Typically when England go out the papers will fill the back pages with phrases like “brave”, “a team of heroes” or something along those lines. There are exceptions, in 2002 after Beckhams sending off against Argentina the Sun ran the headline “10 Heroes and one stupid little boy”.
The disappointment of an early exit is made a little easier knowing that the team performed to their best, left it all out on the field (and all the other sporting clichés) yet were beaten by a better side on the day.
To be beaten while playing their best a team can walk off the field holding their heads high.
Much like going out on penalties, it’s disappointing but you come away knowing the team put in the effort and lost to a superior side. There is some honour to the defeat.
This year there is no such honour for England. The 2010 World Cup was a disaster filled with underperformance and disappointment that started with the friendly against Egypt in March and just never got going. Not once have I come away from watching one of those games and thought the team played at anything close to the sum of its parts.
The one exception I’m able to give was the “backs against the wall” performance against Slovenia was solid and functional, but you’d hardly call it inspiring stuff.
Germany plays like a club side, Joachim Low has ensured they are well a drilled squad filled with players that understand what’s expected of them. England are a contrast and play like most international sides; a collection of talented players but are missing the fluidity that club sides have, and that only comes with a core of players working together over time.
I did find there to be something slightly disturbing to see the Germans in their shiny black kit. There is something rather sinister about the look of a well drilled group of Germans wearing black, under the floodlights, backed by thousands waving German flags and singing Deutschland über alles…
But I digress, with only thirty or so days and a couple of friendlies between the squad coming together and the first meaningful game it’s going to be tough for any coach to put together a team that has that level of understanding.
The FA decided to keep Capello on until the European championships in a couple of years; I think that’s the right thing to do. Ignoring the alleged 10-12 million that it will take to buy him out of his recently amended contract, I just don’t see anyone else in a position to take over.
The next England game is only 7 weeks away, a friendly against Hungary before we are into the qualifying tournament for Euro 2012.