England have the players to play a possession based game with a false number nine, but these players just aren't being selected. I know Cahill and Wilshere were injured, and Scholes and Carrick did not want to be selected, but IMO this team could have rivaled Spain in terms of ball retention at euro 2012: --------------------Hart Johnson----Cahill---Ferdinand---Cole --------Gerrard--Carrick--Scholes A Johnson----Wilshere-----Rooney Cahill and Ferdinand are the two best English defenders at playing the ball from the back on the ground. Gerrard would emmulate the role of Alonso, and Scholes emmulate Xavi, Carrick would drift in front of the back four emulating Busquets. Then you would have Rooney drifting inside from the left emulating the role of Iniesta, Wilshire would do the Fabregas role of the false number 9, and Adam Johnson would add width on the right, emulating Silva. Might not be a world beating team, but it certainly could have been an English side capable of playing possession based football against the best teams, with technique, movement. Considering that it is now unrealistic that Scholes and Ferdinand will ever play for England again, a future team (possibly for Brazil 2014), that could play a possession based game could be this, with Wilshere dropping deeper into midfield, Welbeck playing as a classic forward instead of having a false number 9, and Phil Jones at centre beck(who is a player who can play the ball at his feet): -------------------Hart Johnson----Cahill---Jones-----Cole ------Carrick--Gerrard--Wilshere A Johnson-----Welbeck------Rooney
Substitute Oxlade-Chamberlain for Johnson, Walcott for Welbeck, and Andy Carroll for Rooney (yes, really) and that looks close to our best side.
I am sorry but British players cant play possession football, not that we cant, we just aint taught from a early enough age and until that changes then there is no hope in hell!
We don't need to play possession football. If we'd pressed more and played a team capable of counter-attacking quickly, it would have done just fine. That's the English style that has made our league system so popular. Screw that tippy-tappy every man in a quadrant bullshit, leave that to the boring, boring Spaniards.
??? Thats exactly what England did, its not like they didn't create chances to win the game against Italy !! But when you have 30% of the ball how can you expect to win a game ? If when you get it you lose it straight away how can you expect to win a game ? Any midfield with Carrick and Gerrard are never, ever ,ever going to hold the ball.
I think the issue is spain's system only really works if your players are all, to a player, excellent at holding onto the ball under intense pressure. It also depends on an entire team of players who are moving into space. It also helps that Xavi, Fabregas, Iniesta and Villa (when fit) all know each other like the back of their hands. The team youve selected does contain talented technical players. But as a group they are not in the same league technically as Spain. They could be built into a team that played decent football over time, but in the process would take a few hidings and early exits from tournaments. Would the press/viewing public have the patience to allow that to happen? Changing the culture of a team cannot be done overnight. Any manager coming in will face media and dressing room backlash when his methods dont instantaneously work and there would be villas boas esque problems in managing the big personalities in the team. For it to work all the egos, the old guard, would have to be scrapped and start fresh with new players, a new system and new ideas. And a big personality at the top who wont be fased by the inevitable onslaught of 'dont know what you're doing' chants and 'change it back to 4-4-2, at least we were solid then'...........
There's not a chance in hell that the current group of English players could play the Spanish style and it would be painful to see them try. Even the Spanish themselves have a hard time getting it to work properly. While possession is key in the modern game, we are better off aspiring to something more realistic. English punters like their football fast, physical an direct, but that requires flair as well as discipline and the number of foreign players in the PL shows that England doesn't do that either.
It's not about what you can do, it's what you aspire to. Whilst our style will always be more direct, as befits our national character, there's no reason England can't learn a few things from Spain (and Italy for that matter). Things like always giving the man on the ball more than one option, being happy to pass backwards rather than give the ball away, building patiently, trying to win every 50/50 ball, getting numbers forward without losing shape. We won't do these things as well as Spain because frankly we don't have the players, but we can still work on keeping possession, movement off the ball, and pressing the opposition. Italy proved throughout there's also room for the occasional long ball up to the big man, and even Spain's 2nd goal came from a very direct ball played in behind the defence for Jordi Alba to chase.
Them England sides would barely be able to get the ball off spain let alone match them for possession. Face it, individually and collectively we are miles off a top international side. Just wait till Wilshire and the like have to play in a major tournament, they will be just as ****. It a team with Lampard, Gerrard, Rooney, Rio, Terry, Cole etc at their peak couldn't win a tournament, this current crop have NO CHANCE.
Its not just what England do with the ball its what they do without it. When Spain lose possession they put teams under immense pressure high up the pitch. They chase, they harry, they fuss and they force mistakes. I know Rooney wasn't fit and Im not deliberately singling him out but using him as an example - doesnt matter how good a player he is or could be, he wouldnt have worked for spain during this tournament because he didnt have the legs in him to work as hard as they do on and off the ball. England's plan A, B and C when they dont have the ball has been to sit back and invite pressure on - they seemed terrified of going near Pirlo against Italy. Getting in and around the opponents high up the pitch and co-ordinating defence and attack as a team is every bit as important as the technical ability that a lot of our players lack. There are too many reasons to individually address each one - suffice to say that the only way england could ever play like spain is if we completely changed the priorities of our development of talent, and if england had months together to train as a team (remember half of spains first team play together every week) so that, in attack and defence in all areas of the pitch, they are all singing off the same page of the same teamsheet, working as a collective and not as individuals.
It's a shame Huddlestone has been out for about 2 years... I'd sit him behind two central midfielders.
No it's not what they did, they failed to pressure the opposition enough, to their detriment. That was largely the reason Italy did so well; their work ethic. You don't need to hold the ball and tap it around centre midfield when you could take a little risk and try get it forward... you know, to score goals.
