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?