A new era has begun for the English National team and its fans--one with a new coach(one that is not from England or any of the British republics)--a strange change for the English fans after ditching the patriotic yet losing British Coach Stephen McClaren.
Even though I reacted with happiness when I heard that the English will not be booking their trip to Austria and Switzerland for this summer's Euro 2008 finals (and even more so because Croatia's 3-2 victory over them in November was a major part to it, I am glad to see that they hare back on their feet again (well sort of) becuae European soccer is nothing without England--atleast now they will see that are not the best in the world (alteast I hope so). One player in particular puts the blame on his own fans while the fans chanted for McClaren's head.
Well-known English player Michael Owens (injured and could not play in the match against Croatia) had the guts to say that "we have very demanding fans and a media who expect a great deal from the England team - and rightly so. How we as players cope with that is where the problems lies..." (yes, you guys do have demanding fans....so does all of teh other teams). The reason why England lost is plain and simple: McClaren was a horrible coach, your best players were injured, McClaren refused to start David Beckham in the first half, and Croatia actually dominated much of the match. The worst thing was that Owens actually said that no player on the Croatian team would ever be able to take this "pressure" from their ever-so-demanding fans and media. NEWS FLASH, Mr. Owens, three Croatian players play in your premier league and, yup, it looks like their playing quite well, so maybe, just maybe, it could be you players.
England's new coach, the Italian Fabio Capello, was put to the test as England faced Switzerland in a friendly. Capello (according to UEFA) is a "tactical discplinarian" that uses Italian philsophies in his coaching and it seems to be working as England defeated Switzerland 2-1 in London's Wembley stadium. It is defintely a start to putting a once hated superpower to a still hated average national team. However, there is one thing about Capello that boggle my mind (and it was the same criticism I had had for McClaren): Where is Beckham? David Beckham, who on my opinion is the best player England has ever seen, has been absent for most of the matches under McClaren and Capello actually decided not to have him play in this game. Beckham currently has 99 matches under his belt. Maybe Capello is waiting for a more ceremonious or important match for Beckham to play 100th game. I certaintly hope so. I certaintly hate to see such a respected (perhaps the only player I actually like in England) go to waste--a player that has repeatedly told McClaren that he there to honor England on the field if they need him (and they do need him!) after he decided to return from intrnational retirement due to his anger at how his national team played against Croatia in their october 2006 euro 2008 qualifying match that ended in an embarrassing 2-0 defeat in Zagreb, Croatia.
England's real test will come as they play a re-match against Croatia for 2010 World Cup qualifying. I guess they didn't have enough. It's time for Croatia to do it all over again!
To track England's progress under Fabio Capello, check out their official UEFA profile or their offical FIFA profile.
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