The crying game: Germany send England clowns packing...

Was anyone that surprised by England's pitiful display against Germany? IF you were then you really have been wearing rose tinted specs, because frankly, it was a hammering waiting to happen.

The 4-1 final score was England's worst ever defeat at the World Cup finals, but the truth is, it flattered England because it could quite easily have been six or seven. England really were that bad.

Right from that first game with the USA, the warning signs were there for all to see. Capello was too rigid when stubbornly sticking to 4-4-2. Worse still, the Italian pushed Gerrard out onto the left wing where he is less effective. Joe Cole was the obvious choice to play wide left, but he was largely ignored and you have to wonder if it was another case of the manager being stubborn. In ingoring the calls for Joe Cole, Capello stuck to his guns when going against the wishes of John Terry, the media and public; it is one thing being single minded, but being pig-headed for the sake it and ultimately making the wrong calls reflects badly on the Italian.

In the wake of what was a pathetic performance, the soul-searching has begun in earnest. Questions are being asked, the introspection will not let up, because today the Germans gave England a serious beating.

Personally, I wasn't at all surprised about today's result, because it was coming. I don't take any pleasure watching England lose, not a bit of it. Nor do I blame the players, well not entirely, but they are accountable all the same. I'm fairly certain the England ladies football team would have defended some of the German attacks more professionally than their male counter-parts.

Perhaps in future, our pathetic all too often jingoistic media will think twice before bringing up the war and that 5-1 win against Germany; but why do I get the feeling we won't stop hearing about goal-line technology for the next forty years?

England's problems run much deeper than blaming the officials and until we start getting the basics right, we will continue to be also-rans and in all probability a laughing stock on the biggest of stages when it really matters.

Ultimately, Capello must take the blame for what happened today and England's awful World Cup displays - the Italian has to go - and the sooner the better. Capello might well be a great club manager, but international management is all together a different matter. England played like clowns today and the ringmaster is to blame.