ABC Nyheter

There was a time in the not too distant past when people used to routinely talk about the typical, bustling English centre-forward. From my childhood, I remember players such as Martin Chivers, Peter Osgood and Bob Latchford all leading the England forward line. They were strong, they were mean, and they were tall.

I also remember from my childhood (actually, more like 'teenage-hood') a momentous night during which a famous Norwegian was heard on television to yell, "Lord Nelson, Lord Beaverbrook, Sir Winston Churchill, Sir Anthony Eden, Clement Attlee, Henry Cooper (boxer) , Lady Diana, vi har slått dem alle sammen, vi har slått dem alle sammen. Maggie Thatcher, can you hear me? Maggie Thatcher....your boys took a hell of a beating! Your boys took a hell of a beating!" Just what Henry Cooper was doing in amongst such esteemed company is still being debated in pubs and clubs across England.

Yet on that (in)famous Oslo night, England started with Paul Mariner as their main centre-forward, with Peter Withe replacing him mid-way through the second-half. Both were the quintessence of typical English centre-forwards.

Sadly the commentator, Bjørge Lillelien, is no longer with us; thankfully, Margaret Thatcher is no longer still around in government - she hated football intensely. However, it is not just the absence of Bjørge and Maggie that makes today's England and its national team so different. For a start, following the recent defeat of Germany in a friendly match in Berlin, the team has now won six straight matches in a row. For the time being at least, England does not seem to be taking a 'hell of a beating' from anyone. In the resigned fashion of most English football fans however, I know this cannot and will not last.

Another reason for things being so different, and the main reason for my lingering doubts about my national team's chances, is the nature of its forward line. Just as Lillelien and Thatcher have gone from the spotlight, so too it appears have all the typical, bustling English centre-forwards. Exactly how we have squandered the legacy of our mountainous hard-men strikers is a real mystery. But we are now left with a highly skewed mix of a skyscraper (Peter Crouch) and a collection of players who, even if they stood on each other's shoulders, still would not be as tall as Crouch.

Crouch, once of Liverpool now of Portsmouth, is a decent player. Despite his obvious failings - too tall, not especially quick, legs like sticks - he is unusually skilful for such a tall centre-forward, and his goals-to-games ratio, whilst not outstanding, is something approximating to a respectable goal every three games. The problem is, after Crouch, you have to come a long way down to find the next forward competing with him for an England starting spot.

Michael Owen, for so many years England's most likely goal scoring saviour but hardly a towering individual, has succumbed too often to injury. So much so that Fabio Capello would appear not to trust his knees, ankles and whatever else (his height has yet to be mentioned) - he is consistently failing to make it into Capello's squads. To begin with, that leaves us with Wayne Rooney; world-class using anyone's definition, Rooney has hit a rich vein of scoring form of late for England, but his goal scoring exploits for the national team do not stand comparison with Charlton, Lineker, Shearer et al. Added to this, Rooney is not that tall.

Next in line comes Jermain Defoe; sharp and skilful, lost his way at Tottenham, now starting to hit the back of the net again at Portsmouth...but short. Alongside Defoe, in recent times we have seen other players help in spearheading the England attack: Wright-Phillips - short; Theo Walcott - short; Aaron Lennon - short; Darius Vassell - short; and so the story goes on. It is just a pity that Torres, Adebayor and Drogba (all English-type centre-forwards), despite playing for English teams, are not actually English.

Far be it from me to criticise or condemn the 'shorties' (I only measure 1 metre 70 cms), but the England forward line does have a height problem. For a long-time, a flow of 'tall' players has come and gone - many having displayed the same characteristics as the typical, bustling England centre-forwards of yesteryear. Jon Stead, Andy Booth and Richard Cresswell, amongst others, were all promising but failed to deliver and have since disappeared back into the lower leagues.

Dean Ashton, currently at West Ham, has often seemed a likely candidate to take up the mantle. Unfortunately, he has an injury record that helps make Michael Owen look positively fit and healthy. Next up? Darren Bent: promising at Charlton; undervalued by Juande Ramos at Tottenham; and now flourishing again at Spurs under the stewardship of new manager Harry Redknapp. It looks as though he will get his chance in Capello's new England set-up. Fans of the national team can only but hope though that, when his chance does finally arrive, his performances do not come up short.