England looking for a forward

Martin Samuel from the London Times writes about how England are lacking in quality forwards and I agree with him. Wayne Rooney can't carry the team upfront by himself, and he really does seem to be more of a setup man then an out and out finisher. With Michael Owen not being fit again, I think Fabio Capello needs to look at either Jermain Defoe or Darren Bent. Peter Crouch is a nice player to bring off the bench later in the game if you need a goal and you are kicking the ball in the middle hoping for a goal, but to me he will always be a club striker, not an international class forward. Recalling Emile Heskey certainly is not the answer either. I think either Defoe or Bent should be given an extended run in the team if Owen isn't fit.

Defoe is the best England have in terms of a pure finisher and no he is not Fernando Torres as Martin Samuel describes. He is however the next best option and with his pace and finishing skills he should work well with Wayne Rooney and at least provide any opposition with a legitimate challenge. The current England generation are deep in central midfielders and lacking in quality goalkeepers and forwards, but that is the talent available and you have to make the best of what you have. I think have gotten a little spoiled having almost always a top class forward in the side. You can go as far back as you want and you can probably come up with a world class English forward. In more recent times it was Gary Lineker and then Alan Shearer, followed by Michael Owen. However, the depth isn't there so now its tough to deal with when the English fans get to see top class strikers like Torres every week. Fear not though England fans, there is still a lot of quality in the team and Michael Owen will be back, probably sooner rather then later.