As an Englishman I’m hurting right now at the fact that we won’t be taking part in Euro 2008 next June and the reality won’t really sink in until the hype starts building and we start compiling our Guide to Euro 2008 with no spread on England. I remember the same emptiness in 1994 and before that in 1984 but this one hurts more I think because with this failure comes the genuine realization that we’re not progressing and haven’t been for some time if we’re honest with ourselves.
Again England just weren’t good enough when it mattered. People will blame Scott Carson…but that’s the easy way out. Let’s not forget he only started because our other two keepers were deemed untrustworthy to play in a game of such magnitude. The fact that McLaren resorted to throwing in a keeper to make his competitive international debut says much more about him than it does Scott Carson. Croatia were streets ahead in every department apart from hoofing…England won that hands down. Their only discernible tactic was to play 40 yard diagonal balls to Peter Crouch’s head when he was the only man up front.
People can point to injuries to the first choice back line and the first choice front two but can they really say our tactics would have been any different or our ball retention any better if they played…because I seem to remember a similarly inept World Cup performance with all those injured boys present.
People may point to Beckham’s introduction as a proof he should have started, maybe he should have, his ball retention is good and he’s the best in the business at playing accurate diagonal balls into the box…as was proved with the goal..but the fact remains that to win (and now even just qualify) for major tournaments you need a little bit more sophistication than that. Croatia trusted their touch, their skills and their team mates’ ability for 90 minutes tonight and embarrassed England who did the opposite and got rid of the ball as soon as they could, mostly in the air and mostly 40 yards forward.
So little have England progressed since the World Cup that they lined up for the second half with the same midfield four that started the World Cup quarter final against Portugal…now that sort of consistency is all well and good if you’re World Champions and dominating but England have done neither for many years and need to look to progress.
Steve McLaren will pay for the failure with his job but a nice pay off from the FA for his troubles…English football has a habit of making very rich men out of failures…and right now the England job is of no interest to many of the people who could actually take the team forward because they will all be taking teams to the European Championships…the truth is there is no Englishman capable of taking England forward….McLaren never was…he was just available and prepared to do it….not the best two criteria to base your coaching recruitment on at any stage.
Hopefully the whole of England will now realise we’re firmly in the second tier in European football and possibly even the third tier in the world. Nations such as Croatia and even Scotland (god forbid) are showing England to be treading water and in danger of slipping further behind in the next 3 years. Short sighted England fans may smugly point out the fact that Scotland for all their efforts aren’t going to the Euros but the progression of their football over the last two years compared with that of the English is telling…their non-qualification has been met with a confidence their game is heading in the right direction and the produced football (home and away) to show they could match the best in the World on their day…England could still argue the same….it’s just I can’t remember the last time we had one of those “days”…Scotland have had a few in the last 18 months.
There are two men I think would have the nerve to make some of the decisions needed for England to progress….Martin O’Neill and Jose Mourinho and given Mr O’Neill currently manages my own Villa team I hope he tells them to stuff it and gets on with repairing Scott Carson’s confidence.
So maybe it’s time for the only man able to match England’s pampered millionaires ego to ego…step forward Jose…you’ve got my vote.
Again England just weren’t good enough when it mattered. People will blame Scott Carson…but that’s the easy way out. Let’s not forget he only started because our other two keepers were deemed untrustworthy to play in a game of such magnitude. The fact that McLaren resorted to throwing in a keeper to make his competitive international debut says much more about him than it does Scott Carson. Croatia were streets ahead in every department apart from hoofing…England won that hands down. Their only discernible tactic was to play 40 yard diagonal balls to Peter Crouch’s head when he was the only man up front.
People can point to injuries to the first choice back line and the first choice front two but can they really say our tactics would have been any different or our ball retention any better if they played…because I seem to remember a similarly inept World Cup performance with all those injured boys present.
People may point to Beckham’s introduction as a proof he should have started, maybe he should have, his ball retention is good and he’s the best in the business at playing accurate diagonal balls into the box…as was proved with the goal..but the fact remains that to win (and now even just qualify) for major tournaments you need a little bit more sophistication than that. Croatia trusted their touch, their skills and their team mates’ ability for 90 minutes tonight and embarrassed England who did the opposite and got rid of the ball as soon as they could, mostly in the air and mostly 40 yards forward.
So little have England progressed since the World Cup that they lined up for the second half with the same midfield four that started the World Cup quarter final against Portugal…now that sort of consistency is all well and good if you’re World Champions and dominating but England have done neither for many years and need to look to progress.
Steve McLaren will pay for the failure with his job but a nice pay off from the FA for his troubles…English football has a habit of making very rich men out of failures…and right now the England job is of no interest to many of the people who could actually take the team forward because they will all be taking teams to the European Championships…the truth is there is no Englishman capable of taking England forward….McLaren never was…he was just available and prepared to do it….not the best two criteria to base your coaching recruitment on at any stage.
Hopefully the whole of England will now realise we’re firmly in the second tier in European football and possibly even the third tier in the world. Nations such as Croatia and even Scotland (god forbid) are showing England to be treading water and in danger of slipping further behind in the next 3 years. Short sighted England fans may smugly point out the fact that Scotland for all their efforts aren’t going to the Euros but the progression of their football over the last two years compared with that of the English is telling…their non-qualification has been met with a confidence their game is heading in the right direction and the produced football (home and away) to show they could match the best in the World on their day…England could still argue the same….it’s just I can’t remember the last time we had one of those “days”…Scotland have had a few in the last 18 months.
There are two men I think would have the nerve to make some of the decisions needed for England to progress….Martin O’Neill and Jose Mourinho and given Mr O’Neill currently manages my own Villa team I hope he tells them to stuff it and gets on with repairing Scott Carson’s confidence.
So maybe it’s time for the only man able to match England’s pampered millionaires ego to ego…step forward Jose…you’ve got my vote.
