There will be no New Order “World in Motion” like assocation with this England side. They barely registered a pulse in their draw against Algeria. And they exited with English fans booing them.
Wayne Rooney had a comment, ” Nice to see your home fans booing you”. What else were they supposed to do? Cheer one of the most insipid, soulless displays of football. The Golden Ball contender drew one more blank.
He had a forgettable match which can be said of almost all the English players. His strike partner Emile Heskey flubbed the most elemental of ball skills. Gareth Barry had a nightmare holding the ball for more than a few seconds gifting it away on numerous occasions. And the Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard conundrum continues.
What bad karma do these two bring when they take the field together. They seem to annull each other out. Gerrard after finding success between Rooney and Heskey in the England match as a withdrawn striker was pulled to the left where he appeared less effective.
All this in the context that it was not just England with a goalkeeping change, Algeria too was forced to induct Rais M Bolhi,in his first international cap filling in for the injured Fowzi Chaouchi. The conditions were ripe for a royal thrashing.
Instead it was Les Fennecs looking far more enterprising and energetic. Karim Matmour and Karim Ziani drove the ball wide on the flanks and Karim Ziani and Nadir Belhadj made that left flank look lively with their crosses. Ziani had the measure of Glen Johnson. Algeria unsurprisingly had more possession than England, 52% to 48% after this display.
Jamie Carragher will miss the next match because of a booking. With Rio Ferdinand and Ledley King already out, Fabio Capello’s central defenders are giving him a nightmare. It will be either Matthew Upson or Michael Dawson against Slovenia.
Not a birthday present one would have hoped for Monsignor Capello.