2010 FIFA World Cup: Five Reasons Why England Crashed Out of the World Cup

Lauded as the golden generation of English Football, the team which came to South Africa with promise are now leaving to home. Their 4-1 defeat to Germany didn't involve a single tactical move, not a single 1-2 nor a mesmerizing run. But then what can you expect from an Italian manager? More than not having the talent, it was the under utilization of talent which cost England this "unexpected(?)" defeat.

England's heaviest world cup final defeat can be put into place with the help of 5 simple points.

1. The Formation

England played 4 matches. 3 in the group stages and one against Germany and on each case they played a 4-4-2. All they did was win the ball in the midfield, pass it to the wingers and the wingers wasted the position there.

England to be fair didn't have any world class wingers. Lennon and Wright-Philips are only capable of running. May be they would contest in a 100 m sprint next year. The only satisfaction was James Milner.

I personally felt that he should have played in the center midfield. But Capello was too adamant to change the formation nor was he ready to drop Lampard or Barry.

Rooney was compared to Messi and Ronaldo before the world cup but he was utterly clueless. No body was there to give him the balls like a Nani or a Valencia. And without support, Rooney is as bad as a beginner.

Heskey was relatively good in the first game but proved his worthlessness in the second game. Defoe didn't really have any time or chance to prove himself.

To be fair, Capello was hesitant to do anything new or innovative. What was wrong in playing Gerrard behind Rooney? Only Capello can answer that.

2. The Goalkeepers

After Oliver Kahn and Jens Lehmann retired as Goal Keepers for Germany, a promise in form on Robert Enke came. He sadly committed suicide due to personal reasons.

Then came Rene Adler who was easily exceptional. Even he got injured before the world cup. So, the opportunity came to Manuel Neuer to man the German posts.

So technically Neuer is the 3rd choice Goal keeper. This is one region where England cannot do any good. Robert Green's mishap in the first game was very evident."Calamity" James took his place after that and he was good till today.

The first two goals he conceded should have been stopped. At least the first one. What goal keeper doesn't come out to that? We all know the standards of James and Green. Then what was the point in taking Joe Hart to the cup and not giving him a try? If England need to win anything, they need to culture new goal keepers.

3. Too much reliance on Rooney

Wayne Rooney was exceptional in this season with Manchester United. Too good that he kept United on the title race till the final day of the season single handedly. But expecting him to score goals without a proper mean of assist is too much. Frankly speaking, Rooney ain't Ronaldo. He needs some one to lift his game and United had Valencia, Nani and Giggs to do that. No offense to Lampard or Gerrard but they were never going to assist Rooney to score goals!

4. The Defense

One of the crappiest defensive performance by a International team happened today. For instance take the first goal. Neuer kicked the ball from his box and Klose picked it and converted it to goal!

What were the 2 center halves doing? Klose beautifully split the two defenders and scored. The German goal keeper got an assist to his name.

After Rio Ferdinand got injured, Terry should have stepped in and took the leading role which sadly he didn't. Matthew Upson scored a goal but was nearly invisible in defense.

When you are up against an attack consisting of Klose, Podolski, Ozil and Muller, you need to be quick and precise. But I don't think Upson matches any of the criteria.

The full backs Glen Johnson and Ashley Cole are good enough to play as wide midfielders. Their role in offensive should have been limited. Gareth Barry was supposed to be a defensive midfielder but he was handed a advanced role and that didn't pay off one bit. Capello could have easily played a 4-5-1 with Carrick in with Lampard.

5. Karma is a boomerang

In 1966, a certain Russian linesman named Tofik Bakhramov allowed a goal which clearly wasn't to England in their finals against West Germany. The ball knocked the post and bounced outside the line.

It seems as if Karma has waited 44 years to stab England. After Upson scored England's first goal, Lampard struck the post and the ball clearly bounced inside the line. But the linesman ruled it out.

England went into the half time behind a goal. After they came back, Germany hit 2 more and the game was out of England's hands. Things might have been different if that goal was allowed. But what do we know! Karma is in fact a boomerang.

After all the hype, Germany's new generation of starts were in fact good enough to defeat England's golden generation of stars. My only worry is the fact that we will keep hearing the name of that poor linesman for 4 more years.