This morning, many English newspapers were stating that ‘kamikaze defending gifted the Three Lions a lucky win over Japan'.
What they should be saying though, is that a nation is on the verge of ‘hari-kari’ after yet another dispiriting display in Austria.
After the puffing and grunting to dispatch a lively Mexico side last Monday at Wembley, the expectation was that a limited Japanese side would be swept aside ruthlessly. That notion was dispelled in less than seven minutes as Glen Johnson allowed Tanaka more than a decent look at Endo’s clever corner to give Japan a shock lead. Ashley Cole must also take some of the blame, as his covering on the near post was almost non-existent.
Cue the vigorous reply as eleven red shirted players stormed forward to repair the damage to a nation's already fragile psyche - not!
Instead, we had more moments of a high comedy, depending on how you look at football. Passes were misplaced so often I thought the team was intent on giving the ball boys a more intense workout than their Asian rivals.
We even had England’s captain, Rio Ferdinand whiffing on a clearance and then turning around to berate anyone within earshot. I guess nerves and inexperience got to the England back five that only had a combined 287 international caps between them.
To think that Ferdinand, David James, Glen Johnson, Ashley Cole and deposed ex-captain, John Terry will be the most experienced defensive combination in South Africa should fill even the most pessimistic England fan with glee. At the moment though, they’re playing like strangers.
You could see the frustration on Fabio Capello’s face as his team slouched off the field at the end of forty-five minutes. Here were some personnel playing for a chance to make the plane next week and they’d barely shown up.
The likes of Darren Bent, who admittedly got very little service, Tom Huddlestone, who needed to run the show and Theo Walcott, who is still trying to prove he belongs, did very little to burnish their credentials. You would’ve thought that these players would have been busting a gut to prove to their boss that they are World Cup material.
Perhaps you could point the finger at players who’d already booked their safari. They had nothing to prove or to play for. In fact the only thing they wanted to achieve was to leave the field injury free. Thankfully, Wayne Rooney achieved this while looking fully recovered from the injuries that slowed him towards the end of the domestic and European season.
The second half was a better performance and Joe Cole reignited his hopes of making the final 23 with a sparkling cameo. However, the lack of clear cut chances and more defensive lapses created yet more questions than answers.
I think if we’re forced to rely on own goals to bail us out, then this tournament will be one of the shortest on record.
Right at this particular moment, England have no momentum, no cohesiveness and very little spark but somehow they’re doing enough, they’re winning matches. The trouble for me is that this was meant to be the time to get a stellar performance or two. The result was meant to be unimportant but it’s not turned out that way, the result has been everything and covered the cracks.
Conversely, in Africa it is all about the result. Hey, if there happens to be a good performance or two while we’re there, I’ll take it, but if we need to bore everyone to death in seven straight matches while winning the World Cup, well, what would you take? It’s a no brainer.
Ultimately we’ve all put a lot of faith into this Italian manager, Fabio Capello. At close to $10 million dollars a year, we’ve led ourselves to believe that he is a genius. I’m still with him until results say otherwise.
However, with the collection of talent at his disposal, I’m very surprised that he hasn’t cajoled a far more fluid display out of his charges in the last two matches.
As always, England expects big things. Please don’t have me sharpening my samurai sword.
