Sunday, 13 June 2010

The problem with England

The media make it very hard for England, the expectations are ridiculous and as Alan Shearer said today, they see things in only black and white, England are either awesome or completely useless. Watching last night's game and trying to be objective, England really weren't bad, they were by far the better side, the USA were far poorer. Capello is by far the best manager England have had for some time, he doesn't serve up the dross that the likes of Hoddle, Mclaren and Eriksson did.

Some players did very well, Heskey was outstanding throughout the game, holding the ball up with power and strength. Others did not, Robert Green showed why he is a very mediocre keeper with a horrific Fabianski style error. Lennon and Wright-Phillips showed pace but no brain, Rooney was rather anonymous. Capello can only do so much with this group of players and injuries to Barry/Ferdinand have definitely made things harder for him.

England started well, there was a drive early on, the problem was that an one nil up they didn't seem to go for the jugular and the USA eased their way back into proceedings. However if it wasn't for Green's howler it most likely would have been three points for England, the USA didn't create a great deal in terms of proper goal scoring chances.

In conclusion it wasn't that bad, it also wasn't that good, that's England for you. Capello can only work with what he's got and I think he does a pretty good job on the whole. Capello cannot help the fact that we lack creative passing players in our midfield and that we lack a real top drawer goal scoring striker who can lead the line. One must face the fact that international football is rather low in quality and entertainment compared to the top club football, so don't expect too much from England and you won't then get so dissappointed.


Anonymous said...

heskey was useless. he made a couple decent passes. the one for the goal was good. other than that he was offside everytime the ball went forward, and showed why he isnt a striker by missing a sitter. england gave the ball away far too much with pointless balls into nowhere, showing they cant retain possesion long enough to create their own openings, and lacked creativity. u could say but for the howler it would have been 1-0 3pts. but if u cant create & finish more chances, u wont beat the elite that u need to win a world cup. and it starts with not playin 'hoof it to heskey' football. footballs evolved, and playin the same way as we did in the 60's wont work, and until the england mob realize that the games a different animal nowdays, we dont stand a chance.

Anonymous said...

Heskey was good for about 20 minutes, then he was crap. Does anyone else find it strange that he is not good enough for Aston Villa, yet somehow he is good enough for England?

The key point about the match was that the U.S. played poorly, and England weren't much better.

England have been exposed as being a mediocre team, and there is now a distinct possibility that they will not qualify for the 2nd phase.

Anonymous said...

The 1st 2 dimwits prove the authors point beautifully;

Completely clueless and only want to slate and berate. Can only see things in tabloid style black and white

1979gooner said...


Heskey did well in my opinion.

If you are going to slate Heskey then Rooney deserves far more criticism, he did barely a thing all game.

Rhinogooner said...

US had the better keeper though.

And that made all the difference.

Danish Gooner said...

What exactly did ingerland create bar Heskeys shot.Green had to make a world class save to deny Altidore.Like some other blogger stated,you can polish a turd but it is still a turd.

ninejimmyrimmers said...

I think Heskey was good. He won just about everything hit up front and laid on loads of passes for advancing England players. I would only drop him to change the system - pushing Rooney forward and putting Gerrard just behind him for example. But in the system Capello seems to like he's doing a great job.

Anonymous said...

"with a horrific Fabianski style error"

fabianski's now become synonymous with howlers!! :D

Anonymous said...

"heskey won everything that went forward to him" u mean when he wasnt whistled for offside constantly? and where exactly did those headers go? not to an england player... Rooney has kicked onto a new level this season, and shown himself as one of the worlds best by playin as the focal point of the attack, the lone striker. if we want im o play like he has all season, we need to play him in the same way he has been playing all season for ManU.

Uncle Mike said...

England were the better team on paper, but the games aren't played on paper. England were garbage. They had a jillion chances to win, and they blew them.

Most of the usual suspects turned out to be awful: Rooney, Terry, Lennon. Heskey? A joke and a half. Passports aside, like the song goes: "If Heskey plays for England, so can I."

The U.S. played like a classic Italian team, minus the dives and whines: Give 'em hell on defense, and hope for a lucky break.

The one -- pardon the choice of words here -- saving grace is that it happened in the group stage, of a group England will probably still win. If a gaffe of this magnitude had to happen, it's best for England that it happened in the group stage, not in a knockout round. If something like that does happen, then I hope the United Kingdom has an equivalent to America's Witness Protection Program, or else "the Hand of Clod" will never be able to set foot on that sceptered isle again.

ninejimmyrimmers said...


Well I agre with you about that bit, but Capello doesn't seem to. For him it seems to be about whether Heskey or Crouch starts with Rooney.

Anonymous said...

Sorry to go against the current national pastime of Heskey-bashing, but he did ok, in my opinion. I also agree with the comment about Rooney being mostly anonymous.

Ted said...

Well said 1979. Heskey was England's best player. A truly great first time pass for Gerrards goal and won 99% of the balls up to him.

As usual, Fat Frank, Chav Terry and Fat Wayne were fucking useless.

Perhaps trying too hard?