2010 World Cup: Capello and The Three Lions; hunting or being hunted?
The England manager, Fabio Capello is in deeper trouble than pheasants in October residing the English countryside. He will be lambasted with more taunts and criticism per second than any of those poor birds will be blasted with bullets in the hunting season if Capello manages to lose The Three Lions last chance of redeeming themselves for the FIFA World Cup 2010 in South Africa.
However there will be one thing on the contrary between the situation of the bird and the man, while there is no say and reason for the birds in the Armageddon brought upon them; Capello has given the foot-balling community a clear rationales for his head shot. The recent English performance would top the list for his advocates. He now has just a couple of days to get all the work done.
Sources have mentioned that this is possibly Fabio’s last chance in the race of glory and may also be his last match with England if they fail to progress to the next stages in the World Cup. Just three weeks ago he signed an extension contract with the Football Association in which the loop hole of contract termination was also removed after doubts of Capello leaving for the then open post of Inter Milan.
If the current situation is turned to a chronicle of despair for The Three Lions it won’t be surprising if the £6 million annual contract till Euro 2010 could be thrown into the can. In conclusion the battle with Slovenia at Port Elizabeth on Wednesday will decide the fate of many.
What the fans around the world are wondering is that how a side that won nine of their ten qualifying matches with stunning performances against Croatia and Germany is on the verge of being kicked out from the tournament.
Unlike previous instances in 1990 when England collected just two points from their first couple of matches and pathetically beat Egypt to reach the final stages, or in 1986 when captain Bryan Robson got injured and his counterpart Ray Wilkins was sent off the pitch in a couple of marred performances.
The difference back then was that the English had players that were ready to attack with victory at stand by. The likeness of Gary Lineker, Peter Beardsley and Paul Gascoigne are examples of that.
The 64 year old Capello acknowledges that saying, “This is not the England that I know. It is a problem because these players have trained very well. But in the two games it is not the same team that I know. It is the same thing I saw in that first game at Wembley when I became England manager”. He optimistically added, “I hope in the next game we forget these two performances. On Wednesday I hope to see the England team”.
From what has been perceived from Capello’s game plan and the team’s performance it can be noted that changes on the ground level need to be phased for the next match. For example the inclusion of Joe Cole would be a sigh of relief. The Chelsea man has the ingenuity to create plays and score from a deep insight plan. The sighting of Michael Carrick would be good too. His ability to keep the ball until a meaningful pass comes along is what the England team needs right now. Matthew Upson would be welcome too.
However the most important issue to deal with would be to clear out what obstacles is Wayne Rooney facing in setting the ball at the back of the net. On the issue Capello who ironically should have known stated, “I do not know where Wayne Rooney’s form has gone. I don’t like to speak about the performance of one player but Wayne Rooney did not play like the Wayne Rooney we know”.
He will have to sort all this out before the encounter with Slovenia which not only would decipher the English team’s future in the tournament but also the Italian’s with The Three Lions. Capello has claimed that if the team manages to conqueror their opponents in the next match he will quit, well that’s just keeping a step ahead of the FA plans.
Capello expressed that his main aim would now be to originate the original spirit of The Three Lions, “Sometimes after one big performance the minds of the players can be set free. Then we can play like England, like the England that I know”.