There are a few who constantly flatter to deceive for England, the main culprit being Theo Walcott. I’m not saying the winger is a bad player and he has had the odd moment for England but he’s never been consistent enough to warrant that right wing spot. Despite possessing blistering pace Walcott simply doesn’t have the attributes to operate as a winger with his erratic crossing, lack of strength and absence of necessary skill to trick his way past defenders seeing him go missing from games more often than not. I don’t see the harm in giving Adam Johnson or Stewart Downing regular opportunities to establish their presence on the wing rather than standing in for Walcott when he picks up an injury?
Both have performed exceptionally at club level in the last couple of seasons yet Capello continues to see them as fringe players. Ever since theArsenal man’s exclusion from the World Cup squad it seems like Capello has been apologising and keeping him sweet by selecting him whenever he is available. Another thing I always found baffling was the decision to shunt Steven Gerrard out to the left wing despite his peerless displays in central midfield for Liverpool. Why? Because Frank Lampard was apparently too indispensable to drop. Don’t get me wrong Lampard is a top midfielder but if it was a straight toss up between him and Gerrard for the central midfield position, the latter would win everyday of the week. His new favourite seems to be Bobby Zamora.
A mediocre striker in his 30?s who is keeping out Daniel Sturridge who, in my opinion honest opinion, deserves more of a chance to establish himself in the squad. The Chelsea man is bang in form at the moment and is a young, hungry and supremely talented footballer. Unfortunately his path is blocked by a man who two years ago was much maligned for his inability to hit the net. I wish Capello would simply grow a pair and start picking players in form like he said he would.
Communication complications
This is a massive problem and certainly contributes to the clueless performances that are becoming increasingly common from England. When Capello first arrived in 2007 he laid down the gauntlet claiming he’d be able to speak English within a month. Four years later and despite some minor improvements it is still difficult to understand what he is saying during interviews.
Worryingly though if the general public can’t fathom what he is jabbering on about it brings up serious questions about his adeptness at communicating to his players. I don’t know about you but an England manager in my book should be a leader first and a man manager second. How is a man who can barely speak the language of the nation able to be those two things? How is he supposed to recite his instructions clearly and accurately? How is he supposed to fire up his players before a game? How is he supposed to put his arm around a player and rebuild their shattered confidence? How can he do all those things if he can’t speak the language?
When he first arrived it was said he adopted the school head teacher approach. I can’t see how he can demand that sort of respect if he can’t even communicate properly to his players. Does he merely just delegate his instructions to his coaching staff for them to pass on to the players? If thats the case then his job is merely to pick the squad and the team on a match day.
The fact he is unable to man manage and direct his players in the correct way is evident on the pitch. When Rooney got sent off against Montenegro there was no instruction from Capello on what they should do. The team eventually descending into a shamble’s as they sacrificed the 2-0 lead they built up before they were ended up a man light. I think the case for an English coach grows stronger with every passing game purely on this basis.
Wrong players, wrong time
Any manager that thinks Jamie Carragher, Ledley King, Stephen Warnock, Emile Heskey, Joe Cole and Matthew Upson are good enough to compete against the best players on the planet then no wonder England fans are continue to condemn Capello. All six were chosen for last years World Cup squad much to the bewilderment of fans across the nation. The subsequent failure to match the performances of teams like the United States or Algeria in the group stages and thrashing at the hands of Germany forced Capello into rethinking his selection policy. He obviously realised his mistakes in leaving out the likes of Darren Bent, Leighton Baines, Adam Johnson, Scott Parker and even his ultimate favourite Theo Walcott.