Homework needs to be done

Spain in a championship photo-op raising the FIFA world cup 2010 trophy

I bet this is not a topic that many would wish to hear especially since the FIFA World Cup is over and the waiting begins for the next four years until the next tournament.

I bet the majority of the fanatic football fans in Malaysia would have supported the favorites consisting of Brazil, Germany, Spain, Argentina and so on. Of course eventually the honors went to Spain because they played the most free flowing football in the tournament and nobody will disagree to that.

What was running through most of our minds was the way England was knocked out of the tournament. Many people expected England to be one of the front runners for the cup even before the tournament kicked started.

There was much hype about the repeat of the 1966 tournament where England won their first and only World Cup. The first bad news was revealed when it was announced that David Beckham would miss the World Cup due to a cruciate ligament injury that rules him out for three months.

If that wasn’t bad enough then Michael Owen was also out due to an injury and again England received another major blow.

To some people Michael Owen and David Beckham might have passed their prime, well I agree with you but remember when these two play together, they tend to take the burden off the other younger players and this gives the team and extra boost when playing against tough opposition.

Rio Ferdinand the highest paid defender in the English Premier League and who was just newly appointed as the captain had to pull out of the team due to a chronic back injury.

That was the main reason why England dominated their qualifying group with astonishing results against some of the world’s best teams such as Croatia. After losing these three players, the attention was now all towards Wayne Rooney to spearhead their campaign in the World Cup.

Maybe lady luck wasn’t shining on England at all, Rooney who was in fine physical form suddenly had an injury but just luckily managed to recover in time to be fit for the World Cup.

During the group stages, the effort by the United striker was a little less than disappointing. Imperfection timing of his runs, lacking ball control, a lack of composure and Rooney was rarely seen at his best in fact he was never seen at his best.

Steven Gerrard who was the captain tried his best to pull the strings in midfield but there was no inspiration from any of the forwards upfront. Gareth Barry was rushed to fitness but also didn’t find the spark in time.
John Terry arguably the leader of this team failed to perform at his best and his season was a mix of good and bad fortune due to his personal problems off the pitch.

The bottom line was the team lacked unity. Even the coach didn’t know to pick the right formations and even the right players. For an internationally renowned coach like Fabio Capello to create a mistake such as this is simply unforgivable.

And when a team which had the technical ability and the hunger to win like Germany came up against them in the second round. England was just ripped apart by a team who played with heart rather than one playing for the sake of playing.

If ever England wins another World Cup to add to their collection, then it has to happen with a much younger and technically gifted team. Remember Capello, choose players who can change the game with one move, not ones who can be a good role models.