Referee Wolfgang Stark believes Wayne
Rooney may escape a prolonged Euro 2012 ban as he declined to
protest his dismissal on Friday, but Gary Neville says the talk of
his suspension is merely a distraction from the fact England are
"not good enough".
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Stark issued Rooney with a straight red for kicking out as
England played out a 2-2 draw in
Montenegro in their final competitive game before the finals and,
given his status as Fabio Capello's star player, there are concerns
that it could severely hamper the country's chances.
UEFA is likely to make a ruling on the length of the suspension
next month, and Stark feels it is possible that Rooney's reaction
will spare him an extension to the obligatory one-match ban.
"He accepted it without dissent," Stark said. "Maybe it will
help Rooney the way he acted by accepting my decision. It was a
straight red card. I had no hesitation.
"You saw what happened and Rooney knew by his reaction. He just
walked off. I have no more input into the process. I will submit my
report and it is up to UEFA what they will do."
However, former England defender Neville feels the focus on
Rooney's unavailability means the country is not looking at the
real problems.
"The most disappointing thing about his red card is that it
distracts from the major issue," he wrote in the Mail on
Sunday. "With England, we're always looking for an excuse;
we're always caught up in the minor rather than the major.
"The real issue is that the spine of the team is not good
enough, as it stands, to take on Spain, Italy, France or Germany at
Euro 2012.
"Going into major tournaments we always put all our pressure and
hopes on one man. I've seen it before with Rooney in 2006 and 2010
or David
Beckham in 2002. Even before them, it was Kevin Keegan or Bryan
Robson in the '70s and '80s.
"It's as though we think that one world-class player might be
able to propel us to a major trophy, and now we're talking about
Rooney possibly missing two games of Euro 2012 when what we should
be talking about is the spine of a team that has no mobility and
can't keep the ball.
"When I look at it coldly, a team that has John
Terry, Gary
Cahill, Scott
Parker, Gareth
Barry, Darren
Bent and Rooney in its central positions is nowhere near good
enough to take on the major nations such as Spain.
"I'm not having a go at individuals - there are some very good
players among those names. Collectively, Rooney aside, there is
hardly any pace, very little invention and hardly any rotation of
positions. Compare that with the spine of Spain: Carles
Puyol, Gerard
Pique, Xabi
Alonso, Xavi, David
Villa and Fernando
Llorente."
Neville believes that, even if they are inferior, it is
essential England find a way to stop world and European champions
Spain in their friendly at Wembley in November if they are to find
the belief needed to provide a challenge next summer.
"Never has a friendly been more important," he wrote. "It's like
a cup final. Somehow, Capello has to do something that no England
manager has done in 15 years, and that is make the England players
believe that this next match could be the most important of their
life.
"Let's be clear, England are not as good as Spain. But you can't
just accept they're better. You have to find a way to stop them, to
disrupt the rhythm and to hurt them going forward - because England
need to believe that, in a one-off, they can beat Spain.
"The rest of Europe is watching and if Spain do what most people
think they will do and destroy us, just like France did in February
1999 at Wembley when they were world champions, then England will
go into Euro 2012 thinking they have no chance."