Let’s get one thing straight before we start : England\’s main man is Fabio Capello.
Not Rooney.
If we have a chance (and by that I mean a chance of playing five games), it’s because we are coached by Fabio Capello.
It’s good that we hired Mr Capello, who qualified with two games to spare.
And it’s good that’s he’s Italian because Italy have won the World Cup four times and England have won it once.
I reckon Capello looked at our best players training and saw more spirit than technique and decided to keep Stuart Pearce on his back-up team, to embody that fighting spirit, to remind the lads what they are good at and what England expects. We don’t have a Gazza to give shape to the play, a Hoddle to lay on a few chances, or even a Beardsley or Sheringham to keep things ticking over. What we have is something very fragile, very precarious.
Often, in the distant past, I’d think that England were the best team in the world when we were 1-0 down. On Saturday, without a real goalkeeper, and without a proper holding midfielder, we may find out if that is still the case.
Media stories this week have focused on Capello losing his temper.
At half-time in the practice game against the Platinum Stars, Capello bawled them out for three minutes, then walked out and sat alone in the front row of the stand for the next five minutes. I think that\’s good. Our footballers are too thick and sloppy to concentrate without reminders, without shouting. Sven\’s “I\’m OK, you\’re OK†approach was never going to work. Sven was an utterly incompetent wimp who hated confrontations.
Coaching is about improving players and Capello has tried to make every England player accountable for every pass, every tackle, every throw, every run, every position he takes up on the field. If you\’re not accountable for everything you do out there, how the hell can you call yourself a professional?
In general, I’m quite hopeful about England’s chances against USA, Algeria and Slovenia, even though I know that all of our players are one-dimensional except Ashley Cole, SWP, Joe Cole and Rooney.
Having said that, I’m nervous about Saturday, I’m scared that it could be a 1-1 draw, scared that Tim Howard could make five blinding saves. If Slovenia thrash Algeria, as I expect, we could be trailing from Day One.
The waiting has been getting on everyone’s nerves, I think. Including Rooney, we hear. In the evenings, the restless, edgy Rooney goes from hotel room to hotel room, chatting to different players, listening to different music. He can’t wait for the first game. He has a burning desire to show the world he is a great player.
People say to me : I just want it to start now. They\’ve been saying that for the last four days.
Friday is Matchday 1 and Saturday is Matchday 2 and those days will provide some action, some hard information, giving us something to talk about. Until then it’s all tosh, including everything I write here.
There has been nothing to write about and nothing to read about this week, and people are now tired of waiting and reluctant to wait one more day. A global public on five continents is previewed out by now. I know I am.
Anyway, I can\’t really write previews before the real World Cup starts on June 26 when the contestants are reduced to a comprehensible 16 teams.
I\’m not knocking the other 16, who will be knocked out. I\’m glad they’re there and I wish them all luck, especially the under-funded, paranoid and alienated North Koreans.
I\’ve read 30 articles in the last three days and learned only three things (1) Gallas won\’t speak to the media because Evra got the captain\’s armband (2) Veron is Messi\’s roommate and (3) the King of Denmark won the Faroe Islands from the King of Norway in a drunken poker game.
I like Gallas and he would be my captain of France. He cares a lot, maybe too much. He is still a tremendous warrior if he can stay fit. He puts on his kit and psyches himself into gladiator mode and puts in his gumshield and marches out for combat. If Gallas hadn\’t been a footballer, he would have been a commando. I actually fancy him to score more goals for France than Anelka does.
Veron is 35 now and used to play with Diego Maradona at Boca.
Veron knows that Diego has big holes in his brain and Veron also knows Messi is a shy kid who can\’t dominate as egomaniac Maradona did. Messi can fit into Barcelona\’s ball-circulation at any point on the pitch and at any time. Barcelona have a very clearly defined style of play. Argentina don’t.
Maradona has three keepers with 12 caps between them and he’s taken six strikers. If two strikers get crocked by Nigeria, that folly will look like a masterstroke.
Maradona is not a coach and it is truly, truly bizarre that he is leading Argentina now.
As Veron notes, “We have not found our game.” I hope they can find their game. But, realistically, a coach who called up 108 players in the qualifying cap campaign is never going to find Argentina\’s game. Can Veron find their game? No. Can Messi find their game? No.
Can Veron liase between Messi and Maradona and tell Diego how Leo wants the team to play? Maybe. But Veron is no longer good enough to play World Cup football.
Spain and Brazil are well-oiled machines that churn out results. Argentina cannot do that.
For them, losing is a trauma and winning is also a trauma. They could prove to be a dysfunctional outfit from a dysfunctional country who can’t even do the only thing the country is known for : play football. Because they are led by a deeply troubled, agitated icon with holes in his brain. I fear for Diego, really fear for him. He could embarrass himself and embarrass the World Cup. He should NOT be there, except as a cheerleader.
One bonus is this : Argentina can\’t disappoint me. I expect nothing from them. Chile are better.
I wish Argentina well as a team, and as a nation, and hope they are not ridiculed or embarrassed.