Robert Green made a high profile mistake which saw England only able to muster a point against the USA. It looked a routine save when Green put himself in front of Dempsey's long range effort but he then contrived to let the ball slip out of his hands and spill into the goal. As expected the English press came out like sharks smelling blood, plastering the front pages of the Daily News with the headline: "Hand of Clod." Capello kept him on for the second half and Green slowly regained his composure, coming up with a good save at his near-post against Altidore's shot in the second half.
Green's mistake however hides the fact that the England performance was altogether an uninspiring one. Apart from the opening minutes when the Three Lions crafted a good move which gave way to a Steven Gerrard goal, they failed to really threaten after that. England looked flat all over the pitch. Lampard was absent through large spells of the game with his only contribution coming from an outside shot which sailed wide of the goal. Rooney was kept quite by the US defense as well and barely threatened. It has to be said, a series of early substitutions to the injured James Milner and Ledley King may have played a role in unbalancing and destabilizing Capello's side. However, with all the quality and personality in the England squad, they should have been able to regain their shape.
As expected Lennon was poor in the game. His final ball was lacking and thus could not create any real danger from the flank. The Tottenham winger found himself clean through on goal and could have made it 2-0 but chose to square the ball instead. His pass was however inaccurate and the chance went begging. This is in fact a real problem in Lennon's game, as he seems very hesitant to shoot whenever the opportunity presents itself. Gerrard started lively but ultimately faded out of the game. As it has always been the case, the midfield combination of Lampard and Gerrard could not bear fruit.
Unfortunately Capello made a couple gambles which simply did not work out for him. he picked James Milner over Joe Cole, but had to quickly substitute him after he suffered an injury. In fairness Milner did not start very well, seemingly struggling for pace against Cherundolo. The other was gambling on the fitness of Ledley King, when he had the experienced Carragher available. Indeed it says a lot about how much the Italian rates the Liverpool center-half and the Chelsea playmaker. In effect Joe Cole did not even get the nod to come on after the injury to Milner, as Capello opted to put in Shaun Wright-Phillips instead.
The England team will have to take a long hard look at themselves once again. After a very successful qualifying campaign, England's old problems re-surfaced in their opening match. Green's mistake certainly did not help the situation but the Three Lions' biggest personalities failed to grab the game by the scruff of the neck. Rooney, on whose shoulders many of England's hopes rest, failed to show up in this opening game. Gareth Barry was greatly missed as the Lampard-Gerrard conundrum still remains unresolved. Lennon seems out of his depth and his lack of a final ball and shot-shyness will certainly see him dropped from the starting eleven in the upcoming games. Jamie Carragher certainly deserves a starting berth in the center of defense as opposed to just cover for Glen Johnson on the right. Especially considering the absence of Ferdinand and King's fitness issues.
It's unfortunately very much back to the drawing board for Capello. It was a disappointing performance by England's own high standards. Of course we cannot discount a very good performance from Bob Bradley's side, who showed some real quality about them. They fought hard and certainly deserved a point out of the game. Cherundolo was very positive on the right flank and the defense smothered the threat of Rooney with great effect. The USA team can take good positives from this game and they need to now build on it to secure safe passage to the knockout rounds.
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