DC Soccer Opinions: Who Says England Underachieved?

- By Joseph Schoenbauer

You see it everywhere you look.  The headlines read, “England Underachieves Again”, “England Knocked out Early Again” and “England Disappoint.”  But why are these the headlines?  Has England done so well recently in a major competition that they really merit such high expectations? 

I was born in 1981.  In the two previous World cups of 1974 and 1978, England failed to qualify.  I was still too young to know that the World Cup also took place in 1982 and 1986, when England went out in the second round and quarterfinals. Then in 1990, England managed to have a good run, all the way to the semifinals, before losing out to Germany.  I first began to take notice of the World Cup in 1994, at the age of 13.  However, once again England failed to qualify.  In 1998 and 2002, they repeated their performances of 1982 and 1986, going out in the second round and then the quarterfinals. 

So from 1974 to 2002, England had not qualified, or been knocked out by the second round 5 out of 8 tournaments, and had not reached a World Cup final in that time either.  Compare that to Brazil, who in the same time period reached at least the semifinals 5 out of 8 times, including the final 3 times, and had been crowned World Cup winners 2 times, in 1994 and 2002. 

Yet in 2006, England, once again, was being touted as one of the favorites to lift the World Cup trophy, alongside Brazil, by several national team coaches, including Zlatko Kranjcar of Croatia, Anibal Ruiz of group rivals Paraguay and even England’s very own Sven Goran Eriksson.  

High expectations appeared when players were interviewed as well.  In an interview by World Soccer magazine with Michael Owen, Owen is asked, “If you reach the Final, which country would you like to face?” to which he replies, “Brazil, because we owe them from 2002.” 

Peter Crouch was quoted as saying he would not do the now famous “robot dance” goal celebration anymore until England won the World Cup, while the likes of Joe Cole, Frank Lampard and captain David Beckham all spoke of lifting the Cup come July in other interviews.

Of course these interviews all came after England’s “grueling” World Cup qualifying campaign in which they scraped 1-0 wins over the likes of powerhouses Austria, Wales, and Azerbaijan before losing to mighty Northern Ireland by the same score line.  Nevertheless, they beat the great Poland to top spot in Group 6 on the last day to qualify for the World Cup. 

Now it was up to the highest paid national team coach in the world, Sven Goran Eriksson, to merely refine his group of supposed world-class players to be in top form come June 10, the day they kicked off their first group game against Paraguay.

Yet the signs were there that this England team was in need of a lot of help.  John Terry, England’s “rock in defense” is arguably good at Chelsea because two better defenders, William Gallas and Ricardo Carvalho, and the ever-defensive Claude Makelele in midfield, and giant Peter Cech in goal, surround him.  The central midfield pairing of Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard has never had a convincing game together. Not even once.  Both of them clearly need defensive cover to get forward, yet Sven Goran Eriksson has completely and utterly failed to search for a system that benefits them.  Michael Owen, essentially out of form since his time on the bench at Real Madrid and porous performance at Euro 2004 over two years ago, had been injured for months with a broken metatarsal.  His would-be strike partner, who England is essentially solely dependant on, Wayne Rooney, was also scheduled to miss the World Cup with a broken metatarsal, and would easily have been scrapped from the team had he not effectively been “the team.”  Captain David Beckham has also been essentially useless for the same time as Michael Owen, after a dire Euro 2004 performance in which many were already claiming he should be dropped from the squad and relieved of his captaincy.  The choice of Peter Crouch, impotent for 3/4ths of the club season for Liverpool, and subsequent media hype after he scored a hat trick against mighty Jamaica in a warm up game before the tournament, only serve as another reminder of how desperate England was for a hero.

The style of play in Germany was all too predictable.  Slow passing, long ball after long ball, and no more than 3 passes in a row.  England managed to be a major contributor to 3 of the worst games of the entire World Cup.  The England x Paraguay game was maybe only bettered in horribleness by the second round match up between Ukraine and Switzerland, while their performances against Trinidad & Tobago and Ecuador were mind numbing at best, and should have turned any neutral fan against them. 

England probably should have benefited during the World Cup from injuries to “stalwarts” Michael Owen, Gary Neville and David Beckham, but their bench proved to be no better.  Peter Crouch should probably stick to dancing like a robot.  Aaron Lennon, despite the speed, still looks to be a player whose feet move far faster than the brain; while Stuart Downing was downright terrible, and proved that he lacks both the speed and technical ability to beat a defender off the dribble.  Paul Robinson’s true quality as a goalkeeper can best be explained by watching the Sweden game again, in which his overweight frame fails to move following a long throw that completely confuses him as it crosses over the goal line.  

England deservedly succumbed to Portugal, albeit by penalties, in the quarterfinals following another boring and dismal display by them that included Wayne Rooney rightfully getting sent off for essentially grinding Carvalho’s privates to shreds with his studs in minute 62.

So England was out.  Beckham was sobbing. Rooney was innocent. Paul Robinson was eating all the pies.  Gary Neville was shaving his dirty mustache. Rio Ferdinand was still refusing to pee in a cup.  Ashley Cole was having a cigar on Abramovich’s yacht.  Walcott was learning his ABC’s. Lampard was joining the “but it’s so easy in the Premier League” club.  Hargreaves was knighted. And Eriksson was rich.

The media was back at it again the following day.  The blame fell squarely on Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo, who the English say definitively convinced the ref to give Rooney the red card.  They wouldn’t want any blame to fall on the red-carded Rooney though, would they?  Nope, turns out they already used that excuse with Beckham in 1998.  So rather than blame Rooney, or question a clear lack of quality on the field and lack of ideas coming from the bench, the English media, choose yet again to turn a blind eye and show their ignorance with headlines such as the one produced by TSG’s English analyst Roy Hodgson, “A heroic England performance” that go on to praise the players, blame Ronaldo, and cheer Rooney.

World Soccer magazine calls England “the biggest disappointment of the major teams in the group stage…who never came close to fulfilling their potential.” 

To which I ask: Who is this major team, and where is the evidence of their potential?