• Striker has scored 20 goals in 37 international games
• ‘Hopefully my record will stand me in good stead’
It is just as well that Peter Crouch is a genial character. He would otherwise be engulfed in resentment at the thought that 20 goals from 37 England appearances still leave him as an outsider. England’s preferred centre-forward in the World Cup qualifiers was Emile Heskey, who has seven goals after 57 caps.
When Crouch took the field as a substitute in the most recent game, against Egypt, he still had time to find the net twice. This affable Tottenham Hotspur attacker has unexpected perseverance. Fabio Capello has made loyalty to the players who served him well in the qualifiers a key theme since that show of confidence strengthens morale, but Crouch must be getting the manager’s attention now.
“Hopefully my record will stand me in good stead and give me a chance of starting,” he said in a prudently humble appeal. Crouch resisted invitations even to speak of taking Heskey’s place. Any campaign for recognition was made in a rigorously understated way. “I am pleased with my contribution in the last few games,” the striker said tactfully.
Crouch suffers, too, from the sneers that his goals come against weak opponents. The argument is circular, though, since those are the fixtures in which Capello allows him most time on the pitch. That, in turn, suggests that Crouch is seen as a punisher of the weak. It is a useful knack, but not one that brings great esteem.
The biggest obstacle of all is that the self-sacrificing nature of Heskey somehow creates the scope for Wayne Rooney to run amok. Capello is too shrewd to take it for granted that the arrangement will be devastating at the World Cup finals. Other schemes have to be prepared and Crouch must feature in some of them.
The striker’s part in the Tottenham revival has bolstered his claim to more prominence with his country. It was Crouch’s header at Eastlands that took his club past Manchester City to clinch a place in the Champions League qualifiers. He talks about the “boost” the goal has given him and the other Spurs players in the England party. The forward had already been galvanised by the arrival of Harry Redknapp as manager during the previous season.
“I played for him at Portsmouth and for a very short spell at Southampton,” Crouch said. “I know he’s going to get the best out of me. If I’ve played really well he’ll tell me I’m a world-beater and can do anything. It gives you a boost. He believes in me and I know that. On the flip-side of the coin, if I’ve been crap he’ll tell me as well. He’s an honest fellow, certainly when he’s dealing with me.”
Capello is at least as frank and the regime imposes rules on matters such as punctuality. “The lads seem to arrive 10 or 15 minutes before every meeting,” a wry Crouch said. The forward has no doubt either that each player is constantly under appraisal and the scrutiny applies to many areas.
“It’s everything – with regards to footwear, conduct around the hotel,” he said. “Every time you’re being judged. My trainers didn’t arrive the other day because our bags didn’t arrive. I had a pair of slippers on and I got pulled up on that. What can I do? I’ve got no trainers.”
Crouch agreed that training has a touch of the X-factor. The striker eases away from the Capello topic, though, by insisting that the challenge of making the grade with England has always been severe because the attention of a whole country is so intense. There are millions of demanding people, even if Capello is the most exacting of all.
EnglandTottenham HotspurWorld Cup 2010Kevin McCarraguardian.co.uk
