Where next for England after another World Cup failure?

So another World Cup has come and gone and as usual, England have failed to live up to the pre-tournament expectations. Serious questions have to be asked about the current set-up but there is a pressing need for change in this country’s attitudes towards player development, tactics and mentality on the pitch.

Expectation level

After only one World Cup victory almost 50 years ago, and no World Cup final appearances since then, it is tempting to say that England have lost their status as a powerhouse of world football. Surely then, it was with a touch of hubris that Fabio Capello said he expected England to reach the final. Unrealistic expectation levels have always been associated with England’s World Cup campaigns, stemming either from old-school colonial superiority or the sensationalist tabloid media. After decades of failure, surely it is time to readjust expectations downwards, until a genuinely cohesive, exciting team turns out for the country.

The FA

You would be hard pressed to find a more systematically inept organisation than the FA. Initially founded to help codify and regulate the game, it has grown into a bloated mess. From their plush headquarters in Soho Square, this bunch of goons, until recently led by the disgrace Lord Triesman, have done nothing to promote the advancement of the sport in the last 2 decades. Worse still, it appears to be the strictest of old boys’ clubs, only letting in white middle-aged men who don’t like upsetting the status quo.

The windfall from the inception of the Premier League appears to have been kept among the big boys, so that the proposed trickle-down effect to lower levels of the game appears non-existent. As a result, the gulf between the leagues in England is ever-widening, and more clubs are being forced to take suicidal financial risks to try and reach the Premier League. There is no way of sustaining this business model, unless a mysterious foreign billionaire is waiting in the wings to bail a club out. In these days of the big-name signing, little thought has been given to the rearing of talent from club academies.

Out of all the FA’s members, only Sir Trevor Brooking, the former West Ham and England striker, appears to have grasped this concept. His continued emphasis on the importance of technique and tactical awareness is commendable, and must be the foundation on which football in this country is built. From young, children are put on full sized pitches, promoting the famous ‘kick and rush’ style and the most powerful players are the ones who are noticed. Little or no tactics are taught, with playing positions decided early, often based purely on physical attributes.

Then, there are the botched projects, from the proposed (in 2001) National Football Centre in Burton upon Trent to the World Cup 2018 bid and everything about the new Wembley Stadium. A large-scale structural reform, starting with the FA is needed to reverse the current malaise surrounding English football.

Mentality

Our pampered stars showed in South Africa exactly why England can’t win the World Cup without a change in mentality. Their egos stopped them from adhering to a tactical system laid out by the manger and certain members of the squad used the media to try and regain some semblance of power. John Terry’s astonishing press conference, in which he behaved like the de facto leader of the squad served to undermine his manager, even though he just said what everyone in the country was thinking. Then there was captain Steven Gerrard’s inability to stick to his manager’s gameplan, drifting in from the left and severely limiting England’s width, while also leaving Ashley Cole horrendously exposed.

Compared to Germany, who seem to have the self-sacrificing team ethos and also an amazing record in tournament football (surely not a coincidence), England’s so-called stars showed a medieval lack of flexibility in both playing positions and tactical discipline. The build-up to Germany’s third goal had 9 England players ahead of the ball for a free-kick with nearly 30 minutes remaining. Such suicidal play would not even have been seen in the dying minutes of a Sunday league match, but to witness it from a team of globally recognised superstars was shambolic. In Germany, they have a phrase for these underperforming primadonnas, Scheiss Millionäre (literally crap millionaires), something should be shouted at our boys from the stands.

It also seems that the English, for so long proponents of ‘fair play’, don’t have the ability to win at all costs. Though some of our stars (notably Gerrard and Rooney) have picked up the dark art of diving from those filthy Latin types, there is still a reluctance to commit the ‘good foul’ and take a yellow card. A perfect example of this was again in the build-up to Germany’s third goal, when Glen Johnson could easily have taken out Bastian Schweinsteiger 40 yards from goal before he played the ball to Thomas Müller. Or the defenders could take influence from Brazil or Argentina and slow the game down with a perfectly executed triple pike. So many of our top players don’t take the opportunity to play abroad and learn from other cultures, maybe because of the Premier League’s status as Best League in the World™, or because of the insular mentality that this country has. For example, most English people’s foreign language skills amount to speaking English with an accent or the trusty dos cervezas, por favor.

The manager

Fabio Capello was recently given the FA’s full backing, possibly because it would cost too much to sack him thanks to a foolishly amended contract. In recent times, the manager has almost become a caricature of himself, playing up to the media’s image of him being a stubborn disciplinarian. His lack of flexibility severely hamstrung the team during the World Cup as they put in 4 mediocre performances. Somewhat ironically, the foreign coach is obsessed with a typically English rigid 4-4-2 system, even though it clearly did not work during the World Cup.

The manager’s alarming lack of English must be confusing for the players, and this inefficiency of communication surely can’t help when trying to set out a game plan for tricky opponents. At his age, Capello may be too old to be able to master a new language, so maybe an English manager would be a better bet when the Italian is eventually replaced.

The players

The manager has spoken publicly about the need to incorporate young players into future England squads. As I outlined previously, it is surely time to include Adam Johnson who was curiously omitted from the World Cup squad. After Rob Green’s catastrophic error, Joe Hart must be given a chance to display his obvious potential. To move forward, most of the dead wood in the squad should be replaced, while still keeping a few experienced players in the team (like Germany, again). Rio Ferdinand, Ashley Cole, Glen Johnson, Wayne Rooney and Steven Gerrard still have something to offer but players like Frank Lampard and John Terry should not be allowed to continue if the manager is serious about rebuilding the squad.

A hypothetical first XI could be supplemented by Tom Huddlestone, Gary Cahill, Phil Jagielka, Kieran Gibbs, Jack Rodwell, Michael Mancienne, Theo Walcott, Mark Noble and Jack Wilshere. To make real progress, the manager will have to devise a formation that will get the best out of Wayne Rooney, arguably England’s best talent. Perhaps he could employ a similar formation to the one Rooney is obviously so comfortable in at Manchester United, the 4-2-3-1. Here, Steven Gerrard could finally be positioned behind Rooney, a move the public have been crying out for. A more disciplined holding midfielder like Owen Hargreaves should be used, instead of the mediocre Gareth Barry, who also showed a real lack of pace for Germany’s fourth goal.

Possible line-up for 2012 qualifiers

Possible line-up for World Cup 2014

Looking further ahead to 2014, Wilshere could step into the position behind the main striker as he has the vision and movement needed to unsettle defences and create chances in a similar way to Mesut Özil. Jack Rodwell should have matured into a classy defensive midfielder and Michael Mancienne could replace Ferdinand in defence.

So England have a long way to go if they want to even entertain the possibility of winning a World Cup in the near future, but anything could happen. There is a large enough pool of talent for the country to succeed, but it needs to be organised and coached properly. Given the amount of resources available, I see no reason why England cannot return to the top table of international football.

World Cup round-up: Group stage match 3

The qualifiers for the last 16 were decided and not without a few shocks along the way. The French continued their miserable run and were sent back on the first plane home (in economy class) but England managed to scrape through their group. Here are the main winners and losers from the final group games.

GOOD

Japan: The Japanese faced Denmark in a must-win Group E match to decide who would go through with Holland. They showed incredible adventure and verve to tear through the Danish back line and finally showed some skills with the Jabulani ball from set-pieces. Direct free-kicks from Keisuke Honda and Yasuhito Endo beat Thomas Sørensen in the Danish goal and Shinji Okazaki added a third after more great play by Honda.

Spain: Vicente del Bosque’s side needed a win against Chile to make sure of qualification and they delivered precisely that to set up a clash with Portugal. A ruthless display of finishing made the difference as first David Villa and then Andrés Iniesta found the net from outside the area, the former with a first-time left-footed lob from 50 yards.

USA: The Americans clinched top spot in Group C ahead of England with a hard-fought victory over Algeria. Poster boy Landon Donovan scored an injury time winner which ultimately meant that the USA not only qualifed, but avoided the impressive-looking Germany in the last 16.

Honourable mentions: Germany, England, Slovakia, Uruguay and South Korea.

BAD

Italy: The (former) world champions fell to a 3-2 defeat against Slovakia to send them crashing out at the group stage. The match itself was the best of the tournament so far, combining incredible action and last-gasp drama. One has to wonder why Italy could only find any kind of urgency in the last 10 minutes or why Fabio Quagliarella hadn’t played in any of the previous game. It is surely time for the Azzurri to find a new crop of players and maybe even a new coach.

France: Just when it couldn’t get any worse for Les Bleus, they promptly went and lost to the hosts to cap a desperately poor tournament. Captain Patrice Evra was relegated to the bench but Yoann Gourcuff returned, only to be harshly dismissed for a supposed elbow. The team suffered the ‘ignominy’ of returning home in economy class, a small price to pay for thoroughly embarrassing an entire nation.

Serbia: Coming into the final round of matches, Serbia only had to draw against Australia to go through. Sadly for them, they went down 2-1 to the Socceroos, with Brett Holman and Tim Cahill scoring the crucial goals to send the Serbians packing. Instead, it was Ghana who progressed to the next round to face the still underperforming England.

Honourable mentions: Portugal, Brazil, Ayegbeni Yakubu and Cameroon.

World Cup round-up: Group stage match 2

The World Cup continued in earnest and the goals finally started to flow. The round was not without shocks as World Champions Italy were held by New Zealand and Germany went down to Serbia. Holland and Brazil booked their places in the last 16, but England and France continued to flounder. Switzerland set a new record for minutes without conceding but still lost their Group H match against Chile. Here are the good and the bad of the second round of group matches.

GOOD

Argentina and Gonzalo Higuaín: Diego Maradona’s team put in an impressive team performance to ease past South Korea 4-1. Leo Messi was instrumental to the team’s performance, but Higuaín stole the headlines as he grabbed a poacher’s hat-trick. Worryingly for all the other teams in the tournament, Argentina did all this without using Inter’s star striker Diego Milito, and brought on the dangerous Sergio Agüero as a late sub. However, key defender Walter Samuel was injured during the game, leaving the primary defensive duties to the shaky-looking Martín Demichelis, whose error was responsible for the South Koreans’ goal.

New Zealand: The plucky Kiwis emerged with an improbable 1-1 draw against current World Champions Italy, to leave Group F wide open.  After taking the lead through a clearly offside Shane Smeltz, the All Whites put on a heroic defensive showing to limit the Italians to only one goal. The Azzurri are in serious danger of not making the second round and if New Zealand at least equal Italy’s result, they will be the ones to go through.

Portugal: Cristiano Ronaldo et al blew away the supposedly organised North Koreans 7-0 to all but secure their passage into the last 16. A stunning display of attacking football in the second half saw the Portugese build on a 1-goal lead to run out easy winners. Ronaldo himself ended his long barren run without an international goal when he found the net in the 87th minute.

Honourable mentions: Greece, Denmark, Brazil, Holland, Paraguay, Chile.

BAD

France: There is nowhere else to start. If people in this country thought things were bad with England, they only have to look across at our neighbours to see a real crisis, both on and off the pitch. First, Yoann Gourcuff was ostracised and then Nicolas Anelka was sent home following a foul-mouthed tirade aimed at manager Raymond Domenech at half-time in the sorry 2-0 defeat to Mexico. Days later, there was an even bigger turn for the worse as squad captain Patrice Evra had a bust-up with the fitness coach and the whole squad refused to train.

England: Their underwhelming start to the tournament continued as England could only draw 0-0 with a poor Algeria side. The whole team looked totally devoid of creativity, touch and technique, with Wayne Rooney looking particularly poor. Players often couldn’t complete simple 10-yard passes or control easy balls, instead resorting to long punts upfield to an isolated Emile Heskey. Joe Cole was sat on the bench for the full 90 minutes while Fabio Capello once again brought on the ineffective Shaun Wright-Phillips for Aaron Lennon. Former captain John Terry then spoke honestly about possible concerns in a press conference, adding to the rumour that player unrest was rife.

Harry Kewell: The perenially injured Australia forward was brought in to Pim Verbeek’s starting XI against Ghana for the suspended Tim Cahill, with a view to providing goals and ingenuity in the final third. Unfortunately for him, his World Cup was most likely over after just 23 minutes as he saw red for handballing on the line. The one match ban means he will miss Australia’s last group game and probably the rest of the tournament. The Socceroos are unlikely to progress out of the group thanks to their terrible goal difference.

Honourable mentions: Cameroon, Kaká, Wayne Rooney, Germany, Nigeria, Italy.

UGLY

I missed this from last week’s entry, but Gervinho’s ‘braids’ definitely deserve mentioning.

World Cup round-up: Group stage match 1

After all that waiting, the opening round of games was something of an anti-climax. On the whole, teams were too afraid of losing to really go for the win and negative football was the result. Most of the big guns were far from impressive, and the overall quality of football has been poor. Whether this is because of the much-talked about Jabulani or playing at altitude, the football fan can only hope things get better from here. Nevertheless, there were a few bright spots in the tournament so far, including a vibrant display from the hosts and a stunning team performance from Germany. Here are the good, the bad and the ugly of the World Cup so far.

GOOD

South Africa: The Bafana Bafana opened up with a promising display and were unlucky to finish with a 1-1 draw against Mexico. They scored arguably the goal of the tournament so far, with left-winger Siphiwe Tshabalala smashing in to open the scoring. There seems to be a real buzz in South Africa as the whole nation is getting behind their team, and on the pitch, it looks like the players are drawing on that energy to perform above their normal level.

Germany: No Ballack, no problem. The Germans can never be written off at a major tournament, and this time around they laid down a marker with a crushing 4-0 win over a disappointing Australia. This is the youngest team Germany have brought to the World Cup for over 60 years (the absence of Ballack obviously helps this) and Jogi Löw’s side are playing with real dynamism. Their new talisman is Mesut Özil, the young Bremen playmaker, who really impressed with his technique and range of passing (not so much his diving). Even Lukas Podolski and Miroslav Klose were among the goals for the Germans, but predictably Mario Gomez still couldn’t find the net.

Switzerland: The Swiss team were handed the unenviable draw of playing European champions and No. 1 ranked team Spain in their opening match but came out with an unlikely 1-0 victory. Ottmar Hitzfeld’s team were meticulously organised and diverted Spain’s attacking play out wide, knowing the Spanish were hardly going to cause them problems in the air. Despite losing Philippe Senderos early on, they soaked up Spain’s pressure and scraped a goal on the counter, scored by Gelson Fernandes. On this form, the Swiss defence, much like their banks, looks completely secure.

Robinho: The Brazilian was almost unrecognisable from the sulky, uninterested player he became at Man City as he terrorised North Korea. Right from the start, he whipped out all his clever tricks and step-overs and showed a great deal of confidence and appetite for playing. He also provided what could be the pas of the tournament to set up Elano for the second goal, sliding a perfectly weighted ball between 4 players to the inside-right channel. It remains to be seen whether Robinho will be able to flourish against the tougher, more cynical teams.

Honourable mentions: Vincent Enyeama, South Korea, Japan, New Zealand, Chile.

BAD

Robert Green: England came up against the USA in an eagerly anticipated match on Saturday night. Unfortunately for Green and England fans, it will only be remembered for Green’s catastrophic error in allowing a Clint Dempsey shot (which was more like a backpass) to squirm under his body and trickle over the line. Given the speed of the shot, not even the controversial Jabulani could be blamed for Green’s aberration. Conveniently for Fabio Capello, the error masked a number of England’s shortcomings and his own tactical failures.

France: Arguably, Les Bleus don’t deserve to be at this World Cup, and on this evidence it doesn’t look like they will be in South Africa for long. Their own sports minister has criticised the team for staying in too nice a hotel, but I imagine Raymond Domenech won’t be getting too much sleep after his side’s nightmarish display against Uruguay. As usual, the French were lacking in direction, leadership and desire to win and their attacking play was woeful. Nicolas Anelka, Yoann Gourcuff and especially Franck Ribéry had terrible games, and the French did not increase the intensity of their play even when Uruguay went down to 10 men. Ironically, Thierry Henry had an appeal for a penalty turned down as his shot hit a Uruguayan arm at point blank range.

Simon Poulsen: The Danish left-back made an atrocious error when trying to head clear a Robin van Persie cross to gift the Netherlands their opening goal. It was reminiscent of fellow Scandinavian left-back John Arne Riise’s laughable attempt at a clearance against Chelsea. Unfortunately for Poulsenm there was no way back for the Danes as they went down 2-0.

Honourable mentions: Fabio Capello, Greece, Algeria, Spain, Tim Cahill, Faouzi Chaouchi.

UGLY

Watching for the first time in glorious HD, it is only now that I truly appreciate the hideousness of Franck Ribéry and Carlos Tevez. Also polluting our screens are  Salomon Kalou’s frankly awful haircut and Diego Maradona’s terrible silver suit.

World Cup preview: England

England are going into South Africa on the back of an impressive qualifying record of 9 wins from 10 and Fabio Capello’s side are looking to build on that form in the tournament proper. However, those victories were followed by unconvincing performances in the warm-up games against Mexico and Japan. If England reach at least the quarter-finals, as many expect, they could come up against far more accomplished teams who could actually take advantage of England’s shortcomings.

Capello’s 23-man squad contained a few surprises, though he seems to have gone against his supposed mantra of picking players on form instead of reputation. Here is the squad in full:

Goalkeepers: Green, James, Hart

Defenders: A. Cole, Terry, Johnson, Ferdinand, Carragher, King, Warnock, Upson

Midfielders: Barry, Lampard, Gerrard, Wright-Phillips, Lennon, Milner, J. Cole, Carrick

Attackers: Rooney, Defoe, Crouch, Heskey

On paper, the squad looks strong, although the lack of a classy holding midfield player and top-class keeper might be worrying for fans. More depressingly, there looks to be a serious weakness at right-back, which would no doubt be exploited by tricky wingers like Arjen Robben or Franck Ribéry. Robert Green looks like he will get the Number 1 spot, though all 3 keepers in the squad are of a similar, fairly high standard.

In defence, Rio Ferdinand and John Terry have had relatively poor seasons, but have still been picked over the likes of Michael Dawson of Spurs.  Hopefully, they can use all their international experience to raise their game for the World Cup. Only one specialist right-back (Glen Johnson) has been picked, though he is very suspect defensively. Johnson’s club colleague Jamie Carragher has been selected by Capello as possible back-up. For me, this is a confusing move, who decided to pluck the veteran out of international retirement, presumably for his versatility, even though he had a poor season for Liverpool at centre-back. At right-back, his lack of pace will be ruthlessly exposed at the World Cup and unlike Johnson, he doesn’t offer anything going forward. In a real emergency, Capello might look to deploy utility man James Milner at right-back, which would seem the smarter choice. On the left, Ashley Cole has returned to form and fitness after his ankle injury, with Stephen Warnock as a capable understudy.

The midfield and attack really depend on whether Capello persists with his preferred asymmetric 4-4-2 system, with Steven Gerrard cutting in from the left to support Wayne Rooney and the target man (Crouch or Heskey). To balance this, the speed of Aaron Lennon and Shaun Wright-Phillips will be used on the right, with width on the left provided by Ashley Cole. The inclusion of Joe Cole allows the system to be switched to a more conventional 4-4-2 and could see Gerrard playing behind centre-forward Rooney. The versatility of Cole, Milner and Wright-Phillips means there is no place for Theo Walcott or Adam Johnson. No natural left-footed winger removes the option of inswinging free-kicks and corners from the right, unless Gareth Barry improves his set-plays.

Barry will play a crucial role as the holding midfielder, when he gets fit. However, as a first choice he is no more than adequate. He is nowhere near the level of Javier Mascherano, Xabi Alonso (somebody tell Rafa!) or Cambiasso (who didn’t even make the Argentina squad). Someone like Michael Carrick might have to fill in for the opening game against the USA, depending on Barry’s injury. Frank Lampard will, as ever, be expected to control the midfield and score goals. The Chelsea man has been in fantastic form (as always) in the run up to the World Cup, and I fully expect him to show his class during the tournament.

Up front, the options to partner Rooney are Heskey, Defoe and Crouch. Rooney has had his best ever season in front of goal and will be looking to carry his red-hot goalscoring form into the tournament. On his day, he can be unstoppable and he will be the one player in the squad other teams are afraid of. Even though he has had a poor season, Heskey is seen by Capello to be the perfect foil for Rooney. The stats seem to bear this out, as Rooney has scored 9 in his last 10 with Heskey, but 4 in the last 10 without.

Capello's preferred 4-4-2

Alternative 4-4-2

On the whole, England’s squad looks strong, but Capello will have to work hard on defensive insecurities on the training field. Ultimately, they should progress out of their group comfortably and from there, anything is possible. On the most recent evidence available, I predict a semi-final exit.