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England will never be a World force until they have an out and out striker to speak of

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Think of the great centre forwards that have donned the three lions. At their peak Lineker, Shearer, Greaves, and even Michael Owen would strike fear into almost any defence. But who of our current crop of youngsters can do the same for Capello's Inglaterra. Mike Norman is worried.

It's hard to be enthusiastic about the England national football team at present, so much so that by the time you've read the next few paragraphs, you just might want to have another look through your family tree - just in case you've got some Portuguese or Spanish grandparents.

It's so easy for us to blame managers for our previous failings, or to simply put it down to bad luck and think that next time we will go all the way. But the harsh reality is that our players just haven't performed well enough as a team, and England as a football nation hasn't won a major tournament since Frank Sinatra topped the charts with 'Strangers In The Night' - how ironic that our players have become just that when playing on the international stage.

I could talk for weeks about where it's all gone wrong and how it can be put right, but the truth is I will probably be kidding myself. In fact, the truth is, I can't see England being a major force in world football for a long time, because we no longer have a pool of world class strikers to choose from, and far more worryingly is that there doesn't seem to be any emerging.

Last week's defeat to a below strength France was one of the worst England performances I've seen in years. Yes we kept the ball for long periods, just like Capello wants us to, but we were devoid of ideas in the last third and didn't manage a shot of any note all night. Rooney was asked to be the lone striker, a role he often plays at Manchester United. The difference is that at United Rooney drifts to the wings, or drops deep, knowing that the player whose space he is occupying will go and be the striker; i.e., Nani or Ronaldo coming in from the wing or Tevez coming in from deep. Last week Rooney did the same; he drifted to the wings or dropped deep, but Joe Cole didn't cut in, neither did Beckham, and Gerrard failed to move into the vacant space - it was shambolic.

If England are going to be successful in the future they need to play with two strikers up front, or at least one out-and-out striker with someone supporting. The huge problem we have however is that we don't have any world class 'out-and-out' strikers anymore.

Looking at the goalscoring charts for this season (for all competitions) from the players based in our country and the worrying fact is that there isn't an English striker in sight. Ronaldo leads the way with 36 goals, followed by Torres (28) and Adebayor (24). The most prominent English players are midfielders, namely Gerrard and Lampard with 19 and 17 goals respectively.

To his credit, Jermain Defoe has scored 16 goals this season, including eight in his last seven for Portsmouth. But even more creditable is the fact that he has scored a goal on average every 102 minutes that he has been on the field - a stat only bettered by Ronaldo, who has scored once every 94 minutes. Rooney is the next English striker in this list (he also has 16 goals this season), but he only scores once every 175 minutes of play, while much further down the list you have the likes of Owen, Crouch, Ashton, Vassell, Heskey etc, whose minutes per goal stats aren't even worth telling you about.

I've mentioned the above England strikers because they've been involved prominently in recent World Cup and European Championship squads - and seemingly, they appear to be the only strikers at Fabio Capello's disposal right now - it really is worrying.

If you look at recent England U-21 squads then I'm afraid that doesn't offer much hope either. Yes you will see the names of Matt Derbyshire, Leroy Lita, Cameron Jerome, Frazier Campbell, and Luke Moore, but compare these strikers to the likes of Alan Shearer, Robbie Fowler, Michael Owen and Wayne Rooney. My point is, Shearer, Fowler, Owen and Rooney were all playing top flight football for big teams, and scoring hat-tricks before they could even shave - some of the current England U-21 strikers are in their twenties and are playing at a much lower level. I'm afraid it's not very promising.

The problem is that young English strikers are not getting a chance at big clubs like they used to. The pressure to score goals and remain in the Premiership is so much so that a manager would rather go and spend £10m on an experienced foreign goalscorer than give a promising teenager a chance. We have so many young talented wingers and attackers in England - Walcott, Agbonlahor, Young, Bentley and Lennon to name but a few. If only we could find a crop of young talented strikers.

Oh well, on to some betting. England are fourth favourites to lift the 2010 World Cup at odds of [13.0]. Brazil are the current market leaders at [5.6], followed by Argentina ([6.8]) and Italy ([11.5]). The most avoidable bet currently on Betfair though is the [1.63] about England winning Group 6. If you can wait the best part of two years for your cash, then a lay is advisable.

There is still a lot to play for in the top English scorer charts (Premiership only) and Defoe looks poor value at [1.79] despite being two clear of Rooney ([3.45]) and Gerrard ([7.8]). Split your stakes on the last two mentioned and I'm sure you will get a great run for your money during the last six games of the season.