The Capello Project: update

After three more games of World Cup qualifiers, three more victories keep England well on track for South Africa 2010. On paper things are looking very healthy with Fabio Capello overseeing a record-breaking English campaign. Since the last batch of qualifiers, England were also humbled slightly in a friendly against European Champions, Spain.

Capello’s plan remains coherent and his favoured structure and first choice XI appear to remain unchanged from last autumn. The only exception with regard to player selection is at right-back: Glen Johnson has come into the reckoning as Wes Brown has been absent due to injury. Johnson has performed well since breaking into the team and was particularly impressive when gifted attacking opportunities against Andorra. Brown is perhaps more secure than Johnson defensively and with Theo Walcott the likely partner on the right, solidity may be prioritised at right-back ahead of attacking brio. 

The recent successes have not really furthered England’s credentials as World Cup contenders. The home victory against Ukraine was slight. Kazakhstan rattled them in the first-half before control was attained, whilst the victory against Andorra was emphatic but fairly meaningless as an indicator of form.

England did look stodgy at times and struggled to attain much attacking impetus, particularly against Ukraine who were arguably their only viable contenders over the last three fixtures. In fact, the only occasions England have attained any genuine attacking fluency in competitive games under Capello, were against Belarus and 10-man Croatia. This isn’t to denigrate a fine qualifying record, but warns against an uncritical consideration of current competitive form which suggests that England are unbeatable! There certainly appears to be resilience and solidity to the current England side and Capello seems to be applying a logical and consistent vision, which contrasts with the chop-and-change desperation of previous managers. 

The next three games are crucial and it is vital that England maintain winning ways so that they arrive in 2010 in good form and high spirits. This succession of fixtures may present the toughest test of the qualifiers so far with Croatia and Ukraine pushing for a place at next year’s World Cup. They will be fired up for their game against England, and Croatia in particular will be a threat as they look to avenge their 4-1 defeat in Zagreb. If England could complete this campaign undefeated, this would provide the secure psychological foundations necessary to underpin a successful tournament next year.

England 6 Andorra 0

England were essentially presented with practice at attacking a packed defence for 90 minutes. The initial qualifier against the same opposition in this campaign showed that games against so-called minnows can still be tricky affairs. An early goal is crucial for easing the nerves and fortunately that’s what England managed here with Wayne Rooney heading home Glen Johnson’s cross after 3 mins. England scored another couple before half-time: Frank Lampard fired home Theo Walcott’s cross; and Rooney scored again following another Johnson cross.

The game followed a similar overall pattern in the second period, but it took England a while to further extend their lead. Jermain Defoe, on for Rooney, scored the fourth of the evening with a good header from yet another Johnson cross. Defoe also scored the fifth, pouncing on the loose ball after Alvarez had spilt Beckham’s free-kick, while Peter Crouch made it 6-0 from close range after Defoe had made a good offensive run.

England seem to have discovered the winning habit in these qualifiers. In the past they have managed to look sterile even against very weak opposition, but here the game was finished off in reasonable style. Glen Johnson was man-of-the-match with three assists: he provided much of England’s attacking edge from right-back. Beckham also did well from the base of midfield, keeping things moving with his passing.

Somewhat paradoxically, in this type of fixture it is perhaps defensive personnel that have the greatest capacity to shine – at least those deeper-lying players who have some capacity to influence attacks. A packed Andorran defence allowed Johnson (shorn of genuine defensive duties) the room to run into attacking space, whilst Beckham had the time to pick his passes without being placed under substantial pressure. Crouch had perhaps the most thankless task leading the line in attack, ensconced within a crammed Andorran central defence. Although he had little opportunity to excel on an individual level, his presence underpinned the structure which enabled those behind him to formulate attacking manoeuvres.

8 Glen Johnson: His contribution was crucial to breaking down Andorra in the first half.

7 David Beckham: Given bags of space but he was heavily involved throughout and his distribution was good.
7 Wayne Rooney: Two well-taken goals.
7 Jermain Defoe: Two goals, and a nice run which led to Crouch’s goal.

6 Frank Lampard: Operating in a more crowded area than Beckham, he was effective enough and took his goal well.
6 Ashley Cole: A decent shift without having the influence of his counterpart on the right.
6 Steven Gerrard: Some sharp moments and exerted more influence when he moved infield
6 Theo Walcott: Showed good pace on the right without ever really getting on top of his markers.
6 John Terry: The little he had to do he did well enough.
6 Joleon Lescott: ditto

5 Peter Crouch: Given the task of keeping the packed Andorran defence occupied, he had little opportunity to shine.
5 Ashley Young: Didn’t do much wrong in the second-half, but neither did he really advance his international credentials.

Kazakhstan 0 England 4

England took another crucial step towards World Cup qualification, but suffered a few scares early in the game.
 
In the first minute Glen Johnson dithered on the ball allowing Kukeyev to break down the left wing, his tricky cross almost fell for Ostapenko and the loose ball was cleared by John Terry. Kazakhstan also found the net when Ostapenko headed home a lofted free-kick, but he had strayed marginally into an offside position. England toiled for the rest of the half and it seemed as though it might be difficult to break the deadlock. Emile Heskey did hit the inside of the post after a poor clearance from the Kazakh keeper Mokin. A 0-0 half-time score line was imminent until Gareth Barry headed home a Steven Gerrard cross on 35 minutes following a short corner. The lead was doubled just before the break when Gerrard’s impressive attempt to chip the keeper from long range was parried to Heskey, who scored his first goal in a competitive international since 2002.
 
Kazakhstan’s threat waned in the second period but England failed to develop much attacking fluency. They did manage to score again to inflate the result to a respectable level: Wayne Rooney finished neatly following a good run along the goal-line from Glen Johnson, and Frank Lampard hit home a penalty after Heskey was held in the box.
 
Fabio Capello did tinker to good effect in the endeavour to obtain some functionality from the side. Just before England scored their first it seemed as though they were playing more of a 4-3-3 with Rooney and Theo Walcott on the wings with Gerrard joining central midfield. In the second-half Gerrard retained a more central role, with Rooney keeping more to the left and substitute Shaun Wright-Phillips filling in on the right. It is perhaps wide-midfield which is the most unsettled area under the current regime. Alternating Rooney and Gerrard on the left has worked well enough, but both are more comfortable through the middle. On the right of midfield, Walcott is yet to establish himself fully following his international breakthrough and injuries may have temporarily stalled his progress.
 
Six wins from six is an unquestionably decent return and a sound tactical framework is in place which has allowed England to tackle the qualifying fixtures thus far with aplomb. But further advancement is required if they are to be anything more than solid but limited World Cup contenders again. 

7 Gerrard: His two assists changed the game.
7 Terry: Despite a few sloppy passes he was England’s most composed performer.

6 Green: Not much to do, but some distribution looked nervous
6 Johnson: Early complacency could have been costly, but atoned with a good run which led to Rooney’s goal.
6 Upson: Rattled a little by early pressure but otherwise safe enough
6 A Cole: He did not support the attack very visibly considering his lack of defensive commitments.
6 Barry: Off the pace initially but took a nice headed goal.
6 Lampard: Worked effectively without quite seizing hold of midfield.
6 Walcott: Showed some good bursts of pace but end-product was not realised.
6 Rooney: A quiet night but a well taken goal.
6 Heskey: Worked hard up front, scored and hit a post.

5 Wright-Phillips: Looked out of sorts and not much went right for him.