Hold your hands up, lads

AS THE FURORE surrounding England's World Cup debacle shows no sign of slowing down, it's interesting to see various members of the football press in this country being so wise after the event.

The cream of the nation's hacks, from Brian Woolnough to Henry Winter, have been scathing in their criticism of manager Fabio Capello, and insist that the Italian should have been sacked after failing to take the 'golden generation' beyond the second round in South Africa.

That's right, the very same journalists that were praising Capello to the hilt after a successful qualifying campaign, and heralding him as the man who was set to end the country's frankly embarrassing trophy drought, have quickly changed their stance to mirror that of disgruntled supporters up and down the country, as they so often do.

It amazes me why, after topping a qualifying group in which the biggest threat came from a Ukrainian side clearly in decline, everything was deemed to be so rosy, and Capello could do no wrong in the eyes of the British media. The sad reality is that, any half-decent English manager could have secured qualification in a similar vein to Capello, particularly with such a talented squad at his disposal.

The reason Capello's fall from grace appears so brutal is because of the way he was built up prior to the tournament, and for that, the media have nobody to blame but themselves.

Sneijder set for clean sweep?

HOLLAND TAKE ON Uruguay tonight in the first of the tournament's semi-finals, and Bert van Marwijk's side will once again look to the creativity of midfield maestro Wesley Sneijder to inspire them to a first final appearance since 1974.

Sneijder has been one of the stars of the competition, and with four goals already to his name, could yet end up with the Golden Boot. It's his ability to dictate the play, and retain possession, however, which makes him such an important member of this Dutch side.

After a turbulent spell at Real Madrid, in which he was often overlooked in favour of more high-profile, stellar names, Jose Mourinho paid €14 million to take him to Inter Milan. The Portuguese boss saw Sneijder as the player to build his team around, and so it proved, with the Italian's sweeping all before them to clinch a historic treble. Sneijder was instrumental in the team's success, and his performance during Inter's Champions League victory at Stamford Bridge was a joy to watch.

Alex Ferguson is said to be lining up a £25m swoop for arguably the finest midfieder in the world at the moment. However, if Sneijder can lead Holland to success in South Africa, it will cap a truly remarkable season for the player, and Fergie might just have to dig a little deeper.

JT: No case to answer

IT'S EASY TO take a disliking to John Terry, unless, of course, you happen to support Chelsea. Adrian Durham, the talkSPORT – or talkS**T in his case - presenter last week described him as "a very limited footballer." If "very limited" means inspiring your side to three Premier League titles and being voted into the FIFPro World XI for four consecutive seasons, I suppose he's right.

However, the criticism Terry has come in for following England's disastrous campaign has been extremely harsh, not to mention unjustified. When pundits and 'experts' alike call for England's underachieving squad to be axed in order for the stars of the future to be given a chance, Terry's is more often than not the first name in the firing line, why?

True, the former captain didn't help himself with the now infamous press conference in which - in the eyes of some people at least - he publicly undermined the manager with a rallying call that went horribly wrong. Surely, though, he should at least be given some credit for showing the hunger and passion that was clearly lacking in some of his team-mates. He may polarise opinion, but Terry's commitment to the cause should never be called into question.

In terms of his performances, in the three group stage games Terry barely put a foot wrong. Yes, he struggled against a technically superior Germany, but who didn't? In the space of a few months, he has gone from playing alongside Rio Ferdinand, to Ledley King, to Jamie Carragher, and finally Matthew Upson, hardly ideal, is it?

In fact, Terry's admirers – and he has a few – might say that he is actually the only defender England can rely on.