And so England's torrid battle with the 2010 World Cup has finally had the 'Dignitas' treatment and been put firmly to sleep. Although I thought we might raise our game and win the match, I am left feeling unsurprised by the outcome - there were just too many shortcomings in our team.
I think this calls for a player-by-player rundown to get to the bottom of things:
1) James: played superbly after coming in for Rob Green. Excellent handling, good communication. Slightly at fault for Germany's second goal, but he was left woefully exposed.
2) Johnson: reasonable going forward, but a defensive liability. He is sadly going the same way as Jay-Lloyd Samuel, formerly of Villa, becoming ever more relaxed on the pitch to the point he plays at a Blanco-esque snails pace. He has the positional sense of Chernobyl village.
3) Ashley Cole: if I hear his name in the same sentence as Maicon again as 'one of the world's best full-backs' I think I will throw my television out of the window. Workmanlike at best he offered no threat going forward and only minor re-assurance as a defender. A big let down.
4) Terry: Abject. Out of position, out of sorts, out of luck. More knowledgable pundits put this down to swtiching from left centre back to right, but either way, he was cack.
5) Upson: Out of his depth. Kept up his leading status in the Opta "errors leading to goals" stat.
6) Barry: whilst exactly the sort of patient influence that our team needs, his lumbering pace and loss of possession in crucial areas of th epitch cost us the match. He was a big part in goals 3 and 4 for Germany.
7) Milner: Kept drifting inside too much, but generally had an okay game, some dangerous deliveries.
8) Lampard: One of hte few that looked like he really cared. Got the 'goal' and threatened generally, but still below the level we would normally expect.
9) Rooney: continued his anonymous tournament. Like with Ashley Cole, to mention him in the same breath as true greats is embarrassing. He's basically an excellent club player, but has delivered nothing but future promise and foul language to the England team.
10) Defoe: made us relaise why Heskey kept getting picked. Invisible
11) Gerrard: 'Hollywood' Gerrard. Every pass a lottery ticket for our Stevie. Why keep possession when it is possible to punt the ball out for a throw in/goal kick. Presumably down to over exuberance (and therefore 'passion) but to me it just looks like a terrible lack of composure. For a proper midfield performance look at Muller. He has been appalling all tournament, and shouldn't have been selected.
So there's eleven plays, eight of whom underperformed massively; it is no surprise we are tootling home. What to do about it is the subject of agonising media debate, but I'm not sure I have an answer. The first step would be to avoid ending up with 'default' team selections and to lose the fear of selecting a team rather than a core of individuals. On form, Gerrard and Rooney no way guaranteed starting berths. For this reason (along with the incredible lack of defensive talent/pace selected in the squad in favour of crocks - G Cahill. R Shawcross anyone?) I think Capello needs to pack his bags.
With our exit assured I can now enjoy the football on display and support the good teams instead of hoping bad ones win in order to ease our route to glory.
I think this calls for a player-by-player rundown to get to the bottom of things:
1) James: played superbly after coming in for Rob Green. Excellent handling, good communication. Slightly at fault for Germany's second goal, but he was left woefully exposed.
2) Johnson: reasonable going forward, but a defensive liability. He is sadly going the same way as Jay-Lloyd Samuel, formerly of Villa, becoming ever more relaxed on the pitch to the point he plays at a Blanco-esque snails pace. He has the positional sense of Chernobyl village.
3) Ashley Cole: if I hear his name in the same sentence as Maicon again as 'one of the world's best full-backs' I think I will throw my television out of the window. Workmanlike at best he offered no threat going forward and only minor re-assurance as a defender. A big let down.
4) Terry: Abject. Out of position, out of sorts, out of luck. More knowledgable pundits put this down to swtiching from left centre back to right, but either way, he was cack.
5) Upson: Out of his depth. Kept up his leading status in the Opta "errors leading to goals" stat.
6) Barry: whilst exactly the sort of patient influence that our team needs, his lumbering pace and loss of possession in crucial areas of th epitch cost us the match. He was a big part in goals 3 and 4 for Germany.
7) Milner: Kept drifting inside too much, but generally had an okay game, some dangerous deliveries.
8) Lampard: One of hte few that looked like he really cared. Got the 'goal' and threatened generally, but still below the level we would normally expect.
9) Rooney: continued his anonymous tournament. Like with Ashley Cole, to mention him in the same breath as true greats is embarrassing. He's basically an excellent club player, but has delivered nothing but future promise and foul language to the England team.
10) Defoe: made us relaise why Heskey kept getting picked. Invisible
11) Gerrard: 'Hollywood' Gerrard. Every pass a lottery ticket for our Stevie. Why keep possession when it is possible to punt the ball out for a throw in/goal kick. Presumably down to over exuberance (and therefore 'passion) but to me it just looks like a terrible lack of composure. For a proper midfield performance look at Muller. He has been appalling all tournament, and shouldn't have been selected.
So there's eleven plays, eight of whom underperformed massively; it is no surprise we are tootling home. What to do about it is the subject of agonising media debate, but I'm not sure I have an answer. The first step would be to avoid ending up with 'default' team selections and to lose the fear of selecting a team rather than a core of individuals. On form, Gerrard and Rooney no way guaranteed starting berths. For this reason (along with the incredible lack of defensive talent/pace selected in the squad in favour of crocks - G Cahill. R Shawcross anyone?) I think Capello needs to pack his bags.
With our exit assured I can now enjoy the football on display and support the good teams instead of hoping bad ones win in order to ease our route to glory.
Comments
Post a Comment