Before we begin tearing apart the England team for failing to beat the Czech Republic, and only just scraping a draw with a last minute equaliser, let's not forget that the Czech Republic are ranked 8th in the world (Fifa Rankings).
Now... where do we begin?
Yesterday On-Football dared to suggest that Wes Brown was not good enough to play for England, particularly with Glen Johnson and Micah Richards waiting in the wings. Brown's performance yesterday was again questionable, and I fear that his first goal for England will overshadow his defensive error that helped lead to the first goal conceded. To be fair, the whole England defence played their part in Baros' goal, but Brown was turned far too easily, and Terry seemed to do nothing to prevent Baros turning and shooting.
Yesterday On-Football dared to suggest that Wes Brown was not good enough to play for England, particularly with Glen Johnson and Micah Richards waiting in the wings. Brown's performance yesterday was again questionable, and I fear that his first goal for England will overshadow his defensive error that helped lead to the first goal conceded. To be fair, the whole England defence played their part in Baros' goal, but Brown was turned far too easily, and Terry seemed to do nothing to prevent Baros turning and shooting.
Most people watching the game would have believed England had lined up in a 442, but today Fabio Capello has insisted it was a 4321 formation, and that Steven Gerrard was not being wasted out wide left. Capello may have been sure about this, but there were obviously some translation problems to Gerrard, who spent most of the game playing wide left. Gerrard can be effective on the flank, but why? Why was Joe Cole not playing there?
Gerrard could have played in the middle. He may as well have done because Frank Lampard went missing in an England shirt again. Lampard has been England's most consistant performer in recent times, but this in by no means a compliment. Hopefully Capello will learn where Sven did not, and that is not to rely on Lampard.
Beckham was also ineffective in open play, this was not even slightly surprising, but as England continue to only be a threat from set-pieces, it's probably wise to keep Beckham around - at least until we can create a chance in open play.
Upfront England still lack a centre-forward to play alongside Wayne Rooney. Perhaps it will be Michael Owen when he returns from injury, perhaps Dean Ashton, but whoever it is will also need support from a lifeless midfield.
All in all... it was the same old England. What we once considered a waste of talent, we now consider a waste of money.
Posts
2 comments:
Playing Gerrard in the middle of a 4-4-2 wont work because he's not tactically disciplined to play there against good opponents who can retain the ball. Gerrard is at his best when stripped of tactical responsibility, which is massively required to play in a central pair.
From the highlights it didn't look like we played that bad, it was just typical England. In my opinion, a fundamental lack of intelligence completely undermined the shape of the midfield, not the manager putting Gerrard out on the left. It's a root and branch problem, we dont produce intelligent players so we can't play composed and considered football.
Hey, I really like your site! I had an idea that you might be keen to, but I’d much rather discuss it over e-mail instead of posting it here. Send me an e-mail (my address is found in my profile) for more info.
Thanks!
Trevor
Post a Comment