England beat Spain

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redwhiteandermblue

redwhiteandermblue

Well-Known Member
May 3, 2011
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England beat Spain 1-0. While you ought to enjoy beating the reigning world champions, in the end it was the only kind of win you might expect: sneaking a goal after defending almost the entire game against a team that looked far superior.

Still, a few good things: Defending was excellent, Parker showed he can be a big factor at the highest level, Cole still looks world class, the effort overall was first rate, and the young players looked dangerous and fast. Also, give Bent credit for an excellent header on about his only chance off a good cross.
 
Spain are head and shoulders above every other team but we beat them and I enjoyed that very much. If we could do the same next summer I'm sure we'd all take it. The pace of our youngsters seemed to cause Spain problems, just need to teach them to pass and we'll have an excellent team.
 
Great win, that's all that matters not passing or flair, ball in the back of the net yes please!

Defending was excellent, considering that we had the muppet Glen Johnson on the pitch! Parker and Lescott brilliant.

Attack: always going to struggle considering only Walcott was present to offer any forward threat (Bent, Milner, Jones didn't offer much)...bring back Rooney, Wilshere, start Sturridge please Capello.

If only Shrek hadn't got red carded, my England XI would be:

Hart
Smalling/Jones...Lescott...Terry...Ashley Cole
Walcott...Wilshere...Lampard...Parker...Sturridge
Rooney

(Obviously in his absence I would play Sturridge and Welbeck, so refreshing to see pacy strikers that cause defenders problems that can be exploited by Wilshere and Walcott.


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Thoughts on this?
 
Rooney is a liability, he's got himself banned for 3 games in a dead rubber, does not think. We can't afford to risk playing him at a major tournament.
 
The way to beat Spain/Barca is to park the team bus infront of goal and hope for the best from a quick counter or a set piece, just ask Mourinho! They are so good at what they do that you will get twatted if you try to attack them. Their only weaknesse are pace and to a lesser extent set-plays, as a lot of their players are under 6 foot.

It's ghastly to watch though so I hope we don't see it too often.

I'm looking forward to seeing Jones, Rodwell and the other young playerrs as I was impressed by their limited contributions.
 
Yeah pleased with the win, England's fringe players deserved credit for the effort they put in today, it was a very competitive and enthralling match, plus some very strong challenges (many surprisingly by Spain). Clearly England were hanging on at the end and Spain deserved a goal, however the spirit and work rate through the team was commendable.

I thought the first half was very intense but you could see that our defence was not as comfortable with the ball as the Spanish players are. Our midfield failed to provide outlets and with Spain pressing high up the pitch we struggled to keep possession. We learned from this in the second half and pressed Spain higher up the field to our advantage. We may never have the technical ability of Spain but if, as some of our younger players seem to show, we can improve on this and combine it with our pace and power we could do well in the future.

Still amazed Richards has been overlooked, but then so was Parker for so long. Hoping Sturridge gets a run out against Sweden, was impressed with Welbeck.

Just shows what England can do without the hype and superstars (Rooney, Gerrard etc), not always the best team includes all the best players.

Cue the media hype tomorrow: England to win the 2012 Euros...
 
The team gave a first rate effort, and makes me think more seriously about most of them for the Euros. Is there a better option than Jagielka-Lescott, I wonder? I'd have been tempted to go with Smalling/Jones. I also say, start Bent, ditch Rooney, because I'd rather have a pretty good striker than a proven liability. The one player I'd really want back is Young, who's been the best player for England the last year or so. But, overall, an excellent win, and if every England team tries that hard I'll be glad to watch them.
 
I've never seen a team get battered so badly and come out winning a game. Hopefully we can take this luck through with us to the Finals next year. Come on England!
 
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