In days of yore, the 1970s and 80s to be precise, Ray Wilkins used to come in for an inordinate amount of stick for passing a football sideways. So much so that it earned him a nickname 'The Crab'. It mattered little to his critics that Ray managed to win 84 England caps over an 11-year period as well as playing for some of the top clubs in world football, such as Manchester United and AC Milan.
I touch on this little scrap of football trivia because I read an article recently about the appalling quality of passing that England demonstrated in the friendly international against Serbia-Montenegro, with the chief accusation being how cheaply the national team gave the ball away with a poor pass.
Playing without their pass-master, David Beckham, something the team will have to do against Slovakia, too many times England players were caught between a rock and a hard place with their selection of which pass to make. Long passes were over-hit, giving possession away, or the shorter variety allowed Serbia-Montenegro to intercept and hit England on the break into space vacated by the erroneous pass.
Thankfully, it was a friendly and Serbia-Montenegro were unable to capitalise on the extra possession given them by wayward passes. But on Wednesday Slovakia will punish England if the passing isn't tightened up.
Against the Serbs it was a black and white scenario, in terms of the passing, because players were either over-ambitious or lacking adventure but either way it was down to decision making, whichever pass was selected, and that is something that must be addressed by the coaches.
In the season just ended there were a couple of notable passing moments that stood out, for me, yet were almost totally ignored by the watching media. One was the pass from Dennis Bergkamp, against Liverpool, at Anfield, by which the Dutchman chipped the ball down the inside-right channel and over the left back, with sufficient spin to take it over the defender and infield into the path of a colleague that ultimately led to a goal.
The other 'magic moment' was by David Beckham when, and I forget which game, from a similar position to the aforementioned Bergkamp pass, the England captain volleyed a pass over a left-midfield opponent with enough spin to take it outfield into the path of a United colleague, who was overlapping down the right flank.
Now I don't think anyone, from fan to Head Coach, is expecting the England players to be able to replicate passes that only a select few are capable of but the kind of pass that does seem to be missing from the England repertoire is a medium-range, defence splitting pass that can take several opponents out of the game at a stroke.
England have been criticised for building up too slowly, engaging in possession play for the sake of it, but they are not. They are simply waiting for enough movement and space in which to play a killer pass BUT, and it is a big BUT, when the opportunity does arise the frustration is that few England players seem capable, or inclined, to thread a ball through.
You know the kind of ball I mean. It's when a midfielder carries the ball and sees his forwards jockeying for an opening and when he slides the ball through, it perfectly bisects a back-line and when a forward reached the ball it is so perfectly weighted that all the striker has to do is make clean contact.
It may not happen too often but when such a pass is executed it cannot be defended against. England players, in their coaching sessions, should be encouraged to experiment with such a skill. It might just carry them through to Euro 2004.
