Pearce is part of the legacy that the Brian Clough, Ron Saunders era of management produced; defend in an organised way and win one - nil. It won European Cups 25-30 years ago.. 4-4-2, offside trap, hit 'em on the break. The problem is the game has moved on, (thank god), the offside rule has been effectively modified, you can't pass back to the keeper and slow the game down, pitches are bowling greens in comparison to 30 years ago. So the game has moved on, it's a shame England management hasn't... Most Premier league sides have looked forward, most England side haven't.. Lets hope the under 20s have more enlightened management.
He's just tweeted 'I'm a broken man. Get me home' got to feel sorry for him, no one has organised them effectively at all. Hopefully he will appreciate the quality around him at SMS. Both the players and the coaching staff. A good holiday and back refreshed for another great season with southampton?
I take it you never saw a Brian Clough team? Because they certainly never played like that 99% of the time! Just because they won the European Cup 1-0 doesn't mean that was his ethos. Cloughie's teams were more "you'll score 3 then we'll score 4". Now, if you had said Don Howe...
Clough and Saunders. Chalk and Cheese. Clough's teams always played very good football and I always enjoyed watching them. The best manager never to manage England was Dave Sexton. He was light years ahead of his time. I worry about the under 21s. Losing, like winning, becomes a habit and is morale sapping. When he comes back Clyne will need a lot of work doing to restore his confidence and to undo all the crap he was told by that Neanderthal Pearce. I am just glad Luke didn't go. I wait to see how they mess up JWP. As a club perhaps we should have nothing to do with the whole England set up as it is not fit for purpose. They snub our best players and are a negative influence on our youngsters. If I was Nicola then the next time Hodgson et el want to come to St Mary's to see the opposition's players I would tell them to go away, only not quite as politely as that.
Quite agree, its a massive step backwards for our nippers when they get involved with England. Makes me wonder if that hasn't already happened with Luke Shaw. They may allow more "robust" players like Clyne & JWP to get called up, but perhaps they fear any niggles that Shaw has might be made much worse by the England training methods. Would explain him dropping out all the time.
Some of the best players that qualify for the U21's were over in Brazil for a friendly. What was more important a friendly in a country where we may be playing next year or proper tournament experience at U21 level? I would say its more important for them to get experience at a tournament. Those U21's that played in the Euro's last year would have been able to pass on tournament experience to the newer players. That said, a 2nd string U21 team should have been able to get out of that group. The worry is that they play a newer type of game with their clubs but are then expected to revert to a different style that is both alien to them and tactically inferior to what they are used to.
Have to say the U21's have managed to get the perfect experience of being with England at a tournament. Lots of hype before hand and totally mucked it up and now getting pelters from fans & media. All in all, they are now in perfect shape for what will happen in Brazil
Now I know stats can be looked at in a number of ways, and the number of goals scored does not necessarily mean good or progressive football, but you might find the following illuminating.. Of course the other caveat is that the advent of 3 points for a win changed top side's attitude to away games.. 77/78 champions.. N.Forest goals for 62 goals against 24.. games played 42.. Approximately 2.04 per game 80/81 champions.. A Villa goals for 73 against 40.. games played 42.. Approximately 2.63 per game 88/89 champions.. Graham's one nil to the Arsenal.. goals for 73 goals against 36.. Approximately 2.59 per game Funny old game..
Quite an interesting exchange on Twitter between Didi Hamann and Matt Dickinson regarding loaning etc and the English 'problem' - Matt Dickinson ‏@DickinsonTimes 37m Josh McEachran is a case study in English dysfunction. Shunted around so much we can't know how good he is (or what's been lost already) Expand Didi Hamann ‏@DietmarHamann 26m @dickinsontimes I think its a myth that young players need to play.He would learn more training with top class players than play in Ch. Expand Matt Dickinson ‏@DickinsonTimes 6m @DietmarHamann don't young players need to be given responsibility to mature? Expand Didi Hamann ‏@DietmarHamann 1m @dickinsontimes More responsibility to stand your ground in training with world cup winners than playing.Games make them more experienced
