…Fabio. I haven’t said you were a “monster” either, just that you aren’t as good at the job as you and those that were sucked in by qualifying through a piss easy group – with some less than convincing displays against mediocre opponents that were glosses over by the scoreline – think you were and that when you faced a real side you’d be found out. Basically you’re just another Sven Goran-Eriksson. Something that’s made ever more evident by the team that’ll probably be picked to play Bulgaria tonight. Look at the side, think about the fact that if Lampard and Terry were available then they would be straight in the starting XI and therefore it would be exactly the same outfield ten who were thumped by German. Yes thumped...

After a hectic start to the Premier League season attentions now turn to England who face two crucial games in five days that will set a trend for Fabio Capello’s next two years in charge of England. Before the World Cup Fabio Capello could do no wrong. He was seen as the saviour of English football for turning around our fortunes after the disaster that was Steve McClaren’s tenure.  Capello guided England to a near faultless qualification for South Africa that included a stunning 4-1 victory in Zagreb. All was set for England to mount a challenge for the biggest prize in football. But since the turn of the year things have slowly started to go wrong for England. First there was the John Terry saga; there were then injuries to the likes of David Beckham and Rio Ferdinand before a...

Arsenal youngster trains with squad Fabio Capello was forced to draft yet another rookie keeper into his plans as his England goalkeeping nightmare continues. With Joe Hart the only fit goalie in the squad, Capello had to call on 19-year-old Arsenal goalkeeper James Shea to work with Hart during the session at the Gunners’ London Colney [...]...

1. Penalties for Bent sportsmen were always likely to be high on the news agenda on Sunday after the cricket revelations, but Manchester City probably didn’t envisage it affecting them quite so badly. 2. Talking of betting scandals, you would have put your house on Carlos Tevez scoring that ridiculously straightforward sitter. Hang your head, Carlitos. 3. [...]...

The Sun sticks the boot in - but does it make sense? You know things have got bad for an England manager when The Sun starts Photoshopping things onto the top of their head. It is a pair of donkey ears for Fabio Capello. Apparently, the Italian has decided to axe Jack Wilshere and Andy Carroll ahead [...]...

English? Check. Qualified? Erm… If anything, England’s failure in South Africa has given the affable gents (and ladies) who earn a crust writing on the back pages of the tabloids plenty of Capello shaped flesh to chew on. With the press and the England ‘faithful’ wanting blood, and an unofficial FA statement that the next England [...]...

In the UK it was announced yesterday that 4 police officers accused of carrying out a “serious, gratuitous and prolonged” attack on a British Muslim man are to face prosecution. The High Court was told last year that Babar Ahmad (pictured above), a terrorism suspect, was punched, kicked, stamped on and strangled during his arrest by officers from the Metropolitan Police at his home in London in December 2003. Mr Ahmad said officers beat and grabbed him around the neck, pulled his testicles and mocked his Islamic faith. At one point they reportedly forced him into a praying position and an officer shouted: “Where is your God now? Pray to him.” Now if these allegations are true, then of course it’s perfectly right, indeed essential, that legal proceedings...

…live last night. I had far better things to do with my time and after all they never watched me when I was crap. That all meant I heard the reaction to the game before I saw it. A reaction that made me think there are an awful lot of easily satisfied people out there but then more than that there’s a lot of folk who get sucked in by the same thing over and over again. Much like your pet dog, it still chases the ball when you pretend to throw it, even though it’s the hundredth time as soon as your arm comes round the mutt is off. Just like certain England fans, who are claiming this is a new start, new era, when the same players are doing the same thing to struggle past a nothing side. Over-hype matched by certain players. Just a few weeks back most of this lot struggled...

England's comedy of ego-struggles and miscommunications continued with the botched handling of Beckham's 'retirement'As a moth to the media lamp David Beckham can hardly object to having his England career ended in a TV interview. He minded when Steve McClaren dumped him after the 2006 World Cup and fought his way back, into the squad but there is no skirting round Fabio Capello's insistence in a televised pre-match conversation that Beckham is "a little bit old" to win a 116th cap.The England coach's sureness of touch deserted him in South Africa and there was no sign of it returning as he appeared to have demobbed Beckham without telling him first, though there were claims late last night that Capello had conveyed his decision through an intermediary. "I say thank you very much for...

1. England again get caught out by a lack of goalline technology - this time at the other end of the pitch. 2. That was a true captain’s performance from Steven Gerrard. His two excellent goals demonstrated two very different goalscoring aspects of his game and they were both joy to watch. 3. OTP had forgotten how [...]...

The pleasures of football can be mysterious. A 2-1 win over opponents so limited as the current Hungary line-up would normally have appeared humdrum, but England achieved approval as they rallied after conceding the opener, with the captain Steven Gerrard scoring two contrasting goals of equal excellence. By the end, too, the Arsenal duo of Kieran Gibbs and Jack Wilshere both had first caps for their country. This tricky occasion had been negotiated by spectators and footballers alike.A mellow summer's evening posed a challenge. It was directed initially at the Wembley crowd. In such a setting could the spectators hold tight to the animosity that they had amassed during and after the World Cup? Those fans did know that anger was expected of them but confined it to the warm-up, long before...

Rose and Kelly give England youngsters victory England under 21s defeated Uzbekistan 2-0 with Fabio Capello watching on in a match they dominated but struggled to find the net. The breakthrough eventually came in the 64th minute when Tottenham’s Danny Rose fired in the rebound from Daniel Sturridge’s blocked shot. Liverpool defender Martin Kelly doubled the lead [...]...

Your lowdown on England’s surprise call-up Fabio Capello has drafted Blackburn’s young goalkeeper Frankie Fielding into his squad to face Hungary tomorrow evening. The 22-year-old has been brought in along with fellow under 21 keeper Scott Loach following the retirement of Paul Robinson and withdrawal of Ben Foster. So who the fudge is Frankie Fielding? 1. If [...]...

…well you don’t. You want the same old usual suspects with the addition of Bobby Zamora. That’s gonna reinvigorate your enthusiasm for Fabio’s England after the World Cup campaign ain’t it? What more could you ask for in the forthcoming Euro qualifiers than the clapped out bunch of wasters who failed miserable in South Africa with the addition of – If the ball hits your head and you’re sat in row Z that’s – Zamora in place of Heskey. I mean you’ve already been won over by Fabio’s admission that England were going to be crap in the World Cup… But when we played the friendly games before the World Cup, the players were not in the same situation that they were in March – we knew the situation before the World......

• 'I don't know what you have to do to change minds of players'• Manager says youngsters need more games for their clubsFabio Capello admitted that he did not know what was needed to improve the mindset of his players as he prepares to lead them after their poor World Cup campaign.Speaking ahead of Wednesday's friendly against Hungary at Wembley the England manager reiterated his belief that players had been physically tired in South Africa after a long season but added that the mental approach of the team was also important."I don't know what you have to do to change the mind of the players," he said. "Watching Brazil against Holland [in the World Cup quarter-finals] I understood that the mind of the players is very important. In the first half Brazil played very well and had lots of...

OTP’s thoughts on Fabio Capello’s much altered selection 1 Don’t score at a major tournament for Fabio Capello: he’s ditched two-thirds of his World Cup goalscorers. 2. OTP is struggling to decide whether it would have made Paul Robinson more of a prima donna if he had retired from international football when he wasn’t even being selected [...]...

England boss Fabio Capello has named his 23 man squad that will face Hungary on Wednesday at Wembley, England’s first match since their defeat at the hands of Germany in the World Cup. In the squad, Capello has shuffled fourteen players from the England team who featured and ultimately underwhelmed this summer at the World Cup in South Africa. Full England squad: GK: Joe Hart, Ben Foster, Paul Robinson – Dropped: Robert Green, David James DF: Wes Brown, Gary Cahill, Ashley Cole, Michael Dawson, Kieran Gibbs, Phil Jagielka, Glen Johnson, John Terry – Dropped: Jamie Carragher, Rio Ferdinand, Ledley King, Matthew Upson, Stephen Warnock MF: Gareth Barry, Frank Lampard, Adam Johnson, Steven Gerrard, James Milner, Ashley Young, Theo Walcott, Jack Wilshere- Dropped: Michael Carrick, Joe...

• Two Arsenal youngsters join Theo Walcott and Adam Johnson• Capello also names Zamora, Bent and Carlton Cole in squadFabio Capello has named the Arsenal youngsters Jack Wilshere and Kieron Gibbs in his squad for Wednesday's friendly against Hungary at Wembley.The two young Gunners are joined in the 23-man squad by club-mate Theo Walcott, Manchester City's winger Adam Johnson and the Sunderland striker Darren Bent, who were all left out of the group that travelled to South Africa for the World Cup, along with Fulham's Bobby Zamora.Only 10 of the World Cup squad have made it into this friendly line-up, with goalkeepers Robert Green and David James not included and Liverpool's new signing Joe Cole also left out.A revamped line up of strikers also includes Carlton Cole and Darren Bent in...

• Midfielder had two hours to make up his mind• 'I might have gone had Capello asked me himself'Paul Scholes has revealed he regrets rejecting an England comeback at the World Cup and may have gone to South Africa had Fabio Capello made the offer instead of his No2, Franco Baldini.The Manchester United midfielder believes the call should have come from Capello and raised further questions over the Italian's management by saying that he was given only two hours to consider the approach. Scholes and Jamie Carragher were asked to return to the international fold before Capello announced his initial 30-man squad for the World Cup in May, but the former declined on the basis it would be unfair on those players who helped England qualify. One month on from the team's feeble exit against...

With a few weeks perspective after another predictable and disappointing quad-annual collapse by the latest version of England’s best-team-in-a-generation, the FA is starting to weigh in.  In article published yesterday in the Mirror, the FA revealed its new strategy – groom an English coach to take over for Fabio Capello in two years, bring a few more youngsters into the team and look at the way the Spanish national team trains. Sorry, but that just won’t do the trick.  The sad truth is that England is a long way from producing a team that approaches its fans’ overinflated expectations.  Without a radically different approach, the FA is dooming the Three Lions to a permanent position as one of the middling European squads – closer to Denmark or Switzerland than to Spain or...

In a quite odd turn of events, former Italy captain and World Cup 2006 winner Fabio Cannavaro believes John Terry is soon likely to face the ax when next Fabio Capello calls upon players for Euro 2012 qualifiers. In a recent interview with the Daily Star Sunday, Cannavaro spoke openly about John Terry and how not to ‘cross’ Capello, or stand in line to suffer the consequences. “You don’t cross Fabio and he won’t want anybody disrupting his tournament again“, was just one of a few loaded quotes the former Juventus man gave members of the press. Cannavaro also stated he believed Wayne Rooney and Ashley Cole to likely be the only two remaining starters left from a vanquished England squad that fell so dramatically at the hands of the Germans come the opening match of the Euro...

It’s a bizarre story. First, in May, before the World Cup kicked off, Fabio Capello along with a man named Chicco Merighi launched the Capello Index, an objective system that measures and evaluates the performances of players. But after the news broke of the ratings system, many people thought it would be in poor taste to have the rankings system running during the World Cup. That included the Football Association (FA) who prevented Capello from running the index during the tournament. But now that the tournament is over, the people behind the Capello Index launched the site this morning which reveals how poor the England footballers were rated. However, “A spokesman from the FA said that the index ratings had not been seen or approved by Mr Capello, were published without his...

The great thing about football is that it is a never-ending soap opera. One tournament draws to a conclusion and it’s not long before another begins. In a little over a week, the Under 19s European Championship gets underway with England playing a potentially tough trio of Austria, Holland and France and in around seven weeks, the senior side will begin their own European campaign towards 2012 in Poland and Ukraine. So the drama is set to start all over again for the national side. Only this time there’s a different dynamic underlying it all; the 2010 World Cup debacle. Capello’s capital with the British press is all but exhausted. This shouldn’t matter at all, after all, what does the press know about anything, but in England it really does matter. The tabloid press seems to...

…or should that be England 2. That’s what it would have been on paper after the German’s stuffed Maradonna’s lot in the quarter-final on Saturday, of course on actual grass it probably would have somewhat different. Yes Argentina were not good, at one point they were just humping aimless long balls up the park – it was just like watching England except Heskey wasn’t there falling over – and they never really looked like scoring but I still feel they would have humped England’s superstars. Messi would have finally found his form, though it has been ridiculous to compare him with the rest of the big names that haven’t performed to the standard we have expected. Rooney, Ribery, Ronaldo, Torres etc. haven’t performed at all whereas...

So despite saying they would take a couple of weeks to decide what was going to happen, the FA have made a quick decisive decision. Whatever you may think ABOUT their decision, you have to say it is good to know what is happening and prevent loads of speculation. Is it the RIGHT decision though?...

Fabio Capello must show over the next two years that his employers are right to show faith in himFabio Capello failed utterly at the World Cup, but it is the FA which counts the cost. Following the decision to retain him as England manager it will pay him a minimum of £10m over the two remaining years of his contract and there could be substantial bonuses, unlikely though such success looked in South Africa.Rarely has a reputation suffered such swift and grave damage. A disbelieving ruling body witnessed his line-up score a paltry three goals and win just one of the four matches by holding their nerve to complete a 1-0 victory over Slovenia, a country with a population of two million. Results were not even the worst of it for those who felt compelled to watch the games themselves.Capello...

…aren’t you Germany. German midfielder Thomas Mueller, who scored two goals in their drubbing of England, is trying to add insult to injury by not only putting us to the sword on the field but by then completely and correctly analysing one of the main problems with the current English team and telling us exactly what that problem is in a language even the dolts wearing red on Sunday can understand… It is difficult to have so many ‘alpha males’ and have them row in the same direction. You don’t only need chiefs, you also need a few Indians. You need people who are willing to do the hard work. It may be a problem with England that players are simply not mentally prepared to go that extra mile for their team-mates. - Thomas Mueller Ever get the feeling...

England World Cup winner Martin Peters reckons Fabio Capello and Sir Alf Ramsey are similar coaches, but Sir Alf pips him on the disciplinary stakes. The two bosses seemingly shared a dislike of WAGs, but we are not sure the Italian tucks his players in at night!...

Flops’ secret nickname for coach England’s players referred to coach Fabio Capello as Postman Pat out of the Italian’s earshot, according to The Sun. The disrespectful players alleged poked fun at their boss as he began to lose authority within the camp. An England insider said: “The resemblance to Pat was first noticed by backroom staff. [...]...

There is a current malaise effecting almost everyone in England that follows the national side, from fans, retailers, journalists and TV executives. The finger of blame is being pointed fairly equally between Fabio Capello and the highly paid, highly hyped and self important members of the squad. Ashley Cole, despite being the only first team regular who can honestly hold his head high after the South Africa debacle, is now being accused of hating his country due to text messages apparently sent prior to the tournament. Yet there are two points that are seemingly being papered over and as long as it continues, England will continue to regress. Firstly is the ineptitude of the Football Association and the second is the quality of coaching in England. The F.A. board, when it’s not...

…Chris. Lot of people reaching Toxic Web after searching for “Chris Waddle rant” not to find it. Thy’re just finding mentions of Chris Waddle and the mental block after 1990 which means he is unable to say the word penalty. Or that classic rant from a QPR fan earlier in the year. So one of my favourite players, for Spurs and England, Waddle – why did you cut off the mullet before the semi? Never mind the pelanty you’d have scored instead of hitting the woodwork during the game with the mullet. Take note Torres – had a little go after England’s 4-1 defeat to Germany about the set-up, the FA, the Premier League and the players… The FA sit on their backsides and do nothing tournament after tournament after tournament. Why don’t...

In short: Everywhere. Though that won’t do. England’s problems were numerous and solutions are not easy to come by. It’s best to look at the team and the manager as a whole. Hang on, that sounds awfully familiar, oh well the point still stands. England’s elimination was in hindsight predictable but before the game started only Boris Becker laughed at the notion of a close game in a, presumably, comedic piece to camera. Boris though turned out to be more prescient than most, myself included. Much has been written about England’s demise on this site and many others, I’ve allowed the storm to settle before setting my point out. In the article after the Algeria game I highlighted Algeria’s system as a major factor in England’s poor performance, the same holds true for the...

I am fully aware that I am late to the why-England-were-eliminated-party here, but as I’ve pored over the litany of explanations on the web, I’ve found that there is an unfair discrepancy of player blame vs. manager blame. Sure, the England stars appeared lackadaisical and short on ideas, but these are the same players that excel for their clubs under different systems than England’s, so blaming them can only go so far. Somehow, Capello has failed to get the most out of his players, and that rests with the manager. 1.) Formation Was it written somewhere in his contract that Capello must employ the traditional English 4-4-2 in order to manage the national team? As has been exhaustively written, Steven Gerrard is a waste playing in an unorthodox left-side midfielder position....

And so the England inquest begins once again. After every tournament the same earth is dug over and over again. There can’t be a single argument, idea or notion that hasn’t been given an airing in the last 48 hours. I should know, I’ve been as responsible as anyone for writing them. The corpse of England is undergoing a thorough autopsy. How did the victim meet its end? Could more have been done to save him? Who exactly did kill England? All vital questions to be answered, I’m sure. And we’ve all got our opinions, good, bad and whacko. However, we seem to have lost sight of one very important thing. In all the navel gazing we have forgotten that football is supposed to be fun; it’s supposed to be enjoyable. It’s not war, its not politics, its not quantum physics, its sport....

…this old excuse. Oh England superstars play too many games, they’re too tired when they get to a tournament and this is why they fail miserably. Bullshit! As the media were very quick to point out on average the German’s played more games in this last season, all their top players played more games than England’s superstars. The ones that are tired are the fans, tired of hearing tired old excuses for tired old failures. Mesut Özil, who was widely regarded as the best player on the park on Sunday has played about as many games as his betters in red but then you add into that he didn’t have last summer off to swan about in sunnier climes. No, he along with Khedira and Boateng were winning the U-21 European Championship. I don’t know what they were doing...

The British press are in a tizzy about who should replace Fabio Capello as the next England manager, or whether the Italian should remain in charge. Harry Redknapp? Roy Hodgson? Martin O’Neill? I’ve even read David Beckham’s name mentioned as a potential candidate. But let’s face the bitter reality. Whoever is England’s coach for the beginning of the Euro 2012 qualification campaign doesn’t matter one bit. England’s problems are far greater. In the past few years when people would ask me why England were so poor, my answer was that they never had a good manager in charge of the team in the past decade. That’s before Fabio Capello arrived. When the Italian took charge, I wrote on EPL Talk a few years ago that we would finally see whether England was a soccer power or not....

Players and staff touch down at Heathrow airport braced for criticism from press, pundits and fansThe defeated England football squad have arrived back in the UK, as the future of manager Fabio Capello hangs in the balance after the team's World Cup defeat to Germany.The players and staff arrived at Heathrow airport at around 6.20am and were expected to check in through a private terminal. They will be braced for criticism from press, pundits and fans alike, after lacklustre performances saw the squad get knocked out in the last 16.The players, most of whom were clad in official England suits, appeared weary as they got off the plane, many carrying hand luggage and a couple sporting pillows.Yesterday, Capello attributed the squad's performance to tiredness after a hectic Premier League...

Here is a blog by Nat, one of our forum regulars, following Sunday. Seventy minutes gone in Bloemfontein. Ozeil breaks with the ball for Germany, easily evades a limp Gareth Barry challenge, and squares the ball to Muller at the back post who tucks the ball into the net. 4-1. England’s worst defeat for a...

There is a saying that once you hit rock bottom the only way out is up. Unfortunately there is another option, stagnating at the rock bottom. The England national team hit rock bottom in South Africa and those out there flattering themselves that England will emerge from the utter mess a stronger team cannot be further away from reality. There is nothing about the present crop of England failures, the under 21’s or the English system as a whole to instill any positivity that the future will be even slightly brighter than the present all time low. The game against USA was not as bad as most people have made it out to be and the Americans are a much better collective unit than most people give them credit for. Had “Butterfingers” Green not let in the dubious goal England would have...

• Manager's position will be decided in mid-July• Italian says he has had offers from 'important' clubsEngland's World Cup campaign ended on a suitably farcical note last night after the Football Association refused to offer Fabio Capello its backing and left its manager dangling, with a decision not due on his future for at least another two weeks.Capello and his squad were due to touch down at Heathrow this morning following their 4-1 second-round defeat by Germany in Bloemfontein on Sunday, with one of the most decorated managers in the modern game effectively, and humiliatingly, in limbo. The Italian made it clear yesterday in talks with Sir Dave Richards, the chairman of Club England and his line manager, that he would not resign. An immediate show of support from his...