India and England’s coaches have dropped Ganguly and Beckham respectively, and both actions were thinly veiled shows of power.
MUMBAI: On Saturday night, the England football team failed to win their Euro 2008 Qualifying match against Israel. The uninspiring goalless draw was so lacking in life that any other result would have been preferable. A loss would have truly shaken the team up, maybe even forced some of the established players to feel that their place was under threat. They even failed to lose.
The dourness that surrounds this team has a long history, stretching back at least two World Cups when Sven Goran Ericsson masterminded campaigns that saw England football reach new levels of banality, and both times sink without trace at the quarter-final stage.
Questions were asked and fingers pointed as ever, but the eventual divorce of England and Ericsson was more a matter of throwing hands up in despair rather than casting him away. New coach Steve McClaren is now looking down the same rusted, tedious barrel. McClaren is being paid a fortune, Ericsson was paid even more, and will continue to be paid until next year, but despite having abundant talent at their disposal they both have not just failed to produce teams that win, but have failed to create teams with the passion required to at least lose well. Sound familiar?
In football, managers receive both the blame and the boot. A striker not scoring goals can argue he is working well in other areas, or not receiving support, but a batsman without runs or bowler without wickets has nowhere to hide. Andy Johnson can rightfully complain that his 5’7’’ frame is unsuited to the tactic of playing balls over the top that neither he nor Wayne Rooney can reach, but who does Sachin Tendulkar blame when he gets bowled? A cricketer is the master of his own fate. He can also work the numbers game in his favour, forcing his way back.
England and India have suffered the problems associated with captains who become too comfortable, and allow their ego to overtake their form.
India and England’s coaches have dropped Ganguly and Beckham respectively, and both actions were thinly veiled shows of power. Cricket’s nature has allowed Ganguly to prove his worth and rejoin the team, but at the cost of much disruption.
With dissatisfaction at home and radical overhaul in the air, these two teams sharing a crisis must also share an opportunity. While the problems show themselves painfully starkly, the feeling remains that the raw materials for success are there, and only the catalyst of hunger must be added, and disinterest removed.
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