Denmark Vs England: What the Point Should Be

There has been a lot of criticism of the international friendly in general ahead of the 'eagerly-anticipated' Denmark versus England game tonight. What's the point? Giving a bunch of experienced internationals another cap to add to the collection, collect a pretty much meaningless result and another stamp for the passport; but all this in a week bookended by domestic fixtures?

I quite agree with most of the criticism thrown at the friendly. How will Sir Alex Ferguson feel if Wayne Rooney is injured and misses a month? The same with Frank Lampard for Chelsea, James Milner for Manchester City, Glen Johnson for Liverpool? And it's not as if these players need the international friendlies to improve or get used to the international scene. Ashley Cole is set to play tonight; 85 caps he has to his name. Why does he need another?

And that's where I come to what should be the point of the international friendly. England have flattered to deceive for the best part of a decade now. The hope that surrounded the country circa 2006 and 2010 for the respective World Cups and in both cases they were dashed by an extremely underwhelming performance from a talented set of players. Players such as Cole, Lampard, Gareth Barry and John Terry played in those tournaments and were equally disappointing as their teammates. So why not try the new breed of English talent for these friendlies?

Jack Wilshere heads the list of maturing English talent, and he will get his start tonight. Good; he has deserved it after a fine season at Arsenal and is a very good prospect. But why not include the likes of Kieran Gibbs, Kyle Walker, Gary Cahill, Michael Dawson, Jordan Henderson, Jack Rodwell, Ashley Young and Gabriel Agbonlahor in the starting eleven? What harm does it do? They've got just as much chance as getting injured as anyone on a football pitch, it will give them international experience and a chance to prove their worth on the world stage. And when they're fit, what about the inclusions of Phil Jones, Micah Richards, Adam Johnson and Andy Carroll?

Looking even lower than this, you see the likes of Ryan Bertrand, John Bostock, Scott Sinclair, Dan Gosling, Fabian Delph and Danny Welbeck all doing well in their respective positions. They can be used in the England lower ranks (the Under-21's, the Under-18's, etc), and these meaningless international friendlies should be used for the younger stars to get experience at this level. Then, coming into the qualification games and European/World tournaments, we will have a much better idea of our players and a fresher outlook on our prospects. It's worked for the likes of Germany and Spain, so why not try it?

For tonight's game though, I expect a bore. I would love England to surprise me, but I can't see anything less than a half effort from some of the lads, and I cannot blame them. Why risk themselves for a meaningless friendly when there are vastly important club fixtures at the weekend and in the coming weeks? I'm going to go for a narrow England victory, 1-0 or 2-1, and hopefully a few appearances from our young guns. We need to start planning for the future now.

NWR