A Different England

[Mattshark]

tevez didnt play CL or Europa, but nonetheless its not an excuse because tonnes of players have played as much as the english

Do you mean like half the German team who played over 60 games this season? (yes I know they did have a winter break).

[Fernandinho]

Do you mean like half the German team who played over 60 games this season? (yes I know they did have a winter break).

well i didnt have anyone in mind but they will do. also having a winter break means that all their games are squashed up a little more so it couldnt make that big a difference could it?

[Mattshark]

well i didnt have anyone in mind but they will do. also having a winter break means that all their games are squashed up a little more so it couldnt make that big a difference could it?

No, I don't think it did, the problem remains that English players lack technical ability and the England team has no depth.

[BillobShaisley]

The biggest problem in the short term and the elephant in the room is what happened between the qualifiers and the tuornament?

We've had our anachronistic football establishment for eternity, we've never had a winter break and had 2 cup competitions for all this time and yet only a few months ago our players could:

- move into some ****ing space when a team mate was in possession
- pass a ball to a team mates foot rather than knee
- control a ball with 1 touch
- string 2 passes together in a concerted and combined effort to create some space in and around the box

I can only assume either
- They are all a bunch of choking big time charlies or
- They were all drugged for a fortnight or
- Terry shagged all their missuses
- Capello told them pre-game to just **** about doing whatever the **** they like just as long as they don't tell any of their team mates what the plan is or
- The Russians and Spanish bribed Terry and Rooney

[dww]

I think it's interesting to see the analysis of someone from outside England. I think he makes some decent points - certainly about the short term future of the England team. I still think the problems in highlighted in the Germany game go deeper but perhaps their solution is more long term:

29/06/2010 Guillme Balague

On England and Fabio Capello

As English football and its commentators turn up at the inevitable post mortem - many wielding a machete instead of a scalpel - it’s hard to resist pointing out that a problem often seems far worse the closer you get and perspective can often be lost. Writing in my column in The Times, I have explained, that when seen from abroad, it appears that the country that gave birth to the game wakes up this morning realising that it isn’t as good as it thought it was - but from the outside looking in, neither is it as bad as it thinks it is.

For once, England matched first class opposition for possession; had more shots on target than the Germans; hit the bar three times and - while it’s entirely laudable for the English to refuse to blame the goal that was never given – the neutral view form abroad is that an injustice did prove decisive. Any team that comes back from 2-0 down to level the score has the momentum: England would have been flying, the Germans reeling.

There’s been plenty of sniggering at Capello’s assertion that England played well, but believe it or not, in the period following the disallowed goal right up until the German’s killer third – they did. Germany’s third and fourth came on the counter – who knows what might have happened with scores level. I’ll leave it to my English colleagues to dismantle their Golden Generation – but there were positives to take from the game.

Coaches must have, at least, one of three variables on their side, if they are to keep themselves in a job: the dressing room, the football or the results. For example, Pep Guardiola has all three in his favour. Arsene Wenger survives with the dressing room and the football; Maradona started out with just the dressing room behind him, and the football and results followed. Dunga could lift the trophy with just the results – and we were supposed to be saying the same about Fabio Capello.

Those of us have seen Fabio up close in Italy and Spain, believed he would be successful, because he would win football matches – even if the football failed to deliver the plaudits. However, as the FA takes two weeks to prevaricate over the inevitable, the resultista cannot point to the victories that might have got him out of trouble. The results have let him down, the football was never going to win the hearts and minds of the fans – and he no longer has the dressing room either. Of course, there will be the public assurances that the players are behind the coach that we’d expect from model professionals like Steven Gerrard – but privately, the distance between manger and players has grown throughout the tournament.

Before we hammer the professionalism of English players – remember, his charges in Italy and Spain also complained about Capello’s authoritarianism, but unlike the England squad, they never had to live with him 24/7 in a tournament environment. He has failed to bridge the cultural divide both on and off the pitch, yet simultaneously ignored his own observations about what makes English players different from their European counterparts: if he felt that they lacked the technical and tactical versatility – why then play five of them out of position?

Even more astonishing is the fact that a coach who is renowned for finding solutions and who was supposed to liberate the English game form its shackles to the past, became undone by his own rigidity.

Yet it is amazing how many of those who were claiming that England would beat Germany beforehand, are the same people demanding a complete overhaul of the English game in the aftermath. It would be a travesty to dismiss one of the cleverest men in the game without ever hearing his rationale behind his decisions and Capello deserves he opportunity to make his case, in Italian if need be, beyond the broken English explanations given in the bear pit environment of a press conference.

The FA and many of those demanding his dismissal had absolute faith in him a few weeks ago; they owe him the opportunity to address what went wrong - and for all those claiming that English football is broken, the sensible thing would be to listen to someone who has seen those failings up close. He may never get the opportunity to fix them, but it would be another failing of the English game if it made no attempt to learn from yet another talented foreign coach tripped up by the language barrier.

[IN_RAFA_WE_TRUST]

[Neil Young]

Nodda luk diss; aluk addatt.

[Fosterbloke]

I can only assume either
- They are all a bunch of choking big time charlies or
- They were all drugged for a fortnight or
- Terry shagged all their missuses
- Capello told them pre-game to just **** about doing whatever the **** they like just as long as they don't tell any of their team mates what the plan is or
- The Russians and Spanish bribed Terry and Rooney

Maybe James took his PlayStation with him.

[Shaggy]

FA announce Capello stays.

Quite right too.

[McDermotX]

Poor decision IMO, but not unexpected really with an FA having backed themselves into a massively embarrassing situation around contract extensions.
There are major problems with English football in general, which wouldn't be solved by having a different manager in place, but from a performance assessment point of view, Capello has been a complete failure with the warning signs evident through the qualifiers, and compounded by an exceptionally poor final run up and performance in the finals.
Bad preparation.....Bad Squad selection....Bad team selection....Poor control of the prima donnas etc etc. Lot of things are beyond his control with them bunch of fools, but he has proven himself woefully inadequate with the basics in my opinion.

Paid 6m a year which has proven fine value for money.

[Kenneth]

FA announce Capello stays.

Quite right too.

as I said, they were just waiting for the heat to reduce. Fortunately, people have short memories.

[Kenneth]

Poor decision IMO, but not unexpected really with an FA having backed themselves into a massively embarrassing situation around contract extensions.
There are major problems with English football in general, which wouldn't be solved by having a different manager in place, but from a performance assessment point of view, Capello has been a complete failure with the warning signs evident through the qualifiers, and compounded by an exceptionally poor final run up and performance in the finals.
Bad preparation.....Bad Squad selection....Bad team selection....Poor control of the prima donnas etc etc. Lot of things are beyond his control with them bunch of fools, but he has proven himself woefully inadequate with the basics in my opinion.

Paid 6m a year which has proven fine value for money.

As has been said, if anyone is good enough to learn the lessons and improve, fabio is.

[Mattshark]

Poor decision IMO, but not unexpected really with an FA having backed themselves into a massively embarrassing situation around contract extensions.
There are major problems with English football in general, which wouldn't be solved by having a different manager in place, but from a performance assessment point of view, Capello has been a complete failure with the warning signs evident through the qualifiers, and compounded by an exceptionally poor final run up and performance in the finals.
Bad preparation.....Bad Squad selection....Bad team selection....Poor control of the prima donnas etc etc. Lot of things are beyond his control with them bunch of fools, but he has proven himself woefully inadequate with the basics in my opinion.

Paid 6m a year which has proven fine value for money.

Care to name an England manager with a better win %?

The problem partially is that England are not as good as they think they are.

[McDermotX]

As has been said, if anyone is good enough to learn the lessons and improve, fabio is.

Sure that logic could be applied to many managerial positions in the end. I don't believe that's enough to keep an underperformimg employee.

Anyone who thinks replacing Capello would lead to an England WC win is deluding themselves IMO, but the same logic applies to keeping him for another 2 years.
My view on Capello is purely based on his ultimate performance in the role he's paid to fullfill......if he can stay in an overpaid role performing below expectations then fair play to him.

[McDermotX]

The problem partially is that England are not as good as they think they are.

That's the main problem Matt.