It surely came as no surprise that the England team sheet listed a different name in the starting goalkeeper spot today.
England manager Fabio Capello called on Portsmouth’s 40 year-old David James as starting ‘keeper instead of the unfortunate Robert Green, whose blunder against the USA had apparently sealed his fate.
Yet, given the quality of England’s performance today, goalkeeping is the least of Fabio Capello’s worries.
Today the England squad, household names one and all for their undeniable football skills, looked like 11 characters in search of a team.
Meanwhile, as England floundered, lowly-regarded Algeria picked up street cred aplenty with an inspired performance that humbled the Three Lions.
England’s Expectations
The England team could have been forgiven for expecting a quality showing. With a point under their belts from their first World Cup 2010 game, and with midfield controller Gareth Barry back in the squad, and with bottom-of-Group C Algeria their opponents, three points seemed almost a certainty.
The fact that England had never lost to an African team and Algeria had displayed little threat against their first opponents in the group, Slovenia, to whom they had lost 1-0 at the weekend, only served to bolster the notion.
But the prospect of elimination, when it stares you in the face, can have beneficial effects, and so it was for Algeria.
Algeria goalkeeper inexperienced
Coincidentally, like England, Algeria started the match with a goalkeeper change of their own, favoring M’Bolhi over Chaouchi, whose gaff against Slovenia doomed his team to a loss last week.
It seems likely that Chaouchi’s absence was due more to the injury he apparently suffered against Slovenia than any lack of confidence by the coach, however. His replacement M’Bolhi came in with just one international cap, and had never actually started an international match prior to today.
At first the inexperience of the Algerian ‘keeper looked like a boon to the English. M’Bolhi misjudged a lob from Gerrard in the opening minutes and also pushed a clearance straight to Lampard. Disaster was narrowly avoided. But as the game progressed so too did M’Bolhi’s confidence as his opening minute jitters evaporated.
Rooney and Heskey partners up front
Capello had again chosen the attacking combination of Rooney and Heskey, just as he had for the 1-1 draw against the USA at the weekend.
But whereas Heskey was frequently sighted winning the ball and striving forward, striker extraordinaire Rooney was invisible for long stretches. His first shot on target didn’t arrive until the 43rd minute, and that from well outside the penalty area.
As the game progressed the Manchester United man was forced to drop further back in the vain hope of making a positive impact.
Rooney’s tactics were symptomatic of the English attack, which was uncoordinated and unable to break down a disciplined Algerian defense.
In the second half Capello hoped to make a difference by bringing in Wright-Phillips for Lennon, then Defoe for Heskey. But the depth of Capello’s desperation for a goal was revealed when he brought Crouch in for Barry.
Algeria not intimidated by England
Algeria, on the other hand, demonstrated that it would be unwise to judge them on the quality of their play against Slovenia.
Pushing forward on the wings through the runs of Belhadj and Ziani, the Desert Foxes stretched the English defense time and again, forcing Carragher, who had a good game deputizing for the injured Ledley King, to play at his best.
Despite Carragher’s defensive work, the England team simply failed to show up. In its place ran a bundle of highly-skilled players who, through their collective lack of quality, looked as if they’d never stepped onto a pitch with one another before.
A yellow card to Carragher will cause him to miss England’s next match against Slovenia, thus complicating Fabio Capello’s decision-making.
The draw a good result for England today; the Algerians deserved more
The 0-0 draw was a good result for the Algerians. They dictated most of the play against England, with Glasgow Rangers defender Bougherra proving as solid for his country as he does at club level.
Bougherra’s spirit and endeavor typified the attitude of his teammates, and they thoroughly deserved the draw. What’s more, had they been able to breach David James goal they would have thoroughly deserved the win.
The English, on the other hand, left the pitch after the final whistle aware that progression to the knockout phase of the tournament is no longer a given, and that they’d have to elevate their game against Slovenia next week if they hope to get a favorable result.
