So what's wrong with England?

Fabio Capello is a great coach, with an outstanding record at club level, but he will really have to earn his megabucks salary from the Football Association if he is to turn this team of Premier League superstars into winners on the world stage in South Africa two years' hence.

Perhaps we are overreacting. It is never anything other than black and white in this business, which is why it is risky to post a blog entry within an hour of an England defeat. But what did you, the fans, feel about the nature of the performance in the 1-0 friendly reverse by France in Paris? Was it as bad as we made out, or is there cause for optimism?

Feel free to post anything you like about the match, good or bad. Among the many talking points we would like you to consider are:

How can Capello get the best out of Wayne Rooney, who is an undoubted talent?
How well did you think David Beckham played and do you think that was his last appearance in an England shirt?
What did you think of Rio Ferdinand and did he do enough to earn the England captaincy on a full-time basis?
Why do England often only look like scoring from setpieces?
Who was your man of the match?

Please leave us your comments at the bottom of this post.

Comments

[Roamer]

That was not so bad. Defeating the french in france is not such an easy task.
But then again, i wouldnt expect a team run by Capello to play offensive, brilliant football, but a modern one,surely so. And that was his intention.
There is something about some team jerseys that can inspire players, make them feel proud:That is what Beckham should be remembered for, and seems to be lacking in the Gerrards and Terrys.
And, for a cold, sobering tone.England has only won the Cup once, more than forty years ago, at home.Expectations should be realistic or will always crush into reality.

[P.Hooper]

Rodrigolousada,You are half right there are to many foreign players in english football,and to many foreign managers. The other half uneducated comments do not take the day.

[RodrigoLousadaBrazil]

Ben,

First of all I wasn't being rude on my comment.If you think that criticizing the great-super-fulloftitles-british football is being rude, I'm sorry but I'll stick to it.

I was not talking about the BRA x SWE newspaper's notes AFTER the game. I was talking about the importance not given by the english press BEFORE the game. You didn't give a sh...!

The Spicy Beckham was in Brazil a couple of months ago. Even though we have at least 10 players much more skilled than him, quite a lot of brazilians and the media paid full respect on him and gave the deserved attention. If your super-great-awesome english team happen to play in our humble country all the papers will talk about it even knowing that we are the best in the world and would deserve a better cover from the media in England.

Anyways, Even without all the media attention the stadium was packed with people.

And Yes! We played awfull last night but we are Brazil, even playing the worse of our football we still can win. Not the case of you guys.

By the way, you are being generalist calling brazilians rude just because you saw a couple of them with bad behaviour last night.
Would you be OK if i assumed that all the brits are like animals based on your hooligans?

Peace out

[James]

erm, what were we expecting? To whip France away from home in our new manager's second game in charge of a team that was so woeful in trying to qualify for Euro 2008. If Man Utd lost 1-0 away in the Champions League would we be telling Ronaldo or anyone else for that matter to retire?

If you cannot at least appreciate what he (Capello) was trying to do then why are you even watching the game. Incidentally, if anyone should retire in the post match fall out here, it is Tony Cascarino. He is pointless.

[PH]

It is nice to see Martin Samuel not rushing to pour scorn on everything English when every other person in the media seems to be revelling in our 'plight' at the moment.

First thing's first. We didn't play well, individuals (by and large) didn't perform and it showed that Capello still doesn't quite know how the team will work and with what personnel and where. However, i think people are forgetting a few factors, firstly we were playing against a very solid French back four supported by two defensive minded central midfielders in Makelele and Toulalan who played a deep counter attacking game; chances were always going to be at a premium. Secondly, not only is the pedigree of this French team seemingly lost in the hyperbole of the English press (they are World Cup finalists) but we were also away from home, in Paris. Third, it was obvious that some players were still feeling the effects of 'Super Sunday', particularly Gerrard (who was practically anonymous) and Joe Cole. Fourth, i think we are asking too much of Capello too soon, how many days has he had with his players overall? 5 or 6 days training perhaps, compare that to Domenech; incomparable i think you'll find.

Lets just look at the simple things, we kept possession against a very good team away from home and although we didn't create chances except from the odd cross and set pieces the French on their own soil were limited to a single shot on goal in the first 45 (withstanding the penalty). Personally i think the signs are promising, for the first time in...well, since i started watching England play football we didn't just pass it 3 or 4 times before hoofing it upfield because we got bored, this is a great platform to build on. It's just a shame that a majority of the press in this country cannot see it...or do but don't want to say it..?

Finally, can i just comment on the utter arrogance and narrow mindedness of Ray Wilkins please, in his post match report for Sky he delivered a damning verdict on the players (fair enough, opinions are opinions) and went on to compare the French defense to the defense you happen accross in the Premiership. I think he said something like: "Our England players perform and destroy the defenses in the premiership, and since we have the strongest league in the world and thus the strongest defense we must surely be able to break down the French?" Am i the only one able to see the multiple flaws in this statement? Apart from the obvious, that no team in the Premiership plays with 2 holding centre mids not to mention perhaps only 2 teams could claim to be better than the one put out by Les Bleus (the top two teams).

It is ignorant comments like that that continue to create footballing neanderthals in this country.

P.S. please no more Peter Crouch, what is the point of having a target man that cannot head the ball. And stop aiming for him from defense, because our midfield are still in their defensive positions so the ball is returned straight to the opposition. It's simple tactics.

[Bernardo Camacho]

Beckham is the best player England has!!! He has the ability to change a game. He gives everything when he plays, unlike many other superstars. His crosses are very helpful and he can always deliver in one of his freekicks. He´s the English player that wears the shirt with most honour and pride. Stop the criticism

[dylan]

Lets put this to bed once and for all. England are no way near as good as they think are. When it comes to technical ability, things like close control, dribbling skills and being able to think 3 or 4 moves ahead, we are literally streets behind other nations. Unfortunatley, most people, including the players, are influenced by the media hysteria that proclaims our players as world class. Remember our record in the Champions League before the influx of foreign players? We were rubbish. We are only good now because our top 4 teams barely have an Englishmen in them. Our overtly physical culture is our downfall - any skilful child in this country gets lumps kicked out of him with no protection from refs. Net result, they give up on attempting to be creative using close control & dribbling skills. This is the price we pay for championing strength over skill. When our clubs look for skill, we hire it from abroad. We can't do this for our international team - hence why we're not very good.

[richard williams]

I don't think James should get all the blame for the goal, it was more Terry's fault as he dropped James in it with his bad defending. Why are the press saying Ashley Cole played well, he was terrible.

[Jack in Texas]

What's wrong with England is the media. Capello did what he set out to do and the media call it appauling loss. Get rid of the the media and let England play football. I say we deport one entire media company to the Arctic for every win England have this year. By years end England will be confident and winning again.

[Bob Bobbins]

Capello should take chance and pick new players. The same old players are clearly lacking and have been for some time.The back four apart from Cole is bereft of pace. If you are playing Terry or Ferdinand then they need a quick player beside them. Brown is not a right back and Lescott is too slow for the international game.
Beckham was the best player on the pitch and must be a contender for the captaincy again, as who else?Bentley can play on the left and would do well there. Still think Stevie G and Frank are the best in the middle at least Lampard scores a few and links up the attack. England would be silly to discard him.Up front I see England's biggest problem as they lack pace and someone who can lead the line. Ashton surely must be given a chance along with Owen or one of the young guns.
Surely time to take a chance Mr Capello, there is no better time to do so!

[Natarajan]

I don't know why so much criticism of just Beckham. He delivered what we all knew: occasional crosses, but slow. Actually, I will not write him off, yet. He will be a useful squad player. But a number of others, e.g.,Terry, Lampard, Gerrard, Cole(s), Brown,Crouch have never delivered in a England shirt and never will: so time to say goodbye to them. Michael Owen similar to Beckham - great in the past but beyond sell by date, might be a squad player. The only one who played well was Owen Hargraves. The only truly world class player we have is Rooney and we need to figure out how to make him succeed. Rio is a good bet. Some others e.g. Bentley, Carrick worth trying and some others like Wright-Philips and Lennon have been tried and failed. Time to write off serial floppers once and for all and start with some untested talent - they won't do worse.

[Btqkwbd4]

Why so much praise heaped upon France? They must be the most overrated team in Europe (England can no longer be described as this).France have not had a great side since euro 2000 when you know who made them a great side. They are still heavily reliant on the old guard- Thuram, Gallas, makelele, Trezequet et al. Trezequet may be able to score against Brescia or Palermo every week but he's done virtually nothing at international level along with Anelka. Their younger players are decidely average- toulalan especially. Also, people harp on about them being "technically efficient" etc but there are many better European teams out there- croatia, holland, czech rep, germany, italy...

[Syed]

Gerrard was again Rubbish. Don't understand why he plays every match for England.

[James P]

The midfield is just not performing. It isn't mixing well with our forwards (whatever people say, Rooney IS world class and Owen WILL get you goals provided the service- that he's scoring for Newcastle says it all). So what is going on? Becks is past it, he cannot run himself into the right places to control games anymore - so let's see Bentley on the right. In the middle, Gerrard just isn't bringing his Liverpool heroics to the table. I say give Lampard a good go. And on the left our only answer is Joe Cole who plays predominantly on the right for Chelsea! When the passes between the midfield and forwards start to stick, we will see success for the team. I just hope that happens before it's too late - the 2010 qualifiers are looking pretty scary right now.

[Scud in Maidstone]

Already the press attacks the manager !

The system was fine. The problem was that too many key players went missing in action.

Gerrard, J Cole ? where were they?

J Terry is overrated, and lacks pace. Without Makalele he is shown up.

Ashley Cole's crossing was terrible and wasted so many good situations.

My concern is that the manager should only be playing footballers who are in good form. Crouch is not playing regularly and so should not be picked at all.

Becks' inclusion ahead of Bentley seems to have affected Bentley's confidence. The manager should make him number one in that postion and have Becks as a squad and impact player.

Carrick would do a better job than Barry, by a country mile.

Hargreaves had a good game and if all the players put in the same effort he did then we would be toasting a victory.

Rooney needs support, but as Gerrard went missing, he was forced to come deep, and you could see his frustration with some of the tackles he was making.

Owen's time has been and gone.

Defoe. Ashton. Agbonlahor. Young. These guys should be ahead of Owen.

2 games played, early days, let the manager manage, but you cant blame him if the players don't turn up.

Football ! A game of opinions, but sportwriters need to cosey up to the players to get their stories, so much easier to throw rocks at the manager, especailly if he is foreign.

Shame on you.

[gordon]

What makes the Premier League great to watch is the high tempo end-to-end play, based on quick forward passes to players moving up the field, into space away from the man in possession (mip). It works for established teams because the players get to know each others’ strengths and weaknesses, and can pass more or less instinctively. Most of the passes have a relatively low probability of success, so possession switches quickly between teams, but they know that they’ll get the ball back in 3 or 4 passes time.

The England team tries to play the same way, with players ‘bomb bursting’ away from the mip, but because of their lack of familiarity with each others’ play he has to look up to see where they are and every fraction of a second’s delay makes the required pass longer, and enables the opposition to close down both him and the forward receivers. End result, it’s either a long hopeful ball to players who are isolated and who’ve run out of manoeuvre room, or a back pass, and the team quickly loses its shape when possession is lost. Beckham stood out in the past because his long hopeful balls were better than most, especially when he had a clubmate on the receiving end. Very few England players now have many clubmates in the international squad, and the more changes that are made to the squad further dilute any mutual understanding. Recent managers have traditionally picked the best individual players when what they really need are players who can play successfully together, and a pattern which enables them to do that.

Successful foreign teams play that sort of pattern. When they have the ball, players move into space towards the mip, giving him lots of quick, simple, high probability options, which are very difficult to counter. They move the ball upfield more slowly but keep possession, retain the team’s shape, and get the ball into the final third much more regularly. Individual strengths – speed, skill, shooting ability – are the icing on the cake, and with the light ball, better surfaces, and more protection for skilful play this basic pattern generates many more chances at international level. Any player can fit into the pattern easily; it looks good but isn’t technically any more demanding than the English style, and unless the opposition’s midfield and defence play well together, its individual players end up chasing the ball leaving men free. (View any England game over the past few years and you’ll see it in action)
Answer; change the pattern

[Robert Thomas, Dublin]

Just to add to some points made by some previous posts:

I think Rooney brings more to the game when he plays just off another striker (as a nine-and-a-half rather than a number 10 who plays behind- this would be Joe Cole's natural role). But with a flexible 4-2-3-1 scheme (allowing it to be a bit asymetrical), there's enough room for both of these guys (plus a wider, speedy attacker)to interchange behind and around a number 9. Problem is: now find that number 9!

I second what Hunter Malik and Tim from Leeds say about Carrick and see a connection with Thomas V's thoughts on Toulalan. Playing in the 'double pivot', Toulalan refrains from marauding, just sits deep, keeping it tidy (much like Carrick is suited to), and plays organiser to Makelele's destroyer (Hargreaves, admittedly a slightly different player to Claude and more of a pure athlete like Gattuso, can still break things up). Most Spanish teams have employed players with such compatible characteristics when playing a midfield pivot: Diarra and Gago (Madrid), Keita and Poulsen/Renato (Sevilla) for instance. Arlin Dueck, I too thought Barry alongside Hargreaves was a bit too much brawn. Brazilian teams often employ attacking full backs as makeshift central midfielders, not for their tactical nous but because they are by nature hard runners. Can't be a coincidence that Hargreaves often played right-back for Munich. One is enough. Unfortunately, Capello may deem it necessary to have two pure destroyers if the defence is leaky or the attack is overloaded (Emerson AND Diarra at Madrid, anyone?)but I reckon he'll soon see that this is not so with England, and so he'll include Carrick as his Toulalan, although I bet much of the high-tempo addicted public and press won't like it (because this kind of player hasn't really been valued in English football since WM days).

[Jul]

Well... Sven must be LAUGHIN' HIS SOCKS OFF!
Why the hell was the British press ALLOWED to hound him.
So pleased to see Man. City's performance, and we can all view how our poor new starter Capello has got to accrue the old basic understandings about the players skills that he's got to work with.
'Come back Sven ...(if you ever would consider it)!'

[ManchesterBen]

My only hope was that the half time substitutions were made so that Capello could permanently write off those players as internationals.
Crouch's continued selection can only be down to his size - yet his aerial ability is terrible.
Owen is long past it - no defenders look scared of him anymore, and without pace he has nothing.
Downing is a one-footed winger who can't run at players nor deliver a pin-point cross.

Personally, I'd like to see Lampard start the next England game.

[jose]

I think that the problem with england is the number of good foreign players in the premiership.
My point is that the competition is so fierce at club level that our so called stars are too afraid to bust a gut for England in case their club form is affected.
It was yet another boring, gutless performance from an England side that promises so much and delivers so little; I for one will not bother to watch this garbage again.
The only answer is to get players in who have the right attitude passion and heart for the fight, to come out of the traps flying with purpose and to keep going until the job is done,the sort of Dunkirk spirit we have seen with Barnsley this year,which incidently doesn't have any superstars.
Until an england manager has the courage to bring in players with the right attitude and wrong names we are never going to win anything.

[Jan]

I am not a Man Utd supporter, but I think Capello should pick as many of them as possible, because they are good and know how to play together, and then fill out with the others. This is by far a new idea, it has been used a lot of times with great success.

[Chris]

England fans have the national team we deserve. We have a league thats loaded with foreigners. Some incredible but most are average to appauling (just look at some of Liverpool's recent signings). Every fan would rather their club achieved success than England so clubs buy in foreign players by the boat load in order to achieve this, and sacrifice developing young English players in the process. England will never win a major tournament, or that many games come to think of it, while the status quo remains.

[Rece Porter - USA]

Simple tactics are missing. What causes most confusion among defenders? Forwards who run at them and take them on, continuously and ceaselessly! England never do that. Their tactics always seem to be long balls to hit a front man target, which rarely pay off. Now, will someone pay me six million to pick an England team who can attack defenders?

[Linda Stewart]

Capello shows early signs of Bertie Vogts disease - the players (that cabal who think they own the team), resent him after the comfort of McLaren, and he is frightened to make the large scale changes required. Beckham, Owen, Terry, Crouch all need to go. The squad needs freshening up in a drastic way.
Rather have young tryers who will listen to instructions than the poisonous "in group".
At least Sven took an audit of emerging talent and gave some their chance.

[Sammy A]

It will take time to play the way Capello wants to, and I belive we will start playing better, but in terms of having adequate players to succeed in 2010, I think we have huge problems. Players who seem to shine in the Premier League arent reproducing this form at international level. Why?. The Premier League flatters them, technical skill is not a complete nessicity in our dear old best League in the world. Most exciting, yes. But Wes Brown, taking all the plaudits for the Mancs, was out of his depth last night. John Terry, full of passion and endeavour? Perhaps, but he lacks the technical side of the game that is needed at this level, he was at fault for last night goal, James had no chance. Rooney is a class act no doubt, but his finishing can be dire at times, look at his last few games. The list goes on, even the players who have the pace needed to suceed and so much potential lack these vital ingredients. Lescott, Wright-Phillips, Agbonlahor, technical ability is not there. Aaron Lennon- flies past people for fun but he just cannot cross to save his life. The gap in ability will take years to solve, while we have good players, we certainly do not have a team/squad capable of getting past the second round of tournaments. Capello will make his mark, England will play better, but it will be nothing more then a short term fix.