Are we surprised that England lost? Not really...

England are out of Euro 2012 and for the sixth time in the last 12 major tournaments, they have gone out on penalties. But let us not delude ourselves into thinking that that England were unlucky. In fact, it’s the other way round – all through this tournament they were lucky, yesterday Lady Luck didn’t come to their rescue. Just look at the numbers. Italy had 68 per cent possession, 31 shots against England’s eight and eighteen on target to England’s four. The pass count was 833 to 364. England closed the ball quickly, did the basics well but beyond that there was nothing. This was a team that played as if it was set on rails. There were no surprises when they got the ball. [caption id=“attachment_356358” align=“alignright” width=“380” caption=“England’s Welbeck reacts after losing their Euro 2012 quarter-final soccer match against Italy. Reuters”]  [/caption] Former Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp, who might have been England coach instead of Roy Hodgson, wrote in The Sun: “Let’s be fair to ourselves and the Italians and admit it’d have been an injustice had we won. They were by far the better team even though there is no one more patriotic than me.” And this wasn’t a case of sour grapes. It was the truth. England’s formation was unadventurous – you don’t play 4-4-1-1 if you want to score goals. You throw people into the front line and use them. Danny Welbeck is strong but he’s no Michael Owen. Wayne Rooney is just not creative enough – compare him to other great strikers or creators and you see the difference. And when Theo Walcott came on late in the game, England’s midfielders failed to use his pace. On the other hand, if you are playing with a 4-4-1-1 formation then you should be in complete control of the midfield. Instead – Milner, Young, Parker, Gerrard – allowed Pirlo to run riot. The rejuvenated Juventus midfielder was the game’s leading passer - making 131 passes. England’s most frequent passer was Ashley Cole, the defender, with 44. Pirlo also ran further than any England player, covering 11.58 kilometres. Steven Gerrard ran 11.26 km. Now, when you know that Pirlo is the man who provides Italy with the creative touch, you have to cut him down. They should have put Scott Parker on him from the word ‘go’ and then Italy would have struggled too. Part of England’s problem arises from the fact that all their midfielders play a very similar style of football. Very technical and all heart. But not enough creativity. Milner, Young, Parker are all in that boat. Gerrard, the one who can make superb runs, was shackled in a defensive role. Bad strategy. It got them to the quarter-finals but that was the limit. Anyway, Pirlo believes that his Panenka (the chipped penalty) broke the spirit of the England penalty takers but in truth, England lost the game by adopting the wrong tactics. Their supporters may still back them but England’s football needs a complete overhaul – without that their chances of winning a major tournament will remain bleak. Joey Barton, who is never short of words or tweets, had no doubts that the result was the right one: “What is it with us and penalties? Saved us from the embarrassment of a pasting off Germany in the next round.” For a change, we believe Barton is right.