Clueless
Meaningless
I fully understand that it was a fairly meaningless friendly and that Capello didn’t have Rooney, Lampard, Defoe, Terry, Ashley Cole or Glen Johnson to call upon.
I also fully understand that all of the above players were part of the World Cup fiasco that we are meant to be rebuilding from, so maybe being without them is a good thing?
The first twenty-five minutes of the game were one of the most one sided passages of play I have seen at that level in many years. I don’t know what the statistics showed but France must have had 80% of the possession. Not only did they have all that possession, they were cutting England open at will and basically teasing and toying with them.
Response
England’s response to this was to get the ball, pass it four or five times between the two centre backs and then launch the ball fifty yards somewhere in the vague direction of the isolated Andy Carroll hoping that he would flick the ball on to…well, hoping he would do something.
It got very marginally better for England as the game wore on, but it couldn’t have got worse and ,in truth, France gradually substituted all their best players, so little consolation can be gained from that fact.
The final score of 2-1 was incredibly flattering to England and in some ways papers over the huge cracks that were once again all too visible in another abject performance.
Suicidal
Before we go any further it is worth remembering that the only thing that stopped England fans from being suicidal after the World Cup was the fact that France were even worse than us! The reaction of the two countries was very different. France held an enquiry, disciplined their players and got rid of their manager. England did nothing.
The result of those differing reactions was clear for all to see on Wednesday. France showed precise, quick, accurate passing, great control and devastating movement, whilst England lumped it forward to the big bloke.
Not for the first time England walked off the pitch at half-time and at full-time to a chorus of booing. Their performance was certainly bad enough to justify that reaction but if the players are not good enough, then maybe there is little more they could do.
Future
The team selection was strange to say the least. Capello obviously decided he would take the opportunity of player absentees to take a look into the future. At least, that is what he said. Good player though he undoubtedly is, quite where Jay Bothroyd fits into that future is difficult to see.
The team selection needs to be examined. In goal, I think it is fair to say that Ben Foster is probably the second best English goalkeeper behind Joe Hart and with Hart picking up a knock, Foster was the right choice.
At right back, Capello chose to play Everton centre-back Phil Jagielka. He hasn’t played in that position for years. On the bench was Micah Richards who until three weeks ago was a regular right back in the Premier League.
Obvious
Rio Ferdinand was an obvious choice. Alongside him was Joleon Lescott. This is a man who is twenty-eight years old, cannot get a game for his club and has already had his chance with England. Gary Cahill, Michael Turner, Mike Williamson, Ryan Shawcross, Phil Jones, Roger Johnson and Scott Dann are all younger centre-backs playing week in and week out in the Premier League.
At left back was the admittedly exciting prospect Kieran Gibbs. However, Gibbs has played one Premier League game in a year. He has played twenty minutes senior football since September. His selection is an absolute nonsense. Leighton Baines, Liam Ridgewell, Paul Konchesky and Stephen Warnock are just some of the English left backs playing every week in the top flight.
We could go on and on about most of the selections. Who thinks Gareth Barry is an international player? Is Jordan Henderson really ready for international football? The only positive to come out of the game was Andy Carroll, but even that has a negative side. If he plays, do England revert to the big long ball and hoping for the best? And then of course we come to the selection of Jay Bothroyd…
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