The England football team beat Kazakhstan 5-1 on Saturday but for many supporters it was a lacklustre and disappointing performance from Fabio Capello’s men.
Now, if any of these fans were offered a 5-1 win next Saturday for their club team and an ok performance, they would snap your hand off before you could boo Ashley Cole.
When you look at it in the cold light of day, England won the game comfortably and that will do Mr. Capello just fine.
However, in a goalless first half, Kazakhstan possibly played the better football and England were well below par.
The early goal in the second half should have led to a more accomplished performance but Ashley Cole’s catastrophic error meant the game was still alive up until Wayne Rooney managed to save face for England.
The three goals in the last 15 minutes against a tiring Kazakhstan team flattered England and perhaps papered over the cracks that were there for all to see.
The reaction of the fans to Ashley Cole has been criticised by some, including the FA, but there have also been many that have said it shows what the general public actually think of the current England team.
For 99% of football fans, their clubs mean more to them than England and that is the unfortunate truth for the ‘golden generation’ of England players who think the supporters don’t get behind them enough.
Supporters care about England and want them to do well but many fans just see the England players as an overpaid and overrated group who symbolise all that is wrong with modern football.
There still are a few die-hard England fans who follow them all over the world but they are starting to fall into a minority.
Fans of lower league sides used to follow England more than their own club but those days seem to be behind us.
Ask a fan of Rotherham, Bournemouth or Luton, all teams from League 2, who started the season on minus points what’s more important, an England win or survival in the Football League.
I think I know the answer and for Fabio and his men, it’s not an away win in Belarus.
Richard Howard
