England Need More Than Positive Talk After Shocking Start to World Cup

We're just over a week into the World Cup and England already find themselves under pressure.

Facing Australia and New Zealand in their first two Group A matches was always going to be a tough challenge, and it always seemed likely that they would go into their third fixture, against associate nation Scotland on Feb. 23, without a point to their name.

However, while defeats against the tournament co-hosts were expected, the way in which England lost those games has raised serious concerns about their potential to reach the quarter-finals.

Shaun Botterill/Getty Images

The eight-wicket hammering at the hands of the Black Caps was so bad that captain Eoin Morgan could not even trot out that man-management cliche of “taking the positives” out of a loss. 

In losing so heavily to Australia at the MCG on Valentine's Day, they were at least able to grasp at a few straws.

Paceman Steven Finn claimed England’s first World Cup hat-trick to complete a five-wicket haul, while James Taylor battled bravely in a losing cause to make 98.

Against New Zealand, however, there were no crumbs of comfort to be had. No thin shafts of light amid the gloom. England were annihilated.

When Morgan, speaking in his post-match press conference, stated that he didn’t want to get into “a state of panic”, per the Guardian, it was hard not to think of him as Lance-Corporal Jones from Dad’s Army.

Morgan is right, though. Panic is not a suitable response after the beating they took at the hands of the Black Caps.

Instead, England have to assess where they are and work out what they need to do to prosper in the rest of the tournament. Plan A has not worked. It is time to go back to the drawing board.

Coach Peter Moores—at a critical point in his reign, according to former captain Michael Vaughan in The Telegraph—called for his players to go out and express themselves, per Sportinglife:

"

I often say sport is a bit like anything when you've got to express yourself and play. Everybody can sing in the bath, not everyone can sing on a stage. It's not as easy.

You've got to let yourself go. You've got to show something that says: 'Right I can go and play.' That's what we need to do as a group of players.

We've got four games left in this group that we've got to win and try and get ourselves through to that quarter-final.

"

Moores’ words are all well and good, but to play in an expansive manner when under pressure is not easy. England know they simply cannot afford to lose to Scotland if they want to finish in the top four in the pool.

A familiar face will be trying to make sure they suffer even more embarrassment.

Paul Collingwood was captain of England when they won the ICC World Twenty20 in the Caribbean in 2010, the only major limited-overs trophy they have ever lifted.

Now, though, he is hoping to engineer their World Cup demise.

The Durham all-rounder played in 68 Tests and 197 one-day games for England but is currently employed as part of Scotland’s coaching squad.

He took the chance to stir the pot in his column for the ICC, writing: “England don’t look as if they’ll get out of the group at this stage. That’s the harsh reality.”

Collingwood’s words are not harsh; they are exactly the kind of home truths England need to hear.

It is tough to be positive in their current situation. However, Morgan and Moores have to find a way to turn things around before it is too late, not just in terms of England's hopes of progressing in the tournament but also for the sake of their own international careers.