England manager Fabio Capello must have been channelling the ”Wally With The Brolly” aka Steve McClaren. That can be the only logical answer for his decisions this week.
First of all the decision to name John Terry as England captain was the wrong one. Terry is a great club captain. He rallies the troops and is very good in the air. But in case Capello had not noticed, mobility, quickness and speed are not big parts of Terry’s game. And in the international game, these are skills that every center-half must have.
See the first Czech Republic goal on Wednesday as an example of where Terry is not quick enough to handle a quick turning forward. Terry’s lack of pace means that England are forced to defend too deep, creating big gaps in the field.
By naming Terry captain, Capello is committing to having Terry on the team sheet every game, and against quicker European teams, England will get caught out.
Secondly, didn’t Capello watch any England games of the McClaren and Eriksson eras? McClaren and Eriksson both tried to find ways for Lampard and Gerrard to play together in the same midfield. After six years of trying the verdict is on. They cannot play together.
Capello needs to pick one of them (Gerrard) and find himself a left-sided midfield player (possibly Barry).
I like Beckham but his lack of pace is becoming more and more apparent. He is on the park just for free-kicks and corners a the moment and cannot compete with the top European teams.
Also, why did England insist in the first half of trying to cross high ball after high ball towards the smallest forward pairing in Europe? Both Defoe and Rooney play better when then are playing off a target man. Playing them together makes no sense
England have a very tricky trip to Zagreb next month to play Croatia in World Cup qualifying and based on tonight’s England performance, England will be looking at three consecutive loses to Croatia.
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