Capello

[chestersaddler]

Although Swiftyboy's original post was a bit OTT and unfortunately timed, it does not alter the fact that Capello's management has been less than perfect over the last couple of months.

Squad selection:- after publicly stating, on more than one occasion, that he would not take any injured players to South Africa, he picks one of the most injury-prone players in England, Ledley King! There were already fitness doubts, albeit much less, about Ferdinand, Rooney and Defoe. I have some sympathy for Capello in this area. Injury robbed him of the chance to select Kirkland (the best English 'keeper, imo), Woodgate (the 2nd best centre-back), Hargreaves and Owen (the best striker), compounded by the late loss of Ferdinand (actually, that's not a bad 5-a-side team :D ).
Obviously, if the players of the requisite quality aren't there, then he can't select them. "Calamity" James and "Butterfingers" Green are not international-class goalkeepers but there is hope for the future with Hart. There are no really good English right-backs, only one decent left-back and it is a savage indictment of the dearth of top-quality English strikers that he felt the need to include a lumbering donkey who can't even get in a low-scoring Villa team and a semi-mobile hat-stand who can score goals - but only against weak opposition. Oh, Michael Owen - why can't you stay fit?!?

Selection & Tactics:- all of us armchair managers can, of course, pick better teams than Capello but, let's be honest, some of his selections have been puzzling and his apparent rigidity of thought and "tunnel vision" have created avoidable problems. There is a fine difference between having the courage of your convictions and just being downright stubborn. The players were right to be concerned and the manager should be prepared to listen to them. Whether he chooses to act on those concerns is, of course, a different matter. Chris Marsh, in his Excuse & Dingle column, this week, spoke of his relationship with Ray Graydon. He, along with a number of other players, did not like Graydon but he had great respect for him because he was a good coach and he always listened to the opinions of his senior players. Capello needs to understand that to to listen to, and consider, the opinions of others is not a sign of weakness.

Management Style:- Capello's record as a club manager is outstanding (as was that of Eriksson) but this is the first team that he has managed at international level. It is also the first time that he has had his squad under his control, away from distractions, for a long period of time. It is clear that there are tensions within the camp. Terry was bang out of order going public with his comments but that doesn't automatically mean that what he said was untrue. He merely chose to publicly air what I suspect many players were thinking and saying privately. Sadly, thinking and social skills are not JT's strong points.

If we can see off the Krauts on Sunday, then, as Blazing says, above, confidence will be high and we MIGHT, just might surprise a few people.

Good summary. I would only differ on the bit about Owen. I do not think Capello would have considered him even if fit.

[Magic Man Fan]

Not using Defoe. Defoe has had a terrific season, Heskey hasn't. Defoe will score goals, Heskey wont. What compounded this issue was that we were playing Rooney and Heskey together, and when Rooney is playing in that role where he comes deep to get the ball, like he has been doing for England, he doesnt score goals. So we ended up with two strikers who dont hit the back of the net. Guess what, he brings Defoe in, and he scores. I think all teams need a poacher.

I'm glad Defoe played I like him but the way you simply things is so short sighted. He scored because of a fantastic cross, one of a few last night. Heskey didn't have the benefit of that service because Lennon might be able to beat his man but couldn't put a decent cross over if he was thowing the wooden one over from off the wall of his local gospel church.

Thankfully Heskey was one of the only players on the pitch showing any professionalism in the Algeria game and was holding players off and keeping the ball and passing to those in an England shirt when not many others were, and thankfully he made the crucial excellent pass against the USA that the "creative" Lampard, Lennon etc couldn't manage.

At least compare fairly if you're going to bother in the first place. Heskey is our Trevor Benjamin; big and black so is disliked before he's kicked a ball but what he offers a team if often overlooked by those who think strikers are just about goals.

Having said that if Rooney is injured for the next game as suggested, I'd still go with Crouch and Defoe because they know each other's game and make a good partnership.

[We-ARE-Walsall]

Not using Defoe. Defoe has had a terrific season, Heskey hasn't. Defoe will score goals, Heskey wont. What compounded this issue was that we were playing Rooney and Heskey together, and when Rooney is playing in that role where he comes deep to get the ball, like he has been doing for England, he doesnt score goals. So we ended up with two strikers who dont hit the back of the net. Guess what, he brings Defoe in, and he scores. I think all teams need a poacher.

Having said that if Rooney is injured for the next game as suggested, I'd still go with Crouch and Defoe because they know each other's game and make a good partnership.

mmm, I'd go with Crouch, simply because he is a much better player than Heskey, but same difference I guess.
If this World Cup has taught us anything, it's that Rooney isn't the be all and end all he thinks he is.

[Neuromantic]

I think the criticism of Capello is unfounded and embarassing ( I am talking country wide, not just on here).

This is a man who is a proven winner.

[We-ARE-Walsall]

I think the criticism of Capello is unfounded and embarassing ( I am talking country wide, not just on here).

This is a man who is a proven winner.

You would thinks so wouldn't you. I don't agree with players telling the manager what to do, Cappello is paid a lot of money to get things right, he makes the decisions, and he is accountable if it goes wrong.

You can't deny, that some of his decisions have been same old same old, and kind of contradict everything he had done in qualification. Let's judge him at the end of our tournament. Anything less than the Quarter Finals is a massive failure in my book.

[Fray Bentos is God!]

I think the criticism of Capello is unfounded and embarassing ( I am talking country wide, not just on here).

This is a man who is a proven winner.

You would thinks so wouldn't you. I don't agree with players telling the manager what to do, Cappello is paid a lot of money to get things right, he makes the decisions, and he is accountable if it goes wrong.

You can't deny, that some of his decisions have been same old same old, and kind of contradict everything he had done in qualification. Let's judge him at the end of our tournament. Anything less than the Quarter Finals is a massive failure in my book.

I think the main thing is that his 4-4-2 that blew away the qualifiers, suddenly, wasn't right in SA. I think he was caught unaware by this and all of this Terry stuff has affected the team.

Playing Heskey was right against USA and his performance vindicated this. Rooney's tactical naivety/disobedience by coming back loads in the Algeria game allied to an utterly gash performance made the start of the tournament feel worse.

Like I have said before, Capello can do all the training, tactics, briefings, prep that he wants. If the players go out there and can't trap a bag of cement or pass 10 yards, that is not his fault.

[Exile]

I think the criticism of Capello is unfounded and embarassing ( I am talking country wide, not just on here).

This is a man who is a proven winner.

Sorry - had to quote this one just to see if you meant 'winner', or whether it was the swear filter replacement word.... :wink:

[We-ARE-Walsall]

I think the criticism of Capello is unfounded and embarassing ( I am talking country wide, not just on here).

This is a man who is a proven winner.

You would thinks so wouldn't you. I don't agree with players telling the manager what to do, Cappello is paid a lot of money to get things right, he makes the decisions, and he is accountable if it goes wrong.

You can't deny, that some of his decisions have been same old same old, and kind of contradict everything he had done in qualification. Let's judge him at the end of our tournament. Anything less than the Quarter Finals is a massive failure in my book.

I think the main thing is that his 4-4-2 that blew away the qualifiers, suddenly, wasn't right in SA. I think he was caught unaware by this and all of this Terry stuff has affected the team.

Playing Heskey was right against USA and his performance vindicated this. Rooney's tactical naivety/disobedience by coming back loads in the Algeria game allied to an utterly gash performance made the start of the tournament feel worse.

Like I have said before, Capello can do all the training, tactics, briefings, prep that he wants. If the players go out there and can't trap a bag of cement or pass 10 yards, that is not his fault.

My post kind of sounded anti Cappello, and I'm not.
I agree that the England players have been a bunch of arse wipes, not just now, but for some times, and they really need to take a long hard look at themselves, if they even care at all, I'm sure they do, but maybe just not enough.

However, I don't buy all the stuff about Cappello always being a winner, yes I know he has, but it means nothing, what we are bothered about is here and now. If we fail, then ultimately he has to take most of the blame as head coach/manager, whatever they call them now. I still believe he will get it right, and the signs yesterday were more encouraging. Lets face it though, not winning that group is pretty disgraceful, U.S.A were the next best side in it, don't let world rankings fool you, there best player couldn't get in Everton's team.


I have a feeling there will be warmer feeling about Cappello at 5pm Sunday evening , and none of what has gone before will matter a bit. Football is a fickle game.

[philthesaddler]

Not using Defoe. Defoe has had a terrific season, Heskey hasn't. Defoe will score goals, Heskey wont. What compounded this issue was that we were playing Rooney and Heskey together, and when Rooney is playing in that role where he comes deep to get the ball, like he has been doing for England, he doesnt score goals. So we ended up with two strikers who dont hit the back of the net. Guess what, he brings Defoe in, and he scores. I think all teams need a poacher.

I'm glad Defoe played I like him but the way you simply things is so short sighted. He scored because of a fantastic cross, one of a few last night. Heskey didn't have the benefit of that service because Lennon might be able to beat his man but couldn't put a decent cross over if he was thowing the wooden one over from off the wall of his local gospel church.

Thankfully Heskey was one of the only players on the pitch showing any professionalism in the Algeria game and was holding players off and keeping the ball and passing to those in an England shirt when not many others were, and thankfully he made the crucial excellent pass against the USA that the "creative" Lampard, Lennon etc couldn't manage.

At least compare fairly if you're going to bother in the first place. Heskey is our Trevor Benjamin; big and black so is disliked before he's kicked a ball but what he offers a team if often overlooked by those who think strikers are just about goals.

Having said that if Rooney is injured for the next game as suggested, I'd still go with Crouch and Defoe because they know each other's game and make a good partnership.

I agree about Lennon not providing the service, but do you really believe Heskey would have got to that cross first? I dont. Defoe is a poacher, he'll score goals like that, Heskey wont. Heskey will score the goals where it's his size and strength that makes the difference, when it comes down to pace, Defoe wins hands down, and I'd rather have pace in the team than Heskey, especially if Rooney is going to be dropping deep.

I dont dislike Heskey, I just dont see the point in having a striker to hold the ball up if no one (ie Rooney) is up there with him, or making a run beyond him.

Goals win games, we need goals, so Defoe is the way forward, not Heskey.

[brummie saddler]

im happy with his selection of defoe and milner

2 players that havnt had their chance yet soo are very hungry and enthusiastic

alot of the squad take their positions for granted far too much i fink bringing them 2 players really helped alot to ease the frustration of watching england as they wanted to make things happen and wear the shirt with pride, were a team fille with class players who have showed themselves up on the worlds stage

it really does look embarasing for some they pick up about 70-150 k a week and there getitng found out about infront of the world, they have no pride if they dont care about how they play for the millions back home

keep the enthusiastic players coming fabio might give the chance for some of the big egos to have a sit back and realise what this competition means to the country and how much people care and would do to be in their positions

[SaigonSaddler]

OUT

[latviancheese]

Philthesaddler mode/

"proven winner"

[swiftyboy]

Anyone care to defend Capello after that debacle?

[Rich Evans]

Philthesaddler mode/

"proven winner"

Sheff mode FACT

[SaddlerSteve]

Anyone care to defend Capello after that debacle?

You win the Pinnacle award for 1st person to say I told you so.
Are you happy now??

[swiftyboy]

Anyone care to defend Capello after that debacle?

You win the Pinnacle award for 1st person to say I told you so.
Are you happy now??

Of course i'm not fudge happy!

I'm just sick of looking on in disbelief at some of the decisions by our so called "top class manager"!

[BathSaddler]

Anyone care to defend Capello after that debacle?

You win the Pinnacle award for 1st person to say I told you so.
Are you happy now??

Of course i'm not jolly well happy!

I'm just sick of looking on in disbelief at some of the decisions by our so called "top class manager"!

We said the same about Sven. We said the same about McLaren [who, incidentally, has just won the Dutch League with unfashionable FC Twente]. We are now saying the same about Capello.

Maybe, irrespective of manager, we are just not good enough. Surely, the buck stops with the players.

[longdogs]

Newsnight's Economics editor talks a lot of sense here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/newsnight/paulmason/

Germany 4 - England 1. Why were England so poor?

It all goes back to the basic truth of modern tournament football: the well-coached sides win things. Now everybody can defend you have to be able to defend, break, find space but above all - in a tournament - adapt to new conditions like a team. You have to be a learning organism.

This is what Capello tried to teach England: to play like a squad, adapt like a squad. But all that happened was that some of the players attempted a rebellion against his system. That is no surprise because it is exactly what happened with France as well. Italy too went home because they could not or would not play the system the manager wanted to play.

Having tried and failed to impose their own system on Capello, the players then lost morale, self-belief and skill.

In the case of England and France this dissent and player power reflects the huge problem of trying to make millionaire club stars play to a system they don't like. In the case of Italy, the "terror in the legs" phenomenon was probably the result of a similar issue. It's not a problem in club football because players get bought by managers with an exact idea of their skills and on-pitch role, so they rarely have to involuntarily adapt.

Maybe in this World Cup we've seen the first real triumph of the economics of modern football over skill and organisation: the triumph of a club-first, nation-last mentality and individualism over teamwork.

Capello did his best to kill the player power culture that was evident last time: the self-selecting team, the WAGs, etc. But it simply resurfaced in the form of failing motivation and failing skill. This in turn reflects England's weak domestic skills base that's resulted from the unrestricted use of foreign money and foreign players.

If you look at the teams that had very little talent but were well coached eventually they too fell apart against teams that had both: Ghana beat the USA for this reason, and for the same reason the next three games are a cert. Argentina, Holland and Brazil should go through. So Capello was not wrong to try to impart system and team discipline to England. Even if he chose the wrong system (4-4-2) we will never know, because England never won themselves the breathing space to try 4-4-1-1 in a competitive game.

The whole English FA now looks very exposed as a result of this poor showing. They failed miserably to keep control of Sven or the players in 2006. Their remedy was to appoint a disciplinarian who could at least control the players and who seemed to get the best out of them until they faced world class opposition.

But if you look at what's wrong with English football it starts with the junior game, where there's a horrendously physical and low-skill philosophy preached; then, for some reason, all the clever people get weeded out by the club system so that the words "intelligent, inventive England player" are impossible to write; finally the money pouring into the English premiership in the form of leveraged club buyouts allows club managers to buy their way out of having to train and develop English talent and we only find out once every four years what is wrong.

England's outstanding badness in World Cup 2010 must be a symptom of something bigger: the fact that we've got the most expensive, highest leveraged club system - and that none of our players play outside it - must have contributed to the weakening of commitment to the national colours, the evisceration of upcoming talent, the creation of an unmanageable team of frightened individuals, each of whom will now be dictating a valedictory ghost-written column to their chosen tabloid newspaper before getting on with life as a millionaire.

Like failed bankers they will pay no penalty for failure other than public opprobium and, as everybody in high finance knows, you can live with that as long as you own a Lamborghini.

Basically, we've just seen the Lehman Brothers of football and it was not pretty.

[BathSaddler]

Nail, hit and head from Paul Mason.

[Rich Evans]

Fantastic find and not much you can argue with. In the cold light of day the premiership you could class as entertainment where money is king. Money to buy ready made talent. Little way in development for the future. Look at the clubs in the lower to middle reaches of the prem. Full of foreign mercenarys. When this current crop of so called stars are past it where will the next generation come from. Home nation quotas's cant come soon enough. Its a simple choice. A great premiership full of entertainment or a great national team who would die for the shirt.

[Fray Bentos is God!]

Newsnight's Economics editor talks a lot of sense here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/newsnight/paulmason/

Germany 4 - England 1. Why were England so poor?

It all goes back to the basic truth of modern tournament football: the well-coached sides win things. Now everybody can defend you have to be able to defend, break, find space but above all - in a tournament - adapt to new conditions like a team. You have to be a learning organism.

This is what Capello tried to teach England: to play like a squad, adapt like a squad. But all that happened was that some of the players attempted a rebellion against his system. That is no surprise because it is exactly what happened with France as well. Italy too went home because they could not or would not play the system the manager wanted to play.

Having tried and failed to impose their own system on Capello, the players then lost morale, self-belief and skill.

In the case of England and France this dissent and player power reflects the huge problem of trying to make millionaire club stars play to a system they don't like. In the case of Italy, the "terror in the legs" phenomenon was probably the result of a similar issue. It's not a problem in club football because players get bought by managers with an exact idea of their skills and on-pitch role, so they rarely have to involuntarily adapt.

Maybe in this World Cup we've seen the first real triumph of the economics of modern football over skill and organisation: the triumph of a club-first, nation-last mentality and individualism over teamwork.

Capello did his best to kill the player power culture that was evident last time: the self-selecting team, the WAGs, etc. But it simply resurfaced in the form of failing motivation and failing skill. This in turn reflects England's weak domestic skills base that's resulted from the unrestricted use of foreign money and foreign players.

If you look at the teams that had very little talent but were well coached eventually they too fell apart against teams that had both: Ghana beat the USA for this reason, and for the same reason the next three games are a cert. Argentina, Holland and Brazil should go through. So Capello was not wrong to try to impart system and team discipline to England. Even if he chose the wrong system (4-4-2) we will never know, because England never won themselves the breathing space to try 4-4-1-1 in a competitive game.

The whole English FA now looks very exposed as a result of this poor showing. They failed miserably to keep control of Sven or the players in 2006. Their remedy was to appoint a disciplinarian who could at least control the players and who seemed to get the best out of them until they faced world class opposition.

But if you look at what's wrong with English football it starts with the junior game, where there's a horrendously physical and low-skill philosophy preached; then, for some reason, all the clever people get weeded out by the club system so that the words "intelligent, inventive England player" are impossible to write; finally the money pouring into the English premiership in the form of leveraged club buyouts allows club managers to buy their way out of having to train and develop English talent and we only find out once every four years what is wrong.

England's outstanding badness in World Cup 2010 must be a symptom of something bigger: the fact that we've got the most expensive, highest leveraged club system - and that none of our players play outside it - must have contributed to the weakening of commitment to the national colours, the evisceration of upcoming talent, the creation of an unmanageable team of frightened individuals, each of whom will now be dictating a valedictory ghost-written column to their chosen tabloid newspaper before getting on with life as a millionaire.

Like failed bankers they will pay no penalty for failure other than public opprobium and, as everybody in high finance knows, you can live with that as long as you own a Lamborghini.

Basically, we've just seen the Lehman Brothers of football and it was not pretty.

Perfectly summed up.

Nice to have a brilliant new stadium filled with 11 players who have been brought through a half rate youth development at the expense of foreign youngsters.

Burton should've been number one priority to the FA, Clarefontaine in France took over a decade to produce world class players. We'll take longer because we have no base to build on.

[Duke]

Capello is a proven winner he may well gone to be successful with England , throughout this world cup he got it wrong IMO .

He as to share the blame

[Fray Bentos is God!]

Capello is a proven winner he may well gone to be successful with England , throughout this world cup he got it wrong IMO .

He as to share the blame

He does - But for him to be made a scapegoat for the whole thing is stupid. 11 anonymous players out there who for at least an hour of that game couldn't pass or control a ball.

James - Should've come out quicker to the first two.

Johnson - Dragged around more than a babbie tied to hoss.

Terry and Upson - Couldn't head a ball or read a ball if their light depended on it. Utterly devoid of any defensive awareness. But at least we didn't miss Rio, eh?

Cole - See Johnson but a little better.

Lampard - I suppose getting a shot or two on target in a finals is an improvement but apart from that... CLUELESS.

Barry - Couldn't screen a home video let alone a defence in that game.

Gerrard - Yes, he was a righty playing on the left. But for someone who is supposedly "world class," he really was awful.

Milner/Cole - Involved in some of our better play in the middle half hour but not good at all.

Rooney - He can now see what being that groundsman in the Nike advert is like based on that performance.

Defoe - Nipped around but like a daddy long legs. No actual bite.

[Stu]

Correct Gaz... Its a shared responsibility thing.

Capello can't get the whole blame. Folk can't argue against his formation, tactics and style as it worked a treat during qualification. He has made mistakes, he could and should have been more attack minded at times, but with the players there, I don't know how much he could have done... I think he made a big mistake by leaving both Johnson and Walcott at home, one if not both of those should have gone.

However the biggest part lies with the players. Capello can't do anything about Terry and Upson being scared to speak to each other, James diving out of the way of the ball for the 4th goal. Barry, Lampard and Gerrard constantly going for glory passess isn't Capello's fault and neither is the fact that Rooney is an over-rated plodder on the basis of this World Cup.

In defence of Capello, England and the FA have screwed this up. The FA who could have been using this ball much earlier to allow players to get used to it as all of them were constantly over-hitting passess, arguably the Premiership for constantly wanting as many matches as they can. You've then got the bad luck of injuries.
- Ferdinand
- King (came through the last 3 months of the season without issue and breaks down straight away for us)
- Barry
- Rooney
- Milner in the build up to the opening game
- Ashley Cole
- Joe Cole

There are 7 players where by injury played a huge part in their, and our, preparation for the World Cup. On top of that, you had Carragher's suspension meaning we had to play our 5th choice centre half for 2 games and John Terry's moronic chav brain that probably broke whatever spirit was left in the camp before hand.

Folk say we've got World Class players... Well on the big stage, nobody showed up, so I don't think we can argue that Terry, Gerrard, Lampard or Rooney are World Class for those that did.

Next steps - Keep Capello, get rid of the Golden generation that are now looking like a faded pi$$ yellow generation and start again with 2012 in mind. You've got 18 months to build a core squad.

[SheffieldSaddler]

Lampard - I suppose getting a shot or two on target in a finals is an improvement but apart from that... CLUELESS.

And remind me again.
Which England player had most shots on target in the World Cup in 1996?
:roll:

[latviancheese]

Lampard - I suppose getting a shot or two on target in a finals is an improvement but apart from that... CLUELESS.

And remind me again.
Which England player had most shots on target in the World Cup in 1996?
:roll:

Dunno mate there wasnt a World Cup on. :lol:

[Fray Bentos is God!]

Lampard - I suppose getting a shot or two on target in a finals is an improvement but apart from that... CLUELESS.

And remind me again.
Which England player had most shots on target in the World Cup in 1996?
:roll:

:lol: you're defending him. I know love hurts sometimes but if you're going to snipe. Do it over PM.

Whoops... you tried that.

Over and out, Simple.

[swiftyboy]

Correct Gaz... Its a shared responsibility thing.

Capello can't get the whole blame. Folk can't argue against his formation, tactics and style as it worked a treat during qualification. He has made mistakes, he could and should have been more attack minded at times, but with the players there, I don't know how much he could have done... I think he made a big mistake by leaving both Johnson and Walcott at home, one if not both of those should have gone.

However the biggest part lies with the players. Capello can't do anything about Terry and Upson being scared to speak to each other, James diving out of the way of the ball for the 4th goal. Barry, Lampard and Gerrard constantly going for glory passess isn't Capello's fault and neither is the fact that Rooney is an over-rated plodder on the basis of this World Cup.

In defence of Capello, England and the FA have screwed this up. The FA who could have been using this ball much earlier to allow players to get used to it as all of them were constantly over-hitting passess, arguably the Premiership for constantly wanting as many matches as they can. You've then got the bad luck of injuries.
- Ferdinand
- King (came through the last 3 months of the season without issue and breaks down straight away for us)
- Barry
- Rooney
- Milner in the build up to the opening game
- Ashley Cole
- Joe Cole

There are 7 players where by injury played a huge part in their, and our, preparation for the World Cup. On top of that, you had Carragher's suspension meaning we had to play our 5th choice centre half for 2 games and John Terry's moronic chav brain that probably broke whatever spirit was left in the camp before hand.

Folk say we've got World Class players... Well on the big stage, nobody showed up, so I don't think we can argue that Terry, Gerrard, Lampard or Rooney are World Class for those that did.

Next steps - Keep Capello, get rid of the Golden generation that are now looking like a faded pee yellow generation and start again with 2012 in mind. You've got 18 months to build a core squad.

Agree with that. Well summed up.

BUT, Capello still made stupid decisions. Chasing the game, and he brings on......Hesky!? What the HELL had Crouch done to upset Capello?

His goalscoring record speaks for itself. Add that to the fact that Crouch and Defoe are used to playing with each other at club level, why oh why didn't he play Crouch?

Rooney was crud all the way through. If Capello had any sense, he would have dropped Rooney, and brought him on second half, chomping at the bit. He will now think he is indesposable.

Utter rubbish, and the worst World Cup I can remember. Complete anti climax after a year+ of build up and exitement

[Duke]

Capello is a proven winner he may well gone to be successful with England , throughout this world cup he got it wrong IMO .

He as to share the blame

He does - But for him to be made a scapegoat for the whole thing is stupid. 11 anonymous players out there who for at least an hour of that game couldn't pass or control a ball.

James - Should've come out quicker to the first two.

Johnson - Dragged around more than a babbie tied to hoss.

Terry and Upson - Couldn't head a ball or read a ball if their light depended on it. Utterly devoid of any defensive awareness. But at least we didn't miss Rio, eh?

Cole - See Johnson but a little better.

Lampard - I suppose getting a shot or two on target in a finals is an improvement but apart from that... CLUELESS.

Barry - Couldn't screen a home video let alone a defence in that game.

Gerrard - Yes, he was a righty playing on the left. But for someone who is supposedly "world class," he really was awful.

Milner/Cole - Involved in some of our better play in the middle half hour but not good at all.

Rooney - He can now see what being that groundsman in the Nike advert is like based on that performance.

Defoe - Nipped around but like a daddy long legs. No actual bite.

Absolutely so called world class players such as Rooney , Gerrard , Lampard and so on have to look at themselves .
But we all know they are better than we've witnessed in this world cup .

[Rich Evans]

Love the terry and upson comment. Cant head a ball if there life depended on it. Who scored for england this afternoon. And how was the goal scored.