In two hours, England will play their last match in this Brazil World Cup. Whether they win or lose is of no consequence. The abject display in their first two matches was enough to sink them. But Costa Rica will want to win and win well to show that they are not just the also-rans that they were labelled before the tournament began. And in addition there will be players wanting to display their abilities in order to angle for a job in England where they can earn fabulous wages. Many of them can already speak English.
We, Joe Public, for the most part only see our footballers on the field of play. They have very little interaction with the fans either at home or on the international stage. The newspapers have been trying to suggest why England do so badly and wondering how, in spite of the disaster in Brazil, they can carry on regardless. In my last post, I mentioned the success in Munich in 2001 and many are now wondering whether Sven Goran Eriksson was not a considerably better manager than Roy Hodgson. But the newspaper men have been with the England team in Brazil — and in the days and matches leading up to the finals — and they are revealing an organisation — the FA — completely out of touch with all reality. The players have been escorted everywhere by minders and told what they can and cannot say and to whom. They have been surrounded by marketing men, presentation gurus, kit and promotional marketing men and spin doctors galore. A vast army was gathered together by the FA to ensure no player showed anything other than a zombi-like adherence to instructions. They were told when and where to appear and in what dress. They should say nothing that had not been previously authorized. Even walking along the beach they appeared out of place. The FA took along a huge entourage of suits and blazers to manage this World Cup; they chartered an aeroplane; they constructed an immense media centre — even bigger than that of the host nation; a training centre that was selected for being photogenic rather than the best place to train. Players were almost an adjunct to the marekting of the FA. What did all this fannying about do to help performance? I don't know how good or bad these players are but, for sure they are not as bad as they have appeared. I have been critical of Steven Gerrard but Martin Samuel in the Daily Mail has said of him that a footballing colossus has been regularly reduced to mediocrity when on international duty. He has had countless great games playing for Liverpool for some eighteen years but great performances for England have been few and far between.. Why? Is it that the oppressive effect of the FA apparatchiks has done for him. Has he and the rest of the team been managed into oblivion? This will be Gerrard's last World Cup and it was clear at the press conferences that he was distraught at England's failure. He is considering his future and deciding if he should carry on. He will not be in the starting line-up for today's game But Gerrard should not have an ending like this to his career. He has been a loyal servant of Liverpool — and England — through thick and thin and it is surely wrong that he should be considering his future while Hodgson and the suits carry on as though nothing had happened. It seems that Gerrard may be allowed to resign the captaincy and then — as sure as eggs are eggs — he can be made the scapegoat.
Martin Samuel contrasted the control freakery of the England squad with that of team from Chile. They turned up in Rio, kept contact with their fans and the day before they hammered Spain they had a great party in the hotel for players, officials, friends, family, fans and anyone who wanted to join in. There was food, music, chat, dancing and at the end a private team meeting. They were completely relaxed and ready to enjoy themselves in this tournament and now they are qualified for the knock-out stages. But, said Samuel, whatever happened with the FA, England could never be this relaxed. I like Chile and the Chileans and I wish them well in this tournament.
Also, I wish England well for their final game but when they get back to England there has to be a proper examination of why everything went so badly.
My tips for the final — Germany and the Netherlands — unless they play each other before then..
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