Some said that Ringo Starr wasn’t the best drummer in the world. Some went on to say that he wasn’t the best drummer in the Beatles.

The same is currently being said of Stewart Downing.

Is he the best left winger in the country?

Is he, indeed, the best left winger currently at the Boro?

My answer to both of the above is no. But this is not a ‘downer’ on Downing.

I don’t consider Stewart to be purely a left-wing player. With the ability to cross and shoot with both feet - a rare commodity these days - he can be equally effective on the right wing as on the left. He can take a mean free-kick, whip across some amazing crosses and can take on defenders and beat them. If I had to chose a player in Boro’s starting line up purely to terrorise the right back I’d chose Adam Johnson. He’s more of your natural, 70’s style winger who just wants to run at defences, get past them and cross the ball. Downings ability would be wasted stuck out talking to the lino for 90 minutes.

I would hate to think that he is destined to join the long and distinguished list of players who had tremendous club reputations but failed to make similar a impact at the very highest level of the game. He’s had a few chances so far with England. Capello clearly rates him, whether as a potential answer to England’s long-standing left sided problem or as a decent option for a number of positions left or right. Yet his first half performance in England’s first World Cup 2010 qualifier was widely castigated as derisory at best. Crosses not finding their mark were a major issue yet where exactly was the mark? Put a man on the left wing, tell him to put crosses in, and then leave one large target man on the bench, leave another at home and put into the firing line two strikers whose game is ground based. What exactly was expected?

What else was expected from the southern-based (or should I say southern-biased?) press?

I lose count of the number of times players who were either off-form or of whom it could be questioned as to whether they had ever actually been on-form and yet continued to be selected for England apparently protected by their place in the starting line-up of Man U, Liverpool, or one of a number of London teams. Had Downing now been a regular at White Hart Lane, he would have been given a lot easier ride over his performance in very much the same way that Lennon and Wright-Phillips have in the not-too distant past.

England’s performance against Andora compared to the one against Croatia will naturally produce finger-pointing at the team changes. Yet the ever-changing starting eleven will be subject to enforced amendments due to suspensions and injuries. When Rooney gets himself banned again or ’Sir Theo’ has an exam to sit or Joe Cole is injured, others will be expected to fill the gaps equally as well as their peers. Barracking any one of these individuals doesn’t do anyone any good no matter how much it ’feels’ better afterwards.

Stewart Downing nearly left Boro mid-way through last season. Up to Xmas, there are probably a few fans who wouldn’t have been concerned at getting a few million quid for a player whose head was just ‘not there’. Once his immediate future was sorted and was with Boro, he was undoubtedly the player of the season, ending up top scorer and playing a massive part in ensuring the continuance of Premiership football on Teesside.

If Downing can reproduce his club form at international level then he will be an asset to his country. Until then, if Fabio Capello keeps faith with him then the rest of us should as well.

Yodasmog