Mind over Matter: England in SA 2010

In every pub and sitting room across the nation even the most optimistic of us thought the same thing on Saturday evening; 'typical bloody England'. A bright start, a couple of injuries, a goalkeeping blunder, wasted chances and a lack of ideas. Its not a curse and its not the fact that we haven't got the players - and these realities were confirmed in fact by our old enemy and the football side that we all love to hate. Many of us sat green with envy as we saw a Germany side who had been wrongly tipped by bookmakers and pundits alike to struggle in their fairly mediocre group stage and pose no threat to Jules Rimet this year. Well those of you who know me will know that I was not at all surprised to see the Germans finally kick this competition into action after an array of draws and tense affairs in the opening games. There's a lot of people in Britain who would have you believe that German football and the continental style is boring. Well actually I disagree and have done for a long time. I'm not bored of winning games 4-0. I'm bored of hearing people criticise Emile Heskey, or say Gerrard and Lampard don't work together or say Glen Johnson can't defend. Maybe we wouldn't still be doing it though, were we just to learn a few simple lessons and learn how to play a game of international football.

I'm not here to rip apart tactics and team selection because I think the real problem with our approach to international football is ideological. Why is it that throughout the entire German demolition of Australia, a side who are of a similar standard to our opponents on June 12th, USA, I did not see one German player make or attempt one pass that any of our players would be incapable of doing themselves. There's an argument that says that the German movement was better and the formation was more fluid than our rigid and dated 4-4-2 which arguably cripples the likes of Lampard, Gerrard and Rooney who are the usual candidates to be moving into the same pockets of space as the German playmaker Mesut Ozil expertly exploited at the tender age of 21. There is also an argument that a more intelligent, skilful player such as Joe Cole would have been a more effective tool in terms of breaking down the defensive setup of USA as opposed to the two-dimensional style of speed demon wingers Wright Phillips and Lennon who unsurprisingly enjoyed little success against full backs who were happy to show them down a blind alley and loft ineffective crosses in for their beefy centre halves to deal with. There's no doubt that Lennon and SWP tear defences apart but its the likes of Cole and Milner who unlock them - which is why I personally think Capello's notion of Cole as an 'impact sub' is back to front.

Going back to the Germans and their patient style which brought tangible results. Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski dispelled the myth that good league form is vital for good international form having scored a total of 6 goals in the Bundesliga this season between them. Like Heskey, whose international form has traditionally been better than that for his club; Klose can be classified as a target man - but I did not see one hopeful long ball being piled up to him by either of the German centre halves and any service in the air to Klose was a whipped cross into areas in front of him rather than the ineffective high hanging balls which big Emile is often treated to which ask the striker to generate all the power and accurary with the header usually from around 15 yards. Well to be honest Klose couldn't do that so why would Heskey be able to. When Heskey actually got the ball to feet his post play and distribution was top notch, setting up Steve Gerrard's openers and playing in Wayne Rooney who had narrowly strayed offside in another passage of play.

Not only is Germany's preparedness to keep the ball and keep their passing simple and safe before looking to move the ball more quickly in the final third more effective in terms of attacking, it also reduces the likelihood of pressure being built up on them. Every time Terry or Carragher whacks the ball up to Heskey's neck with little or no supprt we're not only wasting possession but we're giving it to our opponents and thus inviting them onto us. In turn we had a few scares from unnecessary set plays before Green's howler and if anything the goal had been coming. Nothing to do with the keeper, the defence, the midfield or the strikers. Its our style of play and our impatience that costs us and its been a problem for ever since I can remember. Every week at my own club at 1-0 down people start yelling garbage such as 'Get it forward' or complaining when players pass the ball backwards rather than loft it forwards. Well if you learn anything from a game of football learn this from the Germans. Chelsea might have won the Premier League playing a lot of perecentage football and grinding teams down with a solid defence. It might work against Burnley - but it won't work in a World Cup.