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Capello position 'untenable', says Kamara

Wednesday, 30 June 2010

TV pundit Chris Kamara with fans ahead of the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa Round of Sixteen match between Germany and England at Free State Stadium on June 27, 2010 in Bloemfontein, South Africa

TV pundit Chris Kamara with fans ahead of the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa Round of Sixteen match between Germany and England at Free State Stadium on June 27, 2010 in Bloemfontein, South Africa

Chris Kamara has said Fabio Capello's position as England manager is "untenable".

The TV pundit has been in South Africa throughout the World Cup, paying special attention to England games and has been left aghast at the dismal performances the Three Lions have served up.

Capello and his players landed at Heathrow this morning but were whisked away without offering any further opinion on Sunday's shattering 4-1 defeat by Germany in Bloemfontein that consigned them to an early flight home.

After a meeting with Club England chairman Sir David Richards yesterday, Capello must now wait two weeks before he finds out whether he will be allowed to see out his recently revised £6million-a-year contract, that runs to Euro 2012.

Kamara feels the Italian has no chance and should go now.

"His position becomes untenable," he said.

"That is the worst performance at a tournament I have ever seen from an England team. That performance was shocking.

"The tactics were poor. The decisions he made were poor. He never got any cohesion around the squad. He failed basically.

"I am sure he is not going to walk away. The FA are going to have force him out.

"But it would be a hard, long way back now for him to convince people he is the right man for the job."

While Capello takes a short break, Richards will seek further discussions with Club England managing director Adrian Bevington, FA director of football development Sir Trevor Brooking and acting chief executive Alex Horne before making his recommendations to the full international board.

If Kamara had his way, the decision would be fairly straightforward.

"The manager's decisions were all poor," he said.

"We didn't play and we didn't have any tactical nous. But the manager is not big enough to hold his hands up and say 'it was my fault'."

A failure to admit his mistakes is one of the major complaints over Capello's management style.

England's players grew irritated by remaining in their rooms at a remote training location near Rustenburg for long periods, which an extended four-week build-up, that started with an altitude training camp in Austria, did not help.

Another major complaint was the staid, regimented adherence to the 4-4-2 approach, which seems to have limited use on the international front as the more fluid formations of Brazil, Argentina, Holland and Germany hold sway.

Wayne Rooney enjoyed a phenomenal season at Manchester United operating mainly as a lone striker, and huge calls to use him in that role, with Steven Gerrard just behind, went unheeded.

"Basically Fabio Capello got found out," said Kamara.

"We all know. Everybody knows. He played 4-4-2. He played a formation that didn't suit us.

"He is trying to make excuses for himself but he stuck with that formation and made like-for-like substitutions. The game and the pattern of the play never ever changed.

"The players tried to tell him. John Terry tried to tell him. Wayne Rooney, in the way that he played, tried to tell him. Joe Cole's body language off the bench. They all tried to tell him.

"They wanted to feel comfortable in the positions where they wanted to play. Unfortunately, the ostrich stuck its head in the sand."

Kamara's withering assault continued as he assessed Capello's belief that a winter break is needed to get the best out of England's player.

It has been pointed out the likes of Carlos Tevez and Dirk Kuyt still appear full of energy after an arduous Premier League season, and Kamara has little sympathy.

"It is a lot of rubbish," he said.

"Capello said they trained well enough, it was just the games.

"Well, don't train them so hard. Give them loads of time off if they are tired.

"Those players were ready for this competition. We know they were ready for this competition.

"It is the pattern of play or rather there wasn't a pattern if you are being honest.

"We were full of optimism going right into the last game. We wanted to give Fabio the benefit of the doubt.

"But it never changed. If anything, it got worse instead of better."

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