It is sad and pathetic that the English press and the wind-up blogs are attempting, though ever so poorly, to blame Steven Gerrard for the early World Cup exit of the Three Lions. He did not pick the manager. He did not pick the players. He did not pick the formations, his own position, nor tactics. All he did was go out and play to the best of his ability, trying to execute the plan of his manager.
Roy Hodgson is not truly to blame either, he is just doing what he has always done, but it is quite evident that his style of management doesn't work for the English side. He is a blue collar manager if there ever was one. He found most of his success at clubs in lesser leagues like the Allsvenskan or at smaller clubs like Fulham and West Brom which rely more on tactics than talent. Let's face it, England is made up of big club players and it is hard for a big club player to revert to simple tactics, it is like asking a chef to wash dishes, he can do it, but he won't be happy nor necessarily do it well.
Capello utilized advanced tactics, but he also knew how to control the superstar egos of the English side. You were either part of the team or watching from the outside, Hodgson is too much of a gentleman to command the Three Lions. I'm not saying they lack discipline, because if anything they are seemingly one of England's more mature squads despite their age, I just think Hodgson's tactics and demeanor lack the authority to shape the squad to his liking.
Gerrard had a very poor performance against Uruguay and a medicore one, at least for him, versus Italy. Neither losses can be fully pegged on him though. In the Italy match, England's lack of a true defensive midfielder, which they don't even have in the squad, hurt them because no one could stifle the Italian attack. Neither Gerrard nor Henderson are true DMs and it's idiotic to ask them to play such a role on the world's biggest stage. Hodgson supposedly imploys zonal marking, so it was either executed quite poorly on both of Italy's goals or nobody listened. The lack of coverage on the second goal and the careless positioning by Hart are clear signs of a insufficiently managed side.
The Uruguay match was just plain awful from everyone, even for Suarez. He scored two goals, but was statistically one of, if not the, worst player on the pitch. Uruguay overall had a passing rate of 64.7%, 53.9% in the England half, and did not connect on a single one of their 18 cross attempts. Unfortunately the England defense went asleep for a total of about ten seconds and it cost them the match. Hodgson's tactical approach is a support method of twos and the two centre backs, Jagielka and Cahill, failed to communicate on the first goal, allowing Suarez to sneak in and put away a brilliant header.
Everyone wants to blame Gerrard for the second goal since he miscalculated his header and passed it on to his Liverpool teammate, but it was the brilliance of Suarez to net at a tight angle with scorching pace. Still it was Gerrard's error that gave him the ball and actually Cahill did a great job in cutting down Suarez' perspective, but Hart's indecisiveness to go for it or stay back was quite apparent and he ended up doing neither. If he would have stayed back, he would at least had a chance of a save, but getting stuck in the middle left him little chance.
No one seems to be talking about Rooney missing three point blank chances, one in the Italy match and two versus Uruguay. He connects on one of those, this post doesn't happen. England still has hope against Costa Rica. He better realize that if it weren't for Sterling, Sturridge, and Johnson, he would have had zero assists and zero goals, they better be on his Christmas card list.
Listen I can spew stats all day to disprove Gerrard's culpability and direct the blame on others, but it's just as stupid as being a sensationalist and blaming the captain for a total piss poor team effort. The bottom line is, and it pains me to say this, they should have brought Michael Carrick and begged Gareth Barry to come, so they would have a true DM. I don't want to get into why I would have picked a different squad, but I don't see the point in taking Lampard and an injured Oxlade-Chamberlain.
Also, if reports are true, and Hodgson still has a job after the World Cup, than the only people to truly blame are the donkey shepherds at the FA. Hodgson is not the manager to take England anywhere, not even a watermelon festival. They should go after a gaffer with balls, who that is, well I don't know, but I would even take André Villas-Boas at this point.
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