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Well, I voiced my misgivings from the offset and although I take no satisfaction from it, England didn't fail to deliver.
Where did it go wrong?
Qualifying - Best qualifying I can remember but let's face it, something is wrong if you come out not knowing the best formation, best goalkeeper and that nobody is better up front than Emile Heskey
Squad Selection - Adam Johnson, Scott Parker, Darren Bent. Symbols of what went wrong here. England relied too much on injured, recovering from injury, non match fit and out of form players. Fantastic sign to send out that you can have an awesoe season but those that are shit or average will always get in ahead of you.
No plan B - This is what really takes the piss. If you insist on taking those with question marks there must be another plan if it all goes wrong. It's fair to say that outside the first eleven, there were no impact players except for maybe Joe Cole who looked likely to change games. Ferdinand dropping out appears to have been catastrophic to the England team. Good player fair enough but there has to be someone not far off who can fill in effectively.
Preparation - John Terry, take a bow son.
Match selection - Sorry but this is where Capello got it wrong. Green was obviously a mistake in the first game but that comes back to an earlier point. Milner obviously wasn't fit for the first game but again this comes back to an early point (no plan b). I can go without seeing Shaun Wright Phillips playing for England again at right wing, nevermind left wing. Letting Carragher back into the team sent out all the wrong signals for me. I didn't think Lennon was too bad but he was doomed as soon as the Gerrard and Lampard unable to play together card reared it's ugly head again. Heskey from the start urrrgh. Heskey as a sub double urrrgh. Heskey as a sub with no wingers triple urrrgh.
Group - Should have won it. It would have helped build confidence for the knockout stages. USA you can forgive as the opener, Algeria is the game that they screwed up in.
Today - Wow, the Germans had pace in attack that was devastating. They had the creativity and craft that England have sorely missed this tournament. They have a system that benefits the team as opposed to fitting in with the individuals. You basically can't give teams like that two goal leads. Yeah we had a case with Lampard's 'goal' but unless the Germans capitulated the game would have been far from over. Terry and Upson were made to look very average. Barry wasn't as effective as he had been previously and the diamond didn't offer enough width (unsuprisingly). When that's not working, it's hard to change.
The mentality of the Englad squad needs to change. Too many 'veterans' who know it all and undermine the manager. Capello could do no wrong before the world cup so where the players get off telling him how to do his job just prior and during the World Cup is beyond me. Yeah, have an opinion but don't screw up the team because of it. I don't see one English manager that has the ability or achievements to be a success as England coach. That might be partly down to the Premier League or how ridiculously pressured the job is nowadays. People like Harry Redknapp can fuck off. Spurs were one of the worst teams I saw at the Stadium of Light this season.
Bit of an anti climax even without the usual England 'hype'. There was aalways a hope that it would click back into place and they would finally get going in the World Cup. You don't get second chances at the World Cup though, everything has to be dead on 'perfect'.
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