Scholes' cutting edge is our vital weapon

13 April 2012

The odd sigh of relief, but on reflection a successful week's work. The requirement, before the game at Anfield, was for six points to keep our World Cup qualification hopes alive. While the ride wasn't always a comfortable one, the mission was accomplished.

I don't feel that the lads will consider either performance to have been totally satisfactory, but it is quite rare that a team at this level perform - or perhaps more pertinently - are allowed to perform to the maximum of their capabilities.

Both Finland and Albania proved to be dogged opponents and we had to battle to the last kick in both matches in order to get the precious points. Following the tough game in Helsinki last October I think everybody knew that Saturday's game was going to be a tough scrap.

Albania though, will have surprised everybody this week with their performances against both ourselves and the Germans.

Perhaps we were fortunate that Albania put up such a spirited fight in Germany, because it will have alerted the England players to the task ahead of them last night. That is not to say that the lads would have taken the game for granted but I think they knew that they needed to be particularly vigilant in order to succeed in Tirana.

Much was made beforehand of the poverty in Albania, the lack of facilities and lifelong struggle for many of their people. In my experience, these types of conditions mean that a nations football team provide a great release for the population. The very presence of the England team will have lifted their spirits and the opportunity to beat them raises the level of performance.

For sure, our boys will feel that they could have been more incisive with their passing before the first goal. We had plenty of possession, controlling the game for long periods, without having a clear-cut chance to speak of, yet Albania, like Finland on Saturday, must take a lot of credit for this.

In particular they worked tirelessly to stop crosses coming into their box and then dealt admirably with those that did. Ironically they conceded a goal during their best spell of the game, one that showed the value, once again, of Paul Scholes to the England team.

It has been great to see Michael Owen finishing his chances so clinically again, but Scholes has once again been the catalyst for our best moments over the two games. Few could argue that he has been England's most important player over the last couple of years, weighing in with so many critical goals and contributing so much with his vision, touch and passing.

I know how impressed so many of the senior England players were when Glenn Hoddle first called Paul into the squad. His quality shines through in training and he also has that 'edge' to his game that so many of the Manchester United lads possess.

Yet perhaps the largest part of that admiration comes from the way he conducts himself.

One of the quieter members of the squad, he always shuns the limelight no matter how spectacular or vital his contributions have been, and must be a manager's dream to work with.

Another positive for Sven-Goran Eriksson will be the encouraging debut of Ashley Cole. Whilst I was disappointed for Chris Powell, I thought Ashley was very positive in his play trying to get forward from the start of the match and there is now even competition for places in the left-back berth.

Indeed Ashley's inclusion and Wes Brown replacing the 'veteran' Sol Campbell must have made last night's team one of the youngest ever to represent us. That they came through such a stern examination will give them invaluable experience for what will certainly be even tougher tests ahead.

Germany must still be favourites to progress as group winners but there are still a lot of tricky fixtures ahead. I can see teams taking points off each other and it is imperative that at worst we secure that second place. The table certainly looks a lot healthier this week.

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David Jones (Footballer)

Scholes' cutting edge is our vital weapon

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