England struggle

Join the debate on England's 2-2 draw against Czech Republic

Last updated: 20th August 2008  

England struggle

Capello: Under pressure?

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England have been held to a 2-2 draw by Czech Republic in their last friendly before the World Cup qualifiers kick off next month.

They twice fell behind and only avoided defeat thanks to Joe Cole's scrambled last-gasp equaliser.

Fabio Capello must now prepare for his first competitive game in charge of England and we want to hear your views on how the team is progressing.

What did you think of England's performance? Were you impressed by Capello's selection decisions?

Which players stood out and who needs replacing?

One man who will be replaced is Brian Barwick, who is to step down as chairman of the Football Association at the end of the year.

What does this mean for English football and who should come in to such an important job?

Comments (36)

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Austen Hempstead (Tottenham Hotspur fan) says...

Don't get me started!! I consider myself to be a big football fan and I didn't even bother tuning in to watch the game. If I'm not watching England then there are thousands (millions maybe) who love football less who won't have watched either. I personally don't belive that players should get paid to play for their country -my compromise on that would be that they only get paid when they win. Secondly, any player who plays for England should be seen singing the national anthem prior to the match. If they don't sing they don't get picked next time. Going back to the subject of money - why can't someone come up with a system whereby the basic salary for Premiership footballers is say £5k per week but with huge win bonuses. Yes I know people will say 'The best players will go elsewhere' etc etc etc but if it was Europe-wide? Just a thought. And whilst I'm writing - what about FIFA demanding more integrity from players by introducing rules to stamp out diving (I don't pay to watch that stuff. Use video evidence before or after a match), stop feigning injury (treat players whilst the game goes on around them as in rugby - I don't pay to watch a physio deal with an injured player), and to demand players honour contracts. What football needs is more honesty, passion and a lot less of the prima donna stuff if I'm going to keep watching it. Good - got that lot off my chest.

Posted 16:17 21st August 2008

Jane Hopkins says...

Was at the game with my family to celebrate my husband's 50th birthday and one of my 12 year old son's was more interested in the mexican wave that was going on as England was so boring. Never again. Jane Hopkins

Posted 15:52 21st August 2008

Graham Davies (Manchester United fan) says...

First things first, it was only a friendly, it's not as if we haven't qualified for anything! In saying that though this was a great chance for Capello to see how Young, Agbonlahor, Walcott and other youngsters fair against let's face it better oposition. Overall this was a chance missed but a message to Capello saying it's time to move on from Becks (sadly), Lampard&Gerrard (Never worked, never will)!

Posted 15:40 21st August 2008

Lee Collis (Tottenham Hotspur fan) says...

Interesting. I along with approx 50,000 other 'fans' left Wembley on 82 mins last night. Thats how poor a show it was.. "Footballs Coming Home" - Not until Harry Redknapp is in charge - who knows, maybe with Mr Barwick gone, Mr Capello will follow. Darren Bent - not in the squad - Will someone give the youngsters a chance?

Posted 15:32 21st August 2008

Mike Hart (Liverpool fan) says...

Its about time england learned that the team is more important then any individuals. Players like lampard and Beckham get into the team on brownie points they earned in the past. Rooney gets in the team simply because he plays for Man U and cost them 30mil, we should start picking players on their form. IMO the team should be James (or Hart in Friendlies to gain experience), Richards, Rio, Terry, Ashley as the back 4. Bentley, Gerrard, Barry, Ashley Young as the midfield, Defoe (games = confidence) or agbonlahor with Rooney or Crouch along side. Lets forget wasters like Becks, Neville, Jenas, Shorey, King and Walcott. 1 more thing, forget about playing beautiful football, u need flair players 2 do that and england just dont have them, we dont have a messi, kaka or ronaldo, so lets just play the italian way like Fabio wants. World Cup 06 proved it worked for Italy.

Posted 15:26 21st August 2008

David Burch (Liverpool fan) says...

England were very poor last night and deserved to lose that game. The Czechs were better all round. Passing, ball retention, closing down, individual flair, variety of movement--the list is endless. Gerrard aside the entire team looked disinterested in the game. Beckham, Lampard, Rooney, Brown were rubbish and the rest just below average. Why does beckham keep getting picked ahead of his obvious replacement in the future, David Bentley? Is Beckham likely to feature at the next world Cup, because if he is then we are truly lost. He has served the Country with distinction, but he is no longer worthy of a place in the squad. Where was Rooney last night? When did he last play a decent game for England? Will his reputation prevent him from being dropped? What the heck is Lampard doing? He simply can't play for England, like he does for Chelski! It makes no difference if Gerrard is on the pitch or not, he's simply not up to it for some strange reason. However I was sickened to here fans Booing him as he left the pitch. What type of low life do that to one of their own players. Shame on all those who did. He may have played poorly, but nobody deserves that just for having a poor game. Fair enough if he had been sent off for something stupid or had gestured to the fans in some obscene manner, but not for playing badly. Just clap him off politely or stay quiet. Anyway Capello has to go, because he simply doesn't understand the English game. He acts like a domineering headmaster and expects grown men to respond to him. Yeah right! Treat them like men and they should behave like men. Give them the ground rules and make it clear breaches of trust mean exclusion from the squad and leave it at that. But if half the things he is meant to have brought in are true, then he is clearly a control freak that does not trust his players. Not a good recipe for success. If the players don't feel trusted how can they trust Capello.

Posted 15:05 21st August 2008

Kenny Peter says...

No style, No Guile and completely no inventiveness where is the skill and the unpredictability that true world class teams. We need Joe and Ashley Cole, Bentley, Young, Richards, Agbonlahor and not the static predictability of Barry, Downing and the has been Beckham. Football has moved on and England has not moved with it. I am waiting to watch Olympic football final of Argentina and Nigeria at the weekend to see real excitement style and wonderful unpredictable skill by some players that don¿t even earn a hundredth of what are players get in the premiership.

Posted 15:05 21st August 2008

C H says...

The young players with pace need to be brought in the team, not just the same old team we had 6 years ago under sven. IMO the team should be this - R Green, M Richards, R Ferdinand, J Woodgate, A Cole, D Bentley, S Gerrard, G Barry, A Young, G Abonglahor, W Rooney in a 4-4-2. With that, we would have the experience of the older players (Gerrard, Ferdinand, etc.) but still have the creativity, flair and pace of the younger players (Young, Abonglahor, Richards, etc.). This is the way Holland and Spain played in Euro 08 and they were the 2 best teams, playing the most creative and modern football that you see at club level and EXPECT to see at international level.

Posted 12:53 21st August 2008

Simon Fairweather (West Ham United fan) says...

An utterly shocking performance. Why is Beckham still in the England set-up, let alone team?! At international level you can't afford to carry a player. We don't need his free kicks, we have Gerrard, Bentley and Ashley Young - all three take them for their clubs (and last I remembered AV scored the most headed goals last season). So why is he playing? He doesn't take players on and his delivery was poor all game. Lampard needs to go too, the only decent player was Gerrard who was playing on the left. Why play one of the best central midfielders out wide? Pointless. Gerrard needs to take over Lampard and we need a genuine winger on the left, either Joe Cole or Downing. When will we learn that Beckham is past it and Lampard and Gerrard will never play well together? Let's hope Capello is a lucky manager, he certainly had a fair slice of it last night in drawing the game.

Posted 12:43 21st August 2008

Akin Folarin (Arsenal fan) says...

I'm starting to wonder if the England team is even picked by the manager?? That would explain why we have the same team 3 managers later..... I can't see why any manager in their right mind would persist with continual failure to perform and not shake the tree a little (or a lot). Agbonlahor and Young showed exactly what was missing from the team. Other International sides rotate their players much more than England, where the incumbent is always favoured. If we spent friendlies trying out our new up and coming players in key positions at least we can see if they are ready, if they don't make it it will be good experience for them. Worst case it would provide some competition and a kick in the behinds of the current first 11. I for one am running out of patience, yesterday I actually was hoping the Czech Republic would win, at least that way there would be no fig leaf for England's sorry performance. I'd prefer we played well in a friendly learnt something and lost than what we saw last night......

Posted 12:38 21st August 2008

Brian Thomas says...

What's the difference between Eriksson, McClaren and Capello? Answer NOTHING! Same old players, same old style and same poor lack-lustre performance. I thought that Capello would revolutionise the England set up by introducing a new style using players with flair, ball contol and pace etc.. Capello's FIRST TEAM - the team that played the first half had no flair, no pace, no player that could go past an apponent, no vision and very poor close control. Second half (Joe Cole and Downing apart) was more of the same. Surely we should be looking for players with flair and ball skills and bring into the starting line up young players like Agbonlahor, Young, Richards, Moses, Walcott, Johnson etc. (that have proved themselves in young England teams and the premiership) and moulding them into an England team that will stay together for a long time.

Posted 12:32 21st August 2008

Phill Crickmore (Tottenham Hotspur fan) says...

Can we stop shoehorning Gerrard, Lampard and Beckham into the England team please? Getting a bit fed up with these fancy 30yd crossfield balls which often result in nothing. As for the left wing, why do we play central midfielders there like Barry? Great player, wrong position and ineffectual. Is there a good reason why Ashley Young never features at all? He's dynamite, loves running at defenders, is very quick and can comfortably use both feet! I shall also add that he nearly racked up the most assists in the Premiership last season.

Posted 12:30 21st August 2008

Liam O'neill says...

I paid £30 to watch that shambles last night, are so called world class players (£150k a week) Lampard (£18m) Barry (our best central midfielder who was playing left week!!??) Gerrard (Captain) JT ( the so called white Pele) Rooney were all very disappointing. Now im a Man Utd fan I went to the Newcastle game on Sunday Rooney was very average and I think im being polite by the level of his performance, I know Rooney has been very Ill recently but he played 90 mins on Sunday probably because we didn't have any other options but thats another matter so i wont go there, but in 3 days since that game I was expecting a big improvement in Rooney because every United fan believes this could be his season, but after last night performance I failed to see the brilliance of Rooney I would! go as far to say im not sure if he would be in my strongest starting 11 for England, mainly because we need to understand what position he plays for England last night he mainly sat in central midfield and on the left wing. Where's the Wayne Rooney that stole the show at Euro 2004 with his no fear attitude and constant threat at goal. As for John Terry I don't feel he has played well for England or Chelsea for the last two years, (yes I know he's been injured.) but that's why they haven't won the league since, he is a good captain but I do believe his party trick in Russia did help get the captaincy. As for David James I'll let him off with the two goals again i think im being nice but he is toilet!!!! The four things I remember him doing last night were picking the ball out of his net twice, fumbling the ball in the penalty area and running 30 yards out of his goal. Beckham never really had any pace before now he doesn't have any, all he wants to do is whack 30 yard balls in to the penalty area which no one got on the end of!

Posted 11:00 21st August 2008

Jason Wiseman (Aldershot Town fan) says...

Why doesn't everyone get down off their high horses for a moment. Everyone seems to have forgotten that the Czechs are above us in the world rankings, and there is a good reason for that. England do not have the god given right to roll over teams like everyone thinks they should. It's quite clear the players think the same, and that is where the problem lies. Just because we won the World Cup 42 years ago, doesn't make us a great team now. The sooner everyone stops living in the past and lowers their expectations, the better off the national team will be. I had high hopes for Capello though. I really though he would be the man to put the pegs in the right holes, and drop players in areas where we are over compensated - regardless of what club they play for or how much they earn. It must be apparent now though that we don't have enough quality in certain areas of the pitch, or why would the same players be picked by several different managers? Yes, Capello should give youth a chance. But can he afford too when he is burdened with over expectation, and the 'need' to get results. If a senior player makes a mistake, people bleat on about him being a great servant etc. If a youngster did it, what chance you'll see him in an England shirt again in the near future? If we qualify for South Africa - be grateful, enjoy the experience and back the team. If we don't, it's because there are better teams out there, where 11 guys played as a unit for the greater good. Just accept it and encourage improvement, instead of acting like we are somehow deserving. Even the Brazilians don't have the ego problems of the England team, and lets be honest - they've got more reason to have big egos.

Posted 10:59 21st August 2008

Bhavesh Patel says...

I was travelling back home from work at around 6 yesterday evening and saw a crowd of England fans on the train towards wembley park. The first thing to be said is I felt sorry for them. Paying money to watch England when you know it's going to be the same old story. I know its a friendly, that doesn't mean England shouldn't be winning. The big European teams went out yesterday and won their mathces, Portugal smashed in five against lowly Faroe Islands, not much of a competition but still a win. Frances smashed 3 in aswell. England need to start winning games, its the only way to garner confidence. The only way they are going to do that is shake it up. Terry shouldn't be captain, sometimes wonder whether he should be in the team, woodgate maybe? lampard needs to be dropped, he should have been after 2006 world cup. Where was ashley young and agbonlahor - 2 great promising players. It's all just a silly mess, and I do feel sorry for the travelling fans I see often at home in Wembley.

Posted 10:58 21st August 2008

Lewis Wimbleton says...

why does Capello play all the hasbeens? I thought he was going to be breave after the disaster of Mclaren. Lampard Just doesnt work for England. Bring in some of the younger players PLEASE!!!! Beckham has been fantastic over the years but is he the future? No, so why play him for 75 mins and Bentley given 15? We simply have to accept that English football will never catch up with other nations. we dont have the capacity or technical ability. our players are clearly overpaid and in a comfort zone. until we change that we'll always be mediocre regardless of who plays.

Posted 10:55 21st August 2008

James Collins (Portsmouth fan) says...

i'm just fed up of watching England, you could have put any manager on the sideline and still the result ends up the same, we could so easily have put mcclaren with his umbrella on the side. how can i have to witness frank lampard having the absolute game of his life against pompey, and then turn up like titus bramble mid-week, croatia are going to run us completely ragged in a few weeks time theres no two ways about it, the national team is a disgrace.

Posted 10:52 21st August 2008

Ben Kemp (Fulham fan) says...

As a proud England fan last nights display left me feeling rather deflated. I spent the game watching a bunch of players who lacked finesse, flair and who were indecisive throughout. Once again it was the Steven Gerrard show, the only player that was willing to bust a gut to make a crucial attacking pass, or even really get stuck in to restrict the Czechs flowing football. I don't completely believe Capello is to blame though, there is no doubt about his quality credentials, but I believe that more experimentation with different formations and players in past games would have helped significantly. We really have to sit up and take notice because our next match is a World Cup qualifier and we need a total revamp of the team, but sadly now it is too late for testing. For me, the formation needs to be completely rejigged, I am a huge fan of the 4-3-3 formation (some people may think I am mad), but I believe that this should be implemented into the England team to actually inspire and really strike fear into our opponents hearts. If we keep the usual suspects in defence and James in goal (because we have no one else!), with a holding midfielder, Barry or Hargreaves would do a sufficient job, with Lampard occupying the central role, and Gerrard taking up the playmaker position, behind the striker, and in front of Lampard, as he did so effectively with Torres last season, you will not get the best out of him on the left side of midfield. If we have two wingers outside of the striker we have plenty of service, I suggest Joe Cole on the left, and dare I say Beckham, Bentley or even Lennon on the right, with Rooney leading the attack. This formation would free England from the shackles of the long ball game, and provide plenty of space to run, down the wings, and WILL provide goals! I hope results are good because the weight of a proud nation rests on their very shaky shoulders, England wants answers, and quickly!

Posted 10:50 21st August 2008

Jamie Dawkins says...

I actually think England played ok. People should remember that this team is ranked above us. The main problem England fans have is that they seem to think they are the best team in the world. They are like Newcastle fans. They need to realise they do not have have the best players in the world.

Posted 10:25 21st August 2008

Marc Russell (Tottenham Hotspur fan) says...

I am struggling to understand why Capello picked a team that was tried and tested by McClaren. We had no penetration in the wide areas last night, Beckham does not have the legs to beat anyone and is it only me who can see that using Gerrard on the left is a waste of his talent. Bentley and Ashley Young should have played in the wide areas last night to run at the Czech's and pin them back and get crosses in from the byline, not 40 yards from goal. Also, why do we not give any of the young talent a chance up front, the likes of Agbonlahor, Walcott etc. Finally, Lampard should be sacrificed for Gerrard in the middle of the park with either Barry or Hargreaves protecting the back 4, there is no comparison between Lampard and Gerrard. Gerrard is by far the better and most effective player....

Posted 10:24 21st August 2008
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