England fail again - was Sven really so bad?
Posted by DavidM in England, Steve McClaren | 12 October 2006
Ever since Sven resigned as England manager, everyone has taken the opportunity to criticise him.
Having watched England's last two competitive matches under McClaren, though, I'm wondering if Sven was so bad after all.
The comment I heard on the radio this morning was "The days when qualifying was guaranteed are like distant memories". Certainly England's chances of getting through to the European finals in 2008 have been significantly reduced by two woeful performances.
There is no doubt that Sven's tactics and personnel decisions at the World Cup were questionable but after a very short honeymoon period the team under McClaren are failing to deliver.
The players claim they were comfortable with the system. Both losses appear to be down to poor individual performances by players.
Why a bunch of world class club players lose their ability to pass, tackle and shoot when they pull on an England shirt is beyond me but McClaren needs to find the answer.
Sven may not have been the fans' favourite at the end but under his reign we got used to being in every tournament. Under McClaren we expect to be doing better at those tournaments, not struggling to get into them.
