Apart from a 10-minute spell in the 1st half, England were murdered by a wonderful Germany performance in which their three strikers finished neatly from accomplished attacking build-ups. The German's two 2nd half goals came as a result of thrilling counter-attacks the English would have been proud of.
David James wasn't given much of a chance although he still managed to cock-up the 3rd goal. Gareth Barry's awful lack of pace was cruelly exposed for the German's fourth. Comical defending was on display for the opponents two goals in the opening half an hour. I stood in disbelief when Capello brought off James Milner and replaced him with the ineffective Joe Cole. Milner was our only player providing width out on the right flank and was having a great game. As soon as Joe Cole came on, the Germans caught us on the counter-attack in two lethal moments down that right flank as the substitute failed to cover back.
Glen Johnson was a continual liability at right-back whilst Terry looked insecure throughout. (At least Matthew Upson managed to score with his face which about knocked him out!) Ashley Cole struggled along too. We had a painfully familiar empty left flank as Gerrard, playing out of position on the left, continuously gravitated inside, leaving our attacks far too narrow and almost always breaking down.
Another mystery was the introduction of Heskey who poses no goal threat whatsoever and touched the ball once in 20 minutes. I find it an absolute travesty that Peter Crouch was only given seven minutes in our four matches. The extent to which he has been overlooked can only be explained by the manager. Rooney had a wretched world cup in which he barely managed a shot on target, let alone control the ball properly.
I'm really sorry to say this about the manager, but I think he's got everything completely wrong. He chose the wrong 23 players, played certain members of the squad in wrong positions, and made mind-boggling substitutions which have totally defeated us.
Why are Adam Johnson, Ashley Young and Gabby Agbonlahor sitting at home in England? Why aren't they terrorising defences in South Africa? Are Joe Cole, Shaun Wright-Phillips and Emile Heskey really better than them? Unfathomable.
It's time for a complete clear-out. This entire World Cup performance has been wretched at best, a horrifying attempt at passing a ball, a complete disaster of a formation, and a vivid display of tactical naivety. We are simply not good enough in all departments. Our players lack skill, tactical awareness and basic ball control.
What was I saying about a bunch of monkeys?
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