World Cup Diary

June 19, 2010

Last night we all received a reality check and it hurt. We all believed that England had a realistic chance of doing something special at this years World Cup but we now know that once again we have been sold a dead horse.

The result is something England can recover from, our destiny is still in our own hands, beat Slovenia on Wednesday and we are through to the knockout stages. However what we may not be able to recover from is the confidence that will of disappeared thanks to a performance which made the display against the USA look exceptional.

Like Algeria we are fortunate that Slovenia do not have the quality in the final third to really punish us but it is hard after yesterday to see apart from Gerrard who is going to step up. Years of being told that other countries are technically better then us Algeria taught England how to keep the ball.

What summed it up was a Frank Lampard shot in the last few minutes. A strike which was completely unrealistic with no imagination or creativity like the rest of his team mates. Then Lampard looked up, his face distraught, he looked like a man terrified by the white shirt in which he was wearing. So after two games Frank Lampard’s confidence, which was high coming into the tournament is gone.

Wayne Rooney has had a couple of games I feared he would have with so much pressure on his shoulders, he needs to deliver in the next game and stop playing so deep.

James (in goal after Capello decided Green dropping a shot from Ray Clemence was one error too many) did not have allot to do as well as his defence, although Carragher did look exhausted throughout.

The best performances were the same as the ones against America, Gerrad, Johnson and Heskey. Heskey is a shineing example of the hardwork that everyone else should be showing. Unfortunatly somehow in what was described as the softest group possible we need more then just hard work, Heskey needs to start delivering in the final third.

What was perhaps the biggest concern though was Capello himself. We all assumed the Italian had the magic wand due to what he has won in his career but when England needed inspiration, a change of tactics or a inspired sub Fabio froze and sat with his arms folded and just watched the mess in front of him. In the same way I should add as Sven Goran Erickson used to. Like the Swede Capello can boast a great qualifying record but just like Sven is failing when the lights are on bright.

Wrigtht Phillips for Lennon and Defoe for Heskey were two subs which came too late and were not ambitious enough. When we finally decided to go three up front, with Crouch coming on, there was only 10 minutes remaining.

So Capello has hardly earned his money (6 million a year) in the last week will have to in the next few days by playing his best team. It is believed that England were saving Gerrard or Joe Cole playing behind Rooney for the knockout stages but in theory that is now what the Slovenia game has become. Gerrards been our best player so play him in his best position.

No longer should we worry about who we could face in the last 16, just be relieved if we get through this group (that is so embarrassing to write). Maybe we have to face a team like Germany, to get a result to give us a confidence boost because at the moment that is gone.

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