Raging Wayne: Rooney lets his feelings known to the TV camera after a dismal display is met by boos The goalkeeper changed but not much else. Not the quality of the football. Not the result.
Not this perception that England have become a side that promises much but delivers nothing
In the end, the switch from Robert Green to David James was the only positive to take from another hugely disappointing night for Fabio Capello's men at this World Cup. There was no repeat of that howler that cost England victory against the USA and Green his place. James gave an assured performance that should certainly see him remain in the side.
Sadly, the same could not be said of those who played in front of him. This was awful from England; a lifeless, abject display that puts them under enormous pressure against Slovenia on Wednesday. They have to win in Port Elizabeth against a team that only needs a draw. A team that beat these Algerians and gave the USA much more of a game than England.
Otherwise, Capello could be reflecting on England's worst performance at a World Cup since 1954. A woeful, wasteful use of some wonderfully gifted players currently performing like individuals rather than a team.
There was no fluency or finesse. Not a hint of that pressing game they said would be something close to what Jose Mourinho devised at Inter Milan. Right now Ipswich Town would fancy their chances against this lot.
The highest paid manager in international football needs to forget about his 64th birthday and start earning his money. He needs to think fast, think with a bit more imagination and come up with something to inject some life into a team that seems to be stumbling out of the tournament.
Difficult viewing: Capello is exasperated by his team's performance
The team needs a major overhaul and a change of formation that finally gives Wayne Rooney a platform on which to perform. Someone who can pass to him would help. Someone, surely, like the so far overlooked Joe Cole.The return of Gareth Barry was supposed to liberate England's midfield but if anything it was even more static than against the USA. In Rustenburg, Steven Gerrard scored a goal. Last night Gerrard and Frank Lampard were dreadful, even if the Chelsea man went closest to scoring for England with a shot that forced a fine save from Rais M'Bolhi.
Capello might now consider doing away with a second striker and playing Rooney in the lone role he appears to enjoy most. Even then concerns will undoubtedly remain.
Concerns, in particular, about what is beginning to look like a losing battle to regain his form and fitness.
This is not the Rooney who so dazzled for Manchester United last season, and if he had a pop at the fans moments after the final whistle, he was probably annoyed more with himself than those drowning out the sound of the vuvuzelas with their boos and jeers.
Stumbling England: Barry goes flying over a challenge by Algeria midfielder Riad BoudebouzIf the decision to pick James was a good one, the way Capello arrived at that decision remains a subject of some debate and his selection policy will come under yet more scrutiny after this.
'It's not the same I know,' complained Capello later. But right now they are playing like a team that was thrown together two hours before kick-off. Not a team that has been prepared under the meticulous guidance of one of the finest managers in the game. Last night they were even poor at set-pieces.
'The emperor is naked,' declared one observer not so far from the England camp and you could see his point. Algeria are not a good side but England were so lacking in confidence and cohesion they succeeded in making them look half decent at the Green Point Stadium.
With a change of formation, a switch to three centre-backs and only one striker, they not only outnumbered Capello's team in the middle of the park but outclassed them too, passing through England when they had the ball and killing their attacks when they did not.
Yellow peril: Dropped Green talks on the bench to Ledley King (left) as James holds a cross They also had no problem with that troublesome ball. Everything should have been in England's favour. The return of Barry; the extra oxygen at sea level; a playing surface that puts Wembley to shame. They even had the support until England's fans eventually lost patience.
They saw how Karim Ziani, a player Steve McClaren has just inherited at Wolfsburg, stood out as the best player on the pitch, and how England failed to get any kind of time on the ball.
Heskey threatened when he rose to meet a corner from Barry with a header that flew over the crossbar but that was about it from Capello's side for the opening half a hour. When a bird happily sat on the roof of Algeria's net, completely undisturbed, it pretty much said it all.
Aside from one difficult cross that he had to punch aside, James held everything that came his way, even rescuing Jamie Carragher at one point when he nearly scored an own goal. That Carragher received a booking that rules him out of Wednesday gives Capello another problem, even if Matthew Upson would appear the perfect, not to mention pacier, replacement.
It took England half an hour to get a shot on target, a decent effort from Gerrard that M'Bolhi did well to hold. But only once did England execute a move that was anything close to what the angry, animated Capello was demanding. A swift move saw the ball transferred quickly from Rooney to Gerrard and then to Aaron Le n n o n be f o r e Lampa r d unleashed his testing strike.
Verdict: England supporters show their displeasure from the stands in Cape TownSomewhat surprisingly, Capello resisted the temptation to make a change at half-time. Presumably he felt another blast of the hairdryer would do the trick. But there was more of the same after the break, as well as the cynical foul on Hassan Yebda that leaves Carragher serving a suspension.
Lennon made way for Shaun Wright-Phillips before Jermain Defoe replaced Heskey and Peter Crouch took over from Barry. But it was to no avail, England proving so ineffective Franz Beckenbauer might actually think he was being a bit generous. If they are a 'kick and rush' team, where was the rush?
Capello quite rightly said it is no time to panic. England drew their first two games in Italia 90 and could still go through to the last 16 on Wednesday as winners of their group. Play like this again, though, and they have no chance.
source: dailymail
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