Who Is To Blame For England’s Failures?

At the beginning of June, following on from the announcement of Fabio Capello’s World Cup squad, I wrote an article here discussing his change in stance from an original declaration that players would be selected based on form and fitness to an apparent bow to media and public pressure in selecting a squad that, in complete contrast to his earlier declarations, seemed completely based on reputation. Everybody knows what happened at the World Cup, but for those of you that don’t, we were awful. It was quite possibly the worst football I have ever seen England play and, yes, I do remember the McLaren era!

Since England were knocked out of the World Cup, the pundits and the media have been circling, offering up various reasons why we failed. Some are calling Capello incompetent which, frankly, is ridiculous, whilst others are blaming the players, who must surely bear a large portion of the responsibility. There are theories that the style of play didn’t suit the England players but, strangely, they were playing the same system that saw them pick up 9 wins out of 10 in qualification. Many experts are declaring that our mentality is wrong, right up from grass roots football, whilst others believe that captain, Steven Gerrard, got himself into a bit of personal bother a while ago and this caused deep rifts in the squad.

With all of these theories being thrown about, it is hard to see the wood from the trees. Who, exactly, is to blame? Is it the players? Is it the coach? Is it the Premier League clubs who bring in foreigners, rather than give the youngsters the chance to prove themselves? Is it the players who, if you listen to the majority, simply “don’t care”? This, to me, is a fundamental problem for the England national team. The media build them up to be on a footing with the likes of Spain, Brazil, Holland and Germany, yet their record against these teams in recent times is anything but World Cup winning.

Whilst the fans of England continue to hold these false beliefs, championed by the tabloids, England will always fail. The pressure on the players is at such a level that even a misplaced pass draws groans from the crowd. Every single thing that they do is under such microscopic analysis that they no longer feel free enough to simply enjoy their football. Nobody wants to be the one that fails; nobody wants to be the one that gets England knocked out. This presents its own problem, though. If nobody is prepared to fail, then how exactly can they be prepared to succeed? As the old saying goes, he who dares wins, Rodney.

Do the fans expect too much?

The key thing to remember when assessing England and their international tournament record, of recent times, is that there are many things wrong with the way things are set up. I believe that most of the reasons, or excuses as some like to put it, outlined above, do, in fact, hold a certain weight. Most, if not all, of these issues need to be addressed if England is ever going to be in a position to win a major tournament again.

There are so many problems, though, where do we start? Should we look to address things in the short term or should we simply  accept that we will be poor for a few years and try to alter the set up all the way from the bottom to the top, in the hope that things will improve?

The biggest problem that anyone who tries to tackle England’s problems faces is the weight of public expectation. Football fans can, at times, be very short-sighted; they want immediate success and rarely think of the future. It is this impatient attitude which has helped create the situation in which England currently find themselve. Everybody in England is an expert; every pundit knows better than Capello. Quite simply, the nation is deluded. Whoever takes on the task of reinventing English football will have one hell of a fight on his hands.

I can't even remember when Ferdinand was last fully fit

When I wrote Form and Fitness, eh?, just over a month ago, I was quite frustrated at Capello’s choices. I counted as many as 8 players in that squad that I felt, by Capello’s alleged selection criteria, shouldn’t be there. King, Ferdinand, Terry and Carragher were all players I considered lucky to be at the World Cup. All of them had either suffered through much publicized injury problems or been way out of form. Not surprisingly, King and Ferdinand suffered injuries,whilst Terry and Carragher looked devoid of both form and confidence. The result was a defence that was slow and cumbersome, with a startling lack of ability to play a simple pass. Every attack was met with an “if in doubt, boot it out” response. Dawson, who was probably the best English centre half in the Premier League in the final months, didn’t even spend a minute on the pitch! Perhaps the confidence that he had could have made a difference to the setup at the back for England. I guess we will never know.

Gerrard looked out of form, frustrated and lacking in confidence

Carrick, Wright Phillips and Gerrard were also subject to my criticism and, by the looks of it, that criticism has been justified. Gerrard looked out of sorts, as he has done for much of the season for Liverpool, Carrick had injury problems that kept him well away from the first team sheet and Wright Phillips looked like a lost schoolboy every time he stepped on the pitch. Adam Johnson, team mate to Wright Phillips, had been in great form for Manchester City and had, in fact, taken Wright Phillips’ place. How ironic that Wright Phillips got the nod over him.

Lampard, having scored 22 league goals last season, should have been the focal point of England's midfield

Midfield is a big, big problem area for England. In Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard, England undoubtedly have two of the best midfielders in club football. The problem is that both of them play “in the hole” for their clubs, yet England’s set up didn’t even have an “in the hole” role. Gerrard was shunted out left, whilst Lampard was required to play more as a central midfielder. I can’t understand why Lampard wasn’t given a more advanced role, with Gerrard being dropped to the subs bench to provide a very handy option and an actual left winger being used on the left.

The last player who was the focus of my bewilderment at his inclusion was Heskey. Okay, he creates chances, he holds the ball up well and he helps to give England an extra option. The problem is, he doesn’t play club football regularly enough to be in form and has always had confidence issues. I like the guy, but he should not have been in the squad. I don’t care that he doesn’t score goals as long as he adds to the squad, which he does, but you can’t expect a player who has had sporadic football at best to find the groove to help his country win the World Cup.

I have a lot of issues with the squad that Capello chose and I think he made a lot of poor choices. I have my own ideas about what should have happened, but I am not deluded enough to think that I am right – see Andy Townsend. Some of the things I have highlighted, although good in theory, simply might not work. Would dropping Ferdinand, King, Terry and Carragher for four centre backs who had been in form actually succeed, or  simply create confusion at the back? I don’t know. The problem as I see it is that the same players are religiously selected, regardless of form and fitness. If the in-form players aren’t tried before the tournaments, then it is simply impossible to change completely for a World Cup.

Should players' places be guaranteed as Rooney's is? There is no doubting his passion but, sometimes, he just needs a break

I would like to see the general selection policy changed. I know that John Terry and Rio Ferdinand are our best centre backs just as I know that Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard are our best midfielders and Wayne Rooney is our best striker. I cannot accept, however, that their places should be guaranteed just because of this. When you select a squad full of players that is out of form, low on confidence or recovering from injury is it any wonder that the performances they put together look disjointed and fall far below par?

There are many things that need to change in the English game to make the national team successful. I would like to see a manager who is strong enough to make the unpopular decisions. In Capello, I thought we had that.