Capello blames the fans

Fabio Capello has come out and said he’s happier to be playing away because the England fans are a negative influence on the side.

I am glad he has said this. As fans we are all too happy to blame the players, or the manager, or the English football system, but never ourselves – because fans turn up and pay money they are somehow absolved from responsibility, as if that automatically makes them untouchable.

That’s not the case. Its certainly arguable, as Capello suggests, that the England team are under such pressure from the supporters that they cannot perform freely, properly, without inhibition; that we are underperforming because of the fans.

Andorra is a perfect example of this. We didn’t score for 20 minutes and the crowd started heckling. This gets the players down and puts them under excess pressure, which means they take the safe option (a backward pass, a lump to the striker, a cross from deep) instead of attempting that bit of invention that could unlock a defence. The fans made us struggle.

Although Andorra are by no means top class opposition, their nine-men-behind-the-ball philosophy required a spark or moment of imagination to break through – under such supporter pressure none of the players seemed willing to try for risk of opprobrium.

After a crescendo of boos at half time it was no surprise that Joe Cole, a substitute who had not been forced to endure the wrath and scorn of his own supporters, was the one to break the deadlock. He was not under such pressure, was not feeling the weight of expection and impending backlash – arguably had he been, he would have missed.

Our fans are great when thigs are going well – passionate, singing and shouting, cheering us on (admittedly in a tubthumping, jingoistic way) – but when things are not going well, as now, they add to the weight dragging us down.

Get off the backs of the England team. It will do more harm than good. You are the cause of the very thing you are moaning about.