I write this an hour and a half before the big kickoff where England shall square off with Sloveia in what will be a crunch match for both sides. For Slovenia, it will be a game that will allow them a shot at making history by virtue of upsetting one international footballs most renowned albeit overhyped teams. They are certainly punching above their weight and therefore any result apart from a defeat would be deemed a triumph and a major leap for the nations footb all ambitions.
In the case of England, anyting less than a comfprtable victory would give the worldwide press enough fodder to crucify them. And they only have themselves to blame. And Fabio Capello would have to shoulder mnost of hte responsibility for any failure to produce a good result tonight. For not only have England pereformed miserably in their opening games but they seem to have imploded what with John Terrys outburst a few days ago. Evidently Capello has lost the confidence of some of his players and like France, that could lead to another dismal, uninspired display that would be remniniscent the French fiasco in both this world cup and the one in 2002. Capello has not exactly done himself any favors with his mystifying selections and his reluctance to change to a formation that would play to teh strenghts of some his key players, notably Gerrard and Rooney.
Rooneys best games last season were the ones in which he played as a lone striker up front. It allowed freedom to roam about, sometimes falling into midfield to be the fulcrum of counter attacks and also to be the target man up front. He is the kind of player who loves to make space for himself, run at defenders, score goals and bring his temamates into the attack. That style is very similar to a certain Fernando Torres who exceled in the same role for Liverpool these last few seasons. Dovetailing him from midfield has been Steven Gerrard who seems to thrive on playing in the 'hole' behind the striker thus allowing him to fully exploit his range of passing, his goalscoring instincts, shooting ability and creative drive. Time and again he has bailed Liverpool out from certain defeat and inspired them to victory playing in that role. It is therefore logical to play him in a similar role behind Rooney as hte lone strker on the international platform. Capello however has refused to budge in his ways and has persisted with 442, playing Emile Heskey, as a target man for long speculative balls played form the back. While Heskey has a great workrate and provides muscle up front he does next to nothing in terms of scoring goals, creating chances and providing support for Rooney. Both the strikers have not shown any form of cohesion and understanding, the kind of which is needed to win games at the highest level. That and hte fatc that the likes of Gerrard have been played out of position have contributed greatly to Englands dreary campaign so far. It remains to be seen if he will be willing to ring the necessary changes to spark up Englans world cup hopes.
Should he do that, it is quite likely that England could gain confidence and momentum and use that to go all the way in this tournament. It is therefore unwise to write them off at this juncture. For all of Englands woes and weaknesses, they still possess amazing talent. Apart from 'those two' they have the likes of Lampard, Carrick, Barry, Lennon and Crouch. All these players have at one time o another lit up the English Premier League which is one of the best in the world. And against Slovenia, they are going to want to prove that. It looks like the Three Lions might just wake up and roar for all of South africa to hear.
