Is it Too Soon For an England Excuse?

Yes I know, technically England don't play their opening World Cup game until tomorrow but this has been burning a hole in my head ever since England's wondrous 0-0 draw with a 10 man Honduras last Saturday (7/6/14).

I suppose we could argue for hours about the effects of weather delays (there will be many in the rainforest), the virtues of Daniel Sturridge versus Danny Welbeck or even why Glen Johnson is the best right-back the nation has to offer. However I think this is all avoiding the crucial issue which is UEFA's latest guidance on the issue of physical contact whilst tackling.

As this was written by a French striker I don't have the exact translation to hand. However I gather it is something along the lines of; "You must be mindful of your opponent's safety whilst tackling." This rule was brought in primarily to prevent vicious and spiteful lunges against players knees and ankles because injuries in those areas can completely end a players career. Quite a nice example of the type of tackle that is to be avoided was provided in tonight's game between Spain and the Netherlands for which Spain were awarded a penalty.

Unfortunately in the English Premier league this guidance has been interpreted to mean; "All tackling is banned." As a result you get all the nonsense about Chelsea "Parking the bus in mid-field" whenever they attempt to play pretty normal football. This rather strange interpretation of the rules was perhaps most visible during the recent FA Cup final during which Arsenal players seemed to assume that every time they were dispossessed of the ball the referee should immediately award them a free kick and issue the opposing player with a yellow card.

The problem is that no-one else in Europe let alone the wider world of football has interpreted this rule in this way meaning that tackling is still most certainly allowed. As a result all opposing teams need to do is muscle England's prima donna's out of the game and the best they can hope for is a draw.

As a result I think the plan is that England will lose to Italy before drawing with Uruguay and Costa Rica meaning that the winner of Uruguay V Costa Rica is likely to go through at England's expense. The UK will then spend the rest of the tournament bemoaning this "'elf & safety nonsense" in order to lay the groundwork for yet another Conservative Party campaign against "needless red tape" such as the minimum wage and restrictions on zero hours contracts. I believe US actor Harrison Ford was injured on the set of the new "Star Wars" movie to highlight just this point.

So in summary; Seriously, based on their respective FA Cup final performances Arsenal have got a better chance fielding the women's team next season.

21:20 on 13/6/14 (UK date).

Edited at around 00:10 on 15/6/14 (UK date) to add;

England have just finished their opening World Cup game against Italy and they lost 2-1. However with Italy hitting the post twice and having a shot cleared off the line it could have easily been 5-1.The problem was quite simply that England lacked structure meaning that once the heat had blunted the speed of England's youthful team the more experienced Italians were able to sit on them and control the game using a tactic known as "defending."

There remains though the serious question of whether England's manager Roy Hodgson is actually trying to lose by making some downright bizarre tactical choices. For example Wayne Rooney who is widely regarded as England's best striker was stuck out on the left wing while Adam Lallana - a natural left-winger was left sitting on the bench.

So here's a crazy thought for the next game; Play Rooney and Sturridge as strikers in front of midfield made up of Lallana on the left, Gerrard and Henderson in the centre and Sterling on the right because Welbeck, Barkley, Wilshire and Oxlade-Chamberlain are kind of OK players to bring on as substitutes if you need to spice things up a bit. There is of course still the chronic lack of a holding mid-field player because although Gerrard and Lampard have the experience to fill in neither of them are naturals for the role.