England needs... who?

Winston Churchill, Horatio Nelson, Martin Johnson, Bobby Moore and Ian Botham... what do these great Englishman have in common? 

Yes that's right, they're all great leaders. They all have that god given talent, something that cannot be taught, that ability to inspire their fellow man to fight towards a common goal, to extract that extra percentage point of performance in others that is so often the difference between success and failure.

"Over to you mate" Wayne Rooney seems certain to replace close peri end Steven Gerrard as England Captain

And those names are just an example of a prominent and very successful few, I'm sure there are many more names that come to your mind when you read this because we've always produced great "El Capitano's"...yet this only goes to louden the question 

"Where are our next great leaders?"

I will stay clear of debating this in a political sense (even if there is a big debate to be had there), but the England football team are on the search for a new skipper after Steven Gerrard confirmed his retirement from International Football and it surely won't be long before the ECB look to replace Chef with a new Chief following that woeful performance versus India in the 2nd test.

And so two opportunities to become legends like the names above now present themselves to the next chosen individuals, however, what's very sad is to realise is that there is no outstanding candidate, no really captivating heir apparent waiting in the wings that make you believe they will assume control and lead these sides to glory and greatness once again.

As was discussed in this blog previously (Cook feeling the heat) following the disappointing series versus Sri Lanka there was no outstanding candidates then, with some assuming Ian Bell was the likely successor due to his seniority in the side. 

Cook to bell "Oh shit!"

Bell to himself "Oh shit indeed"

But we are a little over a month on and the situation appears even more dire that it was, what with question marks arising about Ian's and fellow candidate Stuart Broad's form and Alastair seemingly past the point where he could possibly survive - mark my words he will be culled at the end of this series if not before.

And then we have the England football side, where despite Wroy's best efforts Steven Gerrard couldn't be convinced to stay on. Could that be because he'd seen enough of the shower of shit that was England in Brazil? Maybe! 

Now in my mind, I still believe another change is needed at the top (Fucking hell Wroy!), but if a new skipper is all we're going to get I'd want an appointment a little more inspiring than Wayne Rooney who seems to be the only seriously viable candidate.

Maybe this is a little unfair on Wayne, it's not his fault there's no one more obvious than him to do the job, but for those of you close to the game I'm sure you would agree that the feel is not quite right, that he's more of a "whinger" than a "winner". Does your mind paint a vivid image of a delighted Wayne Rooney being held aloft Jack Wilshire and Leighton Baines shoulders grasping the European Championship trophy? I thought not! 

Of course criticising is very easy to do, anyone can "boooooo", decree a decision was wrong, shout "you're shit!" at the top of their voice, but suggesting an alternative solution is a lot harder, especially in these cases but I think the key in both is for the powers that be to give themselves time.

In terms of the England cricket team I think they need to put Cook on notice that he's leaving at the end of the India series to see if that prompts any new dynamic from a potential leader from within, to see if it makes someone else step up to the mark. If no one does, the leave the door open still by making a temporary appointment - it may not be great in the short term, but isn't that preferable to making a bad appointment long term? 

And similarly with the football team, I would appoint a captain for purely the next couple of games, I'd be willing to live with a bit of uncertainty in the hope that a much clearer path will present itself. I don't see this happening, I expect a permanent appointment will be seen as a nessity in both instances, but perhaps there is logic in what I'm suggesting because as a great man once said;

“The greatest lesson in life is to know that even fools are right sometimes.”

The Armchair Supporter

World Class Germany

Who would have thought it, after a splendid three weeks of festival football, it's the Germans that are World Champions. It seems so obvious at this point, after all you should "never discount the Germans" yet when the journey started there were many a person who ignored the obvious claims of this well drilled, well oiled side.

One of the key accusations levelled at this German side was it lacked a "World Class Player". People questioned whether they had a player in the mould of a Messi, a Ronaldo or a Neymar, a poster boy to pin a countries hopes on. Yes they were a great team, but who would provide those inspirational moments of genius when it mattered most?

Well in hindsight, maybe we were a little blind to the World Class players Germany have running through their ranks.

In Manuel Neuer they have the undoubted World's best number 1. Too many people will rate goalkeepers by the shots they save, but Neuer's performance against Algeria should have showed to many that top level goalkeeping requires a lot more skill than the basic necessity of shot stopping.

His decision making, as he looked to sweep up behind a fragile looking German defence was spot on every time and this was a key performance on their way to the final. Even in the final, where he didn't have a shot to save, there was one key moment where Neuer had to literally stand tall.

When Rodrigo Palacio was set free inside the area, there was a choice to make. Neuer choose to quickly advance, imposing his big luminous green frame into the strikers eyes. Just this sheer presence was enough to panic and rush Palacio, resulting in a poor execution of his attempted chip. It was simply brilliant from Neuer, it was essentially a save without making save.

Other names that instantly stick out from the German squad in hindsight are players such as Philip Lahm, Bastian "the brain" Schweinsteiger and Thomas Müller

Lahm, one of the best full backs to have ever graced the game, was deemed so good that it would be a waste to play him their by the master that is Pep Guardiola, who employed him in a deep lying central midfield role this season. The fact that he was able to adapt and look like he'd played their all his life is a mark of this guys class. Could you imagine someone like Leighton Baines switching so effortlessly to this role?

And what can I say about Schweinsteiger that does this guy justice? He is just simply superb, there is no one better in the game at what he does. Can you name me a midfielder in this World Cup that you'd rather have? What's that you say Liverpool fan, "Steven Gerrard?" Ha, ha, very funny!

And then we have Müller, the golden boot winner at the last World Cup. If that doesn't make you World Class already, the fact he scored 5 more in this World Cup to bring his overall tally to 10, hot on the heels of Miroslav Klose's recently gained record of 16 all time World Cup goals what does?

And so now you start to realise that the reason Germany didn't have "one" World Class player is because they had lots of them, essentially 11 at any given moment, all managed by a World Class Manager in Joachim Löw. To coin a phrase, we were looking at Vorsprung Durch Können.

Maybe the willingness of some to play down Germany's claims were built from hope more than anything real, especially as in this country the Germans are a side we'd prefer to lose. Maybe we were led astray by the media who preferred to focus on big South American names and the claims of those teams than a "functional" Germany, but I'm sure what has become evidently clear to all of us now is that Germany is a world class team, set to rule the footballing stage for years to come. 

So I guess all that's left to say is "Sehr Gut Detuscheland, Sehr Gut" and to Brazil who have hosted a magical World Cup, possibly the best since Italia 90, "obrigado"

The Armchair Supporter

Sublime Germany or Woeful Brazil

Germany 7 (Seven), Brazil 1. Yes that's right, Germany 7 (Seven), Brazil 1!

Never has there been such a thrashing in the World Cup since... well the start of this World Cup when the Dutch beat the reigning World Champions 5-1 to spark this tournament into life.

But that shouldn't detract from the fact this was an astonishing result, because even if this blog suggested Brazil would struggle following the loss of Neymar this morning, it was a crash of epic proportions.

However, was this really a shock? Was this an example of magnificent German efficiency or had we overlooked a number of glaring factors that created the perfect storm? A number of significant events that resulted in a score line that will haunt many of that Brazil side for the rest of their lives.

     Eins, swi, dri, vier, funf, sex, siben, jaaaaaaaa! (Bloody smug Germans!)

As we've briefly touched on, the spine of Brazils side was missing tonight, with their centre half and captain suspended and key play maker and goal threat Neymar out with his back injury. These are players any side would find hard to replace.

In the case of Thiago Silva, this was a player who had complemented so well with the erratic all action style of David Luiz, so it left Brazil with a glaring dilemma at centre half in such a big game. The uncertainly created by the absence of their skipper no doubt contributed to the awful first goal they conceded in the 10th minute where Thomas Muller was allowed to place a side foot from the six yard box into the next from a corner. To say is was school boy defending would be offending school boys.

And it was from there that the problems escalated to silly proportions. The players confidence was already low following the loss of Neymar, but they now found themselves 1-0 down early on and with the un-inspirational figures of Fred, Hulk and a dog (Bernard?) in attack. Apart from Hulk, who didn't threaten to rip his shirt off once, Fred and Bernard are perfect English names to describe the excitment these players pose as attacking threats!

So the Brazil players are rocked, their game plan of staying tight undone and bays of expectant fans are piling the pressure for a response from an impotent attack. But of course all of this only served to play into the Germans hands even more, because now they could fall into their tried and tested plan of sitting back, inviting players onto them and then attacking those vacant spaces at pace.

With characters like Maicon, Luiz and Marcelo in the Brazil side, they were of course only to happy to play right into Germany's hands and it wasn't too long before Klose broke Ronaldo's World Cup goal scoring record to make it 2-0.

Brazil were already looking shell shocked and statuesque at this point, so it wasn't that much of a surprise that in a blink of an eye 2-0 became 3, then 4-0, and then 5... all within half an hour. 

It really was a case of Brazil suffering a complete mind fuck. They had no leader on the pitch, no player with the sense to get hold of the ball and slow the game down - make sure they stayed in the game at 2-0, got to half time and try and re-group. They instead just panicked, held up a surrender flag or both. 

    Fred tries to work out the score?

So as good as the Germans were, after all you don't win by 6 goals through just luck alone, I do think they were given a massive helping hand by Brazil being so bad. 

After all this was by no means a classic Brazil side. Looking through the team sheet, you have a Goalkeeper who couldn't get a game for QPR, a right back who's best days were behind him at the last World Cup, a midfielder come defender that looked like a 1970's soul singer / porn star and a striker who's only significant contribution all tournament was to fall over in the first game. Let's face it, they were crap and could have been found out much earlier on.

And so I would therefore wish to add a word of warning for those thinking the final will now be a forgone conclusion. Neither Argentina or Holland are broken teams, they still have momentum and belief firmly on their side. They also have significant weapons to threaten a German defence that has shown venerability, especially to pace which the Dutch specifically have in spades.  

My personal opinion is that in the second semi final, Hollands defence will do more to keep out Argentina's star forwards that the other way around. In fact, if the Dutch get an early lead, a similar situation as to tonight could ensue as Argentina pile forward leaving Robben time and space to dance his merry dance.

And should that prophecy come true, I then fully believe Van Gaal will have the necessary tactical genius to outwit his German counterpart, in what could be a classic game of chess in the final (this should translate as a boring game to most of you!).

Therefore out of interest, I made a quick enquiry with my local online bookmaker this evening to find that I'm suggesting the current 4-1 outsider and only team without a star on their crest will be the one to end victorious. Maybe I have gone mad... or maybe, just maybe, it's a thought of genius. Either way, you read it hear first.

The Armchair Supporter

Brazils lost hope

It's funny how quickly things change in sport. 

This time last week it seemed Brazil were destined to win their own World Cup, with decisions and events all going in their favour in the run up to their quarter final with Columbia. 

Whether you cited luck or conspiracy for the above, something you couldn't argue with was the fact that the thousands upon thousands of Brazilian fans were managing to transmit an overwhelming positive vibe through our TV sets, you knew they believed their side could become champions in their own back yard, that they felt it was their national sides destiny to win the World Cup to add an unbalanced sixth star to their international crest.

Yet now, just hours before their World Cup Semi Final against an ever efficient German side you can feel the mass change in mood. The move away from expectation to desperate hope. The belief that once was there has now gone all because of one thing...  the loss of the prodigal son Neymar.

True the loss of their captain Thiago Silva will also be greatly missed this evening, but the Brazilian fans would have coped with this and still been as confident as ever, it is the loss of their playmaker, their master in chief, their one exceptional talent that has shattered the nerves of so many fellow countryman. 

True for many, myself included, Neymar had yet to really do it on the big stage having been overshadowed by a little known player by the name of Lionel Messi at Barcelona, but there was no doubt Neymar's stock was growing as the World Cup developed.

He was the one rough diamond in what has to be said is a far from vintage Brazilian side. Functional is the best way I can describe the sum of the sides other parts, which is not something you tend to say about the great Brazil sides of the 70's, 80's and 90's.

Yet this particular diamond was beginning to sparkle, shining light onto his team. Neymar was showing a maturity beyond his youthful years, growing with confidence as the tournament progressed despite the weight of over 20 million peoples hopes and dreams resting on his narrow shoulders. 

Destiny seemed to be calling, with Brazil and Argentina drawn on opposite sides, the script for the final had almost been written, "the young pretender against his mentor" but alas we have been cruelly robbed of this prospect by what was essentially a very crude challenge in a hot and heated South American affair in the quarter final (although take nothing away from that game, I loved the fact that players were able to challenge like the old days without fear of a yellow card!)

True, Neymar's injury may not prevent Brazil getting to the final and players and coaches are doing there best to put a brave face on it with Soclari saying;

 "Neymar has done his share. Now it's up to us to do our share. We have accepted what has happened and we are focusing on other things. In this match we will be playing not just for ourselves and everything we've ever dreamed of, but also for Neymar and everything he's done for us."

Yet with no real replacement of the same caliber and a feeling that the quotes being made are simply lip service and lack a real conviction, I expect a heart breaking end to the story for a country that has given us such a fabulous World Cup. 

Perhaps it might be better that this dream is ended tonight with thoughts of what might have been, rather than suffer the ignominy of failure in the final of their own tournament, because not even the statue overlooking Rio can grant the miracle that would be required to win the World Cup for here.

The Armchair Supporter