England Football striking department woes: Andy Carroll a potential partner to Wayne Rooney?
Traditionally in the big teams we see an atacking partnership that strikes fear into the opponents defences. For Spain we see Villa and Torres while Tevez and Higuain line up together for Argentina; these strike pairings are known to terrorize opponent’s
defences. Over the last few years we haven’t seen a formidable strike pairing for England. Wayne Rooney has been England's ace for some time now. Ever since the Euro 2004, where he scored 4 goals, Rooney has been a regular for England. Unfortunately for England
and Rooney, they have never found a consistent performer to partner the Manchester United Front-man.
England has used the likes of Crouch, Defoe, Heskey, Owen and Johnson to partner Rooney, but none of them has managed to impress on a consistent basis. The Three Lions have also tried playing Rooney upfront on his own in a 4-5-1 formation. It worked well
for the national side in the 2010 World Cup qualifiers but a dip in form for Rooney resulted riverting back to the solid 4-4-2 formation.
This is a serious issue because it puts too much pressure on Wayne Rooney. Someone needs to step up and form a decent partnership with the centre forward. We all have seen how dangerous Rooney can be when he has a reliable goalscorer playing with him. At
United he played supporting roles to Ronaldo and Tevez and was very, very effective. He didn't score as many at the time, but he more than made up for it with his assists and defence splitting passes. Especially with Tevez, Rooney struck up a fantastic understanding
and it was a joy watching the two playing together.
For some reason Capello preferred Heskey to partner the Red Devils star – Reality check, Heskey hasn't even managed to get into double figures despite playing over 50 games for England. Capello played him because of his physical strength and the idea that
he brings other players into the game. Apart from a few rare occasions, this system didn't work out for the national team. Crouch had a good scoring record but he wasn't that effective as a target for long balls. For this reason, perhaps its safe to believe
that Capello wants someone who has both these attributes. Certainly that's what England need right now. And that brings us to Andy Carrol. The Toon star has been in inexplicable form this season. Having scored 8 goals in the league and winners against Arsenal
and Chelsea, the youngster looks a decent talent who can go on and make a name for himself in the national team. Carrol is tall, strong and very good in the air. And to add to it all, he has a good eye for goal.
He recently got his first England call and scored in a 2-1 friendly defeat against France. Carrol looks young and hungry. And he also looks the kind of player who would help bring the best out of his partner as well. After Rooney, Carrol is arguably the
next big young forward seen to emerge from the shadows and progressively move up the football ladder. Capello rates him highly. Carrol has had his off-field problems and it is upto Capello and Newcastle boss Hughton to try and keep the striker from losing
his head. That being said, there is no doubting the talent of the kid. If he lives upto his potential, he could be a real asset for England.
The question remains, however; will Carrol live upto the expectations? We've seen many young players fade as quickly as they rise to prominence. Will Carrol be one of those mere one hit wonders or will he make a real contribution to the England cause for
the years to come?