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If the smell of blood on the carpet at Soho Square this morning is familiar,
so too last night was the stale odour of an England performance that carried
more than a whiff of the dregs of the Steve McClaren era. Fabio Capello
argued forcibly with those, including Harry Redknapp, who claimed that his
team had stunk out Wembley Stadium, but this was, at best, a flat note on
which to herald the end of the phoney war and the imminent start of the
World Cup qualifying campaign.
Praising the character that enabled Joe Cole, the substitute, to scramble in
the scruffiest of equalising goals in the third minute of stoppage time,
Capello announced confidently that England had taken another step forward,
but, if that was the case, it was what Cole had described on Monday as a
“pigeon step”. Capello stated in the postmatch press conference that his
team would be ready for their next game, against Andorra in Barcelona on
September 6, but, as was pointed out to him immediately, it is the match
after that, against Croatia in Zagreb four days later, that is the concern.
Redknapp, the Portsmouth manager, said in his role as a television summariser
that it was “one of the worst performances I’ve seen from an England team”
and that Capello’s decision to deploy Steven Gerrard on the left-hand side
of midfield was “killing” the Liverpool captain. Capello took issue with
both of these comments, saying that, in his eyes, Gerrard had played as one
of the two in a 4-3-2-1 formation behind Jermain Defoe.
They can argue about that one all they like, but Redknapp had a point when,
casting his mind over a coaching career in which the Italian has steered AC
Milan, Juventus, Real Madrid and others to great success, he ventured that
“I haven’t seen Fabio Capello teams play worse than that”. Whatever his
protestations, the England manager is finding it difficult to impose his
beliefs and his philosophy on a group of players who lost their way under
Sven-Göran Eriksson and lost the plot under McClaren.
Capello will, one suspects, bring about an improvement - and even last night
he talked of having seen England play “without fear” at Wembley for the
first time - but so far the process is proving slow. Five friendly matches
into his reign, the team does not yet bear anything like the hall-marks of a
Capello team: strong, unified, disciplined and effective.
If we can briefly touch upon the positives, they came last night in the form
of Wes Brown’s first international goal on the stroke of half-time,
cancelling out Milan Baros’s opening goal in the 22nd minute for the
impressive visiting team; a 15-minute purple patch just before that in which
Gerrard briefly seemed invigorated in his role on the left as England began
to test Petr Cech; the refusal to accept defeat that yielded Cole’s late,
late goal. You want more? Sorry, but that really was it.
The Czech Republic, who can hardly claim to have illuminated the European
Championship finals this summer, were by far the more vibrant, incisive
team. Moreover, they looked like a team, whereas England, particularly in
defence, played like strangers, alarmingly vulnerable whenever their
opponents counter-attacked. They were given precious little protection by a
midfield pairing of Frank Lampard and Gareth Barry, but Rio Ferdinand and
John Terry played less like partners at the back than men who have been
rivals for the captaincy.
With Ferdinand seemingly wondering what might have been, Baros raced free in
the fifteenth minute, testing David James from a tight angle before Brown
hacked the ball to safety. There had been warnings even before that and,
when the opening goal came soon afterwards, it was not a surprise, Radek
Sirl dribbling inside Brown and crossing for Baros, who turned Terry far too
easily before striking a shot that deflected off Ashley Cole and over the
stranded James.
That was the cue for England’s best spell and there was just the slightest
feeling, when an equaliser came in the final minute of the first half, that
it was deserved. Brown scored it, his aggressive run to the near post ending
with a prodigious jump above Tomas Ujfalusi and a bullet header past Cech,
but you just know it will be archived by many as a David Beckham assist,
fuelling that unhealthy reliance on his ability to strike a dead ball. When
Beckham took his leave with 11 minutes left, by which time Marek Jankulovski
seemed to have won the day for the Czech Republic with a marvellous free
kick past a stupefied James, he was given a standing ovation. Seconds
earlier, Lampard had been jeered off, just as Stewart Downing had been
jeered on. Same old England. Same old England fans, too.
Those fans might have been the reason why the sponsors chose a visiting
player, Jan Polak, as their man of the match. Previously, even in England’s
darkest hour, as they fell to Croatia in their final European Championship
qualifying match in November, they had chosen an England player - usually to
an overwhelming reaction from the crowd. The appointment of Capello was
meant to fumigate Wembley, but the stale smell of the McClaren era continues
to linger.
- England’s World Cup qualifying group got under way last night with
Kazakhstan beating Andorra 3-0 in Almaty. It took only 14 minutes for Sergey
Ostapenko to give the home side the lead, drilling the ball low beyond Josep
Anton Gomez, the Andorra goalkeeper. Ostapenko doubled Kazakhstan’s lead on
the half-hour, the striker reacting quickest to lash the ball high into the
net. As the frustration told, four Andorra players were booked and they
looked more than ready for the break when Roman Uzdenov added a third from a
header. England start their qualifying campaign against Andorra in Barcelona
on September 6.
Clubs like Chelsea and Arsenal are killing off England's international prospects. How can people support clubs that have so few English players and then say they love to support England?
Timothy Marshall, London, United Kingdom
If Rooney, Gerrard and Lampard can't make their mark on the game, it shows how much they depend on foreign skills every week. If they aren't in the equation, then you need Beckham for deadball lifesavers. At least there was some sign of keeping the ball on the ground, instead of punting it forward.
Dave Tootill, Northcliff, South Africa
I have to say, this game made me feel a lot better about the horrific bar room brawl that was USA-Guatemala.
Of course my first thought was to come to the Times' website to gloat.
Tom, Dallas, USA
Following the wonderful football we witnessed in the European Championships this was a truly dire performance. But it does highlight how poor this england team are and how far they are behind the best in Europe (never mind the world)
Barry, London,
I'm fed up with people slagging England off. Let Capello get on with his job.
Like any manager he will need a few games to understand what his players can do.
If Gerrard can't adapt his game to the right of midfield it's a reflection on his limited abilities.
Michael, Bracknell, UK
No comments on Englands performence last night just about sums up their performance NO COMMENT.
Dave, Mold, UK
Its the same old story. The forward line lacks pace ,guile and understanding. Rooney runs around like a headless chicken while Defoe is isolated. We only look like scoring from set pieces when our defenders move up. It is time to say au revoir to Beckham.
A Walton, Leicester, England
I managed only 15 minutes of the second half in my seat at Wembley, then the businessman took over and I reasoned as England had taken £40 of my money and stole 60 minutes of my life, and were going home with more of my cash then they possibly deserved, I should beat them to it.
Steve, Cambourne, UK
Revolution needed.
IN: Olympics style dedication, hard training - pursue dream. Heroics. Idealism. Patriotism. TRUTH!
OUT: Wags, boozy night clubs, mega clubs dominating.
Celeb status. Hello! mag stardom. Contract greed.
Start with youngest players. Everything on skill, technique, character.
Leigh Vernier, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
I wonder if our swimmers, cyclists, rowers and sailers were on £5million a year, would they be as hungry and motivated to succeed? Our footballers appear to be cocooned in a bubble of unreality where nothing is their fault and anyway when you're that spoilt, who cares anyway.
jonners, weybridge,
I don't think its an ability thing with England- I think plain & simple the team lacks belief in itself. There was 1 game where you got a sense of all that England could be- the 5-1 thrashing of Germany. In every tournament since then England seemed to lack that mental edge to carry them through.
Stephen Manick, Trinidad,
Isn't it time to skip a generation and promote the under 21's (as a squad if necessary?). We have seen this squad under 3 managers now and they are clearly not good enough (for whatever reason). At least if the youngsters don't qualify we can take the satisfaction from their building experience?
John Griffiths, Plymouth, UK
Maybe it wasn't all Mclarens fault after all? The overated overhyped players have received no criticism for the failure to qualify for Euro 2008.
Mike Bage, Portsmouth, UK
more and more all the match reports tell us that a Beckham free kick or corner lead to a goal, well if thats all he is in the team for, then thats a huge problem!he keeps wandering infield in search of the ball, and left wes brown 2 v1 for the goal!!why do these players underperform for england?!
Ben Fykin, Essex,
Instead of selecting our best 11 players and forcing many of them to play in unfamiliar positions the England manager should select a system and an in-form striker and then select the rest of the team based upon who plays best in the remaining POSITIONS within the chosen system.
Richard Temple, Sevenoaks, England
Until everyone actually realises that English players just aren't very good, then nothing will change. The whole coaching set up needs to be overhauled so that future players are given the skills to compete with their European and South American counterparts.
Mark Loughran, Kircubbin, Northern Ireland
Oliver, the England fans may know a thing or two. Beck's was applauded not least because it is blazeingly obvious how important he is to this team. Also, without Carrick AND Hargreaves, the midfield is dire. Gerrard never produces, and Barry...is he Zidane in disguise - NO.
ste, manchester,
England need to realise that the best players do not necessarily make the best team. This is not fantasy football. My team for the next game would be James, Ferdinand, Terry, Cole, Brown, Gerrard, Hargreaves, Joe Cole, Bentley, Rooney, Owen
Would also beg Paul Scholes to come back.
Tom, London,
England players are too used to viewing each other as competitors, either for trophies or for starting places. Then all that captaincy nonsense creates yet another wedge. The result is no team unity. Time to ditch the non-performers, no matter what their names are, and bring in new blood.
Pat, Voorhees, NJ,
Has no-one noticed that we're still using the same players as under Sven through to McClaren and now Capello? Maybe it isn't that manager's fault and we should realise that the £140,000 a week superstars are not as good as we're led to believe. Is that so difficult to accept?
Gary, Manchester , UK
We should all keep in mind that the Czechs had most of the summer together (they played at some tornemment in Austria). They're bound to look like a more established side. The only real time our lot have spent together was a week in Ibiza for Wayne Rooneys stag do.
Oliver White, Bournemouth, England
This was an England friendly? Why are we frustrated by the team and manager. Be frustrated with those that were expecting greatness? 70,000 spectators, are you mad? England friendlies should be seen as a kick about, bring the TV cameras if you want, come and watch if you've got nothing else to do.
Oliver White, Bournemouth, England
Same old England. Why can everyone but the manager(s) see that Gerrard and Lampard can't play in the same team? I can't remember the last time Lampard had a good game in an England shirt, so it really is time for a manager to take a risk and pick one ahead of the other - Gerrard.
Dan, London, UK
England play poorly against opposition of any standing- other teams look more assured, and qualification will be a real struggle and we need a bit of luck in Zagreb if we are to come away with a point.
Personally, I'm at a total loss as to why we look so lame up front and so fragile in defence.
Richard, Bournemouth, UK
Same team that gets us nowhere, bring in young exciting players agbonlahor, young are just two that spring too mind never mind beckham and gerrard out of position wide left. It didn't work then it won't work now!
ryan Kneale, Onchan, United Kingdom
Too many overseas players in the clubs. Every one means one less local player able to trial for a future professional career. So the "feed-stock" of players, open to England's potential selection, has diminished to decreased numbers and lower quality.
Ron Durham, Auckland, NZ
Nonsense to say we lost our way under Sven. The rubbish that is/was at our disposal was best exploited by Sven than any other since 1966
charlotte barra, London, GB
We have a weird team. Why not play Chelsea style. Gerrard has to be central mid, as does lampard, Becks (or someone wide right), Cole (of someone wide left. Barry (or someone holding. The back is fine. Rooney can play deep mixing runs with Lamps and Gerrard. Someone up front but not Defoe.
Paul, Chiang Mai, Thailand
What is with our sportsman. The more they are paid the more useless they seem to be. Consider all our cycling and sailing Olympic gold medalists, many of who are amateurs and paid peanuts. Many of the current England team set up would not get into some of the teams I once played for.
Will Steer, Tiverton, UK
How can you say the players lost their way under Sven. He was our most succesfull manager after Sir Alf, never failing to reach the finals of a tournament & always reaching the knockout stages!
I suggest you go read some history of the England football team!
Pete, St Albans, England