Flair and passion are overrated. Much rather a successful team than a passionate one. The reason we never win anything? Because we try and play "the English way" at tournaments, and it. just. doesn't. work. We don't and we haven't, in recent history, had the players to do it.
[video=youtube;xTdx7GHuv3E]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTdx7GHuv3E[/video] [video=youtube;pR8Dnk7v4nQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pR8Dnk7v4nQ[/video]
I know we have not been good over the years, but we still have to have faith, you never know what can happen.
Yeah, if he didn't make comments like that then suddenly better players would appear from the abyss to carry us to glory.
There have actually been some quite knowledgeable writers like Simon Kuper who have pointed out that, based on demographic reasons, England generally tend to slightly over-perform in International competitions than they should do and whenever I have read a well-reasoned argument to this effect, I've always found it to be compelling. If Greece and Denmark can picl up silverware, there is no reason why we shouldn't expect to but I do believe that we kid ourselves as to our ability regarding international rankings and could never see us being as consistent as Germany. Given than England rightly prides itself as the home of association football, it is perplexing that our national team (and Scotland, Wales, N. Ireland and Eire for that matter) typically put in displays which may be considered to be "battling", "Resiliant" or "determined" that seemingly are only admired by the "British" whereas our domestic teams play football that is loved throughout the world. My point is that I could quite easily hold my head up abroad when discussing the qualities of the domestic game whereas the national teams are unlikely to evoke a reaction that is even remotely similar. It is rare to see a British international put in the same kind of regular performance in his country's kit than he is week -in and week-out in the Premiership or whatever league he plays in.
That's not what I meant. Don't be silly. It's just the general negativity and doom mongering that follows the national team. Occasionally justified, mostly not. We saw tons of it on this forum last season.
I would certainly argue that a better reason for England's shortcomings than that, is that our players and squad aren't good enough? Our team just isn't as good as several other big countries. Negative or not, Alex Chamberlain is not Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi or Mario Gotze, Glen Johnson is not Sergio Ramos, Scott Parker, Steven Gerrard and James Milner are not Xavi, Iniesta and Fabregas.
We do sometimes over-rate foreign players though, sometimes just because they don't play for us. Last week I read a German and Spanish journalist saying how we all go on about, say Gotze, Ozil, Ronaldo, Lahm or Villa, in discussions or in the newspapers be it reports or gossip columns etc. Over there they have similar for Ashley Cole. He's linked in their gossip columns etc and is held in high regard, but they generally accept it is very unlikely that he will play in their league and that he would be regarded as a top class, world-class signing. Just something I saw.
I think it's true to a degree, though it seems to rely on the idea that we don't know how good Ashley Cole is. I think most English fans are well aware he's one of the top left backs in the world, he's just not got the same aura of mystery as some other players (who don't actually have much of an aura of mystery if you watch them often). I don't think it's so much an issue of over/underrating, just over/underhyping.
England have a team perfectly capable of winning a tournament but we don't seem to play to our strengths...ever. Gerrard in a holding role. Noooo. Yes he did his defensive duties tonight but I want to see Gerrard bursting past the Opposition defence. Why not get the opposition worried about us, rather than let them play against us. The answer to grind out results without any real attacking threat is 442. The answer to fit our strengths is 4231 as the rest of the worlds national teams have recognised. The 442 encourages us to sit too deep but we don't have the capabilities up top to counter effectively. We rely on set pieces so much it's ridiculous. This line-up excites me: Hart Johnson Terry Lescott Cole Parker Jones Oxlade Gerrard Young Welbeck When Rooney comes back he could replace any of the top 4, as could Walcott and we still have Carroll and Defoe to mix things up. I think that's plenty of options with a very solid defensive unit for the oppo to get through. Don't get me wrong. I'm very proud of England today and I would be ecstatic if we won the tournament with negative tactics (see Chelsea) but I think we are capable of much more and don't have to make things so nervy with backs to the wall type football.
I really don't think Gerrard is capable of bursting past the front 2 as he used to, he's said as much himself recently. He's getting older and would be wise to adapt to playing a more holding role for club and country as he's getting older, more prone to injury and just can't play to the levels he could in his prime.
Sad really - we never truly utilised him for England. Top, top player in his prime. Could lash in a 40-yarder with ease.
Definitely, ITV summed it up well earlier. Just another individual who we couldn't get club quality performances out of. Countless times over the years Liverpool haven't turned up and Steve Gerrard dragged them to victory kicking and screaming. He just used to grab games by the scruff of the neck and carry the others at times. A great player.
Can't fault the performance from England. they played to their strengths and although it wasn't pretty, teams worse than ours have ground out the tournament in similar fashion. I do think though that there's hope for the future. With the world arriving on our doorstep, there are loads of slick foreign players for kids to aspire to and try to emulate. I sympathise with the opinion that the ban from Europe had a huge impact on us and that we're still feeling the hangover from it. Changes to coaching and youth football are happening already and we're quickly catching up with the continent there. The extreme opposite of kick and rush isn't too pretty either without the extremely talented players needed to make it work. IMO Spain playing a 460 formation and rarely getting behind the opposition was painful to watch. They lack a Messi type player to get in behind defenses and since Messi is a one in a million player, the Tiki taka style won't work for anyone but Barca. A more realistic ideal is the German style, which is faster and more incisive while still based on possession football. It's achivable, but not with the current group and unfortunately we'll need to be pragmatic to get anywhere with them.
I agree with this, and Jake. Same thing happened with Scholes, one of the worlds best central midfielders and he was always played on the left wing for england for some unknown reason.. All in all I think Hodgson played the right formation today. 4-4-2 is rigid sure, but with injuries, suspension, and the fact that he has only been in the job a couple of weeks, I think defensive is probably the right way for him to go. He can experiment more with 4-2-3-1 after the tournament and bring through younger players. Having said all that, if I was made manager of England so soon before a tournament I would go balls to the wall and play exactly the same formation and team as you Imsaintsme (minus glen johnson.) Today we played three at the back, with Johnson in a free role...
Well we didn't loose or win, however the defensive tactics that Roy is playing concerns me as I thought we were the second least attractive after ROI. If France had scored I couldn't see us scoring again. Good to see Anders again as I liked him and would definitely like to see his ex. She had far more talent than him
Interesting reading the comments from others... I thought the game was average at best and a pretty average performance from both sides. Whilst I'm sure there are many who will criticise my perceived negativity... But some appear to be over egging the praise on England IMO. We appeared to struggle to maintain possession for any long periods, and resorted to breakaway football a lot of the time, however, with the players we had, it doesn't seem a long term success strategy. Young is a shambles of a player, and until he sorts his ego out, shouldn't be included. Well beck looked ordinary, even Parker who has played well domestically was chasing shadows at times. Milner was awful and how he justifies a place in the squad is a mystery to me. Oxo if played correctly, could be our flair player we crave... But did look exposed with a weak left foot... That was a shame, especially with young and Milner doing as they were. The defence played well, and despite my personal dislike for terry and cold for arrogance based reasons... They were pretty much all putting themselves and their bodies on the line. Whilst the result and the point is good, I can't help seeing us bullied by greater teams. France players had a lot of individual technical ability... With little end product to show. Laurent Blanc said in an interview earlier that he anticipated England would only score through a set piece... And it. seems we have followed suit. Although I agree we could still win the tournament from here, I'd rather do it through taking risks and having adventurous players than the safe option every time. I'm glad hodgson has got the job, as he has taken a lot of the hype away already.... And is a good coach... A combination we haven't tried for a bit. Anyway... I will stand at ease and be ready to be crucified for my opinion...
