England play terribly for 0-0 draw with Algeria

A truly despressing match, while some might've expected a 3-0 thrashing by England, the game ended with a very sad 0-0 score-line.

Here's how Group C stands with the England - Algeria result:

Slovenia    (4)
USA         (2)
England    (2)
Algeria     (1)

England - Algeria


It was mentioned above, this was a truly depressing, terrible, and uninspiring game by England especially. Algeria started well as they really enjoyed putting pressure on the England back-line, Ziani was inspiring with his flicks and dribbling, but overall the Algerians didn't commit enough players  to the attack, so they were missing options.

England on the other hand had trouble just stringing three or four passes together, Wayne Rooney was the worst player on the field with absolutely no first touch. When Rooney was able to control the ball, he would often lose it because he was just too slow compared to the quick anticipations of the Algerian defenders.

The entire game was laced with few opportunities, and Fabio Capello made some of the strangest substitutions I've seen in a long time. In the 63rd he takes off Lennon for Wright-Phillips who was truly terrible, and then he took of Heskey for Defoe. Heskey was doing a relatively good job compared to the other England players, he tracked back, passed accurately, and was often an option, but Capello obviously didn't like him. So instead of putting on a game-changer like Joe Cole early on, or Crouch (who was put on for the final 5 mintues!), Capello puts on a kid who can run fast but has no ball control (SWP), and takes off probably two of the most inspiring players that were on.

Terrible game, don't waste your time watching it, I'm sorry, but that's the truth... If Capello doesn't begin to inspire this England team, and give them an identity, then they'll be in big trouble come the game against Slovenia.