Fabio Capello Not to Blame for England’s Poor Performance in FIFA World Cup 2010
Sophie Ellis Baxter once famously sang “A Pessimist Is Never Disappointed”, and boy, does that not hold true to the whole saga of England being knocked out of the FIFA World Cup.
England were good in qualification but by no means great, and after the announcement of the squad leading up to the tournament, at no stage would have anyone in England (or elsewhere in the world, for that matter) thought that England have a shot at glory, any chance of winning the World Cup or perhaps even getting close to it. Therefore, it makes it even harder to understand why there is such hype in the English media.
There are calls everywhere for Capello’s head to be served on a platter; everyone is demanding for him to be sacked. ‘Tactical Dinosaur’ said one of the frontline football websites, but having watched the England fiasco unfold before their eyes, the point here is if a three time Premier League winning centre-back can’t hold a decent position at the heart of your defence, and a three time Premier League winning striker and last year’s second top goal-scorer can’t score at least once, it simply will not matter if England play 4-3-3, 4-4-2, 4-5-1 or 4-2-3-1, so blaming it on the formation is total nonsense.
One must be wondering that if Capello can’t get this bunch of supremely talented players performing, then was the Croatia debacle two years ago really Steve McClaren’s fault? And one point to be made clear here is the fact that McClaren after leaving the England job went to Holland and won the Dutch Eredivisie title with a totally un-fancied side, FC Twente. Winning the Dutch league is like Sunderland or Birmingham winning the Premier League, so Steve can’t be that bad of a manager. Therefore, all those calling for Capello’s head must at least reconsider.
It has also been brought up plenty of times that of the 11 that took the field against Germany in the city of roses, only four earn their bread at one of the top three clubs in England. ‘If they are not good enough to play for the top three sides, how can they be trusted to face the best in the world’ is the question that is being asked in the media. The point is, it was not the rookies who failed England; it was, in fact the players playing in the top three clubs. England came back from the World Cup getting knocked out in the round of 16 and Robert Green is still their top scorer.
Terry, Lampard, Joe Cole and Rooney all failed; these were the players that the nation looked upon and they failed their faith.
The English media and fans can blame the manager all they want, but perhaps they should accept that they don’t have a world class player in their ranks. They sure have some who set the Premier League alight but mind you, it’s not the same thing. The character assassination of each and every player has been well documented in the English media recently, but even if England drops all of them, who will they turn to? The upcoming breed isn’t that good either. Nadeem Onuoha, Micah Richards, Martin Cranie, Fabrice Muamba, Lee Cattermole, Mark Noble, Craig Gardner and Michael Mancienne are only run of the mill footballers.
What England need is a team who can accept their limitations and play the way they are told by the manager; not some big superstars with huge egos doing anything on the pitch they may like.
England in South Africa were just paralyzed by fear; they never played up to their potential, and now everyone is saying that it’s the manager’s fault. Perhaps they should come to terms with the harsh reality that playing in the World Cup is not the same as a home game against Wigan.
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