Contenders or Pretenders: The Three (toothless) Lions

Every national team feels the burden of pressure brought on by fan expectations, but hardly any team is put under as much strain as England. Delusional or not, English fans expect their team to win, no matter the tournament, and this year is no different. Yet, similarly to the previous two world cups, there has hardly been any mention of a potential Three Lions world cup win. So, are English fans still wrong about their team’s chances, or have the Three Lions finally found a way to reclaim the glory of 66?


Why They’re Contenders

Fabio Capello

All eyes have been on Fabio Capello, and so far, the austere Italian has delivered the goods. Since his arrival in 2007, Capello has instituted his no-nonsense policies – making it clear that he’d rather have players who do what they’re told, rather than superstars who long for the spotlight – has established his preferred 4-4-2 catennacio strategy, guided England to the world cup after topping its qualifying group rather easily, and has seemingly put together a core group of players that is capable of churning out victories. Having won most of what there is to win at club level with some of Europe’s biggest clubs (Milan, Real Madrid, Roma, Juventus), Capello has the experience, philosophy, and player support to take England far into the tournament, especially given their group and potential knockout round matchups. Far gone seem the days of Steve McClaren’s turbulent reign.


Wayne Rooney’s form

This year Rooney has firmly established himself as one of the best players in the world, with some claiming (perhaps prematurely) that he should be mentioned in the same breath as Messi and Ronaldo. Even if Rooney had not played as well as he has all season, he would still be a key player for the Three Lions this summer; however, if Rooney’s form carries into the world cup, it would be hard to bet against England doing well. What has made the newly anointed PFA player of year so menacing to opponents this is year is the fact that Rooney has finally added heading to his already practically complete attacking game. The frightening part is that his heading ability has improved so much that almost half of his goals this season have his forehead as their birthplace. Rooney has become so important to England’s aspirations that his recent foot and groin injuries have probably caused the usually calm and collected Capello to break a sweat.


Why They’re Pretenders

Steven Gerrard and the wings

At the risk of getting trounced by ardent Gerrard acolytes, the argument here is that Gerrard does not fit into a traditional 4-4-2 formation (which has always been favored by Capello), and not that he isn’t a good player. During qualifying, Gerrard mostly played on the wings, and chances are that he’ll be patrolling the left wing during the world cup, if Lennon or Wright-Phillips is given a shot on the right. Gerrard has never been especially effective on the wings, and this is perhaps one of the main reasons he’s failed to play as well for country as he does for club (where he plays just behind the forward with freedom to roam). There is always the possibility of playing him in the middle with Lampard, but that seems unlikely, since both players have a tendency to do more attacking than defending. That is, after all, why Capello has regularly employed Barry alongside Lampard. Capello has to decide whether to play Gerrard at the expense of an efficacious winger, or drop him and risk dissention. Whatever choice he makes, there could very well be detrimental consequences.


Terryble Chemistry

Very often fans make the assumption that all teammates get along. That’s simply not the truth. Locker room feuds have long been the sustenance of turgid tabloids. The Dutch national team is famous for infighting – one of the biggest problems stemming from players’ wages, as black players earned significantly less than their white counterparts. During the 90’s Lothar Matthaus and Stefan Effenberg had a well-publicized feud, with the latter claiming that the former was a loudmouth. This year the England camp’s unity was fractured by John Terry’s antics off the filed, when his relationship with Wayne Bridge’s ex (and mother to his child) was made public. Terry was stripped of his captaincy, and Bridge subsequently quit the team, causing Capello to lose a solid backup to Ashley Cole, who is only now recovering from a broken ankle. The incident also highlighted Capello’s reluctance to deal with his players’ personal problems, since he left a lot of the housekeeping to his right-hand-man, Italo Galbati, and asked both players to leave the feud out of the team hotel before a friendly match. Surely these are not problems that are easily forgotten, especially if the team hits an early road bump in South Africa.


The Verdict: pretenders


Rooney may be in a rich vain of form, and Capello may be an excellent manager, but the former has had two significant injuries in the past month that will disrupt his rhythm, and the latter has shown that for all his experience, dealing with his players on a personal level is not his strong suit, and that could prove costly when inflamed egos need some cooling down during the world cup. There’s also the question of who will partner up with Rooney. There are a number of options – Crouch, Heskey, and Defoe, to name a few – but none of them have shown to be consistent enough, let alone confidence inspiring. One shouldn’t underestimate the impact of Beckham’s absence, as well. He may not have clinched a starting place, but his experience and agreeable nature were crucial to locker room tranquility. Finally, there’s a tendency to think that England’s group (C) is one of the weakest, made up of a possible threat (USA), and two pushovers (Algeria, Slovenia). Besides reminding people that there are hardly ever any easy games in the world cup, one mustn’t forget that Algeria beat Egypt (African champions) to claim its world cup squad, while Slovenia clinched a playoff spot at the expense of the Czech Republic, before beating Russia. All things considered, England will reach the knockout stages of the world cup, but whoever clinches second place in group D (my bet is either on Germany or Serbia) may prove too much of an obstacle to the Three Lions.