Sven needs to improve if England think they have any chance of winning the World Cup. [England article]

I had said before the game - maybe not on here - that Paraguay could give England a game. I've noticed even in the five world cups I've watched that, as a whole, the standard of teams in the competition has risen. In Italia 90, the US could be run over, as could teams such as South Korea and Japan. As Iran, Angola and Trinindad & Tobago showed, very few teams in this world cup will be a complete walkover. Moreover, none of the teams, as Ecuador also showed, who've qualified from the difficult South American group are there to just make up the numbers.

Still, my predictions of a reasonably close game seemed ruined - thankfully - when Becks flighted in another world class free kick in the fourth minute. The standard of his dead ball kicks has been incredible recently, and the Parguayan defence did exactly what Jamaica and Hungary did - a mass panic resulting in a goal.

After such a great start, and the woeful Parguayan defence, England should have run in two or three up at half-time. The reason they didn't was a basic lack of sharpness in front of goal. Owen's first touch still often leaves much to be desired, as does his crossing. Due to Sven's inability to pick between the Lampard and Gerrard, and play an anchoring midfielder, Gerrard continues to play about thirty yards behind where he wants to be on the pitch. Lampard has some half decent attempts, but he needs to score regularly to justify his nullification of Stevie.

After a wasteful first half England were absolutely dire in the second. Paraguay could have scored and any team even slightly better than them would have. England were extremely lucky to win, and while its a relief that England got through the first game with a win, if England play that way again they won't make it past the quarter-finals.

The shambles came down to a few factors.

Firstly the heat. I did wonder when Becks ran out why exactly he had a long-sleeve shirt on, and by even the mid way point of the first half, it was clear that some England players were simply just not able to deal with the temperature. This might be less of a problem later in the competition, as the games will be being played later in the day, but they have to get used to it. I know they're British, but blaming the weather for poor performances is simply not good enough.

This situation was not aided by a ridculously fussy referee. Why aren't players allowed to take on fluids during stoppages? It's ludicrous. He was woefully inconsistent elsewhere. The Paraguayan defence used every backing in and manhandling trick possible to contain Crouch, and instead of getting the protection he needed, the ref gave almost every decision in Paraguay's favour. Perhaps he just couldn't believe that someone of Crouch's size was being fouled. The coup de grace for me was when Two Paraguayan players jumped for the ball simultaneously, and in the process sandwiched Joe Cole between them. Of course, the free kick went Paraguay's way.

But referees can only be blamed so far. And the overriding reason for the shambles was the overriding reason England are unlikely to win the World Cup.

Sven is a tactical moron.

The game reminded me a lot of the Portugal game in 2004. Then, as on Saturday, England took the lead early on and then...did nothing. Oh, except start playing so deep that almost all eleven players were in their own box. Sven's substitutions in 2004 were a joke - I remember when he put on bloody Phil Neville I almost wept - and on Saturday his substitution disrupted the team and caused chaos.

Firstly the luncay of taking our Theo becomes clear when he decides to take off Owen at around the 60th minute and put on a winger. If Sven took Theo to the world cup, and Rooney isn't fit, you put Theo on when you take Owen off in a situation such as he was in on Saturday. If you don't put him on, there is no point in Theo being there. It suddenly becomes clear that excluding Defoe was a ridiculous decision. Theo will become a great player, but you need experience in those situations.

But no. No walcott, no Defoe = Downing for Owen, and the first disruption of the match - moving Joe Cole, who had been excellent to that point - from the wing to play as a support striker. This promplty destroyed the utility of Joe who quickly drifted out of the game. Secondly, Crouch had no one to play to. With aching predictability, England fell back into the awful, awful long-ball game with Crouch repeatedly flicking the ball on to the Paraguayan defence. It wasn't Crouch's fault - he needs an Owen, Defoe, Walcott, or even a Bent to lay the ball off to. But no. So our possession decreased and we soon found ourselves under the cosh.

So next move by Sven. I bet you couldn't have guessed it. A certain Mr Owen 'I can play anywhere because I'm equally rubbish everywhere, but I will still come on as a substitute in every match' Hargreaves comes on. Why? So now, we have moved to 4-5-1, or 4-4-1 and Hargreaves in a mysterious 'where the hell am I playing role' which quickly led to an almost tactical meltdown, with Paraguay clearly sensing blood. Sven seemed to want to sure up midfield, but this was just inviting pressure on to us. And the constant tactical changes just left the players bewildered.

Attackers needed to come on to replace tired legs up front. If suring the midfield was required, why bring on Hargreaves above Carrick? Why not put Lennon on and push Becks into the middle? Lennon would certainly offered more than Downing who seemed to be happy to run down the line, lose the ball, and then repeat each time he had the ball. Why not take Lampard or Gerrard off and just put Carrick on? Keep the changes simple unless we really need goals.

Most of all, where was Sven? Every other coach in the World Cup is pacing up and down the technical area screaming instructions. Sven just sits there, hunched over, letting McClaren do his job for him.

His performance as manager almost cost England the game; a game that, considering how it opened, we should have bossed.

All I can say is that I hope he learns from this. English players are not good at defending one goal leads. Make like for like substitutions - just get fresh legs on. There's no need for constant tactical adjustment that confuse the players, and leads to England playing even deeper than before.

Sven needs to improve if England have any chance of getting anywhere in this tournament. We have players who are getting results despite not because of the manager at the moment.

And, as i stated eariler, Trinidad have shown they could give us a game. We should win, but as I always say about England, if we put our minds to it we can lose to anyone in the world. England may end up having to rely on defeating a very weak Swedish side to finish top of the group. it's imperative to win the group, as we should be able to defeat Poland or Ecuador: a game with Germany is one I don't think I could watch.

Gb.