Joe Cole became the first England player to break ranks by making thinly veiled criticisms of Fabio Capello last night.
The midfield player came on for the final 25 minutes against Germany yesterday, but it was only his second substitute appearance of the tournament and he was clearly unhappy at being used so sparingly.
Cole used stronger language than any of his team-mates, expressing the opinion that England had encountered problems from the start of their pre-tournament training camp in Austria and had underperformed in every match at the World Cup.
The 28-year-old also pointedly failed to endorse Capello, although his opinions are likely to have been strongly influenced by bitterness at not getting more playing time.
“I think Fabio’s future is a question for the manager,” Cole said. “He is a great manager and we have got great players, but there are issues we need to address. There are a lot of issues and I am bitterly disappointed.
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“The feeling is disappointment. We just weren’t good enough. We have to look at ourselves as a group and we weren’t good enough from the start of the friendlies, in all of the six games we’ve played, so it is back to the drawing board.
“I don’t know what the problem is. If I knew, I’d put it right. We will go away and start again, but we have to address the problems that are there. I am just devastated.”
Frank Lampard, by contrast, offered Capello his unequivocal support and claimed that the margin of victory flattered Germany.
“I would like to see him stay on,” Lampard said. “I have enjoyed working with him and I don’t know his contract situation. It appears he has two years left and he is a top manager. When an England team gets knocked out of the World Cup, there is a question mark about managers and all players, but it is not really a question for me.
“Nobody can stand here and tell me Germany were a lot better than us. They were not 4-1 better than us, but things have conspired against us and maybe we have conspired against ourselves at times. Maybe we showed a bit of desperation and a little bit of naivety on our part in trying to push and push and get caught by sucker punches on counter-attacks.”
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Cole was also extremely critical of Chelsea, whom he claimed chose to release him this month for political reasons.
The former West Ham United midfield player has attracted interest from Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur this summer and is eager to resolve his future sooner rather than later.
“My season for Chelsea wasn’t great for what I believe were political reasons rather than footballing reasons,” Cole said. “I love Carlo Ancelotti, he’s a top guy and a top manager, and it’s nothing to do with him. The next contract will be a footballing decision. I want to play in a more central position and I want a manager who has faith in me.”