As my Facebook friend and fellow Black Cats fan John Ievers put it so succinctly: Darren Bent missed the cut for the final squad!!! My response to him was: Yes, that was sad to see, John, but it is down to two things: Sunderland is a long way from London, and secondly, England's playing style is with a target man. Although I could have seen Bent picking up the scraps…
There has been a lot of media coverage of Darren Bent since his exit from Spurs under unusual circumstances. He has shown though that he has the temperament to rise above all this and just be an outstanding footballer. He is obviously disappointed – see the reporting for example at SAFC.com: http://www.safc.com/news/20100601/bent-i-feel-really-disappointed_2256213_2063135
Bent had an amazing 2009-10 season, and not just here in the "blogosphere". Those 24 Premiership goals were in the real world slog of that league, week in and week out. But since half of it happened at a stadium several hundred miles from London, the media tend to underreport what went on, sensational though it was. This is an issue that has dogged Sunderland over the years, great players have been neglected by the FA. Luckily, Bent is still young enough to make the next World Cup.
Quoting from former Black Cat Chris Waddle on bbc.co.uk: Sunderland striker Bent was the third highest scorer in the 2009-10 Premier League season with 24 goals but has also missed out. And former England winger Chris Waddle admitted Bent's omission was understandable considering the way England play. "It's hard for Darren Bent," said Waddle. "He has got 23 goals and England always play with a target man so Rooney and Defoe are always ahead of Bent. Barring injury I never thought he'd be on the plane."
What would have given Bent a place on the plane to South Africa? First, a decision to go with 5 strikers; we know that Capello picked 4 because England have Lampard and Gerrard as outstanding scoring midfielders. Then perhaps a true recognition of Defoe’s record. He scored 18 goals last season, and 6 of those were during Wigan’s 9-goal collapse at White Hart Lane. OK, he has done well for England in the past, but he also has had the chances to shine. Thirdly, if Heskey had been dropped, as an essentially non-goalscoring striker, who is there to hold the ball up for others, such as Rooney?
In the end, it was Capello’s decision. He will live or die by what England achieve in the World Cup, and we wish England well, of course…but all Sunderland fans will wish the squad was different in one way.
©Lars J.S. Knutsen
Comments
 |
Posted by joespurs on 06/02/2010
Bent is a great striker, but he just isn't world class! Not yet anyway. He performs brilliantly for Sunderland but at Spurs he buckled under pressure and scuppered too many chances.
He is not unique in this though, there a many players that move on to bigger clubs and can't cope with the spotlight. I think Sunderland have the perfect striker for their club and should be happy with that. Put him under too much pressure and he WILL fold.
|
Posted by Dee on 06/02/2010
Not good enough. End of. Get over it. Better players have missed out. He is one dimensional and needs chances handed to him on a plate. Can't create for others so you will lose that with him in the side.
He will probably score 1 goal, game ends in a draw and Bent will have his name in on the front page. What it doesn't say is how many times he failed with a simple through ball to an colleague for a scoring opportunity or his poor attempt of a outside foot pass (Japan, Sunday!!) and him giving the ball away.
This is not ping pong football where balls are in the box 24/7 as per the Prem. With international footie chances are few and far between and you have to take your chances. It's called percentages. None of the big boys came in for Bent when he was available. It was Stoke, Hull and Sunderland...Says it all...
|
Posted by Dee on 06/02/2010
Yeah...Defoe is a poor striker, is he?? Why do you keep comparing him to Defoe? Yes he has been poor since January and gone through a bad phase. All goalscorers get them. But Defoe offers more, can shoot from distance, better technically and can make things happen for himself. By the way how many goals did Bent score from outside the box last season. ONE I believe...Defoe anyday!!
|
Posted by Teemo on 06/02/2010
Helping the team? Surely Defoe, Heskey, and Rooney do more of that? Bent's just out for himself. Helping other players is beyond him.
Posted by Spurs fan on 06/02/2010
I feel bad for Darren, who must feel he couldn't have done much more. I personally would've taken him over Heskey.
However let's be honest, even if he did make the squad - I highly doubt he'd be able to make a telling impact for England if called upon. He's not a quality player - even when he has been scoring for Sunderland this season, he still seems to be anonymous in games, and always displays a rather average first touch and footballing brain.
I wouldn't put money on him causing too many problems for defenders against the top teams. My point is that yes maybe he deserved to be on the plane, but probably more down to a lack of quality up front rather than him beating top strikers to a squad place. If he did go, I very much doubt Fabio would have ever seen an appropriate time to use him.
| |
Post your comment |
|
|
Lars Knutsen was born in Sunderland of Norwegian parents across the Wear from the SSOL back when shipbuilding not car manufacture was the city’s main industry. His first game was in 1968 and he has followed the Black Cats since then, with great memories of the 1973 FA Cup. He hopes the “yo-yo” days are over and defines supporting a team by whether the result affects your mood (but maybe not in the way portrayed in the book “Fever Pitch”!) so has been cheerful recently. He endured school in Newc**tle, has a Ph.D. in Chemistry, a Professorship at Drexel University College of Medicine in Philadelphia, and works in the Pharma industry as a consultant Medicinal Chemist.
RSS feed