In defence of Crouch

Love him or hate him, the treatment meted out to Peter Crouch last night as he replaced Shaun Wright –Phillips was out of order.

What has Crouch done to deserve such treatment by so called " Football fans"?
Like it or not Crouch is an England international. The management obviously see qualities that he can add to the squad, and as Sunderland fans we know how effective a big man up front can be.

The national press are seeping into our consciousness on this one, like they do with so many other things, because Crouch is unpopular. I said it in a earlier response to Jims posting about how The Northern Echo saw his performance against Austria. I tend to agree. I thought he was effective in what he did. Won the aerial battle with their defenders, provided the flick on’s, held the ball up well and linked up play.

Before we get into the relative merits of last night, Crouch only saw about 20 minutes, but who was it that calmly brought the ball out of the 18 yard box to start the move that led to Lampards goal? Who made his ground up as England moved forward and tied two of their defenders up while Cole got the ball over? YES, PETER CROUCH !!!!

Last night looked to me like a game that Crouch could have contributed to far more effectively than Saturday. Why? Two mobile wide men, in Cole and Wright Phillips, Two full backs in Carragher and Young all of whom got past the last man to cross the ball. Crouch territory.
Instead Erikkson went with a little man in Owen and had Rooney playing just in behind him and in front of the midfield 4. Owen as usual had to feed on scraps and Rooney as he always does, had opportunities to run at them and score "spectacular goals"

The big difference for me last night was in midfield and the inclusion of Ledley King. Now he looks more cumbersome and languid than Crouch but what he did, mirrored the role of Makelele at Chelsea. He kept it simple and allowed Lampard to get forward and become involved in play. The question now has to be " How do you accommodate, Beckham and Gerrard and Lampard in the same team,?" Can he? Or will he now realise that it’s horses for courses and there may be games where one or two may need to be left out.

One thing is for certain though, the game last night was more entertaining than Saturday’s if only marginally, and at times it was still like watching paint dry. Enter Peter Crouch, long lanky 6’ 7" Centre forward, strolling out of defence to start the move that won the game, the group and get England a seeding in the World Cup Draw.

I still wouldn’t like to mark him.