Yesterday evening I uttered six words that I never thought I'd say:
“What a relief Montenegro only drew”
It really is a sorry state of affairs when the mighty English national team are struggling to top a group that features four other nations who have rarely, if ever, shocked the world of football with their quality.
Fair play to Montenegro. They've proved that they should certainly be taken seriously as a footballing nation; they started out as the lowest ranked team in Group G, and then in the space of a few matches became the 24th best country at football, according to the people at FIFA. And FIFA don't get things wrong.
Wins against Wales, Bulgaria, and Switzerland, as well as a goalless draw against England at Wembley in October, have put Montenegro joint top of Group G, with only inferior goal difference preventing them topping the group. Three points last night in the return match against the Bulgarians would have put Zlatko Kranjcar's side into pole position to grab the automatic qualification for Euro 2012. However, Ivelin Popov cancelled out Radomir Djalovic's second half strike, and they were left to rue a missed opportunity.
Meanwhile, 1102 miles away, Fabio Capello was reflecting on two more dropped points at Wembley Stadium, after a lacklustre performance from his England side. It was the 2-2 draw against an impressive Swiss team that generously presented Montenegro the chance to top the group. But whilst it was a spirited performance from the visitors, once again it was shown that Capello and England are wrong for each other.
We all rejoiced when the seemingly stubborn Italian altered England's playing style for the 2-0 win against Wales. From the rigid and lifeless 4-4-2 formation, suddenly we were watching exciting, free flowing football with Rooney, Young and Bent as a three man attack. Naively, people (myself included) assumed that this could be the start of something beautiful, forgetting that the team we had just beaten were Wales. And not just any Wales team – a Wales team without the PFA Player of the Year, Gareth Bale.
Two and a bit months on, and our new lethal 4-4-3 formation was mercilessly unleashed upon the Swiss. Except, this time round, we were playing a pretty good side, and Wayne Rooney was suspended and getting his hair done. And for some bizarre reason, Capello opted to leave Ashley Young, one of the major plus points of the Wales match, on the bench, as James Milner started on the left. Arsenal's Theo Walcott was placed on the right, and Darren Bent kept his place to play through the middle.
After 35 minutes, England were 2-0 down, and Wembley was shocked into near silence, aside from the jubilant section of Swiss red that coated a large section of the stadium. It was two poor goals to concede as well; inept defending for the first, as Rio Ferdinand misjudged a Tranquillo Barnetta free kick, and then James Milner decided to leap out of a well placed two man wall, as the same Swiss midfielder curled another free kick past the despairing dive of Joe Hart.
It was two individual mistakes that embarrassed England, but in fairness, Switzerland weren't fortunate to have a two goal lead. The midfield trio of Parker, Wilshere and Lampard were struggling to get a foothold in the game, whilst Milner and the increasingly frustrating and frustrated Theo Walcott rarely threatened, leaving Darren Bent isolated.
England did manage to pull a goal back before half time, after the ever impressive Jack Wilshere was fouled in the area by fellow Gunner Johan Djorou, and Frank Lampard converted the penalty. The scoreline flattered England slightly, and at the interval Ashley Young was finally introduced, immediately impacting on the game with a neat finish to level the match. It was a better second half performance from the English, with the lively Young proving that Capello was wrong to leave him out of the side.
The most memorable moment of the match came in the 70th minute, when Darren Bent was unable to convert a gilt-edged chance after the Swiss keeper Benaglio could only parry Ashley Young's effort to the striker. With the goal gaping, Bent fired the ball high over the crossbar, proving that he certainly isn't an England number nine. Replays of the opportunity made it all the more unforgivable, especially a particularly cruel camera angle which showed how much of the goal was available to the former Sunderland and Spurs forward. That miss kept the scoreline at 2-2, and that's the way it finished in North London.
So what did we learn? Well, 4-3-3 worked against Wales, but didn't really work against the superior Switzerland. Imagine what might have happened if England were playing Brazil or Spain – it doesn't bear thinking about! But formations aside, this still isn't a happy group of players, and it won't be happy until Capello leaves after the next tournament. With the players available to the Italian, it is fairly astonishing that England have failed to beat both Switzerland and Montenegro at Wembley Stadium.
Bad decisions and poor man-management skills are further damaging Capello's reputation, and although England will almost certainly qualify for next year's tournament, once they get there, they're in serious danger of getting embarrassed by better teams.
