Support Capello

Tuesday, 29/06/2010

Overpaid, over-rated, tactically inept, scared to wear the shirt and unwilling to take responsibility. All of those terms have been used to describe the England players following their World Cup debacle. Each is probably true to some extent.

After a fantastic qualifying campaign, where Fabio Capello’s men went unbeaten and scored more goals than any other European nation, England looked all set to finally perform to their ability and prove their genuine potential.

But two woeful displays, against Algeria and Germany and two average performances against the USA and Slovenia later, the Three Lions were dumped out of football’s biggest tournament with nothing more than a whimper.

So where did it all go wrong? Obviously isn’t one simple answer, although many in the media would have you believe it’s that easy. The blame will be laid squarely at the door of one man, the manager, who they previously christened ‘Don Fabio.’

It’s conceivable that Mr Capello would’ve avoided much of the criticism coming his way if England had only lost 2-1 to Germany. Had that been the case then the man receiving all the blame and bile from the gutter press would be a certain Uruguayan linesman.

He would probably have had his address and personal details published as part of some sort of hate campaign, in the same way that Swiss referee Urs Meier was castigated after disallowing Sol Campbell’s goal at Euro 2004.

Four years ago it was Cristiano Ronaldo’s fault that we failed to progress, 2002 was down to David Seaman and in 1998 David Beckham was made a national hate figure after his sending off against Argentina.

English players and fans appear to need someone to blame and if it’s a foreign official or player then even better. Maybe it’s time to take collective responsibility for failures past and present. Maybe it’s time to take a long hard look at our game, what’s wrong with it and why we as fans expect so much without any tangible reason to do so - other than ‘the players do it for their clubs week-in and week-out’.

Of course these players can do it for their clubs. They have been signed or brought through the ranks to be moulded into a team to succeed. Ashley Cole and John Terry are solid for Chelsea, Gerrard and Lampard match-winners for their clubs and Wayne Rooney a world-beater for Manchester United.

Why can’t they do it for England? The answer? These players play in formations that allow them to play to their strengths. Terry and Cole are shielded by one, sometimes two holding midfielders. This allows Cole to bomb forward and join the attack and Terry able to concentrate winning his one-on-one man-marking battle, things they both excel at.

Just think back to Germany’s first two goals to see how both men were exposed and unable to play to their strengths.

Lampard and Gerrard both benefit from being given more freedom to attack, with Lampard able to arrive late in the box with the shackles of his defensive duties removed and Gerrard able to play off the front-man.

Were they able to do this in South Africa? No. Gerrard was deployed on the left of midfield and Lampard as an orthodox midfielder with defensive responsibility.

As for Wayne Rooney, something other than the formation must have been the issue. The Roon can usually find his best form whether on the wing, in a deeper role or as a lone striker, but something wasn’t right in South Africa.

Rooney’s passion and desire to simply play was seemingly burdened by the weight of expectation. His body language and performances exposed a man either unhappy with his surroundings or one less than 100 per cent fit.

All of these issues, combined with Capello’s single-minded obsession with a rigid 4-4-2 formation could be the reason for England’s failures. Maybe the John Terry-Wayne Bridge affair had an impact on the team?

The writing was arguably on the wall when it was revealed that Capello had tried to persuade veteran playmaker Paul Scholes to join Jamie Carragher out of retirement. Surely that was a desperate move of a man clearly unhappy with his options?

So where now? Fabio Capello is a top coach and should be given the chance to guide England into another tournament. But he needs more support from the FA, and that support doesn’t mean a pay rise to his exorbitant salary, it means organisational support.

Top players in England play too many games. Let’s forget about the Carling Cup for the top four. Give the other teams a chance of silverware and give players more time to recover between games by helping our clubs competing in European competition.

Allow them to play on Friday nights like the Germans and Italians do and let’s ensure that club’s have a quota of young English players coming through their academies and breaking into the first-team by cutting down on the foreign imports.

There are many more questions than answers. The 2010 World Cup was a sporting disaster for England. Hopefully, Capello is the man to fill in the blanks, build another team and reclaim national pride.

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