Bent not the answer for England

Saturday's match against Switzerland at Wembley is a good opportunity for Darren Bent to build on his recent performances for England, but that should not disguise the fact that he is not international class and the country is bereft of top-class strikers. If Bent scores against the Swiss, as he did in the away fixture in September and the qualifier against Wales in March, then he will have taken the chance presented to him once again. However, his ability pales in comparison to some of the strikers England have had in the past.
Bent is scoring with regularity in the Premier League, and claimed nine in 16 appearances for a Villa side that was struggling, but when you look at some of the great centre forwards who have played for the country over the years - players of the class of Jimmy Greaves, Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer - you have to say that he is nowhere near that kind of level.
At the moment England need Bent, and that just shows the extent to which the national side is struggling for players of genuine international class in attacking positions. Wayne Rooney of course belongs in that bracket, but he needs support and is suspended on Saturday in any case.
At this moment in time there are quite a few players who could get a chance for England because the squad has a weakness in attack. Players such as Carlton Cole and even Jay Bothroyd have had chances over the past season.
The alternative options to Bent in the current squad are Bobby Zamora and Peter Crouch, and although the former has suffered with injury, there are not a lot of goals in those two players. They scored just nine between them in the Premier League last season.
When you consider that Zamora is only now becoming an England player and he is 30, it just proves that there is a dearth of strong options out there for Fabio Capello. We are lacking someone young, and perhaps we should promote someone who is a promising goalscorer of potential international class, even if they aren't playing regular football, just to give them an opportunity and a feel for football at that level.
If you look at most of the top countries in the world, they all have talented young players who are regulars at international level and play for top sides - just think of Fernando Llorente for Spain, Karim Benzema for France or Mario Balotelli for Italy.
We don't have those kind of players. We are lacking a consistent, out-and-out goalscorer for England at the moment, someone for Rooney to play off.
A lot has been made about the fact that Bent and Ashley Young play together at club level and that could benefit England, but Young hasn't been that great for Villa. He has been a bit inconsistent so you can't just assume it will click.
Often it doesn't work when you take a club partnership and implant it in the international side. Obviously it has worked superbly well with Spain and Barcelona, where Puyol and Pique partner each other in defence and Busquets, Xavi and Iniesta operate in midfield, but that is the exception to the rule.
Young still hasn't proved himself at international level and Bent only has a handful of caps as well.
The Swiss might not be the most exciting international team but they are difficult to play against and they do not concede a lot of goals. Scoring is a problem for them - particularly in the wake of Alexander Frei and Marco Streller's international retirements - but they are very adept at the back, and beat Spain at the last World Cup of course.
Bent played in the centre of a three-man attack in the qualifying win over Wales in March, with Rooney and Young playing either side of him, but I'm not sure whether England will be that adventurous against Switzerland.
Against Wales you almost expected England to go with four up front because the opposition was so poor, to be honest, but I think Capello has to be more cautious against the Swiss, even if England should beat them at Wembley. Three points are imperative as that would make qualification so much easier, but we can't take the game lightly.