England v Germany

Not only were England knocked out of the World Cup yesterday but we were beaten comprehensively by a far superior side. On paper England were undoubtedly the better team with the likes of world class players including Wayne Rooney, Frank Lampard, John Terry, Steven Gerrard and Emile Heskey, but something went dramatically wrong against our old foes Germany and we looked like a Sunday league team for most of the game. England’s defence simply crumbled under the pressure and Germany embarrassed us with sheer pace and style. With less than 32 minutes of the game played we were 2-0 down and fans across the country, and across the globe sat glued to television screens stony faced and despondent, unable to take in the humiliation. With the clock approaching 37 minutes Gerrard flicked a lovely ball into the box and Matthew Upson headed it into the back of the net – England were back in the game.

Less than a minute later and England were on the attack again with James Milner running with the ball from the centre half line, a tap over to James Defoe and the excitement was palpable, Defoe tapped the ball into Frank Lampard who flicked the ball up and over from just outside the box, the keeper stepped back with both arms outstretched but was unable to reach it as it bounced down inside the goal mouth and back up again to hit the top of the post, everyone in the stadium could see the ball had crossed the goal line by at least two feet – everyone that is except the linesman who disallowed the goal. Millions everywhere felt cheated and the player’s protests fell on deaf ears. That decision knocked the wind out of the England players and even the half-time team talk by Fabio Capello had no effect on moral. Boos and jeers could be heard ringing around the stadium from the fans as the referee blew the half time whistle – in the second half Germany came back brighter and more determined to destroy England’s defence with two more goals and with it England’s worst ever World Cup defeat. We had been comprehensively humiliated.

After any tournament defeat the inevitable inquest will take place and less than twenty-four hours later the questions and recriminations are being voiced by fans everywhere. In the past the Football Association have taken the easy route and simply sacked the manager, and there are calls for Fabio to go in some quarters already, but I’m not sure it’s as simple as that. It hasn’t worked in the past and nothing makes me think it will make any difference this time. Having the right manager at the centre of the England squad is of course imperative but its only one element of a huge number of elements that all need to come together at the same time. I’m no expert in football but I do agree with some who have voiced their opinions that the English Premier League is not set up in a way which puts the England side first, it may be the most successful league in the world with world class star players but something is lost in the transition from that to the England team – it almost feels as though the Premier Clubs are given priority over the players they field for the England squad, and it’s difficult to argue with that philosophy when these clubs invest so much money in their star players from a very young age to nurture them into formidable athletes who play at the highest level of football, but as an England team we simply do not win tournaments and that has to change.

I don’t doubt for one minute that the likes of Rooney or Gerrard are incredibly passionate and proud to play for their country; my concern is the motivation behind these players to succeed for the English team. As a top flight premier league player who can earn upwards of a hundred thousand pounds every week playing for their club, they have the lifestyle that many minions in this country would love to have, and with that wealth they also have the mansion and expensive sports cars in the garage – fame is also a natural bedfellow of that lifestyle and through fame comes lucrative product endorsements and a psychological perch that puts these individuals on a platform that the rest of us can only dream about. I’m not for a moment suggesting these footballers shouldn’t have this lifestyle, like many I admire and respect the success they have achieved but you have to ask what else is there to achieve when you have all of this. Becoming a World Cup winner would inevitably raise their profile even further and expand their bank balance by a few more million but when you already earn many millions of pounds, that figure becomes academic. Everything a World Cup winning player could achieve has already been achieved by playing in the Premier League, with the exception of forever being immortalised as one of eleven footballers who bought home the World Cup – and every player who puts on that England shirt dreams of that immortality but on its own it just isn’t enough to step across that psychological line to greatness.

Personally I would like to see players rewarded not just for signing a contract with the likes of Liverpool, Manchester United or Tottenham Hotspur, but for the goals they score when playing for their club, or the impact they have on individual games. By all means reward them handsomely if they put a football into the back of the net or create a memorable pass which allows another team mate to do exactly that, but give them the hunger to shine as individuals and as part of a team and not just a £100,000 cheque every week regardless. Set it up as a tier system which rewards individuals and teams the further they progress in club tournaments and then build an even higher reward system for players who are picked for the England squad, and then for those who achieve great things as individuals and team players for their country – there has to be a financial motivation that players can aspire to achieve right from the grass roots level all the way up to club football, premiership clubs and country, with other revenue avenues blocked in players contracts unless they reach milestones for their club or country. Give them something tangible to aim towards but always with the prospect of lifting the World Cup as the very pinnacle of personal and financial achievement.

England were destroyed yesterday by a much better German side, we failed to even reach the quarter finals in this World Cup and many fans across the country believe that is the minimum we should expect from our England team, but even a quarter final place doesn’t do justice to the quality of players we have. We don’t need reminding any more than it’s now 44 years since we last picked up that World Cup, many of us were not around when that happened so we have no idea what it really feels like for our country to win the greatest sporting prize on the planet. Winning the World Cup is not about great athletes or world class training grounds, we have all of that – winning the World Cup is, especially for the England team a psychological barrier that we have to break through. The longer it takes us to lift that trophy again just adds another layer of doubt in our minds that we are not capable as a nation of winning the big prizes. Give these players their hunger back, make them want that prize above everything else in their career and focus their minds on personal and financial greatness if they achieve it.

England v Germany

Fate has a habit of bringing teams together in the World Cup that make any fan salivate in anticipation, and none more so than a meeting between England and Germany. Our two countries have a long history in professional tournaments and both teams have taken plenty of individual positives from clashes over the years, but it’s fair to say Germany have probably done slightly better against us than we have against them, which makes the game on Sunday even more interesting.

So far the World Cup of 2010 hasn’t exactly been a predictable tournament, the teams we expected to shine have been at best poor and the teams we didn’t give a hope of getting far have risen to the challenge to provide some of the best football of the tournament so far. The World Champions, Italy were sent packing yesterday with a 3-2 defeat against Slovakia, a game that failed to fire the imagination of any fan until the final 20 minutes when both sides suddenly realised the severity of being beaten – a goal fest then ensued with Slovakia scoring in the 73rd minute, Italy in the 81st, Slovakia bringing one back in the 89th before Italy scored again in the 92nd minute, and if it wasn’t for Robert Vittek’s goal for Slovakia early in the game, Italy may have held some hope of progressing to the final sixteen, but as it stood the World Cup holders were crushed in the knockout stages – only the 3rd time in the tournaments history that the champions have failed to progress beyond the knockout stage.

France met a similar fate with whisperings of unrest between manager and players almost from the start of the tournament, with those disagreements being very publicly exposed during the training session last week when French players protesting at striker Nicolas Anelka being sent home for voicing his disgust at Manager Domenech during France’s 2-0 defeat against Mexico on June 17th, decided they would not train and walked out of the ground in what can only be described as a players revolt and an unofficial strike. When they did take on their next opponent South Africa in the Free State Stadium on June 22nd, the humiliation could not have been greater – France lost the match two goals to one and with it their reputation at being sent out of the tournament during the knockout stage.

Other games have proved just as unpredictable over the course of the last three weeks and this afternoons thriller between Brazil and Portugal was yet another that failed to live up to expectations, it was at best very dull and the 0:0 final score line reflected a very uneventful ninety-minutes. Germany’s best result so far was against Australia on June 13th with a 4-0 victory, but that game aside I don’t think it’s unfair to describe this German team as very mediocre. It is their country’s youngest team for 70 years and with that you would expect flashes of brilliance combining pace with tempo but I have to say I’ve seen none of that spark in recent games from this German side – England on the other hand have a raft of experience and solid fall backs at their disposal, I accept our first game against the USA was average while the second game against Algeria was embarrassing, but England have always been a slow burner – we literally find our feet as the tournament progresses and the meeting against Slovenia was a more robust and solid team effort. Be in no doubt these are games we really should have won comfortably though but that aside, if England can bring that same pace and tempo to the game on Sunday against Germany, I am quietly confident of a comfortable win against the Germans – I really do believe we are the better team, the question is do the England players? I’m not expecting goals galore on Sunday, I think both teams will defend well but I’m anticipating a 2-1 victory for England. We can win this game if our hearts are in it.

England v Slovenia

A much, much better performance all round by England this afternoon, we started the game well and controlled the tempo with clever intelligent passes – every player can take pride in their performance. Wayne Rooney was much more fluid and it looked as though he was back to his best, with the exception of the last game against Algeria Steven Gerrard was faultless as usual and reminds me a lot of David Beckham in previous World Cups in his determination and fight. John Terry and Frank Lampard were outstanding in protecting the back but praise quite naturally has to go to the goal scorer Jemain Defoe who pushed forward to land on the end of a fantastic ball to blast it into the back of the net from the goal mouth.

Rooney had a great opportunity in the second half and was unfortunate to hit the post. If there are any negatives from this game it was the last twenty minutes where Slovenia fought hard for an equaliser and England defended strongly, but at the expense of sending more attackers forward to try for that second goal, but the win is what counts the most and today we achieved that – it was only for a late goal in the other game during injury time between the USA and Algeria to put the USA through to the final sixteen top of the group. England are through as runner up however, but considering the performance during our previous two games in this tournament, I doubt there’s an England fan who will be disappointed with that.

Sky News

Am I the only one to notice whenever a premiership footballer makes an obvious dive or the ball clearly passes the goal line but the referee fails to award it, Sky News is there like a thunderbolt calling for goal and touch line cameras to aid the referee? now I’m not saying this in itself is a bad idea but the coverage that Sky News gives to this subject in out of all proportion, and its impossible to come away without thinking that Sky quite clearly has a financial interest in bringing this technology into the game. Has anyone else picked up on this story? I would be interested to hear your views.