Today is the 20th anniversary of the Lansdowne Road Riot.
When England came to Lansdowne Road in February 1995, they brought more than just violent fringe right wing extremist groups and drunken rioting. The England squad were in the throes of a rigorous tactical and innovative preparation programme for Euro '96 that would break new ground and lead them to unprecedented success defeat against Germany on penalties. On the night in question, England were operating a system that could potentially be described as 'experimental': a 2-3-4-1 semi-inverted Christmas tree with a false sense of actually knowing what they were doing.
"It makes no difference how you line up" said Venables, sounding eerily like a new age Steve Staunton crossed with David Brent, "You should attack together and defend together." The most interesting aspect of El Tel's press conference though, was his toying with the idea of playing with no strikers, "If you are light in midfield, the opposition will play around you and past you. Passarella, the Argentina coach, may be attempting to play without a central striker at all, but the rest have to get in there." So there you have it. Del Bosque nicked Terry's idea.
But where are these brave new proponents of tiki-taka total football now?
GK David Seaman (Arsenal)
Seaman had steadily worked his way up to first choice under Venables, having made his debut in 1988. He would play in all of England's games at Euro '96 in a garish banana yellow jersey with some distinction, becoming the last England goalkeeper to win a penalty shootout after Spain were held off 4-2 in the quarter-finals. Seaman remained first choice for England until he conceded directly from a corner in a Euro 2004 qualifier against Macedonia. After lifting his eighth trophy with Arsenal, he moved to Manchester City and retired in 2004. Since then, he was judged adequately famous to appear on Strictly Ice Dancing as a last minute replacement. But not Strictly Come Dancing. He then showed the BBC executives what they were missing by winning the whole thing. Riding a wave of success, Seaman cut off his ponytail for charity in 2005, at huge personal financial cost, ending protracted negotiations with L'Oreal who had wanted to sponsor his hair. Fame and glory couldn't last forever though and Seaman allowed the hype to get to his head and without his Samson-like strength and Baggio-like grace, he could only finish fourth in a Strictly Ice Dancing comeback. In June 2012 he was appointed as goalkeeping coach with FC Wembley for their FA Cup campaign as part of a television documentary. Ray Parlour, Martin Keown, Graeme Le Saux and Brian McBride signed up as players in an attempt to get them to the final in Wembley, they were unsuccessful.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hv0jCoGpBEA
CB Gary Pallister (Manchester United)
Gary Pallister is one of the most decorated English footballers to ever play the game, haing won four league titles, three FA Cups, one League Cup and one European Cup Winners' Cup in his career. Like Andy Cole or Robbie Fowler however, he never really had international recognition to match his domestic success, picking up only 22 caps in eight years. Pallister indeed ended up missing out on the final squad for Euro '96. After hanging up his boots in 2001, Pallister did some media work with ITV and BBC and is currently 'Operations Director' at his former club Darlington.
CB Tony Adams (Arsenal)
Born in 1966, a one club man and general all round lionheart, Tony Adams was the middle man in the evolution of heroic English defenders from Norman 'bites your legs' Hunter to John Terry. A year after this game, Adams would openly reveal that he was an alcoholic and began to seek treatment. This turmoil didn't affect his performances on the pitch and he went on to retire with more than 500 league appearnces for Arsenal and four league titles under his belt. His forays into management have been somewhat less sucessful. He suffered relegation with Wycombe Wanderers, lasted just sixteen games in charge of Portsmouth and left Azerbaijani outfit Gabala FC in 2011 after a seventh placed league finish. He currently works with his own Sporting Chance Clinic, helping athletes with addiction issues.
LWB Graeme Le Saux (Blackburn Rovers)
Le Saux at the time was part of the Jack Walker funded Rovers side that were marching towards the league title. He had made his England debut the season before and would win 36 caps in six years. He only scored one goal in that time, but it was a memorable one, an outside of the box belter agianst Brazil. Le Saux became the most expensive defender in England when he rejoined Chelsea for £5 million in 1997. Because of his university background and well publicised love of The Guardian, Le Saux was subject to constant rumours and abuse over his sexuality throughout his career. Since retiring he has worked in media, he worked as commentator for the 2013-14 Premier League season for NBC in the US.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLVQzdqlSE0
RWB Warren Barton (Wimbledon)
Like Le Saux, Barton was an attacking full back, favouring frequent runs forward. The game in Dublin was Barton's debut for England and he would only win three caps, all of them in 1995. Despite his international career trailing off, Barton made a big money move to Newcastle at the end of the 1995 season and was a key part of the Kevin Keegan attacking Newcastle side that would come so close on so many occasions. In 2010 he became both president and head coach of the San Diego Flash. He signed on as the head coach of the Men In Blazers national team - a squad of Americans who were inspired by San Marino to form their own 'national team' made up of taxi drivers, taxmen and dentists. He is currently general manager and technical director for the Los Angeles Blues and a pundit for the Fox Soccer Channel.
DM Paul Ince (Manchester United)
Of all of the England players in the line-up that night, Paul Ince would have the most successful management career, which isn't saying much. At the time he was struggling at Manchester United, as they failed to catch Blackburn and lost the FA Cup final to Everton. That summer he was shipped out to Internazionale by Ferguson, who labelled him a 'bottler' and a 'big time Charlie'. In retirement he has had no less than six jobs already, the most successful of which was undoubtedly his spell with MK Dons where he won promotion to League One. He is currently without a club having left Blackpool in January 2014 after less than a year in charge.
AM Darren Anderton (Tottenham)
Anderton was having a strong season at the time alongside Jürgen Klinsmann in a Spurs team that finished seventh in the league. That summer he turned down a move to Manchester United, a move he later said he regretted. He had broken into the England side a year previously and was playing well, featuring in the eventual Euro '96 team. In the semi-final defeat against Germany, he hit the post in extra-time. Known as 'sicknote', Anderton's career was restricted by injury. In retirement he can occasionally be seen on tv and frequently on twitter talking about football.
AM David Platt (Sampdoria)
One of England's best players in the 1990s with 27 goals in 62 appearances, Platt was playing well for a struggling Sampdoria team at the time. They would finish the season in eighth and Platt would move to Arsenal for £4.75 million that summer. Platt though was to be displaced in the national side by the time Euro '96 came around although suspensions and injury meant he started against Spain in the quarter-final and played the full 120 minutes against Germany in the semi-final scoring in both penalty shoot-outs. He made a move into management in 1998 with his his old side Sampdoria, followed by Nottingham Forest and the England U-21s, He was Roberto Mancini's assistant at Manchester City, leaving the position in May 2013 following Mancini's departure.
AM Matt Le Tissier (Southampton)
Deployed as an attacking midfielder in Venables' Barcelona-lite formation, Le Tissier was trying to establish himself in the England set-up. It wasn't to be, as he won only eight caps and never scored. He was overlooked for both Euro '96 and the World Cup in 1998. Another one club man, he retired from playing with Southampton in 2002 where he is considered somewhat of a legend. Xavi has proclaimed him as an inspiration, "his talent was simply out of the norm. He could simply dribble past seven or eight players but without speed - he just walked past them. For me he was sensational". He has since become a fixture on Sky where he has garnered a new, but equally loyal following.
AM Peter Beardsley (Newcastle United)
Beardsley was at the height of his powers during what was his second spell at Newcastle at the time, enjoying the attacking emphasis of Kevin Keegan, scoring a goal every 2.74 games. He was the longest serving member of the England starting XI in Dublin and one of the few to have escaped from the Euro '92 and World Cup '94 qualifying failures unharmed as he was often overlooked by Graham Taylor. He had been a regular under Bobby Robson, once scoring four in a friendly...against Aylesbury United. He rejoined the international set-up under Venables, although he missed out on Euro '96 and hung up his boots. He has been involved in some guise with Newcastle United ever since he retired and is currently managing the U-21's while assisting John Carver with his coaching duties.
ST Alan Shearer (Blackburn Rovers)
Shearer was the man of the moment at the time and was on the brink of winning the league with Blackburn almost single-handedly. A year later he was the most expensive footballer in world football as he secured a £15 million move to his hometown club, Newcastle. He ended his career as the record Premier League goalscorer but with only one medal. His stab at managing Newcastle wasn't much of a success either, overseeing their relegation to the Championship. He now does a passable impression of a man who has seen so much football he has lost the will to live in exchange for lots of money from the BBC every Saturday.
In case you missed it - the Ireland team vs England in 1995 - Where are they now?
H/T The Times (David Miller, 15/02/1995)
Picture credit: Diarmuid Greene / SPORTSFILE
