Going into the World Cup England had more problems than their fans and the national press were prepared to admit.
The side was not settled and there were a number of question marks over which players would play in which positions, none more so than in goal.
There was much debate over whether Fabio Capello should pick the experienced David James, or West Ham’s Robert Green who performed well in the World Cup warm-up matches, or even the inexperienced Joe Hart who had a successful loan spell at Birmingham City last season.
Capello eventually went for Green and that decision arguably cost England top spot in their group with Green’s error allowing the USA to draw level in England’s first game. Beating the USA would have meant a second round tie with Ghana rather than tournament specialists Germany.
But the problems did not stop with the goalkeeping position.
In defence, first choice Glen Johnson had a injury-plagued first season at Liverpool while at left back Ashley Cole also had several months on the sidelines. Neither Cole nor Johnson excelled in England’s four matches.
In central defence John Terry had his infamous off the field problems which coincided with a dip in form and being stripped of the England captaincy, while Rio Ferdinand had a constant back problem which kept him out of the Manchester United team on a regular basis.
Everyone got excited when Ledley King miraculously managed to string four consecutive games together but it was only a matter of time until he broke down again.
Meanwhile in midfield only Frank Lampard and James Milner can lay claim to having good seasons for their club sides. Steven Gerrard had his worst season in a Liverpool shirt, while Aaron Lennon and Gareth Barry suffered serious injuries in the second half of the Premier League season.
Michael Carrick was taken to South Africa, but struggled in the last months of the domestic season for Manchester United while Shaun Wright-Phillips was included in the squad ahead of Adam Johnson even though for Manchester City Wright-Phillips lost his place in the side to Johnson.
In attack Wayne Rooney had his best goalscoring season yet, but again came into the tournament with questions marks over his fitness after suffering an ankle injury in Manchester United’s Champions League tie against Bayern Munich.
As for the rest, Jermain Defoe was Tottenham’s top scorer but had a poor end to the season while Peter Crouch managed only eight goals for Tottenham.
But that is five more goals than Emile Heskey who only managed eight shots on target all season. Yes only eight shots on target.
Therefore going into the World Cup the England team were not in great shape which at the time I argued meant getting any further than the quarter-final stage would have been a real achievement for Fabio Capello’s side.
Unfortunately Germany prevented them from even doing that.
Image from The Guardian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/worldcup2010+content/gallery
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