Bridge’s retirement shows class but is he any real loss for England?

Wayne Bridge retired from the International scene today leaving the left back role up for grabs in South Africa come summer if Ashley Cole fails to recover from his injury. At the very least his retirement has opened up a space in the squad for potential suitors such as frontrunner Stephen Warnock, Leighton Baines and Joleon Lescott

The sordid affair that has dominated the pages, both front and back of the country’s leading tabloids over the past month or so doesn’t look likely to end anytime soon with this latest revelation but it has to be said that there are far better options currently in the England squad and around it anyway. To avoid any split (if one doesn’t already exist that is) between the squad, Bridge’s retirement would go a long way to ensuring one doesn’t happen.

Bridge said on the matter himself that “”It has always been an honour to play for England. However, after careful thought I believe my position in the squad is now untenable and potentially divisive. Sadly therefore, I feel for the sake of the team and in order to avoid what will be inevitable distractions, I have decided not to put myself forward for selection”. It appears Bridge has bowed out in a dignified manner after taking time to weigh up his decision for the past few weeks and he deserves respect for not being rash and making his decision in the interests of the squad. The words ‘potentially divisive’ show that Bridge was not the only person to recognise that his relationship ith John Terry, or lack of one now, could be, as Bridge put it so eloquently, an “inevitable distraction” that England could obviously do without.

Capello himself recently stated that his main job in South Africa will be “to stay together and compact in every moment. I think this will be my most important job – to recreate this spirit” and this is a key point to note. You can’t galvanise a squad whilst the cloud of a scandal such as this hangs over it and just serves to highlight that Bridge’s decision remains the correct one.

This isn’t a debate about whether Terry should have retained the captaincy or not for that is a different matter entirely but ask yourself this very simple question – is Terry a necessity to England’s World Cup squad? The answer is a resounding yes, ask yourself the same question about Bridge and the answer would probably be no.

It does seem a very cold way of looking at it but Terry remains England’s first choice centre half along with a fit again Rio Ferdinand with Matthew Upson as their understudy, whether or not he’s an unsavoury character off the pitch doesn’t come into it, he’s an integral part of our first eleven and has been enjoying some fine form this season for Chelsea despite mishaps against Everton, Wolves and Inter Milan in the past week or so.

There are also several great alternatives to the back-up left back role in Capello’s final 23 on the plane to South Africa should the Italian decide he wants to take cover for Ashley Cole. Cole is at present probably the best left back in the world and Bridge at both Chelsea and for England has been unable to dislodge him such is Cole’s consistency and quality. Cole’s three-month long ankle injury will give an understudy the chance to impress against Egypt on March 3^rd at Wembley but if Cole returns just in time for the end of the season as planned, the audition on March 3^rd will most likely be for the role of understudy.

There is a question whether England needs to take a back-up left back to the World Cup at all, but let’s have a look at the choices that remain now that Bridge has finally decided to hang up his boots on the international stage.

There’s Leighton Baines at Everton whose both solid defensively and good going forward and has decent delivery from wide areas, then there’s Stephen Warnock at Villa a very able defender and whilst not offering the same threat as Baines going forward is certainly consistent enough to take Bridge’s place. There’s also City’s forgotten man Joleon Lescott who excelled at left back before earning himself a £24m move to Eastlands and whilst not possessing as much technique as Baines or Warnock he’s always looked more assured and dependable at left back and is a real threat from set pieces.

In the England squad you have Gareth Barry who played there for Villa for several season before establishing himself as a solid central midfielder and also Warnock’s Villa team mate James Milner who has been mooted as capable of filling in the role if there’s another injury to Cole or if he doesn’t recover in time to make the trip to South Africa and whilst this would be a serious waste of one of the biggest in-form player’s in the country’s talents it’s not wholly unrealistic.

The thing with Bridge is that he simply hasn’t been the same player for several years now due to a combination of a lack of playing time and several niggling injuries. He’s been savaged in the press for some poor form this season too, most notably by Alan Hansen on the Match of the Day sofa.

His terrible performance under pressure and against quality opposition in Croatia when England failed to qualify for Euro 2008 at Wembley was also worrying and you begin to get the picture that even if Bridge hadn’t retired from internationals he may seriously have struggled to make the squad anyway.

His retirement now, whether its short term or long term is a dignified way to bring an end to the matter over whether him and Terry can share the same dressing room. A bust-up of this magnitude had the potential to derail any squad cohesion and spirit ahead of the World Cup and by bowing out in this way before the friendly squad for the Egypt game was announced, Bridge has demonstrated a certain measure of class, something the deposed England Captain would do well to learn from.

Written By James McManus