Football: England need a sense of perspective

IN SPRING, Norwegians stand with their backs to walls, close their eyes and appear to become entranced by the first thin rays of sunshine. English football is getting used to having its back to the wall against criticism, but this week the first glimpse of sunshine called Paul Gascoigne sent a lot of people who should have been more circumspect into a trance of almost frightening self-deception.

After a home point had been lost, not gained, against a moderate Norway, there was the manager, Graham Taylor, saying all that was required for the remaining nine World Cup qualifying matches was some 'fine tuning'. There are some things he has to say. He must defend his players against unfair criticism. He must never appear despondent. He must try to balance undue optimism and disruptive pessimism, but 'fine tuning'? That assumes the engine is running well enough and requires only the silky touch of some technological wizard to produce grand prix performances.

Then there were the game's professional salesmen turned radio presenters: Gary Lineker and Ray Clemence, particularly, raving about England's performance and imploring the press not to be too critical. For heaven's sake] This was an England team looking marginally better than they had in many recent appearances and welcoming Gascoigne's ability to play for 90 minutes at a comfortable pace, pass the ball accurately under little real pressure but above all drawing attention to the poverty of talent both in his own and the Norwegian team.

As always, what Taylor says today is not necessarily what happens tomorrow. Having talked of fine tuning, he promptly mentioned five players - Jones, Parker, Keown, Hirst and Barnes - who had good chances of getting back into the team. That sounds more like a transplant than fine tuning. Yet the popular conclusion was that at last Taylor had settled on a pattern of play. Certainly the side seemed more comfortable than of late, but the name of their game on Wednesday seemed to be that of protection for Gascoigne, surely a one-off situation demanding a special pattern for one match?

Splendidly though he responded, Gascoigne's efforts had the effect of deflecting attention from both good and bad points about the performances of others. Alan Shearer, for instance, had a fine match, holding the line, getting into scoring positions without benefiting from even a hint of luck, and overcoming his lack of support from Ian Wright, who is in danger of becoming one of those players who finds the international stage too formidable.

Taylor went to some lengths to suggest that we all live too much in the past, but he himself drew some comparisons with Sir Alf Ramsey's World Cup-winning team. His main point seemed to be that England had found a Nobby Stiles in David Batty, which is a bit hard on Stiles, who despite his reputation was a fine ball distributor as well as an awesome tackler. But the principle is significant.

If Gascoigne is to become a reliable fulcrum, Batty is likely to remain in the side to give combative qualities. So some clues, rather than a complete pattern, are emerging. David Platt, Shearer and Des Walker can be considered certain long-term members but, after that, general opinion heard after Wednesday's game and Taylor's optimism seem to divide dramatically. Paul Ince and Lee Dixon are unconvincing. Tony Adams was highly praised and defensively looked more confident; so he should against one attacker and a team believing a draw to be the height of ambition. Dixon can hardly be blamed for having his wretched form exposed at national level. This was another example of a lack of competition, compounded by Rob Jones's injury.

Then we come to probably Taylor's most serious error of judgement. By awarding the captaincy to Stuart Pearce and promising him that he would retain it throughout the World Cup campaign, he has made a rod for his own back. For the moment Pearce is simply not worth his place, and his captaincy was always a questionable decision. His driving runs have virtually stopped. He can barely inspire himself, let alone others, and on Wednesday he failed to compensate for the fact that this was a team without width. Captaincy may not mean all that much in football, but in this case it clearly went to the wrong man. David Platt, who willingly and ably takes an ambassadorial role off the field, should take over as soon as Taylor has made the unenviable but necessary decision to drop Pearce for the match against Turkey in a month's time and put the quick and constructive Tony Dorigo into the left-back position where he belongs.

Certainly last Wednesday's performance checked what seemed like a dangerous decline, but whether it begins an ascent only crucial matches nearer the conclusion of the qualifying competition will reveal. At least there is growing evidence that an England side with regained spirit, optimism and Gascoigne must have a reasonable chance of success since few, if any, of the other international teams look impressive. Keeping that sense of perspective seemed beyond an awful lot of people this week.