england's problems;
a) there is no winter break
while the likes of spain break up for the holidays, england plays continuously from august to may meaning they are far more likely to suffer from fatigue than another nation. sure, a lot of foreign players ply their trade here but ALL of the english players are based in england, so ALL of them will suffer from the same fatigue.
b) the mentality of 'grass roots' is about winning and little else
in south american, football is about fun and technique but in england from the ground up its about winning the game, so english players have it ingrained in them to never give up, always push till the very end but the very basic techinique of passing the ball, controlling the ball dead, keeping possession is often sadly lacking. in the 2005 CL final even though there were foreign players in the liverpool team the never say die attiude was very english.
c) the star players often have foreign players doing the fetching and carrying
lampard and gerrard are the stars of their respective teams, they are the ones that usually dig the team out of shit with crucial goals, but the players that give them the ball, the players that keep the game ticking over, the players that give them the defensive platform, the players that take the sting out of the game when their team has taken the lead, are more often than not foreign.
gerrard had probably his best season in 08/09 and probably his worst season in 09/10, in 08/09 xabi alonso had his best season in a liverpool shirt and in 09/0 he was sold to real, coincedence?
d) england mangers try to play all the best players and team play is almost an after thought (with the exception of the front two positions)
steven gerrard, argubly the best central player in the country, came up playing on the right, moved to the middle of the park, then pushed further forwards to absolutely devastating effect...so why play him on the left for his country?
you (england manager) can't ignore what that someone does for their club and then moan when they don't do it for their country, it was the exact same thing with john barnes.
capello left adam johnson behind, probably the most inform winger in the country? why? lack of experience? well he isn't going to gain experience if he isn't played, england look shockingly short of options on the left.
then you have lampard, no one can deny he is one of the country's best players but currently he is NOT performing, he is surviving on reputation along.
then you have the striker positions and to be fair to the england managers they have gone for partnerships, lineker and beardo, shearer and sherry (when fowler was probably the hottest striker in the country) and then you have rooney and heskey,
heskey purely in the team because rooney 'supposedly' plays better (has that working out for you fab?) so in effect you have TWO players who are a waste of space if rooney doesn't deliver the goods.
capello said he would only bring the players playing regularly for their clubs and in form which as we now know is a pile of shit.
when will england learn you can't play ALL the stars you have to go with the best TEAM. do spain try to shoe horn; cesc, xabi, xavi and inesta into the same side even though all of them are world class?
e) the press in the country is mercyless
the expectation in this country is INSANE, its nearly 50 years (FIFTY!!) since england won the world cup and yet their is expectation for england to win the competiton every time the world cup rolls around every 4 years? what has england done to justify that expectation? sure, the players should be used to that expection especially if they ply their trade at liverpool, manu, arsenal etc but they are human and there is a massive difference between the expection of a city and the expectation of a NATION.
maybe the suggestion that these highly paid proffesionals are choking under the pressure is a stretch but there are few explainations why england are nearly always slow starters and simply passing the ball seems almost beyond them.
so what can england do to get around the problems?
a) play to your strengths
if you are at your best when the tempo is high and your physicality grinds down your opposition, then raise the tempo, get the ball down the wing as often and quickly as possible and cross are the earliest oppertunity, hope that you get a quick succession of goals so when you eventually run out of steam (and you will) you have enough in the tank to see out the win - think liverpool v juventus 2005.
b) drop heskey
to be fair to emule (pun intended) he did well against usa but england needs better and we need a goal threat up front and as is often qouted 'emile isn't there to score goals'.
play someone who can create AND finish.
which brings us to...
c) try not to move players from positions they enjoy for their clubs
move gerrard behind rooney, drop lampard if you have to to make room for carrick and give the two best english players (gerrard and rooney) a platform to hurt teams.
d) play joe cole
england is BADLY lacking creativity and guile so play someone who can unlock stubborn defenses.
england may as well go for it now, grow some ball capello and do the right thing.
