Should we be surprised that England failed to beat Algeria? After all, as the cliche has it, there are no easy games at this level. So, no we shouldn’t be surprised England didn’t beat Algeria, but we should be surprised that Algeria didn’t beat England! England were uninspired, lacklustre, disjointed, bereft of ideas, in a word – dire. Whether it was Heskey attempting a step over on the edge of the box and getting his feet in a tangle, Wayne Rooney mis-controlling every pass that came his way or dawdling on the ball so long he was dispossessed, Steven Gerrard bombing down another blind alley on his own, Carragher within another leaden-footed challenge of a red card, or the absence of Lampard, the whole spectacle was awful, awful, awful.
On the other hand, Algeria looked like a team that knew what it was doing and will be kicking themselves that they didn’t take advantage of this drab England side’s weaknesses at the heart of defence with a few more balls into the corners behind Cole and Johnson. The north African side had pace to burn. The whole England defence seemed to go into panic mode when the Algerians came anywhere near the box. But, there is no justice it seems.
On the positives, England live to fight another day, and getting to the next round is amazingly still in their own hands. Also, Carragher will be out of the next game with his second yellow card, so that should mean a bit more speed in defence with Upson or Dawson coming in. And maybe, just maybe, Capello will realise that something a bit more radical than Shaun Wright-Phillips is needed to add some creativity – can we at least try Joe Cole Mr Capello?
England will have to improve considerable against a Slovenia side that cruised into a 2-0 lead against the USA, looks comfortable on the ball – why is only England that don’t? – and lead the group with four points. Don’t be surprised if England crash out.
