THE BLAME GAME: WHO'S FAULT? WHO'S NOT?

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The Reason To Their Ultimate Downfall?

After every World Cup failures, the nation's press will inevitably pick a certain player or object to be the nation's scapegoat. In 1998, it was Beckham for his senseless kick at Diego Simeone. In 2002 it was David Seaman, for letting Ronaldinho's 'cross' into the back of the net. This time round, who will get the blame? Who will be the ultimate scapegoat and the talking point for the next 4 years?

Before talking about blames and finger-pointing, let's sum up the match and their performances.


England - Unimpressive in the first game. Uninpressive in the second again. They played quite well for around.. 20 minutes against Sweden, which they drew and beat Ecuador undersevedly from Beckham's free-kick. Yesterday was seriously one of their best performance in this World Cup and sad to say, it's stil quite sh*t. There was no drive and excitement in the team, some players looked jaded, out of form and disinterested.

Portugal - Some sort of an England Mark II, but with some better performance. Their 1-0 win over Angola was not their best. Improved in the game against Iran and Mexico. Never seemed to played football in the match against Netherlands although they did get the all important goal.


Anyway yesterday's game wasn't the best to watch as expected. Both European teams are good in defence and their coaches likes to employ the 4-5-1 formation. The chances for both teams are little and both team showed a lack of creativity in midfield. Portugal sorely missed Deco while England....is still England. BUT England does showed a little spark of life early on with majority of the possesion. They passed the ball well and did create some chances. But the possesion was not turned into goal and the England players looked a little discouraged by that.

Losing on penalties yet again. Is this a curse that is waiting to be lifted by the English? It seemed to haunt them for far too long until it has become a joke. Let's hope that the English players will not let it happen again and break this curse once and for all.

WHO'S FAULT IS IT ANYWAY?

CRISTIANO RONALDO?

It's easy to find a scapegoat from the other team instead of your own isn't it. It's a human nature of pointing fingers at the other players instead of finding out what's wrong. I've read lots of letters, posts and threads on the matter regarding CRonaldo and most of the English fans are incensed by what he did. Okay now let me reiterate to you what happened.

Firstly, before the match kicked off, CRonaldo went to do a 'headbutt' on his ManYoo team-mate, Wayne Rooney. He seemed a little bermused, a little smile on his face, but looks unsure what's going on.

Next, when Rooney stomped on Ricardo Carvalho's 'delicate' part, CRonaldo ran some 40 yards all the way to where the incident happened and 'waved an imaginary card' at the referee, signalling to him to give Wayne Rooney the red card. The fuming Rooney, unable to control his temper, gave CRonaldo a little push and the referee gave Rooney the red card.

Lastly, and the most interesting point is that right after Rooney was pictured walking out of the pictch with the killer stare at the Portugese bench, CRonaldo was caught WINKING at the Portugese bench, that many interpreted as him saying 'JOB DONE' to his pals and coach.

Oh, and also not to forget, he booked himself a place in the English lore book with that very winning penalty, taking it cool as a cucumber. Many reports I've read today, including those of Martin Jol and Alan Shearer threw blames at CRonaldo for his antics on the field. Should we blame him for England's defeat?

Drogballs' Verdict: I think he shouldn't take up the full blame, but he is partly wrong too. Where is your sportsmanship, Mr Ronaldo. Since when is it gentleman to get your fellow professionals sent off by waving the card and trying to influence the referee? And to add fuel to fire, he's your team mate in ManYoo dammit. How on earth is he gonna face Rooney, Rio and Neville is none of my business, but seriously, his ManYoo future is in doubt. But that sent off doesn't warrant England's downfall. It's more than meets the eye....

FRANK LAMPARD?

This guy pictured above have been diabolical from start to end. Anyone with a little knowledge of football WILL and CAN see that. He's taken around 24 shots at goal guess what, ONE BIG FAT ZERO in return. And t think that he's the first taker for the penalty is beyond reasons. If the prevous 24 shots from everywhere couldn't go in, what makes SVEN thinks that the one from 12 yards out is going in? This guy is bullshit and should have been drop after that performance against Paraguay.

Drogballs' Verdict: Again, he's been lacklustre, or maybe worst than lacklustre, but he too should not shoulder all the blames. It wasn't just him that has been bad this time round. England have players with big reputations, like Gerrard, Joe Cole and Beckham. But seriously, how many of those have set the World Cup alight? None is the answer.

WAYNE ROONEY?

He did what Beckham did in the 1998 World Cup by getting himself sent off stupidly and is now in danger of becoming the ultimate scapegoat of the disastrous English exit. To be honest, that stomp on Carvalho was every bit intentional, as he was not off balanced and if you look again, his eyes were aimed at the spot where he aimed a kick at and deservedly sent off ONLY FOR THAT ACTION ITSELF.

BUT LET ME EXPLIN MYSELF. Could the stomp on Carvalho took place, IF the referee is a little more competent and see the fouls even before he aimed a kick at Carvalho? I believe so. The referee should have blown the whistle BEFORE the incident took place, where the dirty Carvalho was all over Rooney and the referee just stood there, as if he's there to catch Rooney's fault instead of the Portugese. Of course I'm not saying its a FIFA conspiracy, but aren't you people a little baffled by this?

Drogballs' Verdict: He's young, and rash. He looks to me to have more brawn than brain. But that doesn't mean he is a total complete idiot which go around stomping on people's b*llocks. He was right to be frustrated and agitated by the way the referee had handled the game, but he is still NOT matured enough to be able to control his temperament and therefore it led to the red card. To me, he has done his best, considering he just returned from injury and only beginning to look sharp. But of course he needs to take a little of the blame for his retaliation.

SVEN GORAN-ERIKSSON?

This Swede earns around 5 million pounds a year and you expects him to do his job well. But looks to me like he's totally lost it since day one, or maybe even before that, when he picked the squad. First, he made the biggest mistake ever by picking Theo Walcott instead of more established players like Darren Bent, Jermain Defoe or even Dean Ashton. He personally confessed that he didn't watch Walcott play before and therefore it's more of a gamble than anything else. So what happened to Walcott? He made a grand total of ZERO appearances for England and will be flying home with his morale battered. THIS HAS TO BE THE WORST DECISION MADE BY AN INTERNATIONAL MANAGER, EVER.

Secondly, his tactical awareness. How much does he know about football tactics actually. I know I'm not in any position to comment, but how on earth can someone that earns THAT much amount of money turns a group of good players into amatuers and screwed up big time in the World Cup is beyond me. His constant tinkering doesn't help and his obsession with the 4-5-1 formation is hindering the team. He's been in charge of the England set up from 2001 till now and HE DOESN'T KNOW WHO HIS BEST 11 PLAYERS ARE. And how on earth can players gel together as a unit if the manager insist on changing and chopping ever game? Why do you bring Carragher on in the last minute JUST to let him take a penalty? This has to be the most dubious substitution in any World Cup or even football matches. Constant sticking with Lampard throughout the WC when his form is obviously bad is another of his famed crappy decisions.

Lastly, we know Lampard had been sh*t. SO WHY DID HE PICK LAMPARD, OF ALL PLAYERS, TO TAKE THE ALL IMPORTANT, FIRST KICK IN THE PENALTY SHOOTOUT? Some of you might have seen the reaction of the English players when Lampard missed the shot, Gerrard seemed like he was totally shattered and knew that it was coming, that England's not gonna make it through. It destroyed the belief and spirit in the English camp.

*ADDED ON (July 3rd): Sometimes I wondered if he talked the right sense into the players or not. Did he actually prepare the players through the games and mentally prepare them for games? It seemed like sometimes England is 11 individual players passing through motions and utterly unsure of their role in the squad and looks confused as ever. Wayne Rooney asked to played in the lone striker role is a HUGE mistake and because of his isolation from the rest of the squad, he was agitated and became really pissed due to his will to win games. What does he tell the players during the half time break against Sweden, when they were good in the first half then it all fell apart after the break? Robbie Fowler said in his autobiography that Svennis said NOTHING during the half time break in that 2-1 lost against Brazil 4 years ago.


Drogballs' Verdict: He'll have to carry the majority of the blame, because he have been wrong since the day he picked the squad. Nothing's turned out right for this man and he doesn't warrant the 5 million a year pay at all. He might be the manager with the 2nd best winning record in England's history, but he just couldn't bring England into a higher level and it's a sad fact, as he has brought the golden generation of England down the drain with him and his dubious decisions.

Agree with me or not, this is just my thoughts. Of course I hope you agree, but we all have different views. So why not share the thoughts we me by email or whatever means.

Tags: World Cup 2006, Football, Soccer, England, Portugal, Cristiano Ronado, Wayne Rooney, Frank Lampard, Sven Goran-Eriksson