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Well, we're six games in and the rumblings of discontent are becoming much more audible, the storm clouds are gathering
and the Tom Tit is preparing its inexorable passage towards the fan. In the spirit of the post-Czech grumbling,
Midfield Dynamo thought we'd weigh in with a completely unjustified piece of early whinging about Capello's opening
games in charge.
*DISCLAIMER
The gist of it is this. We are not in any way unhappy at Don Fabio being in charge. We think he will restore us
to our glorious destiny of losing quarter finals in vaguely controversial circumstances. It's just that he is making
a number of decisions we don't completely agree with.
Anyway, it is often hinted at by professionals in the game that supporters are basically stupid and might as well get their cat to
pass judgement (or vomit) on matters of footballing import. There is certainly more than a grain of truth in this.
We don't believe for a minute that we know best compared to the great Fabio. However, we are prepared to make 5 assertions based on
decisions he has made so far. We are also prepared to claim that we will get most of them right. If we lose the challenge we will make a small donation to the Manchester United Christmas Party Whore Fund. Over time we will monitor these 5 issues before and after each England fixture until it is beyond dispute who has triumphed. He must be crapping it.
Below we set out our contentions. We aren't saying that the Italian has nailed his colours to any of these masts, but they are
his initial decisions, when there have been alternatives.
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| Contention Number 1: Wayne Rooney may have to be dropped |
Capello played Rooney `up top' (God, I can't stand Andy Gray's makey uppy phrases), against France and Switzerland. It completely failed to work with Rooney looking utterly out of sorts. He was switched to the left wing in the second half against Switzerland which brought a moderate improvement. However, Capello is really struggling to get anything out of Rooney at the moment. MD are adamant that to get the best out of Rooney he has to play behind a main striker or to the left in a 4-2-3-1 formation. However, Capello has tried this in recent games, playing him behind Jermaine Defoe. His effectiveness hasn't increased and goalscoring has ceased to be a part of his game at international level. Apart from a clever pass to set up Joe Cole's second goal against Andorra, there is precious little creativity to offset the goal drought. Much more of this and Capello will have to bite the bullet and drop England's former great young hope. The statistic that stands is Rooney has only 2 goals in competitive matches since Euro 2004. One has to ask how many other forwards in England's history have been afforded such tolerance and laxity as Rooney.
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| Contention Number 2: Micah Richards not Wes Brown at right back |
If there was one thing to be learnt at Euro 2008 it was the importance of having full backs who offer a threat going forward. Zherkov, Aurelio, Lahm and others bombed forward at every opportunity. Modern football doesn't really have wingers any more so managers and coaches devise systems which enable attack minded full backs to pick up the slack. In this scenario Richards is far more adept than Brown. Brown is a genuine, traditional defender offering little in the oppositions half. Richards on the other hand was a buccaneering spirit when he was brought into the England team in 2007. This despite the fact that he is an established centre back for Manchester City. There are one or two question marks about his positioning at right back but overall this is a minor quibble for a player who immediately looked international class under Steve McClaren.
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| Contention Number 3: Two holding midfielders are needed |
Patrick Barclay of the Sunday Telegraph asked a very pertinent question in a recent column. He questioned whether Italy, if they'd lost Rino Gattuso in the 2006 World Cup, would simply have expected Andrea Pirlo so hold off opposition attacks AND screen the defence. Of course they wouldn't and yet we expect Gareth Barry to not only prompt attacks from a deep lying midfield position but also provide advanced cover for the centre halves. It's plainly nonsense. England must play with two defensive midfielders. There are two obvious candidates other than Barry, Hargreaves and Carrick of Manchester United. Sadly, Hargreaves has been bedevilled with tendonitis for some time now. But other candidates must be developed, preferably from the increasingly successful U21 side. These could include Tom Huddlestone or Fabrice Muamba. Quite simply Barry's performances are worsening because the expectations on him to fulfil his role are unreasonable. He needs back up.
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| Contention Number 4: David James is an accident waiting to happen. |
A tricky one this. Awkward for two reasons. Firstly James has been the best keeper English keeper in the Premier League over the last year or so. Secondly, there is no clear replacement. However. He has never looked comfortable in an England shirt. He might not be alone, but there we find there is just something very troubling about his lack of presence and form for the national team. Those who have constructed the consensus around his selection seem to have forgotten why he was dropped in the first place. His diabolical 2nd half performance against the Czechs reminded everyone. The problem is who to replace him? Personally, I think not picking Joe Hart for the two friendlies at the end of the season was a missed opportunity. Hart was in outstanding form, and lets face it, we know what James can do. James has started all six games for England since Capello got the job, yet he will be nearly 40 by the time of the next World Cup. England have paid the price before by sticking with an ageing keeper who was past his sell by date. Yet unlike David Seaman in 2002, James has no reservoir of credit from previous good deeds to justify it. Our hunch is that if England do qualify for South Africa, James will not be no. 1.
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| Contention Number 5: Beckham simply has to go. |
We've finished with our banker. Does this need any explanation? Really?
We also can't understand why he tolerates so many underachievers and yet handles Joe Cole so ineptly. Cole is one of the few recent successes for England yet he still seems to be lower than Gerrard, Lampard, Rooney and Beckham in the England pecking order. We can't understand.
Still a draw in Zagreb, a win is simply too much too ask for, and things will look a whole lot better. Capello is a first rate coach and we hope the unsatisfactory preamble is just part of the grand plan he's about to unleash on an unsuspecting world. Still, we think we're right on most of the above issues though.
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Article Keywords: Opening Nights for England Football Boss - Starting matches for New England Soccer Managers
First Game for England Gaffer
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Who Knows Best ? Midfield Dynamo or Fabio Capello ? 