Sponsored by
TALKING SPORT: Capello must keep a cool head
MORE than one week on and the venom and bile being spewed forth in England's direction shows no sign of abating.
According to the red tops and, it must be said, legions of supporters too, Fabio Capello and his players not only lost a football match after, admittedly, performing pretty miserably in three others. They also let their country down.
But while such emotive nonsense is to some degree understandable among folk who use the same vocabluary to discuss a fixture with Germany as they would a war, (showing, it must be said, a complete lack of respect to those who have died, been maimed or seen loved ones fall in conflict), it does little to actually address the reasons behind our failure to perform respectably at this year's World Cup. And, as a result, is likely to prolong our spell in the international wilderness.
Inevitably much of the criticism following last month's defeat by Joachim Low's side has been directed at Capello. But what would be served, other than to save the FA a considerable sum in wages, by stripping to Italian of his job?
Undoubtedly, the former AC Milan, Roma and Real Madrid coach committed a number of errors during his time in South Africa and must, like the players, embark upon a lengthy period of brutal self-reflection. Tournament competition is, after all, radically different to the day to day business of running a domestic club.
But thankfully he now has the opportunity to prove he has learned from those mistakes. To relieve Capello of his duties now would have striped England of the experience and knowledge he has hopefully gleaned.
And started the whole process, given that his successor is likely to come from these shores, all over again.
Nor should we kid ourselves that money is the root of all evil. True, Rooney, Gerrard, Lampard and company pocket vast sums every week. But, unless I'm very much-mistaken, so do Dirk Kuyt and Fernando Torres who, as we speak, stand 90 minutes away from the final.
Their salaries, although vulgar given the financial burden society at large is being asked to shoulder at present, are merely a convenient stick to beat them with. Only a fool would say they don't care or lack passion.
That's another quality we credit with far too much importance given that a lack of intelligence, composure, technique and team work seemed to be the cause of England's demise against Die Mannschaft.
Got a view? Leave a comment below.
Follow The Star on Twitter and Facebook:
For breaking news and sport follow The Star on Twitter at www.twitter.com/sheffieldstar and Facebook at www.facebook.com/sheffieldstar.
JOIN THE STAR READER PANEL: The Star is YOUR newspaper, so tell us what you think about it and what you want to see - CLICK HERE.
Don't miss our daily pull-outs - only in the The Star: Monday Star Sport, Tuesday Class Act; Wednesday Business; Thursday Grassroots; Friday Time Out; Saturday Retro. Subscribe to The Star - CLICK HERE
READ MORE
Subscribe to The Star or Green 'Un
Visit our Matchday Centre for free live coverage of every match
Football headlines. Football gossip. Blades news Owls news Reds news. Millers news. More rugby. More boxing. Sports columnists.
All sport categories
Watch Premiership highlights, international football, golf, tennis, darts and much more - click here
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Sheffield
Friday 10 February 2012
Today
Fog
Temperature: -6 C to 0 C
Wind Speed: 14 mph
Wind direction: South east
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
Temperature: -2 C to -1 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: South west
