Are England Really the 4th Best Football Team in the World?

Recently Fifa released the latest international football rankings. England have been rated as the 4th best side in the world ahead of the likes of Brazil and Argentina! You may think that the use of an exclamation mark at the end of the previous sentence is unwarranted,but regular England watchers will understand. Fabio Capello has been in charge for years now and we are no better off. Every interview the Italian has illustrates more evidence as to why the players may be lacking in inspiration. The former Real Madrid Manager is still unable to speak English coherently and as a result, cannot get his points across effectively. £6million a year is paid to the England Manager, surely enough to pay a decent language coach to sharpen up his communication skills.

There are question marks about the players' commitment to the international game but I do not believe this is the real problem. The real problem boils down to a lack of leadership, tactical errors and a lack of forward thinking urgency,in the way England play. The captaincy situation has been a joke, again the fault of Capello. Rio Ferdinand has been an England stalwart for years and was the perfect man for the job, a winner in every sense. Having taken the captaincy from John Terry once, Capello took a respectable, hardline stance, by then going back on his decision he interrupted the stability of the side. Terry is a good captain no doubt but why mix and match with such a key position in the squad?

In terms of tactics, England have a tendency to lob the ball forward, down the side channels, with passes that resemble neither long ball tactics nor moves of purposeful industry. The England strategy is neither here nor there. When you think of Spain you think of quick,incisive passing with bustling movement up front. What do you think when you think of England? Exactly, nothing. We don't stand for any particular brand of football,we have no distinguishable style or pattern to our play,other than the aimless punts up-field outlined earlier.

I have deliberately excluded the players from critiscm on the grounds that their talent is unquestionable. What is needed is a 'Composer' to put these collective talents together and make us stand for something other than a big disappointment (1966 aside).

Would Capello have been allowed to stay if he were a club Manager,performing as he is? We all know the answer to that one.