This assessment comes in three parts: vs. Germany; the tournament as a whole; and the future. As with my last post, I am very keen to get a discussion going at the bottom of the article. As I have experienced this afternoon, everyone has an opinion on what has happened and where to go – there is no right answer, so have a read of what I think and then I want to see what the World Cup Statistic’s readers think. We’ve been accustomed to England Football Jokes over the years, now we want to know what you think!

Vs. Germany:

It’s very simple, England were not good enough. Both individually and as a team, England did nothing to suggest they should have advanced instead of Germany.

Frank Lampard did hit the bar and have a goal wrongly not given, but by the time Lampard’s shot crossed the line England should have been four goals behind anyway.

Fabio Capello picked the same team that got so much praise for their performance against Slovenia but yet the team couldn’t gel today. To criticise the starting XI would be hypocritical after the lavish praise of the press for picking Milner and Defoe post-Slovenia. England lost chasing the game, most of Capello’s substitutions were irrelevant, the game was already lost.

I believe the Germans were spot on with their tactics. They pressed England on the ball and targeted in particular the English centre backs, forcing them to play long balls. They identified a lack of pace in the middle and hit England hard on the counter attack, playing some excellent football. Schweinsteiger, Ozil and Muller stood out. In particular it is refreshing to see so many attacking players given the freedom to play their natural game and express themselves.

England suffered from too many individual errors whilst not looking like a team. They were outplayed and outclassed.

The tournament:

The biggest problem with England at a major tournament is the press. The press are excellent at influencing the mood of a country. The press are outstanding at defining England’s chances and identifying players who should perform, whilst crashing down and destroying the players who didn’t perform.

Going into this World Cup once again England had a ‘golden generation’ with one of the world’s best players – Wayne Rooney. The expectation on England to deliver was immense. Quite true however was the fact that England had some fantastic individual players, a top coach and had qualified for the tournament with relative ease. The ‘Golden Generation’ tag never helped England but fuelled the expectations of the fans. As Frank Lampard said post-match today, “The golden generation tag was stupid, it was something that we never believed, it was something the media came up with”.

As it played out, England couldn’t have performed worse and having sneaked through to the knockout stages they were outplayed by Germany.

England’s preparations were hampered before the World Cup with the injury to Rio Ferdinand. As it played out, with the defence looking shaky at times I think the injury to Rio was more important than first thought. England lost a very very good defender as well as their leader and captain.

England’s qualification to the World Cup arguably was part of the downfall. England qualified with such ease that the formation and personnel became the clear way forward for Capello. After the draw with Algeria I questioned why England don’t play a different way – upon reflection I understand that the time to try a new formation is not in the middle of a World Cup but with the players at his disposal it does seem strange Capello never tried a change of formation in any friendlies.

As I’ve said, individually England are brilliant. However, there are so many egos in the side. The noises coming from the camp suggested something wasn’t quite right. The atmosphere amongst the team didn’t appear that relaxed and I think that was reflected by the team’s lack of coherence and togetherness on the pitch.

Too many players did not deliver individually. It is hard to know why. The system may be the reason but it had worked before. I have previously suggested that Rooney is the most feared England player and therefore it was important to play to his strengths which England did not do. Of course it is impossible for me to defend Rooney or the other players for poor touches or for not being able to string passes together. I can’t explain that or get my head round it.

I feel that fatigue was a huge factor for England. The players looked drained. I warned against this before the World Cup when so many players were getting injured. I would stress again that I believe that the Premier League has become the elite form of football. Players have to be so conditioned and fine tuned for it that when it comes to international football, it is a step down and is hard for the players to adjust to it.

I feel that the FA must consider what the World Cup means to them and where it ranks in their priorities. I feel the answer is that it ranks highly, in which case, it baffles me that the FA have not tried to create an environment for the best possible achievements at the World Cup. By that, I mean they have not adopted the proven ‘winter break’ and they did not start the season early enough so that the players would have a suitable rest before the World Cup. It meant, Rooney for example was thrust straight in to training with England after the season had ended. I choose Rooney as my example because he in particular could have done with the break having been injured at the back end of the season when he was thrust back into the Manchester United side whilst not fully fit. More drastic still, the FA could scrap the League Cup – a competition which many of the top sides in the country don’t take that seriously.

The set-up of England as a whole seemed good. There were leaders, experienced players, younger players, good coaches, a fantastic role model (Beckham) but one thing left me confused – the press. I know the press had been kept further from the players than ever before but I wish there had been a gag on them. Sometimes you just want the coach to be left alone with his players to get on with it. The press are much more real and approachable these days due to Twitter. There are so many journalists and ex-professionals offering their own ‘expert’ opinions that footballing journalism just became saturated – it must be so hard to avoid it entirely for the players and the coaches. I have to admit I am intrigued to see the tone the journalists adopt tomorrow – pretty much all of them were so confident of an England win today.

Confidence is an interesting thing. Typically, England fans get overconfident. I think English expectations really need to be re-aligned a bit. England are a good footballing nation but there are a lot of teams who play better, are better and critically, have the experience or ‘know-how’ of how to win on the biggest stage. England play with fear at times, it’s not healthy. This can and should be addressed by throwing in some of the new generation.

The tournament was a disaster. Players played badly, the tactics were strange at times, the team didn’t appear to be playing together, and England in my opinion got what their performances deserved. I don’t believe in scapegoats, you win and lose as a team – every player and member of staff is culpable for what has happened.

The future:

Firstly, importantly, for me, Capello must stay in charge. This isn’t truly his side. Scars still exist from McClaren and Eriksson. Capello has the same core to his team that they had. Continuity is great but coaches are too scared of messing with the core. Capello’s experience and qualities mean he is still the right man for the job. I don’t think he’s scared of egos or change.

Capello must sort out the Lampard/Gerrard mess and plump for one or neither. There are older players in this team who should now be exiled. As Gary Neville has always suggested, players should not retire from international football but accept when they are no longer having a positive effect – they should always be available for consideration.

Capello must start to bring through the next generation of England players properly. There needs to be a total overhaul. Capello should keep Beckham close as he is the ultimate role model. Capello must be given the freedom to do it all his own way. Capello must pick a team, he must not be afraid of leaving players out, the South American heavyweights are showing the world that route.

The English youth teams have had enough success lately, playing good football, using technically gifted players and that won’t have been missed by Capello. It’s time to make Joe Hart the clear number one whilst I would like to see a lot of the younger players thrust in to the squads and at the deep end. I’m thinking along the lines of: Gosling, Micah Richards, Gibbs, Rodwell, Wilshere, Agbonlahor, (more of) Milner, Shawcross, Lennon, Walcott, Adam Johnson, Huddlestone, Ashley Young, Cattermole, Sturridge etc. These players can come in and play with no fear – England need that. The England squad and starting XI should not be chosen based on ‘names’, sometimes you need players who are good at performing a certain role, such as what Gilberto Silva still does so well for Brazil.

Importantly, Capello must not be scared of realising that it wouldn’t necessarily be a mistake to build a team around Rooney (who will turn only 25 later this year). Rooney can be vital to the future success of the England team. Capello must also however consider life without Rooney. There is no one else really who can come in and play like we know he can up front. Hence Capello needs a good Plan B. England are in what should be a straightforward group for Euro 2012 (Switzerland, Bulgaria, Wales and Montenegro). If England qualify with games to spare it may be important for Capello to try his Plan B in a real game.

Just as a final thought, I wonder if the FA have distanced themselves and the team too far from the fans. I feel like the FA are a little out of touch with what the national side means to the supporters. The FA have to repair some bridges and build some new ones over the Euro 2012 qualifying campaign.

The future of the England national team can be a bright one. Capello must first make some bold calls and then really focus on a squad that works together and plays as a team. The English brought the game to Brazil, but now might be the time to learn from them.

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That weekend felt draining. I don’t think I’ve experienced so much footballing information in such a short space of time. Saturday started with the England hangover. Everyone has their own opinion as to why England continued their poor form with another failure. England fans weren’t the only ones feeling angry. The USA’s fans awoke to their own frustrations. They felt, quite rightly, that their side had been denied a 3-2 victory against Slovenia which would have capped an excellent turnaround having been two goals behind. Maurice Edu’s late goal was harshly ruled out by the referee.

Having had 5 goals on Friday, Saturday went one better and delivered 6. The opening game of the weekend saw the Dutch beat Japan 1-0 thanks to a Wesley Sneijder goal. The Dutch were impressive without seemingly getting out of first gear. Dutch fans might be concerned that they couldn’t add to their goal tally but the performance of Dirk Kuyt and an impressive substitute cameo from Ibrahim Affelay will keep morale high.

The second game saw an African heavyweight, Ghana meet the Socceroos, Australia. As in their first game, Australia harshly went down to ten men when Harry Kewell was sent off. This happened when Australia were already a goal up thanks to Brett Holman poking home after Wigan’s Richard Kingson spilled a shot. The game’s key moment happened on 25 minutes when Kewell handled on the line. It seemed a combination of arm and chest that could not be avoided. Kewell was shown red and Asamoah Gyan confidently scored the penalty as he did in Ghana’s first game. It proved to make for an exciting game. Australia worked very hard and had some excellent chances to get a second goal. Ghana were the more dominant side and had more chances than Australia but few were particularly good. The game ended with Ghana topping group D and Australia bottom.

Saturday ended with Denmark beating Cameroon 2-1 in an exciting game. Cameroon took the lead through Eto’o but that was pegged back by Bendtner. Rommedahl got the winning goal. The result was significant as Cameroon became the first country to be knocked out of the World Cup.

Along came Sunday…the England debate still rolling on with no sign of ending or answers. Then the French decided the World Cup needed drama.

The French Football Federation announced Nicolas Anelka had been sent home from the World Cup after a bust up with coach Raymond Domenech. Anelka has always liked an argument and a sulk, at least he can now finally say he’s played at a World Cup. That news broke on Saturday. The French took it up a notch on the Sunday. Domenech was in the middle of doing a live interview on TF1 whilst into the studio in flip-flops and shorts strolls Frank Ribery. Ribery, on the verge of tears wanted to deny any suggestions of a bust up with teammate Gourcuff that was alleged to have happened on board a flight.

The host of the interview was Bixente Lizarazu, the former French full back. He then engaged in an argument with Domenech after the French coach insisted the French players boycotted the press in 2000. Lizarazu accused him of being a liar (true – only Deschamps boycotted the press then).

As if the French had ended their drama for the day!? A rumour emerged that the entire French squad had pulled out of training and walked onto their bus. News filtered through that French captain, Patrice Evra had clashed with fitness coach Robert Duverne. Domenech had to separate the pair as Duverne stormed off and the players went onto their coach. Within twenty minutes, Jean-Louis Valentin, a French official quit his role citing that it was all getting ridiculous and was too much for him.

Another thirty minutes passed and a brief statement from the French players said they refused to train as they opposed Anelka’s exclusion from the squad. The French players were annoyed the Anelka-Domenech row had become so public and believed there was a traitor amongst the squad. Evra confirmed the squad don’t believe Duverne is the traitor and Duverne confirmed Evra was not rude or abusive but that he was merely trying to convince Evra to train.

The day began with Ribery’s unexpected apology to the French nation live on TV and ended with President Sarkozy calling the entire French squad to account.

England don’t like living in the shadow of the French and so John Terry’s press conference pulled England into the headlines alongside the French. John Terry gave an honest and frank press conference. He admitted England were not good enough. He admitted England were bored due to Capello’s strict rules. He admitted players’ would be speaking out at the team meeting on Sunday evening. John Terry suggested that the some of the player’s suggestions at the meeting that evening might upset Capello and that if that was the case it wouldn’t bother the players. This meeting that was to review the Algerian nightmare soon got spun by the press into a ‘crisis’ meeting. Terry suggested that the players may hint that they’d like a change of shape and personnel in the England starting XI.

Terry acted as if he was still England captain. He acted like a leader. It was probably what England needed – someone to give them direction. Terry was rash, he said some clumsy things, he contradicted himself a few times but the emotion he showed will have gone a long way to convince fans that the players care and want to fix the situation.

The question of player power must also be asked. Some of the world’s top managers would not have accepted some of the things Terry said. Terry openly said that he didn’t care if Capello would be upset by some of the things the squad would say to him later that evening. At a time when Terry emerged as a leader, Capello must stamp his foot down to remind the squad that he is in charge.

(I should point out that having suggested Terry was a hero yesterday, the press today seem to be suggesting that Terry has made a complete mess of the situation and have taken a very negative slant on it).

(Additionally, Lampard is speaking live now and suggesting that the meeting didn’t quite follow the path Terry suggested it might. Lampard is desperately trying to save Terry’s blushes after admitting the meeting was almost entirely about the Algeria game and that what Terry said was wrong and didn’t happen).

There was also some football played on Sunday!

I enjoyed Slovakia vs. Paraguay. The South American side won 2-0 and played some good football. It was refreshing to see an actual 4-3-3 formation with three clear forwards. Slovakia were surprisingly negative and were outplayed. Both of Paraguay’s goals were good finishes, from Vera and Riveros (who is to join Sunderland after the World Cup).

The second game saw Italy take on New Zealand. Unbelievably New Zealand took the lead through Shane Smeltz – a player who has played non-league football in England. Arguably Smeltz was offside but I’m not sure that anyone bar Italian fans cared. We had ourselves an amazing story. It took just over 20 minutes for Italy to equalise. Tommy Smith pulled down Daniele De Rossi, a soft penalty given and Vincenzo Iaquinta scored. That’s how it remained. Italy dominated the game but like England failed to excite or create good chances. The European curse continued. Do European players play too many games?

The final game saw Brazil take on Ivory Coast in a potential corker of a game. Brazil won 3-1. They played well and showed flashes of brilliance but the Ivory Coast were poor. They looked too reliant on an unfit Drogba and had no clear plan b. Luis Fabiano scored two very good goals and a third was rounded off by Elano after a good move. Drogba did get a late conciliation goal for Brazil. The game however was marred by the sending off of the under-performing Kaka for two bookable offences. Both offences were yellow cards but the second yellow card was for an elbow to Keita in the stomach, yet the Ivorian went down holding his face. Cheating from the Rivaldo school of ‘going-down’.

So the weekend closed with the South American teams doing well. Italy making England’s position look not so bad. The French and the English in ridiculous situations but for once not involving each other. The former best player in the World had been sent off. And a European had actually won a Major Golf tournament (well done Graeme McDowell).

The new week starts with sunshine in London for the beginning of Wimbledon and the prospect of two more big upsets today as Portugal play North Korea (looking to emulate 1966) and Spain play Honduras…bring it on!

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As the World Cup started I agreed on a (slightly bold and rushed) statement with my housemate: ‘if England don’t win the World Cup it’ll be down to the players and not the coach’ – that statement doesn’t stand so true anymore. After the USA game I attacked the England players individually with some player ratings. Post-Algeria I don’t see any point to individual assessment. Everyone was poor. The team must be examined as just that – a team.

Where to begin?!?

The strangest thing for me is that players are not playing in their preferred or their best positions/roles. Five of the front six are more effective in a different role:

Rooney – amongst the world’s best at playing alone having scored 34 goals this past season playing usually unsupported

Gerrard – is not a wide left player, but plays in a central midfield three where he consistently scores between 10 and 20 goals a season

Lampard – has scored 20 or more goals for the past five years playing centrally in a midfield three

Barry – anchors a midfield three

Lennon – is used to playing in a system where he is furthest forward hugging the wide right, he is not used to having a full back ahead of him so often

The Lennon point is fairly minor but the other four players deserve consideration – all of them would prefer to slot into a 4-3-3 or a 4-5-1 system. These are four very important players for England who are under performing in the current system.

Fair enough – Capello chose to play a 4-4-2 with Heskey supporting Rooney as he had done so often in the qualifiers with great success, but this time it was all a bit bizarre. Barry sat deep which in a two man central midfield is risky as it exposes space. This space was however frequently filled…by the ‘wingers’. Gerrard and Lennon both floated into the middle looking to open space for the full backs but also caused a problem. With Barry sitting deep and Lampard also relatively deep, there was often very little for Lennon or Gerrard to do other than to pass backwards in what became a congested central area.

England seemed to have very little shape. Johnson and Cole are great at pushing forward but when they do so and England have all four midfielders in the middle the last thing anyone wanted to see was Heskey peeling off wide. Too many times Heskey was popping up alongside Johnson on the right where it should have been Lennon. Why Heskey was in a position to cross a ball beats me.

Rooney cut a frustrated figure all evening. I think I can safely suggest that I can’t ever remember him having such a bad game. Regardless of his touch and his passing being so diabolical, as a striker, he had no service. England’s now congested central area was even more congested by the number of Algerian players back, meaning no ball could be intricately thread through the middle; and out wide the wingers had gone missing into the middle so there was rarely anyone to cross the ball in. England just could not create chances.

I find it weird that Capello had tinkered with the team so much. Bar Lennon this was the front six that helped England qualify for the World Cup with such consummate ease. One can argue that Capello changed player roles as a result of watching Algeria previously. However I might argue that he failed to notice some key aspects of the Algerian game and this was reflected in his substitutions.

The Algerian’s must be credited for their work rate, their speed, their ability to get men back quickly, their happiness to sit deep but also pressure the England players and their tackling (they gave very few fouls away in dangerous positions but gave lots of clever fouls away around the halfway line when England tried to break).

With Algeria sitting deep and not susceptible to pace – Capello’s substitutions were odd. Shaun Wright-Phillips on for Lennon was a like-for-like swap and saw no obvious tactical change. Defoe on for Heskey suggested England would try and keep the ball down and work it around but that failed to materialise and with Algeria sitting so deep, Defoe’s pace became irrelevant. Crouch on for Barry came too late for any impact and with no one on the pitch who could cross a ball.

Capello didn’t try to change the formation. He didn’t think his substitutions through. When Heskey and/or Crouch are on the pitch you need someone who can cross a ball on too. I believe the person who would have been suited to that would have been James Milner. Milner could have sat in a fairly deep wide role, finding space as the Algerian fullbacks had dropped so much and he could have put crosses in for Heskey/Crouch to attack. I found myself amazed Capello didn’t even try the Joe Cole option – one of the few technically creative players in the squad who can make things happen in flat games.

England played in such a way whereby the formation almost seemed irrelevant. It was as if because of the names in the England starting XI they should be able to beat Algeria regardless. To a point, this is true but this is also a World Cup, one off matches where anything can happen. Algeria were clearly happy with a draw whilst England didn’t look hungry for the win.

This is an international tournament so naturally a Manchester United player must follow in the footsteps of Beckham, P. Neville and Ronaldo in being the scapegoat (I joke…a little) – but Rooney will get the majority of the criticism, most of it fair, aimed in his direction. He’s the player everyone looks to for inspiration. He’s the player the media have hyped up after an incredible season. He’s also the player who does not look fully fit; who’s not playing in the formation that he likes; who’s not playing in a role that gets the most from him; who’s not getting any service; and who has the weight of a nation’s expectations on his shoulders. Rather than boo Rooney, I hope as I have suggested before, that Capello plays to his strengths and focuses on him.

The defence yesterday did ok. Terry was surprisingly shaky but there were few moments to concern England. Johnson and Cole are often England’s best attacking threats. Due to this, Capello must consider Joe Cole and James Milner for the wide positions – two players who would be happy to have a full back overlap and who are both adept at cutting inside. Having backed Lennon before, I am concerned that he seems to be struggling with nerves and forming an understanding with Johnson.

As a result I would move to a five man midfield of (from right to left) Milner, Lampard, Barry, Gerrard, Joe Cole; and have Rooney up front alone. The brief to Rooney would be simple – do what you do for Manchester United – hold the line, play on the shoulder of the defenders and find space in the box. With Joe Cole and Milner wide, the delivery in to Rooney would be better and with three in the middle both Gerrard and Lampard would be able to make forward runs more often knowing Barry is anchoring deep. Gerrard in particular would be able to push on and support Rooney.

The England performance was one to forget yesterday. England must move on quick and Capello must fix this quickly. He is a fantastic coach who showed signs of insanity yesterday. I always felt HE would get things right at this World Cup and if England failed it would be down to the players and not him. However, England failed to win as a team yesterday, as a result of tactics and as a result of non-reactionary substitutions. When the players are playing poorly it is down to the coach to be able to change it around – Capello did not do this. Capello must now select players in the positions/roles that they play best in. Capello must make some big decisions otherwise he may be to blame for a very disappointing England World Cup performance.

The task now is simple. Beat Slovenia and the last 16 awaits. If England can do that then Algeria can become a distant memory and we can all love Capello, Rooney and Co again.

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So England drew and collectively, a country groaned. Surprisingly the spark amongst the rubbish on show was Emile Heskey and not Wayne Rooney. I will argue that Heskey should not start England’s next game. I am no scout, I know very little about how Algeria play and therefore I am not considering that they may have a 4ft centre back who Heskey would dominate. I am writing this purely as an England fan who wants to see the England team do as well as possible and believes that in order to achieve this, Wayne Rooney is central to English plans.

Heskey had one of his best games for England on Saturday. He cleverly assisted Gerrard’s goal; lead the line; held the ball up well; linked up play; and put himself about – unsettling the American defenders.

Apart from the fact he missed a one on one, on the face of things, it would be hard to criticise Heskey. What’s more, Heskey during the World Cup qualifiers linked up well with Wayne Rooney and appeared to help Rooney become more dangerous.

Wayne Rooney however has just had his most prolific season in football. He played primarily on his own. Furthermore he admitted prior to the World Cup that he prefers to play on his own. Arguably, right now, Rooney plays the lone striker’s role better than anyone else in the world.

England lined up against the USA with two up front – Heskey and Rooney. Heskey lead the line, and allowed players to run off him. Rooney played deeper and struggled to get involved in the game. Rooney only broke forward sparingly as he looked to get onto the ball. His three most influential moments in the first half came from playing his teammates in, not from having chances himself.

As the second half wore on Rooney pushed higher up the pitch where he has become accustomed to playing for Manchester United. He started to influence the game more – setting the tempo and making things happen for England. Frequently he made very good runs in the box, often losing his marker.

Rooney is England’s most important player. He is the one player other nations say they fear more than any other in this England team. Rooney has the ability to inspire those around him and change a game in a few seconds. Rooney also flourishes when playing alone. Whilst Heskey stood out today, in my opinion he hindered the performance of Rooney.

I know that given the choice I would rather Rooney stood out than Heskey stood out. As we saw today, Heskey standing out does not equal goals. Rooney standing out generally does equal goals. In my opinion, Rooney must play up front on his own. He must be the man leading the line, getting into dangerous positions where he can score or have chances. Rooney is as good as Heskey at holding up the ball. If Gerrard, Lampard or maybe Joe Cole are running off him, they too will have chances. England must utilise the fact they have an outstanding player who plays best when alone.

Part of the success of Rooney this season at Manchester United has been down to the quality of the crosses put in for him – England must focus on improving the delivery of their crosses. Should England not be capable of putting in good crosses then fair enough, play a bigger man like Heskey or Crouch who can deal with a poorer ball in and make the most of it.

England must go to a 4-5-1, 4-3-3 or the currently popular 4-2-3-1. Essentially each formation lines up in a very similar way, to call it a 4-2-3-1 seems fashionable at the moment. Rooney must lead the line, and be supported by a three man midfield or someone floating behind him. It is a better option to revert to a 4-4-2 mid-game and bring someone like Heskey on than to revert to just one up top mid-game.

Heskey’s contribution should not be overlooked. He was excellent at the weekend, but I just wonder if that game would have panned out better had Rooney been up top alone.

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Manchester United and Portugal winger Luis Nani has been ruled out of the World Cup due to a shoulder injury. Nani hurt his shoulder in Lisbon prior to the squad flying out to South Africa, however at first it seemed like a minor injury and the player would be able to compete in the opening fixture on June 15th against the Ivory Coast. The winger played in eleven qualifying games and was second top goalscorer with three goals. He joins team mate Rio Ferdinand as another major star to miss the World Cup through injury.

A statement for the Portuguese national side read “Following the injury to the left clavicle suffered by Nani, a daily assessment of the damage and the completion of medical tests, we have concluded he is unable to be competitive. The medical file will now be presented to the medical department of Manchester United. In light of the report, the Portuguese Football Federation, taking into account the FIFA regulations for the 2010 World Cup, will call-up Ruben Amorim as a replacement.” Benfica’s Ruben Amorim will replace him in the squad. The Benfica midfielder had been on stand-by since Nani sustained his injury, and will fly out to South Africa today to join up with the squad. Amorim can operate on the right hand side of midfield and has filled in at back before.

Nani was expected to have a decent tournament after an impressive turnaround for Manchester United this season. The winger was expected to be sold in the January transfer window, with United being linked with Angel Di Maria of Benfica, however the Portuguese starlet put in a number of superb performances – including a man of the match performance against Arsenal at the Emirates. He was hoping to help Portugal finished higher than third, which they achieved in 1966 after Eusebio lit up the tournament and finished top scorer.

The build up to this World Cup has been as much about who may not be there as to who will be there. Players have been ruling themselves out of matches or getting serious injury scares. It seems that a high proportion of these players, often influential players, are based in England and play in the Premier League.

Consider five groups international players can slot into: PL players who are fit and have been selected; PL players who are selected but have picked up big concerns; PL players whose injury status meant selection was impossible; PL players who have been selected unfit; and non-PL players who were selected but have picked up injuries. Straight up one can point out that any argument I make is flawed in that my focus is on quite clearly Premier League players. I’m sure it is possible to do a similar experiment with many of the world leagues. However, the Premier League is the world’s biggest league with the world’s best players – a very high proportion of players selected to play at the World Cup come from the Premier League.

Into those groups we can add names. The Premier League players who are fit and have been selected I will ignore as there are many. Into Premier League players who are selected but have picked up big concerns goes: Cahill (Everton, Australia), Altidore (Hull (loan), USA), Behrami (West Ham, Switzerland), Skrtel (Liverpool, Slovakia), Palacios (Tottenham, Honduras), Drogba (Chelsea, Ivory Coast), Ferdinand (Man Utd, England), Bendtner (Arsenal, Denmark), Ballack (Chelsea, Germany), Heitinga (Everton, Holland), Gerrard (Liverpool, England), Nani (Man Utd, Portugal). Without going into individual cases all of those players are either out of the World Cup through injury having been selected or are very big doubts.

Into Premier League players whose injury status meant selection was impossible I will only give a few examples: Brown (Man Utd, England), Hargreaves (Man Utd, England), Zamora (Fulham, England), Anderson (Man Utd, Brazil), Bosingwa (Chelsea, Portugal), Woodgate (Tottenham, England).

Into Premier League players who have been selected unfit can go: Torres (Liverpool, Spain), Rooney (Man Utd, England), Barry (Man City, England), Fabregas (Arsenal, Spain), Essien (Chelsea, Ghana), Mikel Obi (Chelsea, Nigeria).

Finally, into non-Premier League players who were selected but have picked up injuries can go: Pirlo (AC Milan, Italy), Robben (FC Bayern, Holland), Julio Cesar (Inter Milan, Brazil), Forlan (Atletico Madrid, Uruguay), Karhan (Mainz, Slovakia), Streller (FC Basel, Switzerland), Iniesta (Barcelona, Spain) – Iniesta was selected unfit.

Too many Premier League based players are included in these lists. It begs thinking about whether Premier League players play too much.

The structure of football in England means that a player can play 38 league games, 14 domestic cup games (excluding replays), and between 15-19 European games – totalling a potential 67-71 games in a season. That is a very heavy schedule.

In a World Cup year, the number of games a player plays is even more crucial. To the clubs it is the same as usual, the season is no different. To the governing bodies, in England – the FA, their motives are split. They want a competitive domestic system but they also want the national side to progress.

What can be done about the amount of football played in a World Cup year to try and stop these injuries from occurring? The two most common suggestions are to start the season earlier and incorporate a winter break. This would not change the number of games played but would allow for the players to have time off either at the end of the season or mid-season to recuperate. La Liga has adopted a full-time winter break. Such an idea has been advocated by club managers here. Sir Alex Ferguson said in January of this year:

“My experience tells me that when you get to December, it is draining for players to continuously play matches every Saturday, Wednesday, Saturday. It is difficult to play football through heavier grounds in cold weather. By December, everybody needs a break. With a break in January you can repair the small injuries the players pick up. Even the coaches need a mental break. Why don’t we use the whole of May to make up for the loss of matches that are held in January?”

Of course, Ferguson has the progress of Manchester United at heart when he made those comments but they become applicable to the national sides too.

One other suggestion I have heard is to cut the number of teams in the Premier League to 18 and have only one domestic cup. I don’t advocate this idea – other countries have leagues with 20 teams in, the Premier League should be no different.

When clubs do try and rest players in the Premier League, even if the motive is not for the sake of the national team, the idea is not supported by the FA. Wolves were fined £25,000 for fielding a changed line-up at Old Trafford which included all 10 outfield players being switched. Mick McCarthy believed Wolves would not win the game with his strongest team out so wanted to save them for the next, more important game against Burnley.

The Premier League clubs will be concerned by how many of their players will come back from the World Cup and find a season starting in the very near future. Many will not have a proper break from football and be thrust into pre-season training soon after returning. Such is the concern that Manchester United have admitted that all their players at the World Cup will be given a month off and the club have accepted that they will be forced to start the new season without some important players.

This all makes for nice reading – in hindsight we can make suggestions to counter all these injuries that are happening to players associated with the Premier League. However the reality is a little bit different.

Premier League based players are professionals. They are monitored, primed and shaped to play a lot of football at an intense level. Players in Europe’s other top leagues will be playing as much football as Premier League players. There are more Premier League based players at the World Cup than from other leagues therefore the proportion of players injured who play Premier League football is higher.

The biggest factor I believe is conditioning and the nature of the Premier League. English domestic football has become frantic, quick, strong and very competitive. Players who want to play in England at the top level must be at the top of their game. There is more chance of a player being injured in the Premier League than other leagues for this reason.

When a Premier League player now goes on international duty he will find the standard of football and the speed of the football fall from what he is used to. Premier League players are conditioned to play at a high tempo. At a World Cup, the training sessions are so controlled that the players are finding they are have to hold back. The matches are so different from what they play week in week out that the body has to make an adjustment. No longer are tackles flying around. The players find they have a tiny bit more time on the ball. These conditions lead to injuries.

I would argue that the Premier League has become too strong. No longer is international football the ultimate form of the game. Injuries will occur at international football – because of the strict conditioning a Premier League player is used to; their bodies are so in tune to the hustle and bustle of the Premier League that when it stops, the body can’t handle it.

I find it amazing that the FA do not try and support a more drastic type of break in the season, especially in a World Cup year. The Premier League may be the strongest league in the world but it may also be prohibiting some of its biggest stars from appearing on the biggest stage in football.

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Arsenal captain and Spanish international, Cesc Fabregas has been the subject of a lot of transfer speculation linking him with a return to his home-club, Barcelona. Today, Barcelona have confirmed that despite the imminent World Cup, they have made a formal written offer to Arsenal for the transfer of Fabregas.

A statement on the club’s website had this quote from Club Director General, Joan Oliver:

“Everybody knows that Cesc wants to sign for Barca and that we also want him to come here, but there is also a third party involved –Arsenal. Any agreement has to be with them. The official window for transfer negotiations opened on June 1st and although we’d had unofficial conversations with them before yesterday, we’ve now made a formal written offer, which we presented to Arsenal yesterday afternoon.”

A second quote from Club Vice-President, Rafael Yuste reads:

“I’m optimistic that he’ll be able to sign for Barca as soon as possible and it’s clear that everybody here will give him a warm welcome. We’ll do nothing that might make it more difficult for him to come here and we won’t rush things – but we won’t stop either!”

This deal may even be concluded before or during the World Cup as Txiki Beguiristain and Raül Sanllehí lead the negotiations for Barcelona. Spain, one of the favourites for the competition, will be hoping that it will not affect the performances of Fabregas during the competition. Barcelona are renowned for trying to conclude transfer dealings as quickly as possible once a target is identified and the first bid has been made – with that in mind, there may be more news to report soon.

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England manager Fabio Capello has named his 23 man squad, which includes once surprising omission – Theo Walcott. Although Walcott has continuous flatter to deceive at International level, despite notching up a hat trick against Croatia in qualifying, he was generally considered to be part of the 23 that would fly out to South Africa. The 1966 World Cup winners and hosts will generally pin their attacking responsibility on Wayne Rooney, who will no doubt be the main man for the three lions in just over a week.

Fabio Capello has announced his England squad for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. The 23 players selected are:

Goalkeepers: Robert Green (West Ham), Joe Hart (Manchester City), David James (Portsmouth)

Defenders: Jamie Carragher (Liverpool), Ashley Cole (Chelsea), Rio Ferdinand, captain (Manchester United), Ledley King (Tottenham), Glen Johnson (Liverpool), John Terry (Chelsea), Matthew Upson (West Ham), Stephen Warnock (Aston Villa)

Midfielders: Gareth Barry (Manchester City), Michael Carrick (Manchester United), Joe Cole (Chelsea), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Frank Lampard (Chelsea), Aaron Lennon (Tottenham), James Milner (Aston Villa), Shaun Wright-Phillips (Manchester City)

Forwards: Peter Crouch (Tottenham), Jermain Defoe (Tottenham), Emile Heskey (Aston Villa), Wayne Rooney (Manchester United)

The unfortunate players to miss out are: Leighton Baines (Everton), Darren Bent (Sunderland), Michael Dawson (Tottenham), Tom Huddlestone (Tottenham), Adam Johnson (Manchester City), Scott Parker (West Ham), Theo Walcott (Arsenal)

It would seem that Capello has gone with experience and trusted players in his squad. No player is uncapped and all have been involved in competitive matches bar Stephen Warnock and Joe Hart. The biggest surprise is the exclusion of Arsenal’s Theo Walcott. Gareth Barry had to undergo a fitness test under 24 hours before the squad was named in order to make his inclusion certain.

Both Chelsea and Tottenham have the greatest number of players represented – 4 each. Arsenal are the biggest club in the Premier League to not have a single player named in the full squad. England’s first World Cup match is against the USA on the 12th June.

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Theo Walcott has been left out of the final England squad by Fabio Capello. I have previously hinted that this is something I would have considered from the very beginning. I would have never selected Walcott in my initial squad. I then suggested that actually Walcott’s selection against Mexico and Japan may not have been all it seems – see point four.

Walcott never seemed ready for this World Cup. His performance against Mexico was not good enough and he struggled to have any impact against Japan. He was tested and he failed. I did actually advocate the inclusion of Walcott as an impact substitute but clearly Capello thinks otherwise. In my opinion Walcott has been living off his hat-trick against Croatia in September 2008 for too long, since then he has done very little that is memorable.

This news has come as a shock to a lot of people. I don’t think anyone really expected Walcott to be cut – most people considered it one from Johnson and Shaun Wright-Phillips. Joe Cole seemingly did enough in his cameo against Japan. The person who expected this least was Walcott himself, saying to TV interviewers only a couple of days ago after the Japan game, “I deserve my place this time!” – he was clearly confident.

Walcott will have other chances to go back to a World Cup. First he must return to Arsenal, have a good pre-season and rediscover some form there. An alternative suggestion that I have seen posted around is that in fact he should leave Arsenal now and try to cement a first team place at another team where the physical aspect of the game is valued more. No doubt this will be a real confidence blow to him. The challenge is now on for him to perform in games like he did against Croatia, but on a regular basis.

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On Monday I wrote about why I felt Walcott should go to the World Cup but only in an impact substitute role. Today the England team for the second and final World Cup warm-up match against Japan was announced: David James, Glen Johnson, Rio Ferdinand (C), John Terry, Ashley Cole, Theo Walcott, Tom Huddlestone, Frank Lampard, Aaron Lennon, Wayne Rooney and Darren Bent.

Whilst the inclusion of both Tom Huddlestone and Darren Bent are worthy of discussion, I wanted to briefly follow up my piece on Walcott.

I find Theo’s inclusion in this second game as bizarre, for a few reasons:

1. I believe that Aaron Lennon should be starting on the right hand side for England at the World Cup. I expected him to start the upcoming game against Japan, but not on the left of midfield. If Walcott has been selected as first choice then fine, but Lennon should be given an opportunity to challenge for the position, in HIS position. It is unfair to expect Lennon to perform on the left of midfield when that is not his natural position. Lennon’s game has become about speed and his ability to either whip an early ball in or get to the byline and pull the ball back. On the left, Lennon will always have to cut back inside onto his right foot losing the yard of space he will have made for himself and giving the defender a chance. It also makes Lennon too predictable as he lacks the ability to cross with his left foot. Of course it could work in his favour, as sometimes it does with wingers playing on their wrong side but the fact he almost never plays there for his club, Tottenham, suggests this isn’t something he is too comfortable with.

2. There are three wide players who have had less of an opportunity lately to prove themselves than others – Adam Johnson, Shaun Wright-Phillips and Joe Cole. Surely it is in Capello’s interests to give them a chance considering at least one of them WILL be selected for the World Cup.

3. Walcott had a poor game against Mexico. His selection again could be a sign that Capello has faith in him and be an attempt at boosting his confidence. Alternatively, if Walcott was to go to the World Cup as an impact substitute then he could be trialled in that role in this game and he could come on for the last 25 minutes.

4. Part of me would like to believe that Walcott’s inclusion is actually a negative thing. I would like to think Capello has recognised that Walcott has been poor and wants him to play once more to convince himself that Walcott is not good enough to start or maybe even go to the World Cup – maybe Capello is having serious doubts about Walcott.

5. Finally, Walcott may be a guaranteed starter and Capello may just wish to give him minutes on the pitch.

I was angry earlier when I read that Lennon was starting on the left. When I saw that it was because Walcott was starting on the right I was fuming. I believe you either start your strongest team and bring on players to see how they can influence games, or you experiment in these friendlies. Capello has learnt nothing new from Walcott yet – he simply isn’t ready or in the form for top level International football yet, so starting Walcott again is no experiment. Lennon should be starting this game on the right, in his position, as he has a genuine chance of starting there at the World Cup. Walcott should either be amongst the substitutes or resigned to attempting to make an impact on the left – which might actually spare him of some criticism, as like Lennon, it isn’t his natural position either.

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