So now we know the consequence of Capello's folly. And I'm not just talking about his team selection for the Algeria game. But let's start there.
We finished second because we could not beat Algeria. And why was that? Because Capello picked the wrong team, with Emile Heskey leading the line against a team who we were expected to put three goals past. Now I'm not talking about anything clever here. Capello could have stuck with his 4-4-2 and teamed Lampard, Gerrard and Barry in any midfield combination he chose, none of that would have mattered. All he had to do was play somebody up front who could score - be it Crouch or Defoe.
Tell me, outside of Capello, was there anybody in the country who fancied Emile to lead the line against the Algerians? Heskey misses open goals for fun in a Villa shirt, never mind at international level, whilst Crouch scores at a rate of better than a goal every two games when playing for England. Picking Heskey for the game was like casting Susan Boyle in Pretty Woman - absolutely perverse. And we got what Capello deserved for arrogant stupidity.
But did he learn? Some will argue yes, because didn't he start Defoe ahead of Heskey for today's game? Well yes he did, but when we were leading 1-0 and needed another goal to nail down top spot, what did Capello do? Did he turn to Crouch, a guy who regularly comes off the bench to score in the last 20 minutes of a game? Did he heck as like! Against the might of Slovenia, the 4th smallest nation ever to compete in the World Cup finals, he sent on Emile Heskey to "hold up the ball and take the pressure off the defence"!
What a load of yellow bellied bollocks! And whilst Milner and Cole fannied around keeping the ball in the corner of the pitch, ticking down the clock, the USA scythed through the Algerian defence and netted the goal that enabled them to finish top of the group and sidestep Germany.
Listening to Shearer after the game, you would think we had just won the World Cup. But, in truth, we had bottled it for the third game in a row. We missed three gilt edged chances and, when we had the opportunity to take Destiny by her throat, we elected to grab hold of her by the pigtail instead, allowing the mighty USA to elbow us to one side in the process.
Capello and the players celebrated after the game like the idiots they are. In the circumstances, the 1-0 victory was, in fact, a shameful defeat and further testimony of Capello's flawed tactics and team selection in this tournament.
10 comments:
Bridge? Barry you mean HF? Why are you thinking of Bridge? You're not....Oh God, you do know you'll be stripped of the captaincy HF!!!
Didn't I predict this Capello pursuing by you HF?
Missing guilt edged chances is not Capello's fault.
Heskey did well in the two games he played. Apart from that missed chance, VERY SIMILAR to chances both Rooney an Defoe missed today by the way, Heskey played very well.
How you can blame Capello for one selection whilst completely ignoring the fact of how the rest of the 10 players can perform so differently between the two games I don't know HF. Like many of the players alluded to in the interviews after, they had a change in attitude i.e. they couldn't be arsed before.
The manager has been the most consistent thing England have had. It's the players that perform when they like.
errr.....Bridge is'nt in the squad
and secondly, if we can't beat Germany then how we gonna get to
the final. Face it, Capello or any
Manager in the world can't motivate this bunch of over-rated, over-paid prats. The point made glarringly obvious in this world cup is this....
Without the foriegn players in the Premier League to make our so called "world class international players" look good, we are just a mediocre bunch of hoofers with no flare and no creativity.
I make you right!
Tactically, Capello appears to be attempting to fall on his own sword....
Agreed!!! I was screaming at the tv for us to carry on going for it, i knew that was going to happen with the US...just one more goal against a 3rd division side was all we needed!!
Rob
a 1-0 victory is not and never will be a shameful defeat.
King in for upson vrs the germs,what say you h/f.kevtheyid
Stani, England have underperformed in all three games. It was a walk over group and we hobbled over the line. Second behind the USA. Do you not understand how humiliating that is?
Heakey was a terrible pick for the Algeria game and he did not play well in that match. Nor did he play well when he came on against Slovenia. Had he made a run across his defender, he would have had a scoring opportunity. Typically, however, he took shelter behind a defender, hoping the ball would not reach him in case he fluffed the opportunity.
It is not one bad selection. What about Green against the USA? You knew he wasn't good enough; I knew he wasn't good enough; why didn't Capello? What about the inclusion of Carragher and King in the squad and the effect this has had on team morale? What about the decision to play for 1-0 rather than go for a second and third goal, so allowing USA to escape a head to head with Germany?
I am not saying capello is a bad manager. I am not calling for him to be sacked. We all make mistakes in life, and Capello has made a lot of mistakes over the last 4 weeks. I am just highlighting that we are playing Germany BECAUSE OF CAPELLO'S MISTAKES. We may still win the World Cup thanks to Capello but, thus far, he has had a very poor tournament.
But HF, in your "Unbeatable These Germans!" post, you were telling us how over-hyped the Germans were. You also said that Ghana would get a group game draw against them and finish on top of their group i.e. Ghana are better than Germany. So, you cannot moan we got Germany now when you in fact rate Ghana as the better side.
They are overhyped but, as they showed, they are better than Ghana! Ask Capello who he would rather be playing! Good plan to play Argentina in the quarter final? Don't think that is what Fabio wanted! His tactics have resulted in a more difficult route through to the final!
We could still win it? I would love for you to be right about that but chances are not good. If we DO get though the Germans we will likely have Argentina to look forward to in the Qtrs, Spain in the Semi's and Brazil in the Final. All are without a doubt better teams than us and although anything can happen in 90 minutes it is pretty unlikely that we can eek 4 wins out again such opposition.
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