England’s game tomorrow night against Slovenia must result in victory or they will exit the 2010 World Cup in the group stages. The display on Friday night was dreadful and one of the worst witnessed at this tournament. Against an impotent Algeria, England failed to muster any conviction as once again Gerrard, Lampard and the rest demonstrated they should not be playing international football.
The Algerian’s were first to every ball and passed the ball around nicely; showing England how it should be done. The poor and slightly out of form Rooney looked around him in disbelief at his team-mates who looked like a pub side turning out on a Sunday afternoon. He is clearly lacking some match fitness but the look on his face halfway through the 2nd half said it all. As the most gifted England player he was supposed to shine in this tournament, instead he is playing with 2nd rate players who cannot even pass the ball into his feet. If England are to advance they must play to Rooney’s strengths and keep the ball on the ground and play it into his feet where he will affect the game more significantly than Heskey will ever do.
It is unlikely England can play as badly again tomorrow and they should get the win they need to advance. Serious questions have emerged though following the unsatisfactory performances of the first 2 games. England severely lack the technical ability to retain possession and clearly lack the hunger and desire to succeed at International Level. If they do fail tomorrow it would only be right for a few of them to retire from England duty, none more so than the captain Steven Gerrard who should be up for the award of most overrated player in history!
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