WCC has explored how history is swayed by contingent events. The question posed by a counterfactual historian is what if? Below is a recent newspaper article – obtained from a parallel universe where Robert Kovac only received a yellow card for his challenge on Joe Cole during England’s qualifier against Croatia in Zagreb.
“Oh, the pity of it Fabio. English football fans have been duped by false hope yet again. Now we are faced with the all too familiar prospect of England being deposited from a World Cup in humiliating fashion.
“Capello has demonstrated, if we needed it demonstrated again, that club management success does not readily translate into competence on the international stage. It’s one thing to orchestrate an already well-drilled continental club side, quite another to strong-arm a disparate group of English egos into a functioning unit. The qualification campaign spluttered in fits and starts like so many before. There was fleeting promise as England approached 90 minutes in Zagreb clinging to a 1-0 lead, before the inevitable panic set in and the now infamous Rio Ferdinand clanger gifted Croatia the draw. From this point on, the route to South Africa was always going to be undulating and tortuous, and home and away defeats to Ukraine indicate England’s present status in the global pecking order. It was only expected victories against the minnows, allied to Croatia’s dip in form, which enabled Capello’s misfiring, ramshackle collection of individuals to scrape into second place. Some dubious tweaking from Sepp Blatter meant that a FIFA-seeded England drew lowly Bosnia in the play-off, otherwise this could have been another major tournament bereft of the Three Lions – perhaps mercifully.
“In retrospect, we should have paid closer heed to Capello’s absurd comments early in his incumbency, when he compared the pedestrian David Beckham to Portuguese flyer Cristiano Ronaldo. This is certainly not a man attuned to navigate the idiosyncratic vagaries of England’s international set-up. It is quite incredible that the same issues endure in 2010 under Capello, which were relentlessly debated during Sven Goran-Eriksson’s misguided era. Can Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard play in the same midfield? We still don’t know, but what is certain is that depositing Gerrard into an unfamiliar and uncomfortable outpost on the left is no sort of solution. Lampard is also a neutered presence next to the one-paced Gareth Barry in central-midfield. A misfiring midfield has meant that Wayne Rooney, otherwise on exceptional form for Man Utd, has increasingly resembled a headless chicken for England as he feverishly tries to compensate for his coach’s lack of tactical know-how. But it is perhaps the persistent deployment of the labouring, non-scoring Emile Heskey which is most indicative of a Capello’s obtuse and belligerent managerial style. Desperation and stubbornness are also unhappy bedfellows, and the sight of a floundering Sol Campbell in a defensive midfield role against Egypt was the lowest point in England’s recent footballing history.
“So on to South Africa! At least under Eriksson it seemed as though staid progression to the early knock-out rounds was imminent. With Capello at the helm, England will need luck on their side to progress from a group including Brazil and Ivory Coast. At least Steve McClaren spared us the misery of Euro 2008!”