England Suffer From A Touch Of The Blues

I don't normally cover any of the England internationals, but yesterday's debacle in Tel Aviv was another in a series of woeful performances of Man City proportions.

As the game unfolded, it was just like being at Eastlands watching a bunch of hopeless overpaid egos coasting around the pitch, each waiting for somebody else to take some responsibility and get a grip of the game.

I know it was only a crucial Euro qualifier ( in Israel ?? ), so I guess it was too much to expect the cream of the current England players to motivate themselves and actually win when it matters.

The parallels with City were frighteningly stark. It was dull, workmanlike, devoid of imagination or inspiration and ultimately completely frustrating. Despite a lot of possession England could have played until Yom Kippur ( which I believe is 22nd September this year) and still not have troubled the score sheet. One goal in the last five games is simply not good enough; Andorra must be fancying their chances on Wednesday night !

Like many, I thought that McClaren's appointment was disastrous and I remember doing an article on another board last year predicting that England would become the new Middlesbrough. Sadly, I have been proved right, but I take no pleasure from that at all.

Even though McClaren is clearly the wrong man for the job, I do feel a bit of sympathy for the man after last night, but not too much as I can't feel too sorry for anyone who would even think of playing Phil Neville.

Even without any sort of coaching or instruction, the players who took the pitch yesterday should have been able to think for themselves and adapt to the pace, shape and tempo of the game; they are highly paid professional footballers after all. Like the rest of us and despite his public post match comments, McClaren must have privately been thinking "w.t.f" was that ??

It's time for some tough decisions and the manager needs to be brave enough to ditch some of the big names who regularly under-perform and disappoint and give a chance to other players who are hungrier and want that England shirt more.

Hopefully, our own manager will have taken note and learnt from the universal criticism of the England performance, except most notably from McClaren who bizarrely saw it as "almost a complete performance"; a complete shambles would be a much more accurate description.

After this weekend's flop in Israel, the day of atonement can surely not be far off.