World Cup Football 2010, England's crushing 4-1 defeat to Germany, What now for England?

After all the hype English fans and viewers believed that the 2010 English World Cup squad was the dream team. When all is said and done the press had continued to call them the golden generation.

It would seem though that, just like a film that you watch which has been over-hyped disappoints, such was the case with our football team.

A 4-1 defeat to Germany was a harsh reality check. Having lost by such a score the debate about what went wrong will go on and on. This will be one case when that English saying "least said soonest mended" will not apply.

With that in mind here is my two-penneth.

Sunday 27th June 2010 was a perfect football watching day in the UK. The weather was glorious and hopes were high. Many people went to the pub or outside venues to watch the big match on an even bigger screen. Those that watched at home enjoyed a bevy or two and perhaps a barbecue. Most English people remained realistic though. The result was far from certain but with a little luck perhaps we could pull off a win.

Just maybe........

England conceded a couple of goals in the first half. The goalie played well but the England defence was simply inadequate. The fleet footed young German team seemed to run rings around them.

Once a team is behind it is hard for them to catch up. Being two goals down seemed like a large hill to climb. England though rose to the challenge and pulled a goal out of the bag. Upson's header into the goal mouth gave us all hope.

As is so often the case our luck ran into trouble. An England goal into the German net was disallowed. The referee insisted it was no goal but as the re-runs showed the ball clearly went into the goal.

Half-time followed and all the old "we were robbed" sayings and feelings began to rise.

Despite what will have been an attempt to lift England's spirits in the half time break all seemed to be lost.

A corner at the German goal ended up at the opposite end of the field and in the England goal before you could say "Jack Robinson" or perhaps " bl**dy hell". A fabulous goal kick from the German goal keeper saw the ball quickly at the opposite end of the pitch. It was hastily picked up and slammed into the England goal. The hill to climb had become a mountain.

As a woman I have to admit that the off side rule is pretty much a mystery to me. Hubby has explained it to me 100s of times but it remains a vague idea. However, even I thought that this goal should have been disallowed as a player seemed to be off side. The commentator though clarified that point by saying that because it was a kick from the German goal keeper, this could not be off side.

So a crushing defeat of 4-1 for England was the outcome.

This is one of our worst score lines in such a competition. Where did it all go wrong then and where do we, that is England, go from here?

The disallowed goal.

This could have played a part in the team losing heart. However, as very well paid International football players, this should not have been the case. They need to be able to press on no matter what.

Suffice to say this has raised the issue of using technology and not just the referee's vision for such disputes.

The team.

One the night the England team were just not the best football players on the field. The German team were. Our performance was strange though. As the team has players who play for top teams, many of whom have won international competitions, what went wrong?

I guess they are used to playing with their own team players and managers, and do not spend enough time training together as the England Squad.

It must also be noted that David Beckham and Rio Ferdinand were injured and unable to play. However a great team should be full of great players. So much so that the odd injury does not rock the boat too much.

Foreign players who play for England

Readers paraglider and premierkj reminded me of this. How I forgot to initially include this point I do not know. Hubby has mentioned it over and over again.

Most of the top football clubs in England have a core of players who are not English. In the last few years more and more of the successful English clubs have invested time and money on such foreign players. This means that when the football association is deciding who to select to play for England there is little choice. Our best league players are back in their respective home lands playing for their own national team.

The coach-Fabio Capello.

Of course there have been many calls for Fabio to go. Whether he goes or stays his financial future is secure for the short term. He signed a new contract before the World Cup and if he resigns or is forced to go it will cost us, England, 12 million pounds.

Many people have been saying that we need a coach who is English. The idea behind this is that an English person would be prepared to go the extra mile for England and really care whether we win or lose. I am not sure about this. I remember the days of Graham Taylor and the likes, and the England squad were no better then. Bobby Robson at the end of his time as England manager was applauded and admired but this was not always the case. After one crushing defeat there was a general demand for him to go.

Sven Goran Erickson became England coach a few years ago in an attempt to make England's footballers more international players. It was accepted that our defeats were because we played in an old fashioned and predictable way and needed to play in a more international, continental style. Sven was thought to be too soft in the end to be England coach and he was sent packing. Fabio was to be the best of everything. He was to supply all that Sven did but with a firmer hand. There was to be no doubt that he was the boss.

Recent reports have almost claimed that some England team members were so pi**ed off with Fabio that they did not play their best. If this is the case they did not let him down but the nation and themselves. I find this hard to believe though. However, it leaves me wondering what sort of manager do they want and what type will bring success?

Final thoughts.

Overall of course it is about the players. They either play well and come up with the goods or they do not. Sometimes they fight hard but still lose. In many ways the team did initially seem to give it their best shot. If you do this and lose, well that is life. However, toward the end chaos seemed to ensue.

The next World Cup is 2014. Wayne Rooney will still be young enough to play but who else I do not know. It is interesting to note that most of the England squad come from the Manchester, Liverpool or London teams.

What about other players across the country?

Perhaps we should be looking with a more serious eye across England in order to find the best and keenest players available. These will usually be hungry for success. Maybe those from well established teams no longer have a will to WIN, that is strong enough.