Still smarting over England's awful performance at the World Cup, my mood got considerably worse when Fabio Capello claimed that the reason England were unceremoniously dumped out of the WC was that the players were tired.
It's always been the complaint of many an England manager that our footballers play too many games in the domestic English Premier League season which includes two domestic cups.
However, looking at the stats of the actual games played between the 22 players of the Germany and England sides playing at Bloemfontein found, shock of horrors, the German starting XI had played more matches.
Some would argue that the Germans have a mid-winter break in the Bundesliga and arguably, the English Premier League is faster and more intense.
But here's my theory:-
a) If the England players spent a bit less time womanising or endorsing products, the pampered princes might have a better chance of not being too tired over 90 minutes 'work' a week.
b) Note to Fabio; please don't use tiredness as an excuse when people from the Armed Services or nurses and doctors are present, because they will probably be able to tell you a little more on what real tiredness feels like. They might also tell you a good tale about living on £20,000 a year.
c) There are no excuses... England are just crap.
We held our breath and we finally got the result we were hoping for. England at last came good and thanks to Jermain Defoe's first half strike against Slovenia, we're through to the last 16. England played better today, they needed to. There was a spring in the step and purpose to the attack. We got through and head the group however, we didn't look world class. Certainly not in the league of Argentina who played last night and looked simply unbeatable. It was good to see the team unite on the pitch after the final whistle and we now know it's not a split camp but a group coming together under Capello's new-found passion. Great to see and long may it continue.
I was thinking about this World Cup and how it's so far been a little on the strange side. It's not really come alive in the way Italia 90 did. There's been the controversial and somewhat annoying drone of the vevuzela - the South African instrument of torture. There was the slow starts from the top teams and shock results with Spain losing their first match and Germany storming theirs then losing the second. It's been a tournament of red cards, kidding the ref with imaginary facial injuries, imaginary card waving and general bad temper amongst the players and coaching staff. Is it just me, or have the teams looked unhappy and uncomfortable to be there? The weather has been cold and has given a drab feel to the matches. England were utterly rubbish with discontent in the camp, injuries and goalkeeping howlers.
And then there was France. Mon dieu! What was all that about? Never before have we witnessed such a great team of the past sink so low as to having players sent home and total capitulation on the pitch from a group of players. Wouldn't it be nice for the French FA to fine each player and the manager (who I assume is being paid a shedload of Euros for his services) and refund each French fan who paid a vast amount of money to travel to South Africa to follow the French team. I think the team and all concerned let themselves down, but they let the fans down even more. Ireland would have given it a great go in the tournament and would have no doubt gained loads of new fans had they had their chance in the qualifiers and the ref spotted that Henry plays for France and not the Harlem Globetrotters. Poetic justice I suppose but France have not left the tournament with many admirers.
Oh dear, oh dear... England expected but England failed to deliver. Never before in my many years of watching England have I witnessed such jaw-dropping awfulness on a football pitch in a major tournament. To get one draw in the World Cup is unfortunate. USA played well and England (like many other top teams) played cautiously. But to draw two, and against such inferior opposition is, quite frankly, seven shades of crapola.
And if ever the omens were on England's side before the game had even kicked off, then this was it. Germany had previously lost to Serbia and even missed a penalty... are you having that? And then in the other group match, USA and Slovenia gifted England a draw. All they had to do was get a 1-0 win. Shouldn't be too hard to ask for our multi-millionaire, world-famous, world-class, highly trained England team should it? Instead, the team couldn't pass, couldn't cross the ball, couldn't tackle and more worryingly didn't look even remotely happy to be there. There was no cohesion and you were left thinking where on earth is the goal going to come from. Uncomfortable viewing from an expectant nation back home and in the stadium where the England fans far outnumbered the Algerian fans, there were boos at the final whistle. Rooney turned to the camera and began his swearing tirade against the English fans who had the temerity to boo the England team's performance. This may come as some surprise to you Wayne, but fans pay thousands of pounds and take weeks off work to watch their team try and win games like this. There can be no complaints from any of the players on the booing and heckling they received last night in Capetown. The fans expect passion, leadership and a desire to win their matches with some panache and skill. Thousands of fans follow the team to all outreaches of the world, often at great expense whilst the England team usually consisting of 40 players and about 189 backroom staff, are flown in first class and stay in 5 star accommodation. When England play teams like Algeria (who alongside New Zealand) are probably the worst team in the competition, and only manage a 0-0 draw, the fans have every right to show their displeasure. Rooney is at best being a tad naive if he thinks the fans are wrong to boo and instead should applaud the team off the pitch after witnessing that. Keep your mouth shut and reflect on the fact that you played quite probably the worst game in an England shirt and remember to never ever blame the fans for giving you or the other ten players a hard time because you deserved it.
And so to Wednesday crunch match against Slovenia. England need to deliver and fast. Capello needs to play Joe Cole, and Jemaine Defoe up front with Rooney. Put Carrick on as an extra scoring chance. Mix it up and play like it's the last match ever... because on last night's showing and in this World Cup, it very probably could be.
With expectations high, the nation watching, the hype and lead up to this game... we were always going to be disappointed weren't we? England as usual didn't let us down in playing their usual nervous and lacklustre game playing the saarc-cuur minnows, the USA. We started well with Gerrard stepping up to the mark in the captain's role and scoring a little beauty in the first 5 minutes. After that, USA just seemed to stifle England's play and we allowed them to do it. And then, the inevitable happened, an inoccuous shot which goalie Robert Green failed to catch and skidded off into the back of the net. It gets worse each time you see it.
And so to the players. Did Capello pick the right team? Some played badly it has to be said. Rooney gave the ball away too many times. Lampard was quiet and did very little to impose himself on the game. Lennon huffed and puffed but made little impact. And please don't get me started on Heskey. Rooney says he loves playing alongside Heskey as he's a good team player. Sorry Wayne, that may be the case, but we need someone he sticks the ball in the net on a pretty regular basis. Heskey just fails to deliver. Capello left him on before Crouch tried to make an impact with only 12 minutes to go. And why play Milner only to replace him with Wright-Phillips? Ledley King taken off to be replaced by Carragher looked worrying. Carragher looked knackered and was out run.
Hard to pick out the positives really. I suppose we didn't lose and we have two 'easier' games to go. Very disappointing night though and we are going to have to do better.
