ENGLAND - THE POST MORTEM BEGINS HERE..

We often over-react to an England defeat and we often try to find someone or something to blame. The difference this time however, is that there was no penalty shoot out. The team was emphatically beaten and alarmingly outplayed.

The Frank Lampard ‘phantom goal’ can be discussed until we are blue in the face, but as Steven Gerrard said after the heavy defeat to Germany yesterday, England conceded four goals. In truth, it could have been six or seven.

Firstly, questions must be asked about the organisation of the team. Why was the defence so exposed on the third German goal and why were so many men thrown forward at that point? There was still over a quarter of the game remaining. Most of these players are experienced, seasoned internationals, which made it all the more baffling.

‘Baffling’ is certainly the appropriate adjective to sum up England’s disastrous tournament, and I’m sure all the reasons, or indeed excuses, will come out somewhere down the line in someone’s autobiography.

In my view, the problems all come down to the relationship between the FA and the Premier League. Countries such as Brazil and Germany place their national team at the forefront of importance. But in England domestic football takes precedence due to the greedy, fat cats at the Premier League. We need to implement some stricter laws if we don’t want to have to experience this inevitable disappointment every four years.

It is not the coaching that is the problem. Grass root levels produce some excellent talent – as illustrated by the recent European Under 17s Championship win. The Under 21 side progressed to the final of the equivalent competition at their age level last summer, and were only beaten, in the end, by a special German team, including several players who played yesterday.

The overwhelming issue is that the players are not given the chances at the top clubs. Managers such as Arsene Wenger and previously, Rafa Benitez and Jose Mourinho, appear to trust foreign talent more. Therefore these young English players don’t gain the valuable experience they need and subsequently drop down the leagues or even out of the game completely.

For the national team to improve, I would suggest there needs to be a rule that a squad should include at least six or seven English players every week. That is a squad of 18, not 25.

EU laws relating to freedom of employment make this idea difficult to implement, but for once I actually agree with Sepp Blatter who wants to force teams to play with at least five players born in the same country as the league they are competing in. It is certainly something that should help England.

So what was the issue in South Africa this time around? In Germany four years ago it was the WAG’s. Was it ‘Terry gate’ in 2010? England have certainly not played well since the Wayne Bridge incident occurred back in February, while before that they appeared to be united as illustrated in a blistering qualifying campaign. Did those events really damage team spirit so severely?

Or is it that these ‘spoilt’ players cannot stay away from home for so long? None of the players live abroad or play abroad, so maybe they are too pampered and can’t deal with being homesick. However, they are not the only team facing this experience, so if that was the case, maybe other players should have been selected.

Was it the altitude? If it was, this is no excuse, as every country has to deal with this problem. It is interesting however, how the South Americans appear to be coping better with this issue. But on the other hand, the Netherlands are still in the tournament, so need I say more?

Wayne Rooney’s performances were bizarre and can't be ignored. He’s a wonderful player and to say he was being affected by nerves is ludicrous. He was either injured, exhausted or suffering from severe altitude sickness. We all know Wayne Rooney has supreme ball control, but that was severely lacking in South Africa, during every game. His performances are just impossible to explain. The only other thing I can imagine is that he has been affected by his impending multi million pound court case. If that’s the case, there surely should have been more psychological help at hand.

The Manchester United star wasn’t the only player who appeared sluggish over the last fortnight. Glen Johnson is usually a free flowing, blisteringly quick and very skilful full back who runs at and attacks the opposition with verve and purpose. Both yesterday and in the previous matches, he appeared like he was treading water. Bizarre again!

The excuses about the Premiership having too many games and the argument that there should be a winter break do not hold any weight I’m afraid. Carlos Tevez, Javier Mascherano and Dirk Kuyt all look fine to me. And point me to any players who run around more than them during the season?

Capello’s excuses relating to that appear to be weak, but maybe it was was another loss of translation. Maybe he was, in fact, referring to fitness and not tiredness. Steven Gerrard, Ashley Cole, Wayne Rooney and Glen Johnson all had quite long lay offs during the season, But I think it’s just another façade of trying to paper over the cracks of his failure to do the job he is paid six million pounds a year to do. Yes, six million a year for that…

Yesterday’s main problem was the defence, something which appeared to be one obvious strong area earlier in the tournament. Matthew Upson could obviously not handle the big occasion, but John Terry also needs to be held accountable. He is vastly experienced, but the first goal was ‘schoolboy’ defending and he should have known better. The two played together regularly in qualifying so why was the positioning so poor? Once again it’s just bizarre to the point of sheer disbelief.

I don’t adhere to the belief that foreign players make English players look good for their club sides and that we rate our players too highly. Having a foreign player alongside him doesn’t make Wayne Rooney control the ball better. Having Claude Makelele or Michael Ballack alongside him doesn’t make Frank Lampard strike the ball better. These are still technically gifted players whose technique seemed to suddenly desert them when they pulled on the Three Lions shirt.

Although it’s easy to use hindsight now, I have to say I did question Fabio Capello’s appointment when it was made in January 2008. The Italian coach has got an excellent record at club level, but only with Latin teams. The pinnacle of his managerial career was with the great AC Milan team of the mid nineties, but that is a long time ago now.

Since those heady days, Capello's teams have had a very poor record in knockout compeitions and especially the Champions League, where his teams have frequently lost (three times to Liverpool incidentally) in the early knockout stages or even the group stages. This has happened again with England and is not really that surprising.

But collective responsibility should be taken and despite the manager’s floors, I was certainly optimistic after such a wonderful qualifying campaign.


But what now and most importantly, who now?

I think it’s pretty clear that the Italian will leave, but who will the FA – in their amateur and infinite wisdom – appoint this time? It has to be one of three candidates – Harry Redknapp, Roy Hodgson or Sam Alladyce.

Harry Redknapp should be the clear favourite. He clearly brings the best out of his players, but would the FA appoint him? There is no doubt he carries some baggage.

Roy Hodgson would be my choice. He is popular with his players and crucially, has international experience and knows the world game inside out. I think he deserves the job, but will he go to Liverpool? Is he a big enough name for the elitist FA?

Sam Alladyce is probably a less popular choice, and his style of football may be an issue for some. But frankly who cares? England fans want to win don’t they?

Alladyce has again proved to be an excellent manager with Blackburn Rovers and can clearly deal with big names. Nicolas Anelka, Youri Djorkaeff and Jay Jay Okacha all thrived under ‘Big Sam’ and revived their flagging careers. This is certainly what we need in the England national team at this point.

This time though, it has to be an English manager, but a more experienced one that either Glen Hoddle or Steve McClaren were is required. It has been been proved over the last decade that a foreign manager does not win you a World Cup, and the facts demonstrate that as well. It has never happened.

Players such as Frank Lampard may well have played their last major tournament. The media invented ‘golden generation’ were not even a bronze generation. In fact they were not even highly commended.

But I do believe, despite the hype, that things need to be put in perspective. England have never reached the final of a major tournament outside their own country. Maybe it’s time to accept that they are a second, even third rate football nation at this point. And anyway, once the league season begins again, we will probably all forget this disappointment. After all, we have the ‘most exciting and best league in the world’ remember?

This is all very well, but it doesn’t make those fans coming back from South Africa feel any better. They have been let down horribly by this team, and someone somewhere needs to be held accountable.

We've been here before haven't we...?