The Factors Behind the Failure

After watching England's World Cup dreams disappear on Sunday afternoon while stood in a sunny, sweaty field at Glastonbury festival, it has taken me a few days to really think about and decipher exactly where we went wrong. Here are my thoughts on the combination of faults and fate that denied England a third successive quarter-final:

Lack of form:

Newly-instated captain Steven Gerrard went into the tournament on the back of probably the worst season of his career with Liverpool, so confidence couldn't exactly have been high. Other key players had also been off form, with John Terry having a less than convincing spell for Chelsea mid-way through the season and Wayne Rooney failing to find the net in the last two months of the season, despite incredible form before that. Similarly Jermain Defoe's goals had dried up long before the end of the season and Emile Heskey didn't start a game for Aston Villa from February onwards.

Injury problems:

Yes, other countries have them too but losing captain Rio Ferdinand immediately prior to the tournament didn't help. Not only that but Rooney, Aaron Lennon, Gareth Barry, Ashley Cole and Glen Johnson had all picked up injuries in the latter part of the season, and Rooney and Barry in particular never looked to have fully recovered from these. David Beckham and Michael Owen were also ruled out of contention a few months before the finals, and while the former had become only a fringe member of the squad, and the latter hadn't been involved for a few years, if they were fit and firing at the business end of the season, they may well have made a difference.

Selection issues:

Fabio Capello made some interesting decisions in his squad, and starting line-up selections. Leaving Sunderland goal machine Darren Bent at home in favour of no-goals Heskey is seriously debatable, as is the choice of Shaun Wright-Phillips ahead of Theo Walcott. SWP was used as an impact substitute repeatedly but could Walcott have made more of an impact off the bench? Arsenal's Champions League quarter-final first leg with Barcelona springs to mind... Also, the inclusion of Michael Carrick seemed rather pointless as he was off form and well down the pecking order, perhaps a fifth striker would have been a better option. Regarding the starting line-ups, choosing Rob Green in the first match was clearly a mistake, as he simply isn't anywhere near as good as David James, despite the age of the latter. Capello obviously realised this in time for the Algeria match but by then the damage had been done. The lack of Peter Crouch in the line-up was also a mistake, I feel. Whereas the likes of Frank Lampard and Gerrard get lambasted for not performing for country as they do for club, Crouch is quite the opposite, and has been more prolific for country than any of his clubs, netting two against Egypt and one against Mexico in recent friendlies. Surely he should have seen more action. Again the refusal to use Joe Cole until late on in the last two matches was controversial, when he is another who has repeatedly impressed for England, including as recently as the Japan friendly shortly before the tournament.

The rigid system:

Capello stuck with 4-4-2 throughout the qualification campaign and continued through the tournament, with the exception of a brief spell against Slovenia where Joe Cole was bizarrely deployed off Defoe, and then Heskey in a 4-5-1. Yet it is this 4-5-1 system that Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool frequently employ, and Wayne Rooney, Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard, certainly England's three most dangerous players revel. At United Rooney often leads the line, with the likes of Park Ji-Sung, Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs lurking behind him, at Liverpool Gerrard has shone playing behind Fernando Torres and at Chelsea Lampard has found form as part of a midfield three playing alongside more defensive partners such as Jon Obi Mikel and Michael Essien. A system with Rooney ahead of Gerrard flanked by Lennon and Joe Cole and with Lampard and Barry making up the midfield has been much touted by fans and journalists alike, but Don Fabio has never taken heed.

Unnecessary off-field controversy:

The whole Terry-Bridge affair (literally) which resulted in a change of captain could not have helped matters ahead of the World Cup. Further hoo-hah ensued when Capello was forced to ditch his 'Capello Index' by the FA, a scheme of his where players would be rated throughout the tournament on the manager's personal criteria. The FA feared this could offend his own players when they were rated and the idea was canned. As if Terry and Capello hadn't been involved in enough controversy already, come the tournament itself, they combined to maximum effect. The Chelsea captain announcing at a press conference that a meeting was to be held where he and the other players would voice their opinions and 'if it offends some of us, who cares?'. The next day Capello called Terry's actions a mistake and insisted no meeting of that kind had taken place and that it was simply a normal team meeting. This resulted in both parties losing face and the media cried of rifts in the England camp.

A slice of bad luck:

Injuries aside, England were unlucky in that had Algeria held on for two more minutes against the United States, the Three Lions would have been group winners and faced Ghana instead of Germany, and it could have been oh so different. Similarly, if referee Jorge Larrionda and his linesman had spotted Lampard's blatant goal against Germany, then at 2-2 England would have had the momentum against the old enemy and could well have pushed on for a victory. Not that this excuses the appalling defending that followed.

So where do we go now then?

Fresh faces are needed it would appear, with the likes of Lampard, Gerrard, Heskey and Ferdinand all the wrong side of thirty. Ashley Cole, John Terry, Matthew Upson and Peter Crouch are no spring-chickens either. For the Euro 2012 qualifiers it would be nice to see some new faces in the squad. Perhaps the likes of Ashley Young, Adam Johnson and the afore-mentioned Darren Bent deserve more of a run in the side. Other young players such as Everton's Jack Rodwell and Arsenal's Jack Wilshere will be hoping a good start to the season could see them being involved sooner rather than later. In goal, Joe Hart surely needs to be handed the number one shirt as David James is on the brink of retirement, and Green clearly isn't up to the job. As for the manager, it is hard to see how sacking him will help as a new man would have to start from scratch. Capello is experienced enough to be able to learn from the World Cup and it would be foolish to replace him when there are no obvious candidates to take over and do a better job. There are serious problems with England, and to get this team to perform at a big tournament it is going to take some extremely hard work. But it's not impossible, and if the star players can finally manage to work as a unit, like Germany and Brazil do time and again, the long wait for a trophy could end in Poland/Ukraine 2012. Don't hold your breath though...

And Now For Something Completely Different...

I feel the mood needs lifting after England's drab, dire, depressing and downright dismal draw with Algeria last night, so instead of ranting about how bad the match was, which would be far too easy, I'm going to treat you all to my World Cup 2010 Ridiculously Named Players XI:

GK: Boubacar Barry

If only England midfielder Gareth had a first name as amusing as the Ivory Coast goalkeeper's, we might have had something to smile about when he started in Cape Town last night!

RB: Danny Shittu

Yes, we know him well as he has played in England his whole career, but that still doesn't stop the Nigerian defender's surname from making the average male football fan from enjoying a quick chuckle upon hearing his name.

CB: Waldo Ponce

Complete with long hair and an alice band to match the name, the Chilean defender doesn't sound like the kind of man that is going to leave centre-forwards quaking in their boots...

LB: Gaetan Bong

Could be found playing left-back for Cameroon, but with a name like that is equally likely to be found with red-eye, the munchies and listening to Bob Marley.

RM: Kim Kum Il

The 46 Korean players in the tournament were all battling out to make this team, and Kim Kum Il, the North Korean who plies his trade with a team called 'April 25' has stormed in to claim his place in the starting line-up.

CM: Surprise Moriri

The South Africa man, who plies his trade for Mamelodi Sundowns is probably the only guy at the World Cup who isn't sure whether people are greeting him or trying to give him a bit of a shock... SURPRISE!

CM: Israel Castro

The Mexican makes the team purely on the basis that visual-learners are likely to imagine a castrated Israeli upon hearing his name.

LM: Siphiwe Tshabalala

The tricksy winger scored an absolute beauty to open the tournament for the hosts, but this resulted in confused fans trying to talk about his goal and forgetting how many 'sha's 'ba's and 'la's there were and in which order. The silent T just confused matters further...

CF: Prince Tagoe

Unlike William and Harry, who could be seen on ITV earlier alongside David Beckham with grins which should not have been seen on any self-respecting Englishman's face at any point this weekend, the Ghanaians actually get their royalty involved with the football. Hang on, he's not actually a Prince? Oh...

CF: Georgie Welcome

The Honduras frontman sounds like the sort of man who would greet his guests with open arms, take their coats, offer a cup of tea and make sure they get on the right bus home.

CF: Herculez Gomez

The USA impact sub who could easily pass as a WWE wrestler, a super hero or a video game character...

And the manager?

Nigeria's Swedish coach Lars Lagerback can claim this position, as any man with a booze-related surname can feel free to manage an imaginary team of mine!

And on that note, it may be time to go and drown my England related sorrows...

Where Did All The Goals Go?

We might only be eleven matches and four days into the tournament but I'm going to throw some disconcerting statistics out there. There's only been one match with more than two goals in it, no team that has scored has lost and there's not even been a 2-1 scoreline yet, let alone a 3-1 or 3-2. In short, there's not been anywhere near enough goals. Compare this to 06 where there were 27 goals in the first eleven games (9 more than so far this time) there seems to be something wrong with the teams' attitudes at this World Cup. Many teams seem more preoccupied with defending and trying not to lose than pushing on for the win. Coaches are making more defensive decisions, such as Cameroon's Paul Le Guen choosing to use Samuel Eto'o on the right side of midfield instead of playing the prolific forward through the middle where he might actually score. Holland were underwhelming in victory over Denmark today as were France, Italy and England in their opening draws. Argentina were nowhere near effective enough against the Nigerians, scraping a 1-0 win with Lionel Messi, Carlos Tevez and Gonzalo Higuain all failing to find the net.The only big-name nation to impress so far have been the Germans, who in typical fashion dispelled the doubters with a clinical attacking performance against an Australian team who were coming into the tournament with high hopes. There have been a few other brights sparks so far, with South Korea impressing with some aesthetically-pleasing football when defeating the dour Greeks and the hosts South Africa opened the tournament with a better showing against Mexico than many had expected. Ghana and Japan also did well to defeat Serbia and Cameroon respectively but neither of those matches were particularly exhilarating.
The World Cup is certainly yet to really take off, but there is hope yet with Brazil, Portugal and Ivory Coast all getting involved tomorrow before the much heralded entrance of the Spaniards on Wednesday.
Let's hope Kaka, Ronaldo, Villa et al can set the South African stage alight where others have so far failed!

Green's Blunder Just Too Familiar...

In true England fashion, the Three Lions got our 2010 World Cup campaign off to a dubious start. An absolute howler from goalkeeper Robert Green sent far too recent memories of Paul Robinson and Scott Carson flashing before the nation's eyes again. The question is, what was Fabio Capello doing selecting him in the first place? He's not had a great season for West Ham United, a Premier League howler against Bolton springs to mind, and there are two other goalkeepers in the England squad that surely have a better claim than the Hammers number one. Joe Hart may be young but he's been truly exceptional for Birmingham City over the past year and made the PFA team of the year. Veteran David James is also surely more competent than Green, and despite injuries over the past year, would still be a preferable option in goal, with plenty of experience to add to his natural ability. Ledley King's half-time withdrawal was also discouraging, and Jamie Carragher looked suspect as his replacement. It would be fair to say that a fit Rio Ferdinand would have been much appreciated in Rustenburg today.

But let's focus on the positives. After poor performances against Mexico and Japan, at least England played well for most of the match. Emile Heskey was effervescent in attack, new captain Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard both put in good shifts alongside each other in central midfield, Wayne Rooney grew into the game and looked threatening and there were similarly impressive performances from Aaron Lennon, Glen Johnson and substitute Shaun Wright-Phillips. However, the result leaves much to be desired, and Capello's men will need to be more clinical against the weaker opposition to follow, Algeria and Slovenia. Not only do we need to clinch qualification, it would be good to find some form before the knockout stages where Germany, Argentina, Brazil and the rest could be lurking. By no means a disastrous start, but the Three Lions need to eliminate these notorious errors and controversial moments from their World Cup itinerary if 44 years of hurt are finally going to end.