Jamie Carragher Insists England Players Should Take More Responsibility for 2010 World Cup Failure
By Lee Bushe
Jamie Carragher has admitted that he is 'sick' of England players making excuses for their disappointing 2010 World Cup campaign, arguing that the Three Lions squad should take more responsibility instead of putting the blame on their former coach Fabio Capello.
England failed to meet expectations in the 2010 World Cup after being put into what was seen as being an 'easy' group with the United States, Algeria and Slovenia. The Three Lions drew against the United States and Algeria, and could only manage a narrow win against Slovenia, qualifying for the knockout stages by just a point. They subsequently faced Germany in the round of 16, where they suffered a humiliating 4-1 defeat.
Speaking to Sky Sports (via the Daily Mirror) about England's consistent World Cup failures, Carragher said "Sometimes I read things, four, eight, 12 years later after World Cups, and even though I’m talking about some of my teammates here and friends, I’m sick of hearing footballers making excuses.
"Always blaming a manager or coach, where they live, ketchup on the table. Whether there’s ketchup on the table has got nothing to do with anything.
"The base we were in, I loved it. The training pitch was right there, the facilities were fantastic. People were saying we couldn’t go out and do things but I think the players went on safaris, they’d go and play golf.
"You’re at a World Cup. I don’t know what people actually expect. Every three or four games you’re building up to a game.
"You can’t be going about anyway, you wouldn’t be flying about town if you were at home.
Capello came under fire for some of the tactical decisions he made during the World Cup, but Carragher insisted that players should always look at what they did wrong first instead of instantly pointing the finger at the manager. He said: "I always think when you’re a player, look at yourself first.
"That doesn’t mean you can’t have thoughts on a manager or could he have played a different team, but to actually blame where we were, blame Capello, what the food was, I just think its a nonsense and the players at that time, we didn’t perform at World Cups.
"And it wasn’t just that World Cup, it was every tournament so to say that comes down to Capello’s management and how he went about things."
Capello was considered to be one of the best managers in the world back when he was appointed as England coach in 2007, enjoying successful spells with Milan, Real Madrid, Roma and Juventus. His five years in charge of the Three Lions was largely seen as underwhelming, however, and it marked the beginning of his managerial decline.
But Carragher insisted that the Italian's previous successes, alongside the fact England consistently failed at international level, means that Capello isn't wholly to blame for his disappointing reign, adding: "And let’s not forget this is a manager who coached and managed the best players in the world. So I think it's a bit rich for us as players who haven’t achieved anything at international [level] to start questioning a manager of Capello’s calibre."