ENGLAND

I feel really sorry for English supporters. At this world cup they have their strongest team since 1990 and on paper are genuine threats to win it all. But based on their level of play and the form of other teams are a serious threat to derail their campaign.

Ultimately the main reason for their demise is a combination of bad injury timing and a poor manager. To make matters worse, things will not improve post this world cup with the new regime coming to place. Here is my argument that I submit to the jury.

1. The manager

The man in charge of England, Sven Goran Errickson (SVE), is not a world class manager. I seriously question his tactics as all he wants to play is a 4-4-2 or 4-5-1 formation. Both these formations are tried English styles of football ie) kick the ball long and create a chance or hope for the best. This works for teams that are not wrought with super star players and require a high level of discipline such as Greece in Euro 2004.

With the teams that he has selected and the players at his disposal, these formations are not the right choices. It is almost like a writer from “Everyone Loves Raymond” is writing a script. To the outside, he looks like a bit of a jerk but no one in his family sees him for that.

At some stage of the tournament, England will come across a team playing a style that is more technical and requires more passing. This is when he shall be caught out and we should know the game will be lost.

Remember the last world cup when they came up against Brazil in the quarter finals. Ronaldinho was sent off while Brazil held a 2-1 lead. SVE did not change the formation. He did not need 4 in the back. He would have made do with 3 or even 2 backs and extra strikers to get the goal. The team lacked creativity or players with imagination to open up the game and create chances. It should be noted they had a pretty decent Michael Owen then.

If England do something at this world cup it will have nothing to do with SVE and all to do with the players.

2. The Squad

England has selected 4 strikers. One of the strikers has not played a senior match in the EPL. Two of the strikers are injured and getting into shape.

Bad selection, if he was going to pick 4 strikers what about picking Jermaine Defoe or one of the Bent boys instead of Theo Walcott.

The squad leads me to my next point…..

3. The players in the starting 11

Michael Owen is not in form and has hardly played in the last 12 months. David Beckham is also not in the form to warrant a start considering the other players in the squad. What has Becks done apart from a few crosses? The Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard combination in the midfield is not working to well.

Again SVE is not using his brain and playing Owen and Becks when there are clearly better options available. He has succumbed to them because they are big names in England and are so called super stars. Their peaks have passed.

He should give Michael Carrick and Aaron Lennon a run. If it was me I would look to have Steven Gerrard partner Peter Crouch up front until Rooney comes back.

Lennon played well as the right wing against TT today and was more useful than Becks. If Rooney comes back then in all honestly, Frank Lampard should be benched and Stevvie take his place.

I an not making a case because SG plays for Liverpool. The facts are that Lampard had a number of opportunities today and he muffed them all up. SG got up front and did magic. SG is also a big game player and loves that attacking midfield role. Michael Carrick can play the holding midfield role which is where he is perfectly suited for.

With this formation England has a more balanced team on the pitch and will do more.

It is not about putting 11 stars on the pitch, it is about a star team out there in the grass. The 11 that have played in the world cup so far just does not have balance.

4. Peter Crouch

People out there should stop dissing my bean pole. I agree that he is not a super star but with Rooney and Owen not fully fit or in form, he is England’s best option. This guys looks to get the others in the team involved. Sure it is evident he is there for the long ball and knock it down to the supporting players and if you watch the TT match, he created about 5 chances for Frank Lampard.

PC also gets into the midfield to help bring the ball up. All he is does is plays to his capabilities and does not do fancy stuff.

Repeat with me, “it is not about a team of stars but a star team”.

5. The Future

Sadly things do not look good for England in future tournaments.

The England FA stuffed up big time by not getting Guus Hiddink. Look what he has done to Australia, imagine what could be done with the players of England t his disposal?

Instead they settled on Steve McLaren. He did a fantastic job getting Middlesborough to the UEFA Cup final but they were spanked. Watching the game I noted that when ‘Borough were down 2-0, SM was telling his players to run down the flanks and send in the long balls.

Yup the long ball..the staple of the English football game