Qualifying Hiatus

With no World Cup Qualifying in Group 6 until April 1st 2009, we have to wait some five and a half months before the journey continues. A couple of friendlies are arranged within this timeframe, however we should not read too much into friendlies. With up to 6 substitutions and the lack of a competitive edge these games are not a real reflection of form. They were useful when Capello first took over as manager in getting to know the players and trying things out, but now they are not really so useful. There is some speculation that in the forthcoming friendlies Capello will take the opportunity to try out some younger players. We will see.

Rob Liddle a journalist that in terms of football I do not necessarily agree with wrote an interesting article in the Sunday Times yesterday.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/columnists/rod_liddle

/article4969075.ece

The conclusion to the article I wholeheartedly agree with, he concludes about the England team historically, “But the more they are bigged up, the more calamitously they perform”. YES. This is the major point we have to understand. The England team and supporters have to show humlity and realise that a couple of hot days does not make a summer.

In the Summer of 2006 the German press referred to England as the self appointed World Champions. This arrogance of the English supporter, media and the players must never be allowed to happen again. I will make the point again a football match is eleven good men against eleven good men and the result is not pre determined.

Group 6 So Far

Group Six Results: Kazakhstan 3 Andorra 0; Andorra 0 England 2; Croatia 3 Kazakhstan 0; Ukraine 1 Belarus 0; Andorra 1 Belarus 3; Croatia 1 England 4; Kazakhstan 1 Ukraine 3; England 5 Kazakhstan 1; Ukraine 0 Croatia 0; Belarus 1 England 3; Croatia 4 Andorra 0.

Fixtures: 2009: April 1 Andorra v Croatia; England v Ukraine; Kazakhstan v Belarus. June 6 Belarus v Andorra; Croatia v Ukraine; Kazakhstan v England. June 10 England v Andorra; Ukraine v Kazakhstan. August 12 Belarus v Croatia. September 5 Croatia v Belarus; Ukraine v Andorra. September 9 Andorra v Kazakhstan; Belarus v Ukraine; England v Croatia. October 10 Belarus v Kazakhstan; Ukraine v England. October 14 Andorra v Ukraine; England v Belarus; Kazakhstan v Croatia.

Belarus 1 England 3

Good performance all round. England started well, Gerrard scoring a nice goal in the first quarter of an hour. The team then sat back and Belarus equalised with a very stylish goal after stringing together some good passing and movement, culminating in a lovely cross, met by a header by the unmarked striker. Second half began and the anticipated testing of the England team never materialised. Instead England took control of the match with two goals from Rooney and Gerrard should really have added a fourth. An underpar Theo was replaced by a lively Wright-Philips, the wonderful Heskey was replaced by Crouch and finally, Beckham replaced Rooney for the last 3 minutes to fulfil his now familiar cameo role. So far so good. 4 games played, 4 wins. This guy Capello seems to know what he is doing. Bravo Fabio.

Team Selected

James, Brown, Ferdinand (Captain), Upson, Bridge, Gerrard, Barry, Lampard, Walcott, Heskey, Rooney.

Wayne Bridge for the injured Ashley Cole. Only question is what is the formation? 4-4-2, 4-4-3 or maybe even 4-5-1. Flexibility is Fabio’s aim.

Belarus

The game will be played at the Dinamo stadium in Minsk. Belarus could very well be a very tricky game. In recent results they have drawn with Argentina at home (0-0) and with Germany away (2-2). Both games were friendlies so missed the cutting edge of a competitive game, however there is cause for concern. The best known player is Alexander Hleb (not available for tonight’s game) well known to the Premiership with his impressive form at Arsenal before his move to Barcelona.
Belarus typically try to play a short passing game, fast and fluid, not unlike the style at Arsenal. This fixture will certainly be tough. England are without Ashley Cole from last Saturday’s game at Wembley and John Terry and Joe Cole remain unavailable.
This is the last qualifying fixture for six months. If England can get a result tonight then we would certainly be some way down the road to South Africa.

Capello adds

“I don’t know what happened before,” the manager said. “If Rio said it, then possibly. I think every manager decides the line. I always, when I work, decide on a different line. In Italy, one line. In Spain, different.

“When I arrived here I spoke with the players and said to them normal things. Not strange things. When I was a club manager, then sometimes during long training camps — 10 or 15 days — it was possible to meet the women, the wives or the official girlfriends. Not strange girlfriends.”

Rio Confesses

We basically knew at the time as the England squad of 2006 (and before) embraced the fatuous celebrity culture.

“I think we got caught up in all the hype,” Ferdinand said. “We became celebrities in terms of the WAG situation. There was a big show around the England squad. It was like a theatre unfolding, and football became a secondary element to the main event. People were worrying more about what people were wearing and where we were going, rather than the England football team.

“We were caught in the bubble ourselves. In Baden-Baden, walking around, there were paparazzi everywhere, our families were there. When you step back it was like a circus. As a squad we were a bit too open, going out in and around Baden-Baden, and probably had too much contact with families.

“You’re in a tournament and you don’t get many tournaments in your career. To give yourself the best chance you have to be focused. It wasn’t just the WAGs, but families being really close, us being close to you guys, the paparazzi situation. The football wasn’t really separated from the rest of our lives.”

And now?

“This is a very, very professional regime,” Ferdinand said. “Very result-orientated, very much like a lot of our clubs. The results come a long way before the performances. That’s been enhanced by the new regime and new management that we’ve got. You see how he is on the training ground, in our meetings, that there’s a winning mentality there. That’s what he’s putting over to the squad.

“This regime is very watertight. We have to take everything we can from the manager because of his vast experience. If we can do that, England will go in the right direction. I don’t want to speak too soon, but you can see that we’re at the start of something and, hopefully, there will be bigger rewards than we have had in the past.”

The Boos

Fabio Capello stated before the game against Croatia that he was happy it was an away game. Before the home against Kazakhstan, Capello hoped that the crowd would not get on the back of the players if things were not going the team’s way. A basically patient crowd, a section did voice their disapproval of Ashley Cole after his misplaced backpass. The boos rang out, not for long, but enough for this to have become a major talking point after the game.

The club v country debate applies to the crowd also. An England crowd typically consists of supporters of different clubs. Ashley Cole is not a popular young man with the majority of supporters. The reasons are pretty well documented, his breakdown of relations with Arsenal , his perceived greed at dismissing a wage proposal of £55,000 a week, his treatment of his wife Cheryl and displays of arrogance towards referees, have added to the notion that he exemplifies the negative image of the modern day Premiership football player.

After the game the players queued up to pay tribute to Ashley Cole, some describing him as possibly the best left back in the world. Nonetheless the booing of a player is not a new phenomenon and has become a bit of a problem. Hargreaves, Crouch, Lampard and most recently Cole have all suffered this. The England crowd does seem to not be shy in letting their dissatisfaction of selections and performance be known. To boo your team during the game is not constructive. It is a curious phenomenon and it is for this reason that Capello was happy for the Croatia game to be an away fixture at that stage of his tenure.

The fact of the matter is that with regards to international football England does not rule the waves, contrary to the singing of the crowd. 1966 was 42years ago and at best, in recent history England are a top eight team in an international tournament. A football team does not do well with a fractious crowd behind them. Cultural and social reasons may be reasons for this and the media attitude on occasions does not contribute to a harmonious relationship between supporter and the team.

The crowd demands humility and commitment from the team. Is it a one way street? Shouldn’t the crowd also display the traits that they demand?

England 5 Kazakhstan 1

The scoreline does not reflect the match. At halftime the score was goalless. Kazakhstan played well and were not seemingly overawed by the stadium and home support. Wright-Philips for Barry was the half time change reverting from 4-3-3 to 4-4-2. Goals from Ferdinand and an own goal, both exploiting the lack of experience of Kazakhstan at set pieces gave England the advantage. Casual complacency from Cole gifted a goal to the opposition and Kazakhstan were back in the game. A well crafted goal gave Rooney a header to make it 3-1. Beckham for Walcott for the last 10 minutes and Defoe for Rooney for the last 5 minutes with a now tired and defeated Kazakhstan allowed two more goals to be scored.
The scoreline papers over misplaced passes, complacency and a complete lack of fluency in the England team. On the evidence of this performance, the Gerrard – Lampard debate does suggest there is only room for one of them in central midfield.

Fair play to Kazakhstan, they did well and this new young team can be proud of themselves. It was the last ten minutes that ultimately beat them.

Team Selected

James, Brown, Ferdinand (Captain), Upson, Cole A, Gerrard, Barry, Lampard, Walcott, Heskey, Rooney.

Matthew Upson comes in for the injured John Terry and Ferdinand takes the Captain’s armband. The usual question, can Lampard and Gerrard both be effective in the same team?