-year-old footballer destined to assimilate himself comfortably into the rigours of world football it was Jonathon Woodgate. But here is the teenager that his club manager David O'Leary threatened to quit over if Leeds did not satisfy his financial demands. "He has a fantastic temperament for someone so young," the Irishman had endorsed the defender, sentiments at odds with the many observers in Bulgaria who gave a quizzical look when Kevin Keegan announced his team which included Woodgate but not the stylish Rio Ferdinand.Not yet a season into his Leeds career, he is so new to the professional game that the Middlesbrough-born defender doesn't even have his details recorded fully in the 1998-99 Rothman's Football Yearbook. Height and weight are left blank.Now we know, of course, that he is blessed with all the attributes of a modern central defender.
Tall, athletic-looking, but agile and balanced, and with the pace that enabled him to dash back and relieve the reportedly Tottenham-bound Milen Petrov of the ball after Bulgaria had seemingly capitalised on Michael Gray's error on the left flank.A less composed young man might have opted for a less courageous course of action than the challenge from round the back of the Bulgarian: because had Petrov elected to dive there was no knowing how the referee, Mario van der Ende, would have reacted It was at that moment that Woodgate came of age. With his installation as Keegan's eighth new cap there would be no opening of the floodgates.There will be tougher examinations ahead, of course, but you imagine that with his tidy, rather than exaggerated, style Woodgate will maintain his equilibrium. As the game progressed, Woodgate began to move forward with burgeoning confidence and it was his pass that led to Teddy Sheringham going close. The greatest surprise was that he was substituted, although Keegan stressed it was for purely tactical reasons.Only a few hours later he signed a new four-year contract with Leeds, earning him around pounds 2.5m over the next five years "I still feel as though I am walking on air," he said It has been the greatest day of my life.
