Can Capello get der Kaiser a beer?

Well that was much better wasn’t it? England finally started to get going at the World Cup with what was all in all a very good showing against Slovenia yesterday afternoon.

Jermaine Defoe’s 23rd minute strike proved enough to take us out of the group in second place and set up an intriguing last sixteen tie against “them Germans” in Bloemfontein on Sunday afternoon.

Performance wise it was the first time in the competition that Fabio Capello’s men really moved the ball sharply with plenty of neat interchanges and created plenty of very good chances. At the other end David James was cool and calm in goal, while the back four headed by an inspiring John Terry through themselves at everything.

What was perhaps most pleasing was the Terry inspired huddle on the final whistle. That sort of reaction after any important result often shows a strong togetherness, collective spirit and desire to be successful. That’s what England need now; the shackles from the opening two games seem to have been removed and the players now look ready to take on the world again.

But let’s not get carried away with winning the thing just yet. While at times England were brilliantly explosive at others they still had elements of an imminent self destruction about them. Although I believe we will continue to get stronger the more we can progress in the tournament, these defensive frailties can never be fully masked. We must persevere in this manner and hope we can continue to get past teams with more of the same swashbuckling Premier League style performances.

To do that we need to score more goals after a poor return of only two so far. We all know how dangerous the likes of Defoe, Rooney, Lampard, Gerrard and Milner all are in front of goal and if we can open the Germans up with similarly penetrative attacking play then we will hopefully reap the rewards and take a better proportion of the chances created.

The main question now is that does Capello now stick with the same eleven for Sundays last sixteen showdown? Providing Rooney is fit then for me the answer is yes.

I was shocked to hear some journalists calling for Rooney to be dropped even after yesterday’s performance. One such chap labelled him “Emile Heskey like” due to the fact Rooney’s name has rarely appeared on OPTA stats for scoring goals or direct assists.

Although still not at his best, Rooney was at the heart of most of the neat link up play that was coming from England’s advancing midfielders and full backs. His movement and vision with balls around the corner of defenders and through their legs will once again be vital to England’s chances of victory against the Germans on Sunday.

Without him I’d be worried that we’d struggle to emulate yesterday’s performance and slide back into the disjointed England we saw against Algeria. There is little doubt Rooney was one of the worst players in that game last Friday but when England are vibrant so is Rooney and he will only continue to regain his swing the more those around him improve theirs.

When the team plays poorly Rooney’s frustrations often make him a bad player and the shadow of himself that had struggled up to yesterday. Having Jermaine Defoe alongside Rooney also helped as the Tottenham man now takes some of the goal-scoring responsibility off Rooney’s already strained shoulders. While often not involved in much of the general play, Defoe often came alive with his movement in the final third and showed his worth perfectly when stepping across the Slovenian defender to put away Milner’s cross.

Another worthy change made by Capello was bringing in James Milner onto the right hand side. The Villa man almost instantly struck up a very tasty partnership with Glenn Johnson down the England right. It was a very good performance from Milner who crossed effectively, showed he could beat a man and also worked hard for the team especially when helping out Johnson at full back. The partnership was also mirrored on the other side by the terrific Ashley Cole and Steven Gerrard.

At the other end of the field Capello must also choose between Upson and Carragher now the Liverpool defender has returned from suspension. Upson did well alongside Terry and should keep his place at the heart of England’s defence. There are question marks as to whether the pairing would be suited to a less physical and more creative attack than the Slovenians but at this stage we need to stick with a winning team, yet more disruption to the line-up would be unwelcome at a time when we look to be turning the corner.

So what of the Germans? Our old foe have certainly had the better of us in the past at the finals of major tournaments but this is a new era for both sides. The Germans look less like the “efficient” well oiled machine of times gone by and instead play with more openness and freedom than their ununified past. This is something England must look to exploit if they are to get through the tie without the dreaded extra time and penalties.

They do however remain a massive threat that should not be underestimated. Up and coming talent such as Müller and Özil have so far shone while being helped along by the more experienced Schweinsteiger, Klose, captain Lahm and penalty missing Podolski.

Like England, Germany have defensive frailties of their own and if both sides get the ball down and play then this latest encounter between the former enemies could be best of the many “World Cup classics” throughout the years.

Franz Beckenbauer has labelled England “stupid” for finishing second in the group and setting up this mouth watering clash. With yet another derogatory comment from Der Kaiser the question has to be asked, could he be running scared of Fabio Capello’s men? After all Germany have already been beaten during this World Cup while England remain unbeaten despite the slowest of starts to their campaign.

Lets hope England don’t enter into such mind games and just sit back on Saturday night with one of Fabio Capello’s beers and realise that without setting the world alight they could be on the verge of going very far in this World Cup. For the players it’s now all about turning this new found spirit into enough momentum to keep on progressing. Oh, and did I mention the part about having to win a good old penalty shoot out?

Fabio orders fingers on lips

While a fan that confused the England dressing room with a toilet goes on trial this week in South Africa much of the country is still holding court about that performance against Algeria on Friday.

At the least Pavlos Joseph has an excuse for his wanderings; the stench coming from the England team dressing room after that game probably resembled that of the dirtiest of public lavatories.

It was a truly woeful performance from Fabio Capello’s side, most definitely the worst under his tenure. But what’s changed between the side that cruised through qualifying and the one now trying to stagger blindly into the World Cup’s knockout stages?

Some lament the long hard slog of a European season that has seen not only England but France, Spain and Italy also falter in the opening games, while some say the Italian disciplinarian’s hard line approach is too much for a month long tournament. Other notable mentions include the climate, the Jubilani ball and a simple loss of form.

Whatever camp you fall into the most likely answer to England’s failings would be a combination of the lot; however the dominant and recurring theme seems to be falling at the feet of Capello.

Those in and around the England camp seem keen to point out that the players don’t seem to be enjoying being in South Africa and this ultimately is affecting performances. This is of course in stark contrast to the same group of players who apparently did not enjoy Sven’s gentlemen’s club either.

But is this true and what do the players actually want? John Terry’s Sunday press conference seemed to suggest they’d have lots to say about the style and selection used in the previous group games but according to reports the Italian allowed none of this came to fruition in the subsequent team meeting when he told them not to speak.

“The manager spoke and addressed the Algeria performance” was the view of events expressed by Frank Lampard this morning. By that it seems Capello will continue to keep his strict distance from involving the players and their opinions in his way of doing things by seemingly ordering the players to keep their fingers on lips and cross their legs.

With Matthew Upson set to resume his unbeaten six game qualification partnership with John Terry in the absence of Jamie Carragher, England should once again be able to keep it tight at the back. What we really need is our more forward thinking players to lose their shackles and express themselves.

But what of the introduction of Joe Cole? Time will only tell whether the Italian takes the opinion of not only the team but nation on board and give him a chance on the right, left or even behind Wayne Rooney. I don’t think I care where he plays at this stage, England need some of the intelligence and craft that Cole possesses to try and open up opposition defences that have so far been difficult to penetrate.


After identical results so far the whole country are now hoping for a repeat of what happened in the group stages at Italia 90 when Mark Wright’s goal against Egypt put England through to the knockout stages. Rooney, Gerrard and Lampard must once again try and emulate the likes of Lineker, Gascoigne and Waddle in order to see the team through.

Back in the present day the worrying talk of a mutiny in the camp for the moment seems to have been put to one side. Let’s hope this now silent and hidden discontent doesn’t manifest into the explosion of fury that saw the French in meltdown over the weekend. Anything less than a win against Slovenia could well be the catalyst for it. Not that it will happen of course, this is England and we’re still going to win the World cup; aren’t we?

The price is hype

An early goal, not one but two injuries, a horrific goalkeeping blunder, one world class save, some spurned chances to win it and plenty of vuvuzela’s; all in all I think I’m quite happy with that point from Saturday’s World Cup opener against the USA.

While the American front pages celebrate the result as a famous moral victory, much of England’s press have gone from the typical hysteria about winning the competition to changing their minds completely and are now finger pointing and worrying whether we’ll even make the second round.

It was foolish for anyone to think the injuries to Gareth Barry and Rio Ferdinand would not affect the spine of the team in the early stages of the tournament. Without Rio we have no real tried and test partnership at centre back and in the absence of Barry we are missing out on what has formed the basis of a successful midfield during England’s impressive qualifying campaign.

The question has to be whether or not England will get stronger from the lessons learnt in the game or will our form continue to suffer?

You have to hope the former would be true and we will learn valuable lessons from this game and go on to beat Slovenia and Algeria at a comfortable pace. However the fact is that after a successful qualifying campaign there do seem to be a quite a few questions about our plan b now we’ve been hit by one or two injuries in key areas.

With Ledley King’s injury Capello must now decide who is best to partner John Terry at the back. After his sub appearance at the weekend Jamie Carragher looks to be the man next in line in the manager’s mind. However the lack of pace he showed at times is a worry, especially alongside the equally slow Terry.

Matthew Upson covered ably for Terry and Ferdinand in qualifying while the form and pace of Michael Dawson must make his inclusion tempting. Whoever gets the nod I think we may have to accept the mistakes will be made while a new partnership beds in at the back.

How quickly Gareth Barry can recover from his ankle injury is now key to England’s progression in the rounds beyond the group stages. The City man made the bench on Saturday so let’s hope its sooner rather than later before he can slot back in in-front of the back four. If Barry doesn’t make Fridays clash with Algeria, Cappello must consider Michael Carrick for the holding role in order to free up Lampard and Gerrard from their restrictive defensive duties and help protect the likely partnership of Carragher and Terry.

Then there is the goalkeeper. There is little doubt that Robert Green’s blunder will have secured his place in the next game as Capello will not want to destroy the confidence of his chosen number one nor appear to panic. However, David James experience and Joe Hart’s form will continue to raise one or to eyebrows about his selection in the first place. Although I would love to have seen Hart take the jersey, at this stage of all three candidate’s careers I would still have given the shirt to David James.

I would also love to know how Joe Cole never got on the pitch. I was quite surprised he didn’t start the match ahead of James Milner on England’s left but was left shocked that Capello opted for Wright-Phillips ahead of him once the Villa man was replaced. The balance of the side didn’t quite feel right with two pacey wingers against a side like the US. I would have been much more natural to have Cole’s guile and craft on the left to compliment Lennon’s pace from the right. Hopefully that will be something that can be rectified against the Algerians on Friday.

All in all we mustn’t panic after drawing with a decent USA side. The American’s are a hardworking, difficult to beat outfit tinged with quality from the likes of Landon Donovan and Clint Dempsey. But that result is now gone and we must concentrate on taking maximum points from our remaining two group games against Algeria and Slovenia.

Looking at their game yesterday England should have enough to take maximum points from both of them even whilst still ironing out the creases in Capello’s crumpled squad. And who knows? Two comfortable wins might just get the press and the rest of the country blowing their vuvuzela’s again.

Heartache, a new captain and some dodgy knee's; the World Cup is here

Well England’s captains armband has fallen to yet another incumbent, the third in the last few months. Steven Gerrard now holds the nations expectations on his shoulders following John Terry’s libido losing him the privilege and now the pain felt by Rio Ferdinand who after suffering a knee injury yesterday must sit out the whole World Cup.

Almost all England fans feel Rio's heartache, losing him is a gutting blow not just for him personally but to the team’s chances of progressing beyond the quarter finals of the competition. Anyone who says they are glad Ferdinand will be missing the tournament should remember that although his likely replacement Ledley King is an excellent defender, his own personal injury woes mean he is unlikely to last the full month.

I couldn’t believe it yesterday when the news came through about the training ground injury he picked up from an Emile Heskey tackle; at first I thought it was some kind of wind up TV prank show fronted by Heskey that sought revenge for Ferdinand’s antics prior to the last tournament. However instead of being “murked”, Ferdinand was instead well and truly “’miled” by the Aston Villa front man.

Heskey’s involvement in the incident sparked the usual anti-Heskey brigade to come out in force with comments like “it had to be Heskey", "that's what you get for taking a lump like that" and most brilliantly "Darren Bent wouldn't have done that". As I said yesterday, some people really make me laugh.

England’s defence may now have to become heavily rotated machine in order to succeed. The likes of Jamie Carragher, Matthew Upson and the arriving Michael Dawson may all have a part to play in helping to cover the backline. A lot depends on Gareth Barry’s fitness and how quickly he is ready to resume his holding role in the midfield after his ankle problem.

While he is out, Lampard and Gerrard look set to resume their unsanctimonious midfielder marriage centrally, which could lead to Fabio Capello opting for the more defensive option of Carragher at right back in order to keep the defence tight without any natural midfielder cover.

If Ledley suffers with those chronically poor knees of his then England may be relying on Dawson or Upson to step up and show what they can do on the world stage. With the plaudits that have been heaped on Dawson’s ever increasing maturity as a defender this season it must have only been Upson’s far greater international experience that has kept him in the squad.

However now that they are both battling it out on the training fields of Rustenburg to be the first choice cover for King it could well be a flip of a coin as to who gets the nod if required. The headache caused by Ferdinand’s injury must now make this particularly delicate balancing act the most important of Fabio Capello’s career.

As for Gerrard as captain, I definitely feel now we have the people’s skipper. His leadership qualities and performances on the pitch in keeping Liverpool in top four contention and European competition in seasons beyond this past one has shown he is able to at times carry those around him.

Last season wasn’t the best for Gerrard but the undoubted boost the armband will give him could really reignite his game. I’m certainly expecting him to make his position in his new role indespensible by showing some of the best examples of a skipper leading by example since Beckham single handedly took England through to the World Cup back in 2002.

One man I was delighted to see make the squad was Joe Cole. One of the most consistent performers whenever he has pulled on the three lions in the past it would’ve bean a huge loss if he made not made the final 23. We would’ve definitely lacked his natural flair and experience if he had been omitted; and in my opinion the partnership with his namesake Ashley if selected down England’s left will be vital to England’s progression in the tournament.

For next week’s opener against the USA I will hopefully be rolling in winnings after a day out at York Races. Let’s pray there will be no more injury shocks before then with a well drilled starting eleven ready to embark on the beginning of a full month’s stint in South Africa. Although I remain quietly hopeful of making at least the semi finals, given the loss of Ferdinand I think even if I win big on the horses next weekend I still won't be brave enough to be putting my money on England just yet.