So many marriages end for this reason: the guy forgets the importance of loyalty and thinks the grass is greener (the pun is absolutely intentional) on the other side of the fence. Why have England been shit in this tournament? Because Capello did the dirty on his loved ones, turning his back on Walcott, Upson and Green and jumping into bed with the World Cup tarts of King, Carragher and James.
Now, I don't want to be a hypocrite here. Green is not good enough to play for England and Upson is barely so. But that's not the issue. A TEAM can carry average players. The problem comes when team spirit is destroyed by selecting players who have not contributed for two years at the expense of those who have been loyal and faithful and reasonably dependable over that period.
Capello's initial error was to include King and Carragher, and trying to persuade Scholes out of retirement. I said at the time that this was a mistake. I said that all three had put club before country and so had no place in an England squad. As soon as Capello picked them (or nearly picked them in the case of Scholes), he destroyed the club spirit he had cultivated. He started to lose the squad at that point.
Then there was the jettisoning of Walcott. I called it and, on form, cannot condemn the decision, but what did this say to the squad? That Capello was a self interested bastard who was happy to knife a loyal lieutenant in the back if it suited him. Walcott set us on the road to South Africa but Capello couldn't give a stuff. Tell me, would you want to play for a guy who betrays a favourite like that?
Then Green was dropped. Now the mistake here predates Green's exclusion. The team knew that Green wasn't good enough way before that mistake but Capello was pig headed. So when Green made that inevitable error, Capello's bubble was burst; he stopped being a god at that point and became a cnut. (Sorry, there's no other word in these circumstances!)
Now, he might have survived this had he stood by Green (and I wanted him dropped I admit) but he collapsed under the pressure and replaced him with James; and by making that decision he said that he had always been wrong whilst simultaneously saying he lacked faith in his defence to keep out a very poor Algeria team. Capello should have been able to pick me in goal last night, never mind Green. It was Algeria for pity's sake! But he cracked under the pressure and the team saw that the Emperor was stark bollock naked as soon as the team sheet was produced.
What happened last night was humiliating. Rooney was inept. Lampard was anonymous. Gerrard was clumsy. Johnson was disinterested. Heskey was hopeless. Barry was ordinary. Lennon was peripheral. Wright-Phillips was awful. Carragher was stretched. Terry was elsewhere mentally. Cole was barely adequate. Defoe and Crouch were held back too long. And Joe Cole never appeared! And David James? That punch was potentially calamitous.
Where do we go from here? God knows. We will beat Slovenia and so we will progress. But win the World Cup? Yeah, and West Ham will win the Premiership next season!
And the lesson? Success is about balance. Too much loyalty, aka Zola, is a recipe for disaster; no loyalty at all is just as bad. Carragher and King had no place in this squad and as soon as Capello picked them, he invited disaster.
37 comments:
HF,
Are you upset at Capello or upset that your expectation that this lot will win the world up was unrealistic?
Come on mate, you don't need to swear at the guy. He only has about two world class players to work with. I firmly believe that those that are criticising Capello would have expected the team that he put out today to beat Algeria. So what does he do when they don't? I swear I cannot remember the last time they played good flowing football.
By the way, did you see Barry trip on the ball? I predicted that! Another TGGC exclusive :)
not being funny but england are the worst team in the world cup. even west ham with zola in charge would beat that load of rubbish. they are a disgrace.
2 world class players, who would they be I wonder. The only world class thing about the england squad is the millions they get paid! England DO NOT have any world class players and the sooner your country realizes that the better. When playing for their club's it's the foreign talent that pick's up the slack! Include their crazy wages and you have a recipe for disaster. The english players really believe they are superstars.
The stardom goes to their heads and of course when you believe you are the best, there is no need to try harder or more importantly improve yourself!!
this isnt club football this is the best 11 players of the nation at this moment in time, there is no place to carry average players. everyone expected the players put out to be able to beat Algeria, so perhaps its the system that needs looking at. stop trying to make lennon run into the box like walcott does, theres no reason trying to make him a pale imitation of a player that didnt go, make him push to that line and stop making johnston overlap just because thats what happens on the left, we saw aginst mexico what can happen when he cuts in. Can anyone ever remember Gerrard on the left being a good idea? all that happens is he and rooney effectively take each other out of the game by constantly being on top of each other.
I'm hearing at the moment that its not so bad as lots of teams are struggling against lesser nations, Germany, Spain etc, but from what i saw they at least looed dangerous and made them defend nervously for the majority of the match, we havent looked dangerous since 176 world cup minutes ago
Rooney and Gerrard.
I have stated before that Lampard has been protected at Chelsea and made to look good by relinquishing his midfield duties and getting in the box, leaving others to do the dirty work. He is badly exposed on the international stage.
Don't know why people are getting on Rooney's back, what's the guy supposed to do? Inept midfield with no support and he's always coming deep to merge the massive gap between midfield and attack that always exists when England are playing. The one man who can assist him (Gerrard) is played on the left because of this English fascination with ordinary-ness of the likes of Barry. It can only be a fascination which is why people like him, with such limited ability, get so far in football.
Yes the team got booed and Rooney gave some back. Good on him because from what I saw he was trying and didn't deserve the flack, as his reaction proved.
The reason why England are rubbish is because Capello plays players out of position or perservering with players who are off form. Both Rooney and Lampard on current form shouldn't be in the team. Before the world cup, Capello famously said he won't take players off form or unfit.
Carragher has been excellent for England. In both games he has shown more committment than Terry. Yet he always get slaughtered for not being 'loyal'. When Carragher showed loyalty, it was kicked back in his face.
wow, how are you allowed to continue writing articles which have no substance, or in actual fact no point, England are shit because their arrogant and they for some reason think they have the right to win, their attitudes are disgraceful and capello is a shit manager, in the algeria game after an hour when he needed to change things he took off lennon for swp, a straight swap, winger for winger and he had no impact, what a shock! he keeps faith with heskey and he is too slow, fat and lazy, not to mention clumsy, that puts more pressure on rooney and the other attacking minded players! England are shit and so is capello, but then again this is a shit article so it all goes together wonderfully, idiot!
King without knees is better than Terry and Ferdinand. I am sure (dispite his injury)that the players repect Ledley. The poor performance was due to all the other facts that you mentioned not because Ledley was chosen.
...and to think I laughed at the French performance LOL!
I'm so sorry that your footballing knowledge is so limited.
This has nothing to do with bringing a world class defender in King (if fit)or Carragher,or that we have no superstars. The plain fact is we have a 65 year old stubborn manager who has played 4-4-2 all his life, club level fine(you go out and buy players to fit). Managing a country is not the same. Here we have undoubtedly World class players in Rooney,Gerrard ,Lampard Cole and Terry, what makes them World class is that if they went on the open Market the top top clubs would all be in.
The main problem is the one we have had for 8 years, gerrard and Lampard play in the same position and every Manager trys to combine the pair(which no-one has done).
NOW HERE IS WHERE WE WENT WRONG!!
Algeria were always going to defend, to get round that you have to use both flanks spread the play and get them turned. Capellos answer was to have gerrard start on left and a free role that left no-one in front of Cole except a big open space. Now you have 15 players in the same part of the pitch sheer wait of numbers will defend that.
THE ANSWER :- midfield Joe Cole Barry, Lampard,Lennon and Gerrard front of triangle behind Rooney. This will give us the win whoever replaces Carragher(who is out 2 yellows)won't matter.
Capello you have been told!!!!!
0929, I proposed that team, or close to it last week and blogged way back in March that Cole was the key to us winning the World Cup. But ANY combination of players should have beaten Algeria last night. We didn't even get them on the ropes, never mind deliver a knock out punch! The players looked mentally and physically exhausted to me. They are not a happy bunch - like the French. Why? There was a real sense of togetherness until that squad of 30 was named.
Capello has gone down in my estimations because although he has used different players since he took over as England boss, when it comes down to the tournament proper, he practically fields the same shower of shit as Sven or MaClaren, you know, the cozy club. Or, is it the FA that tells him what players to pick as the FA and certain players have endorsements with corporations like Mucky D's, Asda, Sainsbury's, Tesco's and Carlsberg? If this shower of shit didn't do it last time, what made anybody think that they would do it this time? At least by the next World Cup, most of this shower would have hung up their boots, well, here's hoping anyway.
I reckon you've got it spot on HF New broom comes in and is allowed to sweep clean does well the the FA get involved and revenue comes into it and as you say team spirit is and always be no1 look at North Korea against Brazil or Algeria last night How many really good players do they have? what they do have is a togetherness and pride You could pick a side with the 11 best players in the world but without the right mental attitude any good TEAM will beat them Just take Chelsea for example lots of very expensive very good players but until Mourinho blended them into a team very little success
A football team is only as good as a SUM of it's parts as West Ham suddenly proved in that run in during The Great Escape and Capello's squad selection told his players he didn't think they were good enough and they're proving him right basic human psyche
England may win their game against Slovenia and qualify in first place. Then all will be forgotten and the expectation will go sky high again. On the other hand, if they don't qualify, they will be totally crucified by the press and the supporters. Whatever happens, this England is unattractive and and most of all is not a team.
I know I have joked about Greece winning the World Cup (and I really don't expect them to draw or beat Argentina to get through) but frankly, Greece has been a lot more entertaining and spirited in their second game than England has ever been in this World Cup. I agree with HF that Capello should take most of the blame for this.
Capello is an excellent manager. It seems many of the arguments that are being used to criticise him are following the path of those used to criticise Zola. But the fact remains that Capello's record proves he is an exceptional manager. You can say that it's different at club level and the rest of it but the management of players is the management of players. He can only bake his cake with the ingredients he has. Stats prove he has gotten more out of this bunch than of any England manager of the recent past.
By criticising him you are either displaying your frustrtions or the same snobbish attitude that assumes England's right to win something all the time. It's poor.
tbh i dont know how you can blame carragher he has been playing 1 of the best , upson is shit just face it , so is green he made a mistake and at this level you cant do it, the reason why we are not playing as well as we can is because lampard and heskey are playing , we need 4-1-3-1-1 with these players, James/hart ... Johnson Carragher Terry Cole .... Barry .... Lennon Gerrard/Milner Milner/J.Cole ,,,, J.Cole/Gerrard ... Rooney
Is he an excellent manager Stani? His substitutions last night were delayed far too long and then he sent on the wrong players. Was he fair on Green? Should he have brought Carragher and King into the squad? What about team spirit?
There are many reasons for the shambles
1) Heskey's selection is a travesty. He does not play regularly for his club --o'neill knows his limitations, and his inclusion commits the team to a particularly stodgy one dimensional approach to the game
2) Gerrard has lost his mental edge --maybe a hangover from his high profile court case last year
3) Carragher should not be playing. He knew himself he was not ood enough at this level and retired a year or so ago. Either Dawson or Upson would be better.
4) Play strikers who are in form. Rooney, Deoe and Bent all had great years but only Rooney starts regularly and Bent did not make the squad.
5) Let the wingers run at the backs. both Lennon and SWP can do this, they both have pace and skill but seem to drift inside
6) There is no real player who can open a defence in midfield. Joe Cole could do this but does not get picked and he is realively fresh from last season.
7) Rooney is jaded. he carries too much at Man Utd as SAF let Tevez and Ronaldo go
8) The ball!! I think the new ball explains the poor touch of most of the players and also the scarcity of shots . They know it rises and that makes it difficult to keep on target. I think Lampard particularly will notice that as he shoots from way out. I realise the ball is the same for all teams, but many have played with it for the last year. Maybe the FA can explain why it was not used in the premiership last year.
HF,
That argument is insignificant because we can all agree, as you have done so above, that any team he sent out should have got a result against Algeria.
Team/squad spirit is dependent on the attitudes of players. I think many of the players are displaying a poor attitude.
Nonsense Stani. I don't know what you think a manager does. You seem to think he is an utterly irrelevant figure. You continually blamed the players and not Zola at West Ham, and now you are it again with England. Of course the manager is responsible for team spirit. To not tell Green he wasn't playing untill they were getting on the coach was bordering on the inhuman in the circumstances. There was no excuse for it, just pig headedness. "It is my way". Cobblers. You ADAPT to situations. We did not need to disguise the team from Algeria so Capello should have shown some man management and compassion. Green could have been told on Tuesday or Wednesday. James has confirmed he only found out he was playing as he got on the coach. How can the team focus on the game when they are wondering as individuals if they are playing and if they are unclear who they are playing alongside. This sounds bloody silly to me.
Yes HF, and you expect managers to jump on the field and score for the players? When the players are on the pitch, the managers influence is minimal. Most of his work is done days and minutes before the game, at half time and after the game.
These players get the best treatment, the best preparation. They need to take responsibility and go out there and perform. They are grown men. You criticise the manager because it is easy, easier than to do the alternative and look at the real reasons why.
You cannot compare my stance with Zola to my stance with Capello because Capello has the record to nullify that argument.
Ahhh, poor players, only told two hours before the game that they are playing. Poor sods, training all week and in a squad of just 23 but they still need to be told sooner to prepare themselves. Are you kidding me? We're talking about professionals here HF. This argument is a media exaggeration and just pernickety. Glen Johnson said himself that he has known it no other way, that even at his clubs he has been told whether or no the is playing at a similar period of time before the start of the game. Capello has said himself that the players should know, from training exercises, set pieces and games, who is playing. But regardless, they are in a squad of 23, not 600, they should all be ready all of the time. No excuses.
The next generation of English players cannot come through quick enough in my opinion, because they will not have this 'golden generation' hype attached to them and fans will be more realistic with their level of ability than they are with that of the current crop. Hopefully then, fans will bring their expectations down too rather than always setting themselves up for a fall. Who knows, the next lot will probably do better than this lot. I certainly believe they'll be a better team (as oppose to individuals).
At club level the team, to a large extent, picks itself. Green always knew he was playing last season, no? Journalists watching England's training sessions thought Defoe and Green were starting so that argument holds no water Stani. Tell me, what possible good could it do, leaving it so late to tell Green he was out?
HF,
Journalists do not get to see anything near all of the training session for obvious reasons. Certainly not the periods where the real match preparation is done. I think that argument is water tight. Capello said "the players know" to Gabby Logan in the interview when she presented him a bottle of p*ss for his birthday.
Capello made it clear after the USA game he will monitor Green in training and then decide. Green should have known from this that there was a chance he would not play. But I cannot see how him being told he was not playing at the same time as everyone else could have had such negative influence on the team. He should have been well aware of the possibility. It was very clear.
England have been below what any realistic fan would expect,the players and the manager have to accept this.The manager has played players out of positions wich mark them out as good players at their own clubs.Why would a manager do this? maybe he is trying to make the best of a bad deal,after all he has left players at home due to lack of form/playing time/injuries at their clubs.It still does,nt explain why he has played Gerrard in a position that has never suited his playing style,or using Lennon in an unproductive way,or why he continues to use Heskey over Defoe or Crouch.Capello ultimately is responsible for team selections,tactics and morale.He has seen enough playing time at home of the players i have mentioned and knows their capabilities when allowed to play in their favoured positions and why have we not seen Joe Cole playing,he is a special talent and would have been a super sub against the Americans,finally Darren Bent may not be world class but his form in second half of last season surely put him above Heskey,who was brought in to be a battering ram against stubborn defences well what has he battered so far? zilch.We have another chance to restore pride but it will take super effort and performance to do this
i think you will find england was winning with king. the prob was shrek and gerrard were shit
If it was just them three you would have a point but Green started the rot and the rest have followed . You should look at your season to no Green is not good enough and is in the same mould has Carson and Robbo . The problem is to many players are still injured and cant take any knocks Lennon Rooney Cole and Cappelo is not helping playing names and not form Heskey and Lampard should not have played Carrick and Joe Cole and on form Rooney should be subbed or rested.
are you mad!!! King and Carragher have been brilliant and Walcott played shit in the 2 friendlies that we played so Capello dropped him oh and in training with Beckham he could not hit 1 decent cross!!! the problem we've got at the moment is a lack of central creativity (a playmaker) Gerrard and Lampard are doing jack-shit so the obvious thing to do would be play Joe Cole in central instead of leaving him on the bench!
another thing is that Emissed Heskey can't score for s*** but he did impress me against Usa but Algeria not so much so anyway Joe Cole should go CAM just behind Rooney with Gerrard on left and Lamps and Barry in the middle.
Also 1 last thing we need a speedy defender so Dawson at the back with Terry will do alot of good but Carragher should come on if either of them struggle.
Anonymous 19 June 2010 08:24
Couldn't have said it better myself. But it is much easier to blame the manager than admit in a country with a population of 60 odd million they can't produce players with enough ability to even challenge for let alone win a world cup.
A country that holds the Ashes, has won a football and rugby World Cup and has a Grand Prix World Champion at the moment. Not bad for a little country with 60m people. How many World Cups have China, Russia or the USA won exactly?
....don't spoil your argument with the Ashes HF!!! It's just a over-hyped Test series! We have boxing world champions too....or do you not consider that a sport? :)
Over hyped test series my arse! We are also World Twenty:20 Rounders Champions!
Few good golfers too, some good swimmers and some cyclists.
Pick players who are not good enough and who cost us a win just for loyalties sake!
No wonder you nearly got relegated. Daft as a brush.
Boring boring England, it's so funny watching the english play. They cannot pass or shoot when through on goal! What's even funnier is the massive support the english team have. Singing god save the friggin queen to those 11 idiots on the pitch. Worldclass alright! worldclass joke. I'm lovin it!
Why mention other sports? We are talking about football. England don't have players that are good enough. The premiere league is what it is because of the foreign players if they were taken out of the league it would be the same level as the SPL.
It's my belief that England showed Algeria too much respect in tactics and formation. Just as they did against the US. The whole purpose of the national side is pick players who merit it along with those that can play as a cohesive unit, only the latter was somewhat done.
There is no doubting the ability of the players as individuals but as a national side England are no where close to world beaters. In my opinion we need to scrap the long tested two striker setup, it has become easy to defend. And we need to end the Gerrard/Lampard experiment, it is one or the other. Playing Gerrard out on the left just to accommodate, is a disservice to him and the team. Both Gerrard and Lampard play further up the pitch on their club sides, with two defense minded players behind them.
I say scrap the two forward set up, or little and large as I call it because it's easy to defend. If Heskey doesn't get the knock down then the opposition is back up the field. All credit to England's back four, they have been superb but they have had no help from the midfield which has been overrun.
England look dejected at times because what Capello is asking of them is no longer natural. It doesn't mean they cannot perform but the necessary time to come to grips with something so different to their everyday norm isn't enough. Before the World Cup warm up matches, England hadn't played since March. Couple that with a draining domestic season and you get what we all against Algeria. Tired legs and looking uncomfortable.
Capello needs to play Carrick and Barry in the middle with Joe Cole and Lennon flanking them. Push Gerrard forward behind Rooney, much like he plays at Liverpool, He can at least drop back to help out. This also speeds the game up, gets rid of the long ball/knock down crap and England have better chances of scoring.
If Capello continues with this then I don't see England beating Slovenia or progressing beyond the group stages.
- - - - - - -James - - - - - - - -
Johnson - Dawson - Terry - A. Cole
- - - - - - Barry - - - - - - - -
Lennon - - Carrick - - J. Cole
- - - - - - Gerrard - - - - - -
- - - - Rooney - - - - - - - - - -
Nothing amazing, but tactically it allows England to breakdown their opponent and break quickly. Carrick is an excellent passer of the ball as a straightforward midfielder. He has great positional sense which can be used to intercept the oppositions passing lanes. It isn't a hard concept to grasp and very close to what 80% of the players are use to at club level - minus the Tottenham boys who work the two striker system very well.
No disrespect to the players out there against Algeria and the US, but the tactics and formation they're playing with isn't working. It makes them look stagnant and eventually gets Rooney dropping too deep to get the ball, which means their offensive threat isn't where he needs to be. Quick passes, quick feet and solid movement. This way England can counter-attack with intent.
Change the system, change the output. These are worldclass players with genuine pace and excellent footballing brains.
Lastly, in my opinion Aaron Lennon didn't have the ball enough, he needed to be a channel they go through more often. Their best opportunities came through him.
Sorry but until people realise England don't have world class players and blame the coach instead of the players they will achieve nothing. His system worked in qualifying, leading to the best qualifying record England have ever had so why is it suddenly the system that is wrong? It is the childish immature "we want to drink" "we want to do what we like" "we don't like discipline so we won't bother to undermine the coach get him sacked so we can get a manager that let's us do what we like" attitude that is the main problem next to the lack of quality in the squad.
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