Heads will have to fall following England’s worst defeat in the World Cup Finals ever! But, who is to blame?
Many fingers are pointing at Fabio Capello; but given that he got us to the finals in a manner that gave us confidence in the team, he cannot seriously be wholly responsible. Having said that, at the time of writing, he does appear to want to jump ship and is manoeuvering to take with him as much financial gain as possible!
So what about the players; some appeared to be out of their depth and others were plainly not dovetailing into the team. Matthew Upson despite scoring the goal was anything but positional and was weak when he needed to be strong. John Terry seems to think he is the player manager, what was he doing pushing up the field leaving just Glen Johnson in defence? – if Terry is half the man he thinks he is, he will put up his hands!
Then we come to the midfield boys; Steven Gerard, he seemed to think he was playing for Liverpool and had to grab a goal, so every time he had half a chance he would waste the move by shooting weak or wide! Frank Lampard, ‘player of the year’, ‘best midfielder in the Premier League’, but never really producing for England. Yes, his shot was over the line, and yes, had it counted the game would have been turned around. But, we didn’t have the guile, strength, will power or determination to influence the game in our favour, even at 2:1!
Howard Webb, England's World Cup success, on duty in the Premier League.
Many pointed the finger at Rooney, but he had half-hearted player around him who were not moving off the ball, and who appeared restricted by a hidden and ineffective game plan. Which brings me back to Mr Capello, I do feel he was out of his depth and was unbelievably stubborn in his approach, this was best seen through his team selection as well as his late and ineffective substitutions. For example; when you need a goal, why take off Jermain Defoe and bring on Emile Heskey?
Finally, in my opinion, the greatest negative influence on the England team was threefold. The newspapers, the radio and Television – the media! There are too many journalists pressing for interviews and searching for stories! The team should be left alone to get on with the job in hand! We may not be good enough, but I fear England will never be able to show what potential they have because the media will continue to build them up beyond what is real, only to knock them down again!
Tags: Emile Heskey, England, Fabio Capello, Frank Lampard, Germany 4 England 1, Glen Johnson, Howard Webb, Jermain Defoe, John Terry, Matthew Upson, Premier League, Rooney, Steven Gerard, Wayne Rooney, World Cup Finals
