Crunch week looms for England and FA

The FA is like the LTA (on the 1st day of Wimbledon): organisations with stupendous funds which pay massive salaries to anonymous men in suits, and which achieve a total lack of international success. Both are essentially systems for taking shedloads of cash and either stuffing it in the pockets of superrich businessmen or pouring it down the drain.

To win an international competition for the first time since 1966 (FA) or the 1930s (LTA), both organisations should be wound up immediately. They are far more to blame for the laughing stock status of England/Britain in world football and tennis than any coach or individual player.

Maybe this WC will be England's katharsis, and things will improve in 2014? I am very disappointed to have supported Germany back in 1996 (though, I must admit, I was very young and Germans did a lot for my family) - this was the time when supporting England would have been the greatest experience, it seems.

I'm rapidly reaching the conclusion that the past 24 hours have arguably been the most productive of England's World Cup campaign. JT had every right to speak as he did. He was given the platform by the FA and took it. By the same token, Capello has every right to manage in the way that he wishes to. It has bought him results in his career up to this point and it is those results that got him the England post. The players also have every right to disagree with Capello's approach and vice versa. These agreements seem to have been dealt with in a productive meeting. This is how adults communicate. Disagreement is not a problem as long as it is dealt with well. The only slightly unusual aspect of the mini-saga has been that one side of it has been discussed in public. Personally I find this quite refreshing.

What it will do however, is make a convenient scapegoat of Capello if England go out on Wednesday or in the last-16, and I think this could pose us problems.

Heaven knows I don't agree with all of his decisions, but that does not make him a bad manager. I think we need to wake up a little and recognise that actually, maybe England's results in tournaments are simply an accurate reflection of how good they are compared to other teams. So, no need to come up with a scapegoat (whether its the coach or a player), just a need to acknowledge our true place in the international pecking order. When we went out in '86 it was Maradonna's fault. 1990: unlucky deflected goal v Germany. 1998: Beckham. 2002: Seaman/Sven. 2006: Rooney/Ronaldo/Sven.

The hyp[e surrounding the EPL has led many to believe that we should be winning these tournaments, despite the fact that the style of play in the EPL does nothing to equip our players for the technical, posession based football in the WC and Euros. Despite the fact that the presence of so many foreigners in our league means our players are unable to develop in the same way as those of our rivals. Of our team, arguably only one player consistently reaches world class standards and that is Ashley Cole. There are many (Rooney, Gerrard, Lampard and others) who can be exceptional on their day, but the fact that they have never really had their day in a major tournament (bar Rooney in the early stages of the 2004 Euros) speaks volumes.

Ultimately, we are not as good as we think we are, so if/when we go out lets just accept it and move on rather than trying to find one person to blame. That way we might actually learn some lessons for next time.

David Bond doesn't actually know anything about football, just sticks to speculation and contract clauses

I would prefer the £10 million spent on grass roots football, coaching the kids in technique and ball skills, but did anyone notice who blinked first? ;)

#4 Exactly, in a nutshell.

I don't think the FA could have predicted quite how poor England would be in the group stages. Appointing a tested manager, giving him lavish support and ending any speculation he might be leaving for a club side after the WC - which so undermined Bobby Robson back in 1990 - all seemed sensible moves.
If England fail on wednesday, I feel Capello will just leave. I cannot see him hanging on - even for a huge pay out. He is a proud man and he would have utterly failed.
However I do not believe England will fail. Throughout footballing history, England - and Germany and Italy - come through when they have to win to escape the group stages.

The FA will be able to sigh collective relief.

Maybe if you stopped accusing the players of being divided and pressured then they wouldn't be so frustrated and therefore perform better?

How exactly does David Bond know what was said in the meeting and whether or not players agree with Terry?

I'm sick of reporters making up stories from a few rumours.

I'm sure none of this will matter after we beat Slovenia!

Its down to the players and nobody else.

I think many of the issues raised in the last few days following the Algeria game will be forgotten if...England win their next game. Personally I feel the current crop of England players just need to show Capello how well they can play. No one expects them to exhibit the silky skills of South Americas best or play beyond their abilities but at the very least…look like you are interested in playing for your country at the absolute top end of Football competitions…the World Cup!

I suspect Capello’s style was a short sharp shock for the players 2 years ago. But that is precisely why they are in the world cup now. Things needed to change. I find it interesting that the players who did not qualify for Euro 2008 are pretty much the same collection of players that seem unhappy playing for England now.

It’s almost as if playing for England is just not enough of an incentive. Quite an astonishing thought. Anyone can see if a referee’s decision was wrong (Kaka being sent off against CIV for instance), but a lack of interest in really playing to anything like your best in a world cup is just puzzling. Capello described it as “Incredible”. I agree.

I think this kind of England collapse is baffling. Wearing the England shirt should be all the incentive they need to play to their best or at least close.

Team selection and tactics should be no more than a side show for players. That is for the Manager to decide. Yes I do feel changes need to be made (Gerrard behind Rooney and Cole on the left) but IMO if England go out of this tournament with or without those changes, the failure to get to the last 16 will be placed squarely at the England players and the performance against Algeria. Not Cappello.

England might need to change most of the current squad and bring in a new and much younger group of players who are driven by the pride of representing England alone and do not require “concessions” to play properly.

It’s really sad to see footballers earning so much money but are getting “bored” representing their country at a major tournament. Some of John terry’s comments might have served to expose the thinking that led to the Algerian 0 -0 draw. I guess they just do not feel there is enough of an incentive to play to any decent level for England.

Strange really as pretty much the same crop of players played against Croatia and lost in that crucial 2008 qualifier. Capello was not the boss then was he? If I was the FA I would stick with Cappello and refuse to accept any resignation. Let the current crop of players go and bring in a new crop, that do not have the baggage and lack of interest the current crop appear to struggle with.

Yes the current crop of players are under pressure and yes Capello might be over doing the hard man act but still basic levels of interest should be addressed as soon as the England shirt is pulled on.

" If I was the FA I would stick with Cappello and refuse to accept any resignation. Let the current crop of players go and bring in a new crop, that do not have the baggage and lack of interest the current crop appear to struggle with."

THIS

#8 & #9

Agree!

Top post #11 by Maeksimum !

Far too much has been made of this so-called Golden Generation. They promised so much but rarely delivered on the big stage.

Capello should be allowed to completely rebuild the England team after the world cup.

Is David Bond ever going to respond to criticism of his blogs, like he expects Capello to respond to him? It's just "not satisfactory" (as said by David Bond when he felt he wasn't answered by Capello), especially as our license fee pays his wages

I can't believe people are talking about England's possible exit and speculating on Capello's departure, when we are still v. much in the hunt of topping our group.

Yes we've been poor against US & Algeria... but a win against Slovenia (who are no brazil) would see us through, possibly as top of the group.

I hope the england players show up on Wednesday and put in a performance that silences all the naysayers!

"pressure is mounting from the BBC for David Bond to resign over persistently negative reporting and blogging, they are reported to be looking for someone who actually provides some positivity to the English media." - If Carlsberg did news reports...

The FA and the England team as a whole need a shake-up and re-structuring, but unfortunately this will not come til after the 2018 bid is decided, and I don't think that the FA have the confidence to keep Capello on if it is a bad World Cup

The problem, I believe, is that Fabio Capello (who I believe is an excellent manager and a man I admire) went back on his word on picking in-form, fit players.

We all believed that Capello would, if he had to, leave behind the Lampards and the Gerrards if they were underperforming; the reality is, he was never going to, and I don't believe any manager would. Can anybody honestly say that if they were in his position they would?

I believe the error Capello has made is picking a set of very good individuals rather than a cohesive team. There's something very wrong with the current England squad; this was made horribly obvious by Friday's performance - they looked like a group of strangers. Every man in England's squad, I believe, fully deserves to be there.

However - I believe that as a team, England at the moment just do not work well.

To illustrate my point, look at Brazil. Now, how many managers would leave a player of Ronaldinho's worth (granted, he's not as good as he was, but he's still a very good player) at home? Not many. But what Brazil have achieved is a brilliant, cohesive TEAM, rather than a group of brilliant players. It's the old Chelsea and Man City problem: you can have a team of eleven stars, but that doesn't necessarily mean success.

"just like the England players, divisions inside the organisation."

A few journalists have mentioned divisions in the team, but no names and no evidence has been provided. John Terry's candid interview yesterday, hinted that they might have a few issues with some of Capello's methods, but nothing that mentioned any problems with his team mates or divisions in the camp. Obviously he could be hiding the truth, but until some concrete facts come out I think it is unreasonable for the media to keep commenting on this and can only be detrimental to a team that has enough on it's plate already.

Anyway, here's to a fear and Heskey free England performance on Wednesday!

Once again, another badly written piece, undermining the England team, management and whole structure. Just what does David Bond have against the set-up? Did he apply to be the new England manager only to get rudely turned down.

It would be nice to see ENGLISH press actually supporting the ENGLAND team. But no. Apparently they can't do that. All we've seen from the BBC, so-called 'reporters' this world cup so far are pieces putting down the England team effort.

Yes. I'll be the first to admit that the England team haven't played well, but that's when real supporters get behind their team, not use their well-paid positions to kick them while they're down.

As usual, I doubt that David Bond will respond to the criticisms of his writing in this blog. Maybe one of the people who employed him would like to explain why he was employed, and why he is still employed, when everything I've seen written by him so far this world cup has been far inferior comparatively to the performance on the pitch, and he keeps raising speculation of sackings for people involved in that.

David Bond's blogs and articles are nothing more than hateful negative bilge.

Why on earth does the BBC employ this person?

And why do they publish his garbage?

In training, the players put on a display of apparent unity with no obvious evidence of Terry being shunned by captain Steven Gerrard or any other team-mates for going too far with his comments.
//////////

A typical piece of Red Top journalism which seems much of the stock in trade of the current BBC sports journalism. You seem to have very little grasp of football. Goodness knows why you hold down the job that you do.

' Apparent unity ' ? You cheapo journos just can't resist in stirring things up can you? And who say's that JT went too far with his comments and being shunned by teammates?

Just what country do you support? Why don't you and others like you just shut up. You are all too far up your own b*cks*des.

If you look at the levels of commitment and skill from the England players you can only reach one conclusion and that is that they are heavily and inapproprately paid for their level of ability. They show little or no passion and frankly are outclassed in their ability by just about everyone else in the competition.

This is not the managers problem but a problem around how our game and premiership are run.

Point of example is that we have a 40 year old keeper, Jamie Carragher and Emile Heskey as prominent choices. If this is the cream of our crop then I think we need to invest much more energy in resolving skill levels and allowing our players to be just as imaginative as they are well paid.

This is by far one of the easiest groups and frankly it shows how crumbie our players really are - perhaps fewer imports would be a start, giving our England lads much more access to the higher levels of football.

It is generally a sad state of affairs and perhaps we need to look beyond our current manager for blame ...

Two draws and suddenly the media have to go and knock us all down with their exagerated views. The BBC is usually a sensible opinion but how many negative BBC blogs have we had to put up with in the last few weeks?
I could understand if the media were intelligent and had been saying for ages that we weren't good enough and could write saying 'told you so', or even if we were REALISTIC contenders to win in, had been succesful in our recent past, and didn't have any injury problems and something had gone drastically wrong.

But the media have instead decided to just scrap their own stories and wrote the other extreme to sell and to get views. The fact of the matter is: we have a lot of injury problems, we weren't one of the favourites with the rest of the world anyway, and I haven't seen many big teams do well so far, the possibility of Italy, france, England and then more farfetched still spain and germany all going out before the last 16.
We aren't alone in this, let's get behind the team and have realistic expectations, not just build them up to knck them down as we do every single tournament.

why is it that every world cup the press insist on finding dirt to drag the manager through? it doesnt help.

i say keep capello even if we crash out. there is only so much a manager can do before his players must start performing, which of course we never saw on friday. players,coaches and manager are all as bemused as we are about this.

we didnt start palying bad overnight, the results have been by and large spot on prior to the start of world cup so lets just roll with it. if its not to be its not to be, just hope we play with some spirit on wednesday if nothing else.

"I'm David Bond, the BBC's Sports Editor. This blog will give you an insight into the big stories and issues in sport."

That is what it says next to his picture.

No, this blog will do nothing more than continue to post conjecture, hyperbole, and speculation wrapped up in statements starting "rumours persist", "sources close to.... suggest", blah blah blah.

Pretty much every article written by Mr Bond has lacked any depth of journalistic talent. They genuinely feel like they are written by a guy sat in London miles away from the World Cup.

Dreadful. This is not the standard I expect of the usually excellent BBC. Please stop linking to this blog every day and link to some of your better content.

Frankly, I don't care about how uncomfortable life gets for the FA, how much money they lose. I long since stopped caring after the Wembley fiasco which let us not forget is still on going. Those worries are for teh bureaucrats and paper pushers of teh FA. No what I really care about is England's chances at doing well. I don't need us to win the World Cup, or even to qualify into the knock out phase, just to play with some skill, passion and ability - something I really can't remember hapeening on a consistent basis since Euro 96.

When Capello arrived I believed that no matter how well or badly England does, I won't blame hime - and I stand ny that, a long long succession of England teams have failed with and even longer list of managers over the years. I'm not sure what the problem is but I'm pretty sure it can't be the manager's especially one who has won league titles in Spain and Italy and the Champions League.

I agree with the previous posts about playing for the National team being reward in itself -- were the '66 squad parading their riches &/or irreverently displaying their trophy partners in an overt game of "I am considerably richer than yow' (©Harry Enfield)...? No. They let their skills do all the talking - they were happy to sport the Three Lions because they were more passionate about the game of football than any personal gain that Football could afford them.

If winding up the FA (as suggested above) as is, and replacing it with a body that runs the game/National Team based on little or no intervention for over-zealous agent-lead egotists, then maybe we stand a chance of having our National Team taken seriously and (re)gaining credibility as viable contenders for Tournament silverware.

haha its not going to well here Mr Bond? lets wait and see what true wisdom his next blog posting holds!

seriously though, England have 2 points from 2 games and have only "leaked" 1 goal - it could be better yes, but it could be sooo much worse.

I find it remarkable how much time and money is spent gossiping about football by the pundits at ITV and the BBC when it is all based on hearsay and tittle tattle. Why can't you just watch football without making any non-story into some over blown gossip fest. Really, it gets on my nerves how many bloggers seem to know so much about the inner workings of this or that...who really cares...surely if England win all this gossip will be forgotten and we will move onto some other non-story.

"Yes we've been poor against US & Algeria... but a win against Slovenia (who are no brazil) would see us through, possibly as top of the group."

Lets be honest though nor are we, I think us and the other major european countries are suffering from a "We're going to beat this lot easily" mentallity.

I agree with you on past experience us playing dire in two opening games of a tournament is nothing new, although the hysteria in the media this time is not helping and might be putting too much pressure on them to now perform, they are only human after all.

And Jay, actually I would drop the big names, I'd drop Rooney for the next game and play Crouch and Defoe a successful partnership at Portsmouth and Spurs, Rooney is totally out of sorts and I'd use them to try and ensure we get through by which time he might hit some form. Lampard wouldnt have made my team at all, he would be back-up to Gerrard.

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

Some see a half pint as being half full. David Bond sees it as a potentially lethal hazard full of deadly poison. Which Capello probably concoted. Honestly man, get a grip. Since the k.o against USA, the journalism in this country has been an absolute disgrace. Footballers- not being the brightest chaps in the land- will fully believe your words convey the opinions of the average english fan. And you wonder why the england team don't seem motivated??!

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

One of these days people will stop blaming the FA or the manager, and see that the players hold the key.
You can take a horse to water, but you can't make them drink OR You can put a star player on the field, but you can't make him pass.
Drop Rooney, bring on Crouch (LOOK AT HIS GOAL RECORD FOR ENGLAND!) then swap them halfway through, if needed.

Many have said this. Pride and performance should come from your shirt. If it isn't, goodbye and good luck in the Champions League you money chasing morons.

Utter tripe! Anyone who actually bothered to watch the John Terry interview would not have been left with the impression that there was going to be any such crisis meeting. All he was saying was that there was a [routine] team meeting and that the players and manager would share their views openly (as presumably they always do on these occasions).

No splits, no conspiracy - just a bored and furstrated media trying to make up something to write about. Perhaps the media need to play a bit more darts and snooker during those long afternoons before dinner. ;-)

I agree. Little has changed. We're still a team of average footballers (in terms of skill and creativity), no matter who the manager is.
In the last 11 world cup matches(going back to 2002), England have scored a total of 10 goals (3 games of not scoring), the goals being;
- 2 free-kicks
- 2 long range goals (1 in a dead 3rd group game)
- 2 headers from crosses (1 in a dead group game).
- 1 penalty
- 1 defensive mistake
- 1 goal from a defender
- 1 goal from a simple lay off (against USA)

can't see any free flowing move goals in there....especially in games that matter. 3 of the goals came from Gerrard, 3 from Beckham (free-kicks & pen). The only goals by out-and-out strikers came from Crouch versus Trinidad (foul at the back post), and from Owen versus Brazil (mistake letting him in on goal). Joe Cole (freaky long range goal) and Sol Campbell being the only other scorers. That shows that the team is really not very good when the pressure is on. The best England can expect is a nervy 1-0. World beaters? I think not.

We have a very capable manager in Fabio Capello, an organisation (the FA) who couldn't run a p*** up in a brewery, and a team of very, very average players. So who do we vilify and want to get rid of - yes the very capable manger - only us English and our hyena like media could accomplish this.

Yet another completely over-the-top, inexcusable piece of pseudo-tabloid 'journalism'. Proof positive, if proof was in any way needed, that anyone can write anything about anyone on the internet and someone will publish it.

Frankly, England have played poorly. But all this cloak and dagger X-Files-esque conspiracy theory is beyond the pale. Let's get behind our lads rather than just assume they will go out.

As for Capello? He's the best thing that has happened to the England Team for over a decade. And now we are talking like his position is untenable.

The way we like to build people up, to knock them down again is shameful. Maybe it's always been the case, but 24 hour 'news' has a hell of alot to answer for when it comes to the volume of negativity we are confronted with these days.

Thanks for confirming what we already know about your 'industry', Mr. Bond.

4. At 12:42pm on 21 Jun 2010, Kapnag wrote:

David Bond doesn't actually know anything about football, just sticks to speculation and contract clauses

You could replace the name David Bond with any sports journalist and you would still be right.

I agree that the journalist response to the USA game was overtop. I actually think it hurt the confidence of the team. The team did play badly and there were alot of positives.

The media response spoilt the confidence of the team for the game against Algeria, because they were nervous about the press response if they lost. E.G. Gerrard doing a pass when usually he would have done a full shot etc.

If I were a player I would say, play for yourselves i.e. the team. Forget England, and the fans etc. You want win, like you wanted to win every football match since you were ten years old.

Frankly i think it's about time that everyone, especially english fans woke up to the fact that the so-called 'world class' players that England claims to have are merely average at best. Manager after manager have come and gone, and yet still England still produce the same bland football they have become known for. True, there is a question of tatics and the managerial factor, but ultimately it's just down to the fact that the English players are simply not good enough. And frankly the media does not help them one tiny bit by blowing individual players' footballing ability wide out of proportion, and then slamming them after poor performances. what do they expect? that a group of average footballers will suddenly become world beaters through media frenzy? Give me a break.

So what do the FA do to promote English football? Perhaps they should revamp the League Cup to being English players only. This will give English players a chance to shine in a spotlight where many are not seen. It will also promote team play amongst English players and give English football an identity again.

As for the current team in S. Africa, it is clear that stress has got to them. The pressure is huge, and leads to sleepless nights and tiredness between games and prevents the free-flowing instinctive play we love to see during the games themselves.

32. At 1:55pm on 21 Jun 2010, 4dam wrote:

I'd drop Rooney for the next game and play Crouch and Defoe a successful partnership at Portsmouth and Spurs.

Scoring goals against the likes of Wigan and Burnley doesn't make them world beaters I'm afraid.

I think many of the issues raised in the last few days following the Algeria game will be forgotten if...England win their next game. Personally I feel the current crop of England players just need to show Capello how well they can play. No one expects them to exhibit the silky skills of South Americas best or play beyond their abilities but at the very least…look like you are interested in playing for your country at the absolute top end of Football competitions…the World Cup!

I suspect Capello’s style was a short sharp shock for the players 2 years ago. But that is precisely why they are in the world cup now. Things needed to change. I find it interesting that the players who did not qualify for Euro 2008 are pretty much the same collection of players that seem unhappy playing for England now.

It’s almost as if playing for England is just not enough of an incentive. Quite an astonishing thought. Anyone can see if a referee’s decision was wrong (Kaka being sent off against CIV for instance), but a lack of interest in really playing to anything like your best in a world cup is just puzzling. Capello described it as “Incredible”. I agree.

I think this kind of England collapse is baffling. Wearing the England shirt should be all the incentive they need to play to their best or at least close.

Team selection and tactics should be no more than a side show for players. That is for the Manager to decide. Yes I do feel changes need to be made (Gerrard behind Rooney and Cole on the left) but IMO if England go out of this tournament with or without those changes, the failure to get to the last 16 will be placed squarely at the England players and the performance against Algeria. Not Cappello.

England might need to change most of the current squad and bring in a new and much younger group of players who are driven by the pride of representing England alone and do not require “concessions” to play properly.

It’s really sad to see footballers earning so much money but are getting “bored” representing their country at a major tournament. Some of John terry’s comments might have served to expose the thinking that led to the Algerian 0 -0 draw. I guess they just do not feel there is enough of an incentive to play to any decent level for England.

Strange really as pretty much the same crop of players played against Croatia and lost in that crucial 2008 qualifier. Capello was not the boss then was he? If I was the FA I would stick with Cappello and refuse to accept any resignation. Let the current crop of players go and bring in a new crop, that do not have the baggage and lack of interest the current crop appear to struggle with.

Yes the current crop of players are under pressure and yes Capello might be over doing the hard man act but still basic levels of interest should be addressed as soon as the England shirt is pulled on.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

top top post mate!

i'm so pleased to see that the majority of contributors can see beyond the shallow need of these journalists to make a quick buck by sensationalizing everything and their bloodthirst in trying to pull us down.

If majority of the English people thought like this guy and agreed with his twisted logic, I'd think they were a dreadful lot. I'd have been really worried!

If England get knocked out on Wednesday or even the next match the FA should insist that Capello stay and get him to get rid of the most of the deadbeats in the present squad. He needs to build a new team from scratch, IGNORING reputations and the press.

It's about time the England squad got a fresh injection of people who WANT to play, and not HAVE to play because of their so-called forms they showed during the season.

This is a very brief blog putting the current reported issues in the England camp into the context of wider difficulties at the FA. I really don't think it deserves all the bile being spouted on here.

The joy of football is that the vast majority of fans think they know best (I'm one of them). Better than the manager, better than the players and better than the journalists. Why this always has to manifest itself as spleen-venting vitriol rather than just good honest debate/argument is beyond me.

Kind of get the idea that everybody is just jealous that these guys get paid to write about the game we all love. To be honest, so am I! But lets not start blaming the media for the pressure on our team. We get the media we deserve: we buy the papers, we log on to the websites and we watch the broadcasters. If you don't like it, switch off.

It's pointless blaming too many Foreign Players in the EPL as the reason we are failing at International level as i would reverse that argument and ask the question "How many of our English Players have played for Overseas Clubs?". Once upon a time we had the likes of Platt and Gascoigne in Serie A, Kevin Keegan in the Bundesliga and Beckham, Owen and Woodgate in La Liga. The Players we have today seem totally uninterested in playing abroad and i believe we only have 2 English Players now playing overseas?

Gareth Barry is a perfect example. He tried to orchestrate a move to Anfield with his Contract running out at Villa, but at the expense of Xabi Alonso (a better player in my opinion), then finally made a move to Man City, he has done a great service for Villa and is entitled to move on, but i can't see a move to another Premiership rival as really being a step forward in his personal Career. At no point did he seem to even look at the possibility of playing in La Liga or Serie A which left me disappointed.

Gary Linekar etc. went abroad, learnt new languages and learnt new Football, so why don't todays Players? Because they are only interested in Money rather than personal development and progress. One of our former Players (Michael Robinson) is now a top Sports Presenter in Spain i believe? now that is progress for me. Our people won't learn or achieve anything by staying on home soil their entire Careers and i mean that across British Sport not just Football.

The best way for English Football to advance on the International front is if we eliminate the Greed element that is like a Virus in our Football. The beginning of this would be to bring back the Wage Cap in some form or other.

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

"But reaching the last 16 will only mask the deeper problems witnessed at the FA over the last few months: namely a lack of leadership and, just like the England players, divisions inside the organisation."

How do you know there are divisions within the England team? Stop trying to make a story out of nothing it does nothing good whatsoever. You're clearly just hoping that things go wrong for England so you've got something to write about. Rubbish Blog

If David Bond knows nothing about football perhaps he should join the FA?

@ no 50....
Well there is some truth to what you just posted, but face it; how many english players playing in england would make it into to teams abroad? milan? barca? madrid? bayern? i just don't see that happening....

Some comments on this blog are the same old tedious idioms thrown out whenever England under-perform at a major championships. I'm so tired of people laying the blame of English player's technical inability down to the influx of foreign players in the EPL. Remind me, were there any foreign players in the 1st division running upto 1970, or 1974. Didn't make '78, but two Agentinians were the only non-British Isles nationals plying heir trade in England, so does that mean that England's performance in Spain '82 suffered as a consequence - NO!! Infact in the next 8 years England improved!
When the game is slowed down, and internationals often are, then pass completion and retention become a mainstay of a good team - the stats prove this. England has the same pass completion ratio as the average in the EPL so they play the same quality as we see day in and day out in the premiership, only it looks terrible because the game is much slower at international level.
The sooner English club sides start to tactically change their style of play from a physical game to a more technical game, then we will start to see a change on an International level. The time has come now when we stop giving airtime to ex-player commentators or managers who keep bleating on about heart, spirit, and bravery, and instead give merit to footballers who have some on-pitch nouse, and who can have the confidence to pass the ball on the ground!!

David,

I have been following your blog posts throughout the WC. I think I have counted less than 5 positive responses for all your hard work...

Maybe you should just give up....?

Often those who "get on", like Mr Bond here, talk a good game without ever having to play one. This blog is showing you up as a bit of a run of the mill hack. Insight - Yes please when is it coming?

All this is so refreshing.Every one is actually blaming the players and managers.NO ONE IS BLAMING THE REFEREES !!Keep it up !!

I'm not so sure that Terry and Gerrard didnt have 'words' during the first 15 or 20 minutes of the Algeria game (I havent seen the full match replay to be sure) but it wouldnt surprise me that there is dissent in the camp. Whilst yesterdays news conference was honest I'm not sure what it acheived except create more 'media mahem'. I'm praying we are not good enough to get knocked out yet'; we'll scrape through the qualifiers and the last 16 then just as we are starting to play well go out on penalties, probably to... Germany!!

Perhaps the England players are not as good as the English press make them out to be? If they are and they know more than the manager then why are the FA wasting £6 million a year on paying Fabio Capello.

Somewhere in all that there is a mismatch.

The England players are good and dont need a manager.
The England Manager has no idea about teams and how to play.
The English press do not recognise real talent and blow up mediocrity.
England are not very good.

I dont know the answer but would like to see what other people think.

I made this point on Friday ahead of the Algeria game and I will make it again because Friday night only showed to vindicate what I am trying to say:

Forget Capello, forget the FA, forget the administration and non-playing side of Club England. These all matter not a jot because ENGLAND DO NOT HAVE THE PLAYERS TO COMPETE AT THE FINAL STAGES OF THE WORLD CUP! Why is it in this country that because Sky - the majority stakeholder in the EPL - talk it (the EPL) up as being The Best League In The World that everyone jumps on the bandwagon and then finds it unfathomable for England to struggle against teams like USA and Algeria "because our players are much better than their players." I'm sorry, but no they are not!!!

How many players in the England team are, in 2010, competing regularly in the latter stages of the Champions League or are comanding a starting place in an EPL - winning side? Rob Green, David James, Joe Hart, G Barry, L King, G Johnson, J Carragher, S Gerrard, P Crouch, J Defoe, A Lennon, S Wright-Phillips, M Dawson, M Upson..... NONE OF THEM.

Why don't the English public WAKE-UP and realise that apart from 5 players England have a very humble, modest, average squad.

FACT.

back @ no 54...
I agree with you too yes, they wouldn't make it in the Clubs you listed so they should look slightly under them and try Clubs like Valencia or Sampdoria perhaps? But then i look at the names you have listed and this makes me think "Champions League". If everyone wants to play in the CL then maybe this is also a problem we need to address?

Players then, surely, are only interested in sitting on the Bench for say Arsenal or Liverpool when they could be guaranteed a start every week at Newcastle or Wigan which again suggests a preference to greed rather than personal improvement. David Villa has just moved to Barcelona, so i would imagine this is a similar feeling in La Liga and the other European Leagues too...

I would think it quite contemptuous for England to suddenly turn on their abilities and actually win against arguably the strongest team in the group. I will be supporting them, placing my criticism aside until after the game, but just to quickly reiterate what I have stated all along, even before the world cup began...this England team do not have the self-discipline or character to pull the required win out the bag. They have lost interest and enthusiam, and will probably want to weather the critical storm rather than stay in the competition.
The FA, on the other hand, really do need to get their act together. Currently it looks like a copy of the MP's expenses scandal running through it.
Firstly, having a non-English manager managing the English team is a absurd concept...we have to find the right man here in our own country. We have to develop a youth schedule in order to build a future competitive England squad. We need to cap player wages; all that money sloshing around and going to the few, when it could be used to save clubs, lower prices for merchandise and season tickets, etc, could revitalise our national game: that is the key word 'revitalise'. We need a revolutionary turnaround and restructuring for football here in England. Stop the non-English imports and develop a future for English kids to make their way into becoming top players for our leagues and our national squad. It will take time to develop, but would be totally worthwhile in the long run.

Sorry but this is ClapTrap as usual. The media making up stories from rumours created by media themselves. Hopefully when England win the group and go on to do well in the tournament Mr Bond and his friends will honourable fall on their swords and resign.

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

@ 62 again...

True, true, that could be happening in leagues elswhere, Spain, france, Italy but their national teams have done miles better than the english. there obviously is a huge problem, and i simply think that these current group is english players are just not good enough

Dougal4ever wrote:
It's pointless blaming too many Foreign Players in the EPL as the reason we are failing at International level as i would reverse that argument and ask the question "How many of our English Players have played for Overseas Clubs?".

How many German players play outside Germany? (0) How many Brazilian players have played for European Clubs? (23, with 19 currently there). So this has little to do with it. However, look at the players of top clubs in the German league, they have 15-20 German players, in Brazil they have at most three foreign players. Compare that with Chelsea (10 English), Liverpool (9 English) or even Fulham (7 English).

There is too much money in English football, and it suffers from it (as does Spain). Spain won Euro-08 with an exceptionally talented squad, but generally are under-achievers like England. Denmark (92) and Greece (04)have shown it's possible to have success without famous-name players, but well-organised teams playing to their best with a little bit of luck.

If England do get out the group, all the problems will be masked till the next major tournament. Once the world cup is over, which will be sooner than later:

1. Drop all players who will be 32/33 by next world cup permanently.
2. Drop younger ones with attitude problems or the ones who may be bored.
3. Keep Capello.
4. A team capable of having a decent shot the next world cup is possible in 4 years.

There are quite a number posts in various blogs about Capello not having a Plan B. Then there a number of posts which say that the players are used their positions in their clubs and will perform well only in those positions save 1 or 2 who might be ok out their used position. Capello I think is quite aware of that and that might be the reason he is hesitant in changing the formation.

I would like to round off with two things;

1. Capello is not daft, the team is just useless;
2. David Blond, all your blogs have been bland as many have pointed out.

If we have a good win on Wednesday what will the media reaction be. "Well done boys now push on" - or will it be "Papering over the cracks of a divided team".

I will leave it to my fellow posters to choose.

As usual, the media continues to undermine with mindless drivel what is, an ongoing WC campaign. This journey started two years ago and despite much negativity is still ongoing. Imagine if our Media was South African, Cameroonian or Ivorian? The French are basically out and the Italians are in a similar spot to ourselves. I don't personally think Germany will go out, but I'd wager that their position is more precarious than ours just now.
Slovenia will be no easy game (Wembley anyone - late penalty for a ghost challenge), they have been the best team in our group so far in that they have played to their potential, if we ever do anything similar, we can go far, but there in lies the rub, we need to perform and we haven't so far. What wave of optimism was felt by the fans, has been crushed by a combination of awful journalism and poor team displays, BUT there is still time to turn it all around! My only concern is that I may have to read a Thursday morning blog written by an overpaid scaremonger, touting how the worst disaster in history was averted and we now are nailed on Semi-finalists given that other countries are out and our obvious class. Let the lads play the game, but more importantly, let the public and the kids in England enjoy the journey. Only one country out of the 32 can win this thing and if it's not to be us then we'll be no worse off than the other 30 who reached the finals and didn't win it either. How many other countries will be firing coaches and calling for a national day of mourning as we seem to every time something doesn't go our way?
I have a feeling this campaign is about to have one of those intoxicating twists that are so synonymous with England World Cup campaigns and who knows, it might just be a positive one for once.
Positives so far are:
- We have conceeded only once in 180 mins (and that was a howler) and the defence has been pretty solid.
- We have two points from two games and with one game to go our destiny is in our own hands.
- The players and Manager all know what we have served up so far is not good enough...the only way is up.
- We're England...would you have it any other way?
Not a long list, but let's focus in on the good things. COME ON ENGLAND!!!!

43. At 2:56pm on 21 Jun 2010, VanthePersie wrote:

Frankly I think it's about time that everyone, especially English fans woke up to the fact that the so-called 'world class' players that England claims to have are merely average at best. Manager after manager have come and gone, and yet still England still produce the same bland football they have become known for.

Maybe so, but I am sure that the England players should at least be capable of passing the ball, which seemed to be failing them on Friday. Also, witness theoretically less talented teams such as Switzerland beating superior opponents because of team cohesion (and a bit of luck).

Teams can be more than the sum of their parts - or in the case of England - less than the sum of their parts.

However, I agree about England managers not being the root cause: I suspect that the cause is the hysterical false expectations, the perpetual droning on about 1966 and similar nonsense which invariably accompanies every tournament England ever qualifies for.

I suspect that because we invented football we English secretly believe that we have some kind of right to be better than everyone else: we just can't think ourselves into the role of the "plucky underdog", which is precisely what we need to be to ever have a hope of winning the World Cup (or the European Cup for that matter).

I just wonder how David Bond knows what was said in the 'clear the air meeting'? This meeting was a standard meeting held as usually after a game where the manager and players analyse the performance of the previous game. They look at areas that could be improved upon, where things went wrong etc. Only the media claimed that this meeting was a specially called 'clear the air' meeting.

It is common knowledge that even at club level this is how things are dealt with between players and managers. They voice their opinions.

When in the press conference did John Terry issue a rallying cry to the England squad to embark on a French Style Revolt? Where do you get this stuff from David Bond?

Why Gerrard or any other player shun John Terry? Your use of 'the players put on a display of apparent unity' smacks of you really wanting a French Style Revolt as that would make far more interesting reading than England winning on Wednesday!

Your speculative theories which seem to frankly have little foundation are just laughable. You attempt to speak with authority as if someone with the camp is telling you everything that is said and done. Don't someone take minutes for you in the 'clear the air meeting'?

How many players in the England team are, in 2010, competing regularly in the latter stages of the Champions League or are comanding a starting place in an EPL - winning side?
-----------------------------------------
Ahhhh but turn it on its head and you'll see more or less as many as Germany, Italy, Holland, Argentina & Brazil and certainly more than Algeria, Slovenia & the USA.

No sane person expects England to win the World Cup but we should certainly be able to make the last 16 from this group without such a struggle.

The players have the ability. It's the temperament and attitude that I think is an issue.

This comment has been referred for further consideration. Explain.

I am tired of the stupid, irrelevant and nonsensical blogs from David Bond. He seems to be on a single handed mission to undermine the England team.

The overriding message in his latest piece of inciteful journalism is 'if England do badly, it's bad news. If England do well, it's bad news'.

Come on Mr Bond, either write something useful and interesting or come home and don't bother writing anything at all.

Poor, very, very poor.

David bond stick to finical side of football your knowledge of the fine game is embrassing when i read this blog i cringe at such words like '' the french revoulution'' or fine divided between success and failure'' i think you are taking this whole crisis thing with england too serious.

All capello needs to do his address his team and try to motivate them for the next game on wednesday as for the world cup bid 2018 i think all the whole hype of triesman finished months ago its sorted i dont think that will play hopefulli england host the world cup its what england hasnt had over 44 years.

Whether the clinically-obese lady sings this week or next the FA luncheon club should be wound up this year and a 21st Century replacement formed to sort out the unsatisfactory state of football in England at ALL levels................. otherwise this fiasco is guaranteed every two years.
The current manager, the current crop of players, and the hangers-on must go.
England must rebuild, not resort to expensive sticking plaster.

I'm amazed that this man has managed to keep his job, when there have been such poor results. You'd really expect a much, much better performance during the World Cup, but there has been nothing.

This is a man who is paid handsomely pocket, and yet refuses to see where he is going wrong. Is it not time that he was removed from his post?

Fabio Capello? NO, David Bond.

There was a time when the BBC was held in the highest regard for it's journalistic impartiality. However, the general trend, over the last few years, has been a slow and steady move closer and closer to the gutterpress. This kind of reporting tells us nothing and yet looks to whip up a fervour against the England team.

There really is nothing to see here, folks, move along please!

Watching the John Terry press conference, my biggest concern was when he stated "Have seen on Sky" Maybe FC should ban the players from watching news reports and reading papers during the WC.

Regarding J.Cole - he was asked about J.Cole and answered honestly what he thought of him.

Regarding N.Anelka - Again he was asked about the player, and answered.

Why do the media always try and make something out of nothing?

Mr Bond, to be a successful blogger, you are supposed to comment on comments posted in your blog..

If these posts are "reactively moderated" why do my posts not appear?

On the Bond Blog, of 14th June, my post STILL does not appear?

Is this a conspiracy??

I was Glad John Terry said what he did, someone had to say something, Friday was shocking

Whatever happens we need to keep Capello at all costs!!

Fingers crossed time.....

Talking of which........

There were 588 posts on that 14th June blog, and not one from Mr bond to answer his critics.

Maybe this time he will climb down from his ivory tower, and address his detractors???

What is it about journalists in this country? The doom and gloom mentality sickens me, it is almost as if the press want England to lose in order that they can continue to stick the knife in.

I fail to see the point of this article, it is poorly written and makes statements that are simply hyperbole and jumping on the panic station bandwagon with no merit, or actual fact.

Yes England have not yet performed, and yes 2 points at this stage is not what we expect but remember, we can still actually top the group.

Let's wait until Wednesday evening before we criticise and maybe just maybe a bit of support and a lifting of the ridiculous pressure pot may just help the team.

Let's do what we are supposed to do and optimistically support and not sit here waiting for England to fail!

What do you expect from Mr.Bond? The man who yesterday brought you a scintillating piece which firstly said the FA "privately" expected Capello to quit should England not get out of the group. Then had quotes from the FA denying that and from Capello's team denying it.

Bring back Mihir Bose! :-(

I have read & re-read David Bond's article. What on earth is all the fuss about. All he has written is 90% fact & 10% opinion. If you do not like his blog then why read it. At least he writes without having to lace his writing with astericks. Seems to me that he sparks discussion 77 of them in three hours.

Perhaps it would be better to concentrate on foot ball rather than the resolute destruction of characters.

While the England team may be unhappy with somethings so must Capello. After Terry's rather open, considering he is not Captain, veiled criticism of the manager it is well to see that the Players have not followed the French disastrous attitude.

One thing is for certain Capello will not take a single bit of notice of anything we say here. He seems to me to be his own man & will not give way. Having been lucky I am one of the few to have seen Sir Alf Ramsay take (drag) England to win world cup. Ramsay was definitely his own man he left out Greaves wow a sensation & we won. Let us hope Capello has that iron character.

Hi have poeple forgot that we did not qualify for the euro 2008 with this team they have played in the last 2 games. Gerrard an Lampard can not play together its about time we put new players in. I was glad when Rio was not playing i think he's not as good in the England team.We need new blood in the team. thanks steve

Is the England team using a Sports Psychiatrist?

Capello identified that the team 'played with fear' not long after first taking over..so what has he done about trying to change it? (maybe he can't). It's plain to see Gerrard, Lampard et al don't play the same way at their club sides. Amazing to still be talking about 'pressure' now.

I certainly hope more came out of the team meeting than Capello 'agreeing to listen more' and 'relax restrictions on players free time'..hardly earth shattering moves are they?

I thought the Panto season was over?
we have heard this nonsense every time england don't beat teams that they think they should at WC and EC it is boring.
England will beat Slovenia on wednesday at it will be full steam ahead, everthing is rosy, Capello is great until the next bad game!!

I have watched England play football for many years now, and this display by our "best" is no real difference in performance from most tournaments that I can remember since a child. In the 11 world cups since 1966, we have failed to qualify 3 times, had 4 quarter final finishes & 1 semi final and in 2 others we went out in the group or knock out stages. And for all of the talismanic titles given to players like Rooney, he does not hold a light to Gary Liniker, Michael Owen or even David Platt for their country.

So we are not the best in the world, or even Europe - we all kinda know this already. This does not stop us playing some inspired passionate football in individual matches, but we are not, nor ever have been technically gifted in the way of South American / Southern European teams. We are also not consistent, and always, but always have the pundits talking about the mathematics of progressing to the next round.

All of the above makes no difference to me in this World Cup. I don't care about players or managers and their differences and/or personal lives, I don't care about past results or a totally & repeatedly rubbish media (it has to be said, you destroy more than you build, neither of which is the job of the press!!).

What I want from MY England TEAM, is passion, commitment and a drive to do the best in every match - I do expect you to fail at some point, but I want you to fail with dignity and to have stretched yourself as far as humanly possible before that happens. Please at least try............

I'm a Dutchman living in England, quite sad at the footballing failure of my adopted country.

If the tactics have worked up to now and works for others then you surely can't blame the tactics. England's bad performance in the first two games has been due to players playing badly, nothing else. In the first game England was just unlucky and in the second their players bottled it.

In the third game England will win, you'll go through to the next round and have a clean slate. Then you'll be all the way through to the semis againmst Holland.

That's when you'll go out, not before!

It seems to me that the media are doing their usual thing of trying to find every negative angle they can. We should bear in mind 3 things: 1. the media (& most fans) generally underestimate the ability of our opponents, especially to stop us playing the way we want to play. 2. England have regularly got off to a poor start in World Cups. 3. Players & teams have off days/poor runs of form - even teams as good as Barcelona, Chelsea, Man Utd. Whenever we hit a patch like this, the media decide it's the manager who's to blame - rather than the 1-14 players who actually failed to perform on the pitch. (Surely top class & highly-paid players can play in a range of different systems & against a range of different opponents?) If we get knocked out of Wednesday, why sack Capello? If he doesn't resign, we should keep him on. He hasn't stopped being a good manager overnight. Why shouldn't he take us through the Euro qualifiers? (PS I wonder when the media will compare Eriksson's performance to Capello's? Don't I seem to recall them hounding him for World Cup achievements somewhat better than Capello's?)

@82 - I doubt we will see a response from Mr Bond. These blogs are increasingly becoming just 'fire and forget' pointless journalism. It seems that the BBC have decided to dispense with their employees that actually interacted with the community in favour of this tabloid-esque sensationalism. Rubbish.

Spare a thought for the many of us who do not share the enthusiasm for football, dont watch it, dont like it and dont care.
We are bombarded in press and TV and we wont fell silly when the team come home leaving us with our flags still attached to our cars.

England will beat Slovenia and top the group. I know it. On Thursday morning it will be like "what was all the fuss about? Of course we've progressed to the last 16! - now, bring on Germany!". Believe.

I don't think the results against Algeria and the U.S.A are necessarily indicative of major flaws in Capello's management style. Whenever a team gets a couple of bad results or performances, people feel obliged to immediately seek out concrete reasons and explanations for why these failings occurred. In most walks of life I would be happy with this approach. Football, however, is a sport, and probably more so than many sports, is dictated by coincidence, luck, and the narrowest of margins as much as it is skill.

If Heskey has connected with his shot in a slighlty different way, not even a more accomplished way, the ball would have gone either side of Howard and England probably would have won. If Greens hands were positioned fractionally to the right then he too could have ensured a victory. There is, of course, the argument that a good manager will pick players who are able to meet those margins, and win their team games, but I think that generally Capello has done that. He has been a very successful manager, employing the same methods for many years which are being criticised today . I don't believe there is sufficient evidence to suggest that he is the reason that we couldnt beat USA, and were appalling against Algeria. In an attempt to find something to blame, people have cited the Capello Index debacle as a reason for poor performance. It was clearly misguided, but could you honestly argue a causal link between that and the decisions a player makes, weeks later, on a football pitch in South Africa? The reason for poor performance isn't always obvious, and isn't always attributable to any one persons actions. Sometimes, it just doesn't go quite right on the night.

If England had performed consistently badly over a period of 6 months, or a year, then this would represent a trend, and an obvious cause for concern. In turn it would not, by the nature of its consitency, be indicative of conicidence or bad luck. But England performed vey well in qualifying. The optimism that many felt going into the tournament should no be forgotten on the basis of one average and one poor display. If clubs sacked managers on the back of a couple of bad results over the course of a year, the likes of Sir Alex Ferguson would have been collecting his P45 on an annual basis. They don't, beacause even great teams can have a rough spell.

I can accept that England are underperforming, but not that we have a fundmental flaw in our management. I would of course be fully prepared to eat my words should results (including those beyond Wednesday) continue to dissapoint. Until then, however, there is no need for a witch hunt.

Why is it that everyone but Gerrard seem to be stepping up and addressing the fans in an attemt to reassure us. This is when we need to see our captain grow a pair and lead the team with some pride and passion. So far he has been useless and of no real inspiration to anyone. I love the massive irony behind Terry backing the decisions of the manager that stripped him of his captaincy not so long ago. All this extra press interest will be detremental to Wednesdays game. We have already heard the cry for Joe Cole, now if he plays and doesnt single handedly win the game he will be branded a let down by the British press on Thursday.

As my previous post seems to be attracting the attention of a row of moderators, I'll ask my question of Mr Bond in a more straightforward manner. The following is an extract from the BBC's general guide to blogs: "Comments are what set a blog apart from a traditional column because they create an immediate dialogue between the audience and author."
Where are you, Mr Bond, we'd love some dialogue.

Shantoot - as the old terrace chant goes, 'Sit down, shut up, sit down, shut up'.

England will never win any big tournament for one simple reason - the media in England will do the work for the opposition. They will find every negative way to hurt the team.

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.