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Germany 4, England 1. It’s yet another disappointing scoreline that reads ugly for the large population of English fans around Australia.
As much as the England fans hate to admit it though, a result like that was due to come around eventually. For me the game drew many a similarity to the Socceroos’ performance against the Germans just 15 days prior.
Let’s start with the major talking point from the match though, and the goal that wasn’t from Frank Lampard, just moments after England had been handed a lifeline through Matthew Upson’s header. The questions surrounding goal-line technology will be asked once again, as yet another error has turned a game when technology could have given the right decision.
As an England fan, I’m not going to bore you with jibes against the referees, and that we were robbed and so on. Yes the decision was incorrect, yes the linesman was well off the pace and should have been in a better position to call it. Fact of the matter is, the problems within the English team are much deeper than a costly error that turned the game.
For most of this tournament, England has struggled to capture the imagination of football fans around the globe. Tonight in particular, the slow tempo that the three lions had played with during the group stage was exposed by a potent trio of lively German attacking midfielders.
England had 59% of possession up to half time, but you wouldn’t have known it due to an overwhelming lack of adventure. Playing the ball across the back boringly before unleashing a long punt up field was exactly what Per Mertesacker and Arne Freidrich would have been hoping for before kick-off. Wayne Rooney and Jermaine Defoe were never going to win a header against those two, so why play that game plan? Surely the option of Peter Crouch would have been more sensible if you had intentions of doing that?
The word ‘slow’ was probably the best way to describe that performance from England in a nutshell. Not only was the movement of the ball slow when in possession, but the pace (or lack of) from John Terry and Upson meant that players such as Thomas Muller and Lukas Podolski had no problem threatening in advance positions. Terry in particular probably had his worst game for England tonight, which was unfortunate in such a big game. Similarly Gareth Barry was invisible as a holding midfielder, and his lack of strength was highlighted for the fourth goal when he was beaten to the ball by Ozil wide on the left.
With such a lack of speed at the back, cover should have been offered from Glen Johnson and Ashley Cole on the flanks. Yet again though, each thought they were a winger instead of a fullback, which allowed Ozil and Podolski to have a field day on the flanks. Signs of this were shown in the group stage, but they weren’t made to pay, and against a team as ruthless as Germany you will be punished.
So far, England has been slow at the back, they have been slow on the ball, and slow in dealing with an efficient counter-attacking game. As I was watching the game at my local pub tonight, I was crying out for the substitution of Milner who wasn’t as effective on the right as he had been against Slovenia. The logical change for me would have been Aaron Lennon, who had pace to burn which could possibly have stretched the game in the later stages. Fans favourite Joe Cole was introduced though, and once again he looked under-cooked as he struggles to adapt to the top level after injury.
Take nothing away from the Germans though who were absolutely fantastic through the 90 minutes. A solid back four supported well by holding midfielders Sami Khedira and Bastian Schweinsteiger, didn’t give England too many opportunities at a time when the game needed to be forced. 80 caps at just 25 years old, Schweinsteiger has proved at the highest level that he is a real gem and with Muller and Ozil supporting, the future looks very bright for the ‘Mannschaft’.
But where to now for England? A repetitive story has unfolded where we are looking back on a major tournament having seen many of the big names underperforming.
A “golden” generation has surely passed now without silverware, and just like the cricket and the rugby sides, we simply need to rebuild. Players such as Joe Hart, Adam Johnson and James Milner will hopefully be given more time to develop during the qualifiers for the European Championships in two years time. Others such as Emile Heskey, Gareth Barry and even Frank Lampard may have to be moved aside to allow younger blood to flourish.
The debate surrounding Lampard and Steven Gerrard has been ongoing for a while now, and if they can’t play together then the next manager (if Capello goes) has surely got to acknowledge that. Somebody like Lee Cattermole is exactly the sort of player England should be looking to bring in, after a fairly good U-21’s world cup last summer. Tough tackling, lion-hearted and giving 110% is what England are going to need as they look to start from scratch in the years to come.
Appointing Fabio Capello will be also deemed as a failure. Back when he was first appointed, I was questioning whether an Italian manager was right with a team full of players that compete in the world’s most frenetic domestic league.
In my opinion, England just needs to be England. We definitely are not Argentina, Brazil or Spain.
Just like Mike Tyson is a brawler, he’s not Mohammed Ali.
Just like England are known in the rugby for their tough hard-hitting pack. So why try and play an expansive game?
Success over the years has been under English coaches who play the style of game that suits the players. We seem to have an ideology that we are technical enough to beat these sides with a short and fluent passing game. That’s now how we play in the Premiership though, and we falter because we try to be something we aren’t. Move the ball early, move it direct and play to the strengths that you are known for worldwide. The time has got to come surely where a Roy Hodgson or Harry Redknapp will bring this back for us.
Reputation is one thing, performance is another. At the moment, we have neither.
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