But let's go ahead and look at the real reason:
To some degree, I'm just so disappointed in Capello. Not because I have any fondness for the England team, but because Capello was supposed to be a tough manager who wouldn't select players based on reputation or playing for a "big club." I thought this might be a chance for guys like Gary Cahill from Bolton to finally get in the team ahead of the usual ranks of undeserving turds from Tottenham and West Ham.
Nope.
Instead, the England faithful were treated to the same old same old. Gerrard and Lampard played in the middle together. Useless lump Emile Heskey - who isn't even playing for Aston Villa and is less effective than Super Kevin Davies - was not only called up but started matches and was brought on when chasing the game against Germany. Aaron Lennon couldn't even get anything against the United States despite taking on a slow and out of position Carlos Bocanegra. Robert Green made a horrendous error, as any Bolton fan knew was inevitable. Ledley King and Jamie Carragher have no place on a football pitch, let alone a World Cup football pitch. And Matthew Upson? A train wreck in defense, as usual.
What's the solution? I propose drastic action. The usual suspects need to go for EURO 2012 qualifying. Gerrard, Lampard, Ferdinand, Terry, Ashley Cole, Green, and Upson fail every time they put on an England shirt in a major tournament. Maybe they can't play together, maybe they don't care about their country - certainly true of Steven Gerrard, who has a remarkable history of being injured for an England match and then being fit four days later for Liverpool. Whatever the reason, they haven't succeeded in the last decade, and they never will.
EURO 2012 should be seen as a clean slate. Younger players like Joe Hart, James Milner, Gary Cahill, Darren Bent, Adam Johnson, etc. need to be seen as integral parts of the team. Maybe they'll make it. Maybe, like Germany, a young and underrated side can shock the world. At least it's better than the utter certainty of early elimination that comes with the old guard.
As Kurt Russell said in Miracle, it's not about the best players. It's about the right ones.
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