Guest blog: Cathal Breathnach, Ireland, on England
Post categories: World Cup 2010,ÌýWorld Cup Have Your Say
| 16:19 UK time, Saturday, 19 June 2010
Over the course of the World Cup, World Cup Have Your Say is running a series of guest blogs by bloggers from across the world. This is the fourth, by Cathal Breathnach who blogs about English football at .
I'm sure no England fan imagined two weeks ago that Fabio Capello's men would be going into their final Group C game against Slovenia knowing that anything less than a win will probably result in Steven Gerrard and co departing the World Cup finals very early.
A disappointing 1-1 draw with USA in England's opening game last weekend was followed by an embarrassing 0-0 draw with the side ranked 30th in Fifa's latest world rankings, Algeria on Friday night.
Capello was "confused" by England's performance against the Algerians, Gerrard believes England now have to "look at themselves" while Wayne Rooney decided to take out his anger by sarcastically praising the fans for booing at the full-time whistle.
It really is hard to know what has gone wrong for England.
On paper, England have one of the most gifted sides in this World Cup, which makes it all the more puzzling why it is they are struggling to beat sides like USA and Algeria.
Rooney is, without doubt, one of the best strikers in world football. Gerrard is widely regarded as one of the finest midfielders in the game while John Terry, despite his less than spectacular last six months at Chelsea, is still recognised as one of the best defenders around.
Joe Cole's exclusion from the last two games has really baffled me.
I am sure the majority of England fans will agree with me when I say that Joe Cole is a far better and more consistent player than Aaron Lennon is, and why Capello has decided to leave him on the bench in this World Cup really is beyond me.
At least England aren't peaking too soon.
If, and it is a pretty big if at this stage, England do manage to beat Slovenia this Wednesday and go through to the last 16, perhaps we may see a different England in the knock-out rounds.
Personally, I wouldn't be overly confident of England managing to see off a Slovenia side who have impressed in the opening two games of this World Cup.
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