World Cup has ended for England

Ok, you all probably heard the news now, England are out of the World Cup thanks to a dramatic penalty shoot out by firm rivals Portugals.

In all, the match was superb despite both teams playing below par (especially Portugal) and with the big talking point in the game with Rooney's sending off, you know that England will get a lot of slack and criticisms. Here are just a few of my thoughts on why the Three Lions failed in the match and the tournament as a whole:

Wayne Rooney

Ok, Throughout this tourny and pre-tourney, alot (and i mean ALOT) of hype was put on Wayne Rooney and England's chances with him being in the team (despite being not match fit).. and even then, with Wayne playing a few games this tourney, Wayne has simply failed to produce. Few chances created, no goals, anger managment problems and importantly, too much media spotlight was on him when the whole damn sport is supposed to be a team game!
During the match with Portugal it was obvious that Rooney felt a former shadow of himself, with lots of bad passing, lots of wasted energy, miskicks and really felt fustrated to the point that he wanted to stamp on someone's groin.. oh.. he did that. Foolish Rooney, why do that, that wasn't accidental and that was painful to watch with millions of viewers at home looking with agony. Granted, the final thing to push Rooney was Ronaldo, Ronaldo did nothing but heckle the referee but what did Rooney do? Pushed his Man U Team-mate in front of the ref.. why do that? Rooney wasn't provoked by Ronaldo at all, Rooney just decided to push him to release his fustration more... But hey, good thing, with Rooney gone, England created more chances, had more spirit and more power than that media-hyped buffoon.

Tactics.. by Sven Goran Erikkson

Who's idea was it to do a 4-5-1 formation.. it doesn't work for England simply put. A lone striker is only good in some teams and circumstances, but with a team like Portugal, England shouldn't have done that. Granted, England's strike force is crap (point will be made next section) but the fact is, putting a lone striker just doesn't work without any decent front support. Though Sven has never tested a Rooney + Crouch combination, it would have been better than anything else they got. As for the midfield strength, Gerrard and Lampard are great players.. but they have similar traits and dont play well together at all..
Defence strength, strong enough already but i wonder why Paul Robinson isn't as strong as he used to be.. maybe nerves? But still no complaints in that department aside from set-pieces which they seem to be fixing.

Player selection... by Sven Goran Erikkson

Theo Walcott.. nuff said really.

ok, 4 strikers seems to be plenty.. if they are fit and experienced! Rooney.. broke his foot weeks before tourney.. not match fit
Owen.. broke his leg this year.. played very few games for Newcastle.. not match fit.
Theo Walcott... Errr.. who?..
Crouch... The only decent one and was the star striker of the tourney for England.

Ok, another aspect was the midfield stars.. sure.. on paper its fine but it doesn't work for some reason, as mentioned before, Gerrard and Lampard dont work too well together because of their tendencies to play more attacking roles than support. Beckham has been playing different positions all season so his role is slightly mixed up though he played pretty good this tourney.

Defenders have no problems with in terms of player selection as well as goalie.

Plus points this tourney include Lennon, Hargreaves, Ferdinand and Crouch, all played exceptionally well.. unlike most of the team.

Sven Goran Erikkson... by Sven Goran Erikkson

Ok, similar to Wayne Rooney post i made, too much emphasise was made about his chances, his tactics, his devotion to the club.. etc.. in fact, what made this worse was how critical the fans and media made him out to be.. one day he is a £25million a year jerk, the next, a Swedish idol who has the potential to take England to the Finals.. please fans and media, make your mind up on whether you like him or not as it is ridiculous.

Ok, another thing, im trying to understand if he actually likes football at all.. at the post-match interview.. really no sheds of tears from him, no red-bloodshot eyes, no sadness.. just his usual grinning face explaining why England lost or underperformed.. imo, i dont want a manager who feels no sympathy for the fact England lost in one of the greatest tournaments in the world. Including that, the tactics and player he selected really questions whether he understands good fast flowing football.

His usual, depressed/bored look at the dugouts explains everything.

Finally.. Spirit

The team in general lacked spirit.. despite pre-match hype and talk about how England is going to go through to the finals and win the cup, England really failed to convince anybody.. during the group stages, 1-0 wins against T&T and Paraguay showed there really was nothing between the teams except a cheap shot at goal than managed to go in.. England players were drained by the heat and the pressure of the tourney and only came across as lucky winners. 2-2 draw against a mighty Sweden showed how tougher opposition can upset England, and in some respects, Sweden could have snatched the game away in some circumstance.. not the most convincing performance of course. 1-0 against Ecuador.. ok again unconvincing.. but got through to last 16.. well done.. but England needed stronger opposition to test them. Then Portugal arrived.. both teams were crap and England's spirit were so low that it really needed a man sending off before they can jack it all to high gear and show Portugal what England are really made of. In fact, England really shouldn't have had a man sent off to get their passion and spirit up, but managed to show that Rooney actually proved some worth in the team by giving the rest of the team much more hardwork and passion to pressurise Portugal.

All in all, a dissapointing England performance as everyone said, England can do better and definetely will especially with SGE gone.