Oct 13

England Score 5 At Wembley

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But, if you didn’t see the game (highlights are below), that scoreline totally gives the wrong impression. The scoreline suggests that it was a good efficient display, the perfect follow up to that excellent 4 - 1 away win in Croatia last time out. Nothing could be further from the truth, especially in the first half. There are 45 minutes of my life completely wasted I’ll never get back. I’m just glad I didn’t pay money to sit there and watch it! And those that did, made their feelings known, despite Capello asking them prior to the game not to boo. England did not produce one single attempt on target for the whole of the first half against a team like Kazakhstan. No offence intended. Even the commentary team on TV suggested that Capello himself would surely be tempted to join in those catcalls during his half-time talk, it was that bad!

Here are the highlight for you, although I’d suggest going to make a cup of tea whilst the first half plays!

However, by the end of the second half, those same booing fans where singing the national anthem as if they were closing in on the World Cup itself. What short memories they have. Yes, England scored 5 goals in the second half (well, 4 really as the second was an own goal) but even then it surely said more about the opposition than it did of England. 5 - 1 totally flattered a stumbling England who were unable to continue on the same level they as did in Zagreb.

Once England finally had that 2 - 0 lead, I for one expected them to go from strength to strength and show more assurance, be more positive and start passing the ball around with confidence. But no, it was just more edginess and it was Kazakhstan who benefited and scored thanks to Ashley Cole who, even his mother would agree, had an absolutely awful game.

Let’s face facts. I’ve just checked Fifa’s rankings and Kazahstan are ranked 131st. In fact I’ve just watched the highlights again (don’t know why) and Clive Tildsley even mentioned their ranking before the game kicked off. Hmm! Of course we all fell into the usual trap of assuming that as the opponents were ranked only 131st that they would obviously be hard pushed to manage any more of a competitive edge than a training ground game. However, they hassled and hustled all over the ptich as if their whole lives depended on it. What I don’t get is, why doesn’t anyone, particluarly those within the England set-up, realise that that is exactly how a team like Kazahstan will play like when they play England at Wembley. Surely it must be their “Cup Final”.

The visitors were urged to play with a positive attitude and that is exactly what they did, aided of course by England’s uncertainty and edginess. But I suppose their positive commitment was bound to run out of steam and as it did so, England were able to score 3 more times. As I said, I feel this said more about Kazakstan wilting after all their effort than England’s good play and dominance.

However, there is no getting away from the fact that at the end of the day a 5 - 1 win is a good result, no matter who the opposition. However no amount of positive spin is going to cover over the alarming cracks and shortcomings that were revealed all over the pitch. Capello still has a lot of work to do, and no one will need to tell him.

There were a couple of good signs for England. It looks like Rooney is getting back to something like his best form and he claimed 2 goals on the night. It originally looked like he had also scored England’s second goal which would ultimately have given him a hat-trick but the replays clearly showed the ball glanced off the defenders head. Also Theo Wlacott provided a little more proof of his speed, alertness and penetration. Although Capello and most England fans would surely have been expecting to take much more out of such a game as this.

Bottom line, England will have to play better in their next game against Belarus on Wednesday. However being away from home, I for one, am expecting a lot more from England.

Cheers

Rik

The Soccer Blogger

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Many thanks
Rik

England Score 5 At Wembley

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