Fergie’s right – Manchester United and England were both hit badly by Tom’s KO. When Alex Ferguson bemoaned the loss of Tom Cleverley to injury early last season a few eyebrows were raised. He was basically saying it was a major blow to his side and their prospects for the season. This is about a player who had performed in only a handful of games for Manchester United after a series of spells out on loan.
Looking back, Fergie was spot on because his side never again played with the same explosive, attacking movement as they had done in those opening fixtures with Cleverley, 23, part of the team. He had helped to turn the tide in the Community Shield against Manchester City. Then he was central to four successive Premier League wins over West Brom 2-1, Tottenham 3-0, Arsenal 8-2 and Bolton 5-0. Ferguson was not just trying him out. He had in fact held him back using loans at the likes of Watford and Wigan to prepare him for the move up to the United first team.
It was a shame both for Ferguson and England that the early term explosion of passing and movement did not develop into a full season of promise realized. It would not only have made a difference to Manchester United’s title tilt but to how England played in the Euros this summer. Cleverley’s return to fitness was simply too late for him to be included in Roy Hodgson’s plans. But I truly believe his pace and vision could have made a difference in a game that proved as tight as the one against Italy. The problem England have had for too long is the nature of the stop-start football we play. The ball is passed, one touch, look-up, then make a decision. It is what too often leads to us relying on balls into the box, a header, a knock down etc.
Nothing wrong with that when it’s needed but not all the time. We need Plans B and C. Steven Gerrard’s delivery is excellent, Frank Lampard can still keep possession and open a defence. But what Cleverley, who won only his second cap against Moldova, offers is a player who with one touch, on the move, going forward, can inject pace into the whole movement of the team. He makes sure the ball coming out of defence or deep in midfield continues quickly on its way up field putting the opposition swiftly on the back foot.
The sort of football that undoes teams at the very highest level — the sort that does not give opponents time to think. He looks like a player who is already one move ahead. Of course everyone else needs to be on his wavelength for it to work.
Against Moldova it looked like they were. I will say quickly now I am not basing any of these opinions solely on the Moldova game. It is difficult to draw opinions from a match-up with opponents of that level. England simply did a job and did it well. The test for Cleverley will be greater against Ukraine tomorrow night in our second group game.
And I hope he gets the chance to shine again — and regularly after that. Not just for England but for Manchester United. Because a full season with his club playing games at the very highest level in the Premier and Champions League will bring him on no end. By the time we reach Brazil in 2014 we could really have some player. One around which the team can tick, a player that all great teams have. One that will also be ready for the tournament. Ready because having played for a club like Manchester United he will have become used to the pressure and demands that come with playing this sport at the very top level.
This might seem like undue pressure on someone still counting his caps on one hand. But what we always look for with England is hope — and in Cleverley there is some.
- An article by Alan Shearer for The Sun -
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