Do England miss Beckham?

Do England miss Beckham?

Against a team like Montenegro, who will sit in their half of the pitch, hold out for a draw and occasionally venture forward, no goals will come for the attacking side if all they try is long balls down the middle.

The way to score - particularly with big strikers, physical strikers or just plain brilliant headers of the ball, is to have an expert at crossing the ball into the box for those attackers to get a touch and win the game. Tuesdays game between England and Montenegro ended goalless, and with very little creativity, spark and skill on the ground, it wasn't hard to see why.

Crossing with Quality: Beckham

One whipped in cross, followed by one lucky touch or brilliant bit of skill could have been the difference, but with no one with a crossing ability good enough to provide for the hungry strikers, England couldn't take advantage of their attackers presence.

When you hear the names Theo Walcott, Aaron Lennon, Ashley Young and Shaun Wright Phillips, you don't immediately associate them with their fantastic ability to pick out a team-mate from forty yards, or provide a delicious cross right onto a team-mates head. No, these players are mainly known for their speed, and in some cases, their fantastic (immensely annoying) ability to find the closest opposition defender when attempting a cross.

Adam Johnson and James Milner are better at crossing, but the consistency to find a man time and time again isn't there. Unlike a certain David Beckham.

Not only could he inspire the players around him to play well, but his crossing ability was - and is - unrivalled. Wherever he was on the pitch, he found a team-mate with apparent ease and cross with accuracy of which no English player I have seen possesses.

England do miss David Beckham, but if they want to succeed, they are going to have to find a player whose quality on the wings is not just consistent, but consistently brilliant.