And So It Begins

So it begins. The relentless barrage of analysis as to why England have been knocked out of a tournament again.

Immediately after the game, Chris Waddle raged on Radio 5live about Roy Hodgson’s tactics and his team’s inability to pass the ball. Alan Green was hosting the show and he was equally incensed by Hodgson and his squad saying,

“I see absolutely no reason for optimism with this team under Roy Hodgson.”

Many of the callers seemed more knowledgeable and had better insights than the so-called expert pundits. Chris Waddle’s embarrassing rant was reminiscent of his infamous Bloemfontein outburst two years ago following England’s exit to Germany. In his latest tirade, he berated the players’ shortcomings complaining,

“These boys just can’t pass. Why can’t English players pass from A to B?”

Although exaggerated and terribly expressed, there is some substance to Waddle’s argument. On Sunday, England’s top passer was Ashley Cole with 44 while Andrea Pirlo managed 131. Italy managed 833 passes to England’s 364 and had 36 shots on goal to England’s 9. Over on talkSPORT, Stan Collymore was presenting a similar show where the first caller questioned the validity of Wayne Rooney’s selection. Furthermore, drive-time presentable, the aggravating Adrian Durham claimed on twitter that the reason for England’s demise was that,

“Rooney didn’t show up.”

There’s something slightly desperate about blaming a striker for the team’s failings when they only managed 32% possession in 120 minutes of football. Nevertheless it further shows the arrogance and idiocy of some England supporters.

The truth is, England are not a very good team. Also, some players were unavailable for various reasons in Frank Lampard, Jack Wiltshire, Chris Smalling, Gary Cahill, Gareth Barry (all injured), Paul Scholes (retired), Michael Carrick (declined selection), Wayne Rooney (suspended for start of tournament) as well as the non-selection of Adam Johnstone, Rio Ferdinand and Micah Richards. Add to that the fact that Hodgson was has only been in charge for a matter of months and if anything England over-performed by finishing top of their group.

Before the Italian game, everyone seemed to be behind England’s campaign. There was nothing but positive vibes coming from the camp with players looking like they were actually enjoying their football. Smiles were even spotted at the training ground, which is something that went completely astray under the headmaster-like watch of Fabio Capello. Since then, there have been very few positives discussed but rather the familiar, droning groans of dissatisfaction have filled the newspapers, television and radio.

Hodgson’s appointment ahead of public-favourite Harry Redknapp was a hotly debated topic, but Roy was always going to be a popular choice with the FA. He’s a conservative manager who excels in organising and solidifying teams and making them ‘hard to beat’. His tactics mirror his character and it’s in no way a criticism of his personality but the FA would find it easier to manipulate Hodgson than a larger character such as Harry Redknapp.

Despite feeling the wrath of the general English public initially, it’s a rather shrewd and unfamiliarly refreshing move by the FA to appoint a manager such as Roy Hodgson. What it does, is admit that England aren’t a competition-winning team but a team in transition that are in desperate need of some stability and organisation. Roy Hodgson is the perfect man for the job in that sense because that’s what he does best. Maybe after Roy has had his turn and foundations have been laid it could be time for Harry Redknapp to come in with some invention, but for now; Roy is the man for the job.

It’s important to remember that in normal time during the competition, England didn’t lose a single game in normal time. In the league, it would have been 8 points from a possible 12; very respectable form for a mid-table team. That’s what England are on the European and world stage; a mid-table premiership team. You have your Manchester United and Manchester City in Germany and Spain. Arsenal and Chelsea are represented by Portugal and Italy and then you have Tottenham and Everton/Newcastle represented by Holland and France. The rest of the league is made up of the rest of the countries, including England.

The performance in the quarter final was abject, but had they been able to nick a goal on the break and win a la Chelsea against Barcelona in the Champions League or even Bayern Munich on penalties, everyone would have been praising the English saying,

“They did what they needed to do to win.”

Predictably, though, Alan Green and the rest of the expertly placed pundits took the outrageous stance of saying,

“Had England gone through tonight, I would have been embarrassed.”

Not only is this completely untrue, it’s also ridiculously arrogant. England aren’t as good as Italy. Roy Hodgson picked a team and a formation that would give them the best chance of going through to the next round and essentially he was one kick away from doing so. Are there things he maybe should have done differently? Probably.

Should he have played another man in midfield to try and gain more possession? Probably. Should he have swayed away from the 4-4-2 formation in an international tournament? Probably. Should he have sent Ashley Young home as soon as he’d arrived? Probably. Would any of that have made any difference whatsoever? Definitely not.

England did what every one of us had predicted prior to the competition; get through the group stages and crash out at the quarters. The fact that they finished top of the group ahead of France, managed to beat Sweden in tournament play and remain undefeated in normal time is a decent start for Roy Hodgson’s reign as England manager. He’s given players such as Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Andy Carroll, Danny Welbeck etc invaluable tournament experience which will stand them in good stead for the World Cup in Brazil two years from now.

Many callers, pundits, experts and presenters will voice their outspoken opinions with vociferous vigour. Yet, if they feel so passionately about the state of the English game they should go out and get their coaching qualifications so that they can affect the game physically as opposed to spending their days moaning about its inadequacy.