England's costly defeat

South Africa 2010 will go down as one of the worst World Cup campaigns in England’s history. Granted, the Three Lions did not qualify in 1974, 1978 or 1994, but, as far as finals tournaments go, this was perhaps the worst.

Sunday’s 4-1 defeat at the hands of a slick, intelligent German side was the heaviest World Cup defeat England has ever suffered. Fabio Capello’s veteran team, built around the fading remnants of the so-called “Golden Generation”, many of whom will never grace this stage again, were outthought, outmanoeuvred and generally outclassed by a young team that has the potential to dominate the international scene for years to come.

England’s last 16 exit came after a drab group showing in which they struggled to qualify second despite coming up against supposedly weaker opposition. Losing out to the USA in the race for top spot cost Capello’s men a much easier route to the final, with Ghana then Uruguay the alternative prospects before a sterner test against Brazil or Holland anticipated in the semi-final. Expecting England to beat Germany, Argentina, Spain and perhaps Brazil on the way to glory was more than just wishful thinking.

Sunday’s capitulation did not include the worst midfield or attacking performance we have seen from this team in the last two weeks. Capello’s men looked more comfortable on the ball than at any point during the group stage, building on the definite improvement shown in the Slovenia win.

Defensively, however, it was an England horror show. David James had to pull off at least two or three excellent saves and yet the Premier League select at the back still invited Germany to knock four past them.

England’s greatest strength against Slovenia was the team’s undoing against Joachim Low’s side who, unlike the Slovenians, know how to exploit the counterattack to devastating effect. Glen Johnson and Ashley Cole supported the England midfield very high up the pitch, as I’m sure they were instructed to do, but they left the defence dangerously exposed time and again and the Germans enjoyed a significant numerical advantage every time they swept forward.

Fabio Capello reportedly earns £6.5 million a year, which means the Italian will have cost the FA £26 million by the time his contract expires in 2012. For someone paid so much, he got things so wrong here when it really mattered.

If you’re up against a German eleven with three recognised strikers and Mesut Ozil leading the attack, playing with two central defenders and two roaming wingbacks is not a wise tactic. Lumbering duo John Terry and Matthew Upson were torn apart by the raw pace of Lukas Podolski, Mesut Ozil and Thomas Muller.

When there were significant numbers in the England defence, they defended like schoolboys. Everyone was drawn towards the ball and that left players free in wide open spaces. With Podolski and Muller hugging the touchlines up front, Germany’s lateral movement in the final third stretched their opponents’ defence beyond its elastic limit, which meant there always seemed to be a man unmarked at the far post. The last three German goals came about as a result of this defensive inadequacy.  

Frank Lampard’s disallowed strike, which bounced a clear metre inside Neuer’s line, was a travesty and will reopen the debate about the introduction of goal line technology. That moment will be dissected in great detail for week’s to come; who knows how the match would have played out if it had been rightly given? But, ultimately, that moment of controversy had little bearing on the result and it is not as if England deserved to win on the basis of this defensive performance.

Lampard had an unlucky day all round. He also hit the crossbar with a stunning long range freekick that had Manuel Neuer well beaten. The Chelsea midfielder came closer to scoring than any of his team mates after Matthew Upson’s goal, although Steven Gerrard also forced a fantastic save by the German keeper in the second half.

The fact that England’s main attacking threat emanated from midfield was telling. Wayne Rooney was the nation’s great hope heading into this tournament but the Manchester United star, who hasn’t scored in a competitive game since March, has woefully underperformed in South Africa. Rooney has now gone two World Cups without a goal and yet he is regularly lauded as one of the greatest strikers on the planet.

Miroslav Klose scored 6 goals in 38 appearances for club side Bayern Munich this season. Lukas Podolski hit 3 in 31 games for Cologne. With four goals between them in South Africa, they have nearly half their combined club total already in this tournament. Wayne Rooney found the back of the net 34 times in just 44 matches for Man Utd and Jermain Defoe scored an impressive 24 in 43 for Tottenham.

These statistics do bring us back to a familiar question: why do English players, unlike most of their international counterparts, play far better for their clubs than for their countries? What can be done to change that? That is the 26 million pound question.