Liverpool and England – Two peas in a pod?

Following to goalless draw at lowly Wolves, many Liverpool fans will be wondering how much worse their season can get. Having said that, Everton lie just 9 points behind their rivals with a game in hand. Should they close that gap then the nightmare at Liverpool would, well and truly, be complete.

On the other hand, fans of England will be looking forward, with great excitement, to this summer’s World Cup in South Africa. The belief, as it seemingly is around this time every four years, is that this IS England’s best chance since 1966. After an almost perfect qualifying campaign, few would begrudge to odd feeling of optimism amongst fans. The only criticism for the national squad would be whether there is an overreliance on certain individuals to carry the team.

We have already seen that this can be a very dangerous game to play. An over reliance on Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres at Liverpool has been labelled as the reason for their remarkable down fall this season. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Reds had won just one of the four games they played without both Gerrard and Torres before the end of October.

According to Castrol Rankings, since the start of the 2007/08 season, Liverpool have won 69% of their Champions League games when Gerrard and Torres have appeared together, but only 29% when one or both has been missing.

Despite enjoying a rather better last 12 months, Fabio Capello’s England side may not be so dissimilar to that of Liverpool. Should England look to succeed in South Africa, they will undoubtedly need to be full of strength in depth. Of the current squad predicted to go to South Africa, many of the players are currently performing very much under par. A quick run through the squad would alarm a lot of people. David James/Ben Foster – Injured/Third Choice, Glen Johnson – Injured, John Terry – Shaky, Rio Ferdinand – Missed the majority of the season so far, Ashley Cole – Performing well, Gerrard and Barry – Average, Lennon – Injured, Heskey – As you would expect, Lampard and Rooney – Our only hope.

The only player outside that group who has already guaranteed his place on the plane due to performances alone would be James Milner. The Aston Villa man has been one of the players of the season so far and is certain to be in Capello’s squad. The performances of Joe Hart will no doubt have Fabio Capello thinking but whether the Italian has the cojones to name him as his number 1 for the World Cup remains to be seen.

Liverpool and England will both be hoping that, should injuries or poor form ravage their top players, the remaining group can step up to the plate and achieve their goals. That said, we are all set for a very interesting summer.