Shocked to say but we were out of our depth today against an ok German team. Defence was so poor it was barely credible. Ok the goal should never have been given to make it 2-2, but frankly that would not of masked a lack of skill, quality and application. Where was the PASSION?

Whats clear is that this is the players responsibility, some new blood is needed but im not sure where from, perhaps Capello should go too, he is not to blame but im not convinced he can get more out of these players...perhaps its time for a proper old school English manager, Redknapp perhaps has the ability to unlock our national team or then again, just maybe thats an impossible task.

Needless to say the air was blue in the Crosthwaite house for most of the match...

Thankfully our cricketers are lording it over the Aussies for a change!

: Pretty comfortable win for Germany too, first team I've really been
: impressed by this World Cup. Cahill's sending off was harsh and
: made it more comfortable, but it was probably won by then
: anyway.

: German's consistency is always admirable - at least the quarters in
: seven World Cups running? England didn't even qualify for
: all of those.

: I like the way, even when the team's not full of stars, they
: demonstrate how effective playing as a team can be. It's a style
: England could emulate, it would suit our style of play well, but
: is something we never quite seem to grasp. Maybe Capello's
: tactic of not telling the players who will be playing together
: until 2 hours before the game doesn't help.

: Going overseas for the last two England managers has worked, but I
: wonder if the FA would have been better off going to a different
: country for a manager - when Otto Rehhagel can lead even Greece
: to a European Championship, you wonder what a German manager
: might have done with England. Though it wouldn't go down too
: well with parts of the fanbase perhaps! And as Triesman recently
: demonstrated, it is traditional to populate the higher levels of
: our FA with blundering imbeciles, so perhaps we shouldn't expect
: any sensible decisions from that quarter...