Gamblog.co.uk - Gambling & Casino Blog

Last night was a major disappointment in more ways then one as Croatia won
3-2 at Wembley to knock England out of the European Championship.

So today I would like to use this space to make my comments about the
events of last night, hopefully most of you will agree with me.

Firstly as far as the team are concerned this is still one of the most
talented squads England have produced in many years, the absence of key
players played a part in last nights results but were not the only
factors.

Many people complained about the state of the Wembley pitch last night and
rightly so but it was the same for both teams and if the people behind the
new stadium have to make it pay as soon as possible hence the NFL game
played their last month.

Some may say England lost the game in the first 20 minutes but in truth
England lost this game on the training ground when tactics were discussed,
Peter Crouch did his best as a lone striker role but how many times last
night did he win a ball in the air only to see not support for his
efforts, if you have a game plan it is the players responsibility to make
it work and that definitely was not the case.

Also there was no plan B, which for me has been a crucial fault In the
England game over many years we play to players available rather then
utilising the skill and creativity players have to put opponents off their
stride.

When the draw was made for this competition some of my friend said it was
an easy ride and could have been worse, for me with the exception of the
Scotland group that contained France, Italy and Ukraine it was the
hardest.

Firstly the Russians though they travel as well as Denis Bergkamp in a
plane are always dangerous at home and no side weather club or country
fancies a game in Moscow in the winter.

Secondly Israel had just come out of a World Cup group containing France,
Switzerland and the Republic of Ireland unbeaten in 10 qualifying games
and only just missing out on Germany 2006.

Finally Croatia after a disappointing World Cup had a new manager in
Slaven Bilic who brought in several young players to go with a core of
experienced players and melded them into a highly efficient and
technically gifted side, it should also be noted that the Croatians have
never lost a home qualifying game in either World Cup or European
Qualifying since their independence in 1992.

Many will blame the influx of foreigners into the Premier league for
England's failure to qualify, I may be in the minority but I do not go
along with this argument on two counts,

Historically England have only ever won one major tournament in 1966 since
then their have been 20 major tournaments in which the best England have
done is 4th in Italia 90, the influx of foreigner players started in the
90`s coinciding with the start of the Premier league prior to that
England's results were no better.

The other point is that there are very few major national teams where all
the players come from the domestic league. True Italy won the last World
Cup with a group of players drawn from Serie A but since then they have
had the likes of Toni, Zambrotta and Cannavaro ply their trade abroad, and
the Italian side is the exception rather then the rule.

Brazil, Argentina, France all have the majority of their squad spread
throughout Europe and even sides like Germany and Spain who used to have a
solid group of players from their domestic league featuring in the
national side have now got players spread around Europe.

Steve McLaren will no doubt carry the can and rightly so for England's
failure last night but for me he should never have got the job in the
first place. After the much reviled Sven left there was an outcry for the
next England manager to be English so the F.A. as every attuned to the
public's needs went after first Martin O`Neill (Irish) and Scolari
(Brazilian) who both for various reasons turned the job down before
settling on McLaren.

A blind man could see that England were not going to be any different
under McLaren as they were under Sven as they both shared the same
football philosophy,. McLaren tried to show he was his own man by ditching
several old guard players such as Beckham, Campbell and James but
eventually had to bring them back.

Personally I do not care if the next England coach is a one legged Martian
providing he can get the best out of the undoubted talent he has
available. The World Cup draw for 2010 is soon upon us and England's
seeding for this event has been affected as a result of their non
qualification so it is likely that England will be in a tough group.

The F.A. have to act now and get in a high profile manager with a proven
track record (Marcello Lippi comes to mind) and arrange friendlies with
serious opposition to blood new talent before the qualifiers for the World
Cup starts in September 2008.

There is a rumour going round that if England failed to qualify for Euro
2008 that the F.A. were planning a money spinning tour of China or the
U.S.A. in the Summer, instead of this I would like them to arrange games
against the 3 home nations so that the players can play in some matches
which would be competitive and passionate as this is a quality I felt so
many players lacked last night. For me Steven Gerrard was the only player
who could hold his head up last night, he may not have had his best game
in an England shirt but there was no denying the passion and commitment he
had and the hurt he felt at the end.

My advice to the England team that played last night is remember that hurt
store it in your memory, call on it from time to time and make it a point
never to feel that way again, you are honoured to pull on that shirt which
I know millions of men out there would love to do but never get the chance
don't ever forget that last night you not only let yourselves down you let
a nation down.

Silverfox.