Bobby Zamora's belated England debut highlights wider problem

[os5889]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/world-cup-2010/teams/england/7935628/England-v-Hungary-Bobby-Zamoras-belated-debut-highlights-wider-problem.html

England v Hungary: Bobby Zamora's belated debut highlights wider problem

The commanding figure to whom the Football Association committed £6 million a year 30 months ago is, temporarily at least, no more. That, not the players, is the biggest problem facing England in this part of the cyclical process of picking ourselves off the floor after failing at a major championship.

By Kevin Garside

More than ever England need to be led, not propping up a fading guru scratching his head. "I don't know what we have to do to improve the minds of the players. At this moment I don't know." Capello appeared diminished and uncertain in the critical atmosphere that pervaded England's first day back at school.
His first engagement post-South Africa was always going to be one to get out of the way. His discomfort was exposed in the rush of scripted apologies with which he began the televised inquisition. Like a guilty child caught smoking behind the bike sheds Capello wanted to talk, to pore over the detail of what went wrong at the World Cup as if to purge his conscience for the part he played in it.

There was no catharsis to be had. The story has moved on. Capello was quickly pinned with questions about those selected but not in attendance. He was forced to reach for explanations in a way he has not experienced before.
It was hard to watch his authority being questioned in this way. The reverence has gone. England are in trouble if the players feel the same way.

The cynic would have no trouble linking the retirements of Paul Robinson and Wes Brown to a wider discontent, fringe players though they were.

Capello strode out of the changing room at Arsenal's London Colney training base alone, some minutes ahead of the players. The cameras went berserk.

Capello's appearance might have been entirely innocent but circumstances being what they are, there was symbolic value in that singular walk. The cameras knew it, too.

Throughout his post-training media commitments Capello was accompanied by his English teacher. She was particularly energised when Capello struck a defensive attitude, reminding people of the competent job he had done in qualifying. Capello continues to grope for the right word, which in a losing coach is not a positive attribute. It merely adds to the perceptions of inadequacy.

The urge to pin blame somewhere is difficult to resist. But it may be that the England problem is insurmountable. That is the view of Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger, who sees in the primacy of the Premier League over all other considerations a structural impediment that none could overcome.

The argument goes something like this. The Premier League is inextricably linked to the Champions League and European club competition in a way the old first division used to be with England. When the Bobbys Moore and Charlton were in their pomp, the England team represented the highest technical level since it culled from the clubs the best players in the country.

The finest footballers in the country today are more likely to be foreign than English, a feature that has driven the technique and intensity of club football higher than it is with England. Therefore when Wayne Rooney, Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard step out for their country they are in effect stepping down a level because the spread of talent is thinner.

Emile Heskey could barely get a game for Aston Villa last season yet he went to South Africa as England's first choice partner for Rooney.

On Wednesday Bobby Zamora, of Fulham, is expected to make his debut at 29, which makes Wenger's argument forcibly. If Zamora is good enough now, he was good enough five years ago. He hasn't changed that much. Circumstances have.

The reduced talent pool is compounded by a wounded coach. Capello is clearly embarrassed by his own failings as much as the team's. He was shocked by the South African experience, unnerved at having his certainties shredded.

Nothing in his bag of tricks acquired at the great footballing houses of Europe, at Real Madrid and AC Milan, prepared him for a month in the African bush with a mixed bag of knackered Premier League footballers.

Capello's pride is hurt. He did not expect to have to prove himself all over again. Not many on his salary do. But that is his lot. Against Hungary on Wednesday Capello is on trial as much as his players.

[ron]

   "....... Capello continues to grope for the right word, which in a losing coach is not a positive attribute. It merely adds to the perceptions of inadequacy."

A couple of strong contenders in the 'right word' stakes   are "Win!" or  "Goodbye"

[MrCheviot]

Refreshing to read something well written for a change. It's painful to read along when writers grope for ways to introduce any credible (sports) psychology into their pieces, but I think it was spot on here.

[Oakeshott]

"If Zamora is good enough now, he was good enough five years ago. He hasn't changed that much"

That comment is a matter of opinion rather than a matter of fact (and on that I disagree with the author), but more to the point, it misses the point! The difference between the best and the others, in a division like the Premiership, is not huge - evidence the way "weaker" sides (including Fulham) regularly though not frequently beat the "stronger" sides (in recent years the so-caled "big four"). And that usually happens when one of the "stronger" sides plays under some disadvantage - eg having had a tough midweek away game in Europe, lacking one or two of its stars, or (especially with Man U) the manager rather arrogantly deciding he can rest one or two of his stars and still beat the opposition. Thus players like Heskey, Zamora, Bent, Carlton Cole etc, none of whom is an absolute world star, but who are all decent Premiership players, don't have to improve much to be up to international standard.

With Bobby, I think it is clear that he has improved significantly at Fulham, largely because he has grown in confidence. At Brighton, against weaker opposition, he scored freely, but found that more difficult against better defences at Spurs and West Ham, and initally with us. What was the response at Spurs and West Ham? To view him as only a potential scorer, and leave him out as often as he was played, because he wasn't an immediate striking hit. What was the response at Fulham? To persevere with him, despite a lack of goals, because of the overall contribution he made - defensively (not something he was asked to do at Spurs or W Ham) and in creating chances for others. he becomes a regular first team player, gains in confidence and experience, and bingo he starts scoring at a rate as good as most in the Premiership.

Bobby is never going to be an A1 legedary international centre forward, but how many of them has England (or any other country) had over the years?. But he is a better player now than he was five years ago, due to coming to Fulham and being persevered with by Roy, and in my view fully entitled to a shot at international football. What he now needs, as Hughes perceptively said in a comment on the Club site, is to take his chance, and show enough to lead Capello to call him up again. Let's hope his confidence doesn't disappear when he steps onto the Wembley pitch: he and Rooney could work very well together.