Sunday, June 27, 2010

The end of the road

Today's beating of England by Germany was not unexpected. As I watched the England v. Slovenia game, I knew that as they were failing to get back into the group lead, Germany was going to make an example of them. There are quite a few factors here that led to this fall out of yet another World Cup.

The most obvious starting point after this game is the goal by Lampard which was not given. I could easily launch in to an indictment of FIFA and their refusal to even consider things such as goal line technology, but I think that there were bigger issues. First, it would have obviously tied the game at two, which would have brought spirts back up after going two down to a young and skillful German side. But I felt that the reaction of Lampard said it all. He was shocked and had the look of a child who was about to throw a hissy fit because he didn't get ehat he wanted. This is a talented team that can't afford to let things like this get to them. It seemed that the team did not recover from that disappointment and the offensive display they were starting to mount seemed to fizzle out as the half ended.

The next big problem is Capello. I don't really think he was ever the right manager for England. The most telling moment for him as manager was when he couldn't keep the qualification campaign focused and lost against Ukraine in fairly meek fashion. There were obviously divisions in the camp and it just was never going to work in the end as Capello wanted to exert his power and rather than listen to his team, felt it was more important to follow a more fascist direction and quash the uprising. I also look at Capello's stubbornness as a major problem as he refused to give uncapped players proper chances and relied on the 'old guard' much like another defeated Italian coach in this World Cup. As it goes for the manager situation, I believe there is only one person who could manage this nation to the next level, but I don't believe Sir Alex Ferguson would do it.

Another problem which I have mentioned here is the poor selection of the team. I say this not only referring to the selection of the starting 11, but also of the squad as a whole. There was a clear lack of width in this squad. You may say, "but Brian, he brought a bunch of wingers like Lennon and Wright Phillips and Joe Cole!" And I will simply tell you that you have named two RIGHT wingers and an attacking midfielder. There is no left side to this team. You may try again and say, "but what about Gerrard? He has been playing on the left." And I have to retort, he plays on the left for about 5 of 90 minutes. There is no width through Gerrard. Beyond the width problem, there is too much reliance on experience over class and form. I start with the most obvious example on the field. The Defense. I will say that Ashley Cole and Glen Johnson were the only choices for the fullback positions as they are by far the best English players in those spots. The central defenders are a different story. Rio Ferdinand and John Terry have had abysmal seasons. Rio played in less matches than Ledley King which I think says it all. John Terry was fortunate to have a good Partner at Chelsea and a great offense in front of him. I am biased, but I thought the winning formula was going to be King and Dawson. They are an experienced partnership with great chemistry, but in Capello's mind, Dawson was uncapped and thus too inexperienced. Jaime Carragher was a blunder as well, as he is obviously too old and slow to keep up with modern players like we saw in his performances at Liverpool, before Jozy Altidore made him his bitch in the first group game. Capello said that he would take players who are in good form and playing for their club side, but that was obviously not true as he brought Emile Heskey. And I will simply spare you from yet another rant about how poorly i think of Heskey.

England is also a weak team mentally. Surprising considering that the team is full of club captains. The team is shouldered with the most pressure to win of any team because they are considered the founders and history makers of the game as well as England having arguably the best league in the world. The team showed a great deal of inability to not only get up for games but to stay up if they have problems. They lost all of their motivation, it seemed, when Lampard's goal was not given in the dying moments of the first half. The added pressure of meeting the old enemy in Germany was too much to bear for this team and I felt that they never had a chance to win this match today.

The performance in this years cup emphasized the reason why England's bid to host the cup in 2018 is so important to the nation. Their only victory was in 1966 in England. Having the home crowd would probably actually help in England. But there are so many issues to address before the bid is even voted on at FIFA.

England Have so many great players, but now a real focus on the team is the next step. As they go into the qualifying for the European championship, I think a major overhaul needs to be made.

My squad for the future:
Goalkeepers: Joe Hart, David James, Joe Lewis
Defense: Michael Dawson, Gary Cahill, Ashley Cole, Glen Johnson, Leighton Baines, Nedem Onouha, Micah Richards, Ryan Shawcross
Midfield: Aaron Lennon, Ashley Young, James Milner, Tom Huddlestone, Adam Johnson, Joe Cole, Lee Cattermole, David Bentley
Strikers: Jermaine Defoe, Peter Crouch, Wayne Rooney(Captain), Gabriel Agbonlahor

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