by Isco Benny Thu Jun 10, 2010 1:13 am
Pierre Littbarski wrote:Noah, I'm not one of those fans who goes on about luck - unless you get appauling decisions from a ref you pretty much get what you deserve.
However - McLaren had Russia and Croatia which is a bit harder than Ukraine and Croatia, not that Ukraine are bad.
McLaren had an experienced pro like Neville passing the ball back in line with his goal
Capello had a Croatian defender kick the ball against another's back to give us the lead and an unforced red card which allowed us to push on and win big.
Capello's England had been poor until then, struggling against Andorra just as Mclaren's had but those bits of luck meant that our biggest rival had to chase - Mclaren's luck meant that we were always chasing.
mcLaren also had a scandalous refs decision in Moscow that cost us badly.
I've not liked Capello for years now - he is a dinosaur and his Champions League record post '94 backs this up.
He has done what's required despite some poor performances but he should have been the one who had the balls to leave out Gerrard or Lampard - you get away with that in qualifiers but it leaves you with little or no chance in the tournament so whats the point in qualifying.
At least to Schteve's credit he had the balls to drop that chump who's been letting us down for years - Capello gives him his token caps and a coaching job
Don Fabio
England got a slice of luck granted against Croatia under Capello, but if you remember we also got pretty lucky against the Russians at Wembley under Mclaren when they had a perfectly legitimate goal disallowed in the first half at 0-0. Unlike Croatia away under Capello though, England didn't build any momentum or belief from the win.
Granted also, Mclaren had some serious misfortune, given the goalkeeping errors at home and away to Croatia, the "penalty" in Russia that should never have been, and injuries to the backline which meant for the most crucial game of his campaign Lescott, Bridge, Campbell and Brown made up the defence.
However, Capello has clearly managed to use the lucky break to instill something into the side which kept them winning games. Winning all but one game in qualifiers cannot be down to just luck. Call it mental strength, belief, whatever other cliches you can think of, but Capello has managed to provide it. Mclaren did not.
I agree with Kimbo that I don't believe he can be called an outright success until we see how he fares in the World Cup,however I also find it typically English that we're already judging him a failure for the team he has picked for the finals - a team he probably feels indebted to for what they achieved in the qualifiers, without a ball being kicked yet.
Overly cautious, mistrusting and negative or ridiculously optimistic to the point of delusion - it seems to be the way with England.
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