By STEVEN HOWARD
Last Updated: 10th February 2013
SO who “gets” Tom Cleverley?
Certainly England boss Roy Hodgson, who has started the Manchester United midfield man in all seven internationals since Euro 2012.
He’s the only England player who has.
After England launched their World Cup qualifying campaign with a 5-0 victory in Moldova, Hodgson went as far as to make comparisons between Cleverley and Cesc Fabregas.
Which produced a few dropped jaws among the assembled hacks.
And while all the talk was about Arsenal’s Jack Wilshere in the build-up to the 2-1 defeat of Brazil at Wembley on Wednesday night, Hodgson kept chipping away about Cleverley’s potential.
So he obviously stokes his manager’s fire.
And he’s increasingly becoming a United fixture after starting 10 of the last 13 games.
But many England fans are scratching their heads.
What does he actually do? How good is he?
To many, he remains an enigmatic figure.
He’s sort of six out of 10, vin ordinaire, very busy, OK-ish but nothing really special.
And when he’s poor — as he was in Poland, though, admittedly, played out of position on the left — he’s poor.
Yet based on the success of the 45 minutes he was given alongside Wilshere against Brazil — and with Steven Gerrard behind in support — he seems very much a man with an important England future.
And he would surely have played more games for United had he not been injured early last season.
United-watchers say the team lose something without him because he puts pace in the side.
He keeps it moving and has a sixth sense of where his team-mates are.
Yes, he beats himself up when he plays loose balls but then, at 23, he’s not yet the refined article.
Of course, he is overshadowed at United by Wayne Rooney, Robin van Persie and Michael Carrick.
And it’s the same with England.
But such appears to be Hodgson’s faith in him that the doubters among us may have to take stock and reconsider.
With Wilshere also providing real pace in midfield, England played a very high-tempo game against Brazil — even more so when Theo Walcott was released.
Frank Lampard and Carrick are more leisurely players so it will be interesting to see how it all pans out in the build-up to March’s vital World Cup qualifier in Montenegro.
But Cleverley isn’t the only United player under the England magnifying-glass.
If there was one disappointment about the Brazil game it was Danny Welbeck.
And we’re not talking just about the chance he had in the first half when he chose not to shoot with his left foot but hit it wide with the outside of his right.
He just seemed out of place on the left.
Yes, he’s scored five in 14 for England and yet for United it’s only one in 27 this season.
When Alex Ferguson was questioned about this the other day, he was non-plussed and talked of Welbeck’s work-rate, how he held the ball up, ran with pace and made space for Rooney and RVP.
Like Cleverley, though, he has time on his side.
SUNSPORT'S Shaun Custis, Rob Beasley and Jim Munro discuss the Three Lions' new age of hope after beating World Cup hosts
Theory of evolution
THE world changed for Theo Walcott on 26 February, 2012.
Arsenal were 2-0 down at home to Spurs and Walcott, unable to put a foot right, was getting an absolute coating from Arsenal fans.
The compassionate thing would have been for Arsene Wenger to haul him off. Instead, he stuck with him. But it was still a test of character you suspected Walcott would fail.
In one of those typically purple Arsenal spells, the Gunners then scored five times in 28 minutes with Walcott getting the final two.
As the second hit the back of the net, he was submerged under an avalanche of jubilant team-mates. They knew what he had been going through. Since that auspicious day, Walcott, 23, has scored 21 in 40 Arsenal matches.
Against Brazil on Wednesday night, he looked every bit as good as the even younger man who scored a hat-trick against Croatia in Zagreb in September 2008.
Welcome back, Theo.
Carra a proper soldier
JAMIE CARRAGHER, one-club man and old- fashioned football warrior, is to retire at the end of the season.
The high spot of one of the game’s most illustrious careers will always be the 2005 Champions League final.
But it’s how Liverpool got to Istanbul to beat AC Milan after being 3-0 down that defines that career. In the quarter-final Carragher and Sami Hyypia produced enormous performances against Juventus.
And they did it again when they held Chelsea 0-0 in the first leg of the semi at Stamford Bridge.
I can still remember the pained look and shake of the head from Didier Drogba after one Carra special.
They don’t make ’em like him any more.
Dante's hell of a name
BRAZIL may not have the top names of old but they have some of the most interesting.
Of the starters on Wednesday night, there was Julius Caesar in goal, Dante and Oscar.
But the bench was the killer. The wonderful Fred and Hulk. And two other chaps called Miranda and Jean.
Well, I think they’re chaps.
FABIO BORINI’S agent claims the Italian is happy at Liverpool and is keen to distance himself from talk of a move to Fiorentina. Grim news for Liverpool fans.
No Love from us
BIRMINGHAM’S Peter Lovenkrands was mugged on his own drive by thugs who nicked his £30,000 watch.
A week earlier, Paul Scholes had his car stolen from outside his own home as he left the engine running while defrosting the windscreen.
No wonder they live in gated communities.
To keep them away from us, of course, not the other way round.
Drop of poison
FOOTBALL LEAGUE clubs say increased parachute payments for relegated Premier League sides will give them an unfair advantage.
They are not insubstantial at the moment — £48million over four years.
That makes the performance of last season’s relegated clubs — Blackburn (13th), Bolton (20th) and Wolves (21st) — even more wretched.
BECKY ADLINGTON put swimming on the map with her two golds in Beijing.
Now, at just 23, it’s all over. Short but very sweet. As Seb Coe said, she is and will remain a national treasure.
Read more: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/4784513/Steven-Howard-Whats-the-point-of-Tom-Cleverley-for-England.html#ixzz2KkAHXLo5
