England played really badly but the substitutions just made things worse. Young needed to be taken off, he was all over the place. (surely the OX deserved a chance?) Wellbeck looked more dangerous than Rooney at least and deserved to stay on . We needed to pack the midfield and attempt to keep the ball - not bring on a target man!! When will England managers stop going back to a 4-4-2?? ITS NOT THE ****ING 80'S ANYMORE. We started out like this... ----------------------Hart----------------------------- Johnson-------Terry---------Lescott-------------Cole Milner-------Gerrard---------Parker----------Young ---------------------Rooney------------------------- ---------------------Wellbeck------------------------- Now they were getting outnumbered in midfield and Rooney was'nt playing the role correctly. He was pushing too far forward and not linking the midfield enough.(so we were basically 442) This is what we ended up with.. ----------------------Hart----------------------------- Johnson-------Terry---------Lescott-------------Cole Walcott------Gerrard--------Henderson--------Young ---------------Rooney--------Carroll------------------- Roys priority should have been to get closer to Pirlo and make the midfield tighter. NOT 'LONG BALL' UP TO THE BIG GEORDIE!! Assuming Parker was injured and HAD to come off then this is what i would have done. 4-2-3-1 with Chamberlain as an attacking mid. He has good technical ability and would have helped us to keep the ball. Jones to sit right in front of the centrebacks. ----------------------Hart----------------------------- Johnson-------Terry---------Lescott-------------Cole ------------Jones(Parker)-------Gerrard------------- Walcott(Young)--Chamberlain(Rooney)-----Milner -------------------Wellbeck-------------------------- Overall, England severaly miss a 'playmaker'. Scholes can still do that job as he showed for United but Wilshere's injury set back has been a massive loss. Saying that though Roy would have to change the formation to necessitate that kind of player.(I'm not sure he knows anything other than a 442) England need to catch up with the times. We have a great league but the 'oldschool' British mentality towards tactics and 'style of play' needs to change or we will get left behind even further. Quote of the Day: "Where’s our Pirlo? We have our own version, he's just recovering from injury. He's Jack Wilshere of Arsenal." Jamie Redknapp.
The Bear - Italy played 4-4-2 and bossed possession. The formation is not the problem, its the personnel.
That was NOT a traditional 442. The starting midfield formation was a kind of diamond but Cassano would drop back to make a 5 man midfield when necessary. Pirlo played a 'free role' and De Rossi was allowed to cut in from the left and play as a CM while the fullback Covered the wing. You could call it a 442 just like you could call Uniteds formation a 442 but really it was closer to most 4 tiered formations.
I disagree. Just because you play a 4-4-2 that doesn't mean the wide players have to hug the touchline. When Arsenal played a 4-4-2 Ljungberg and Pires were often well inside from the touchline. De Rossi was mostly on the left side with Montolivo and Marchisio floating about around Pirlo. Its still a 4-4-2 though. Cassano started dropping deep to get more of the ball but it was hardly a 4-5-1.
Tactics matter no doubt. What matters more is having good players. England have bad players. They have no strength in depth. They have a poor first team. The players look good in premier league teams who are based around the talent of foreign players. And they are playing in their home country. It takes far more talent to suceed abroad with a different culture (footballing and otherwise). None of our players can do this because they are bad technically. Hodgson should of got closer to pirlo, no doubt. Italy are a 1 man team in terms of their possesion. He is one of the greatest players I have ever seen and I know the media/fans in England dont have a clue to respect anyone outside of the premier league but I thought Hodgson would KNOW how much of a god pirlo is. Having said that england got their tactics right generally. They had to sit back and play defensive. Greece is the model for england. Poor sides who need to play off the back of defence and set pieces. And the tactics did ok for england who didnt lose a game (somehow) in normal time. England will not win for a long long time. There is nobody good coming through the ranks. Thats typical biassed BS thinking. We have decent players but thats relative to the rest of our dire players. Guardiola was right to say even someone like wilshire is someone who barcelona have in their youth team/B team. He got blasted for it but its clearly a fact. And who else is there? Oxo is ok, wellbeck is ok...but these guys arent going to be the next Ozil, Pirlo, Xavi, Iniesta, Ronaldo.....its just not going to happen. I have no doubt that this realisation that english players are completely second rate will only last for a few weeks before everyone is back to thinking gerrard, lampard, rooney, etc etc are elite players when in fact they just look good IN THEIR NATURAL PREMIER ENVIRONMENT AND CULTURE and even then they are outshined by foreign players like silva/kompany (citys best players), vidic, rvp, modric, vdv, suarez, cabaye, ben arfa..... English players suck and it isnt going to change anytime soon. The only positive? Cole and young missed the pens.
And you know you are in the **** when your two subs are the worst two england footballers I maybe have ever seen. Theo walcrap and the joke that is andy carroll. Carroll belongs in pub football and walcrap belongs in some club 100m race. A glorified sprinted and a glorified donkey. And yet people like sherer think caroll is unplayable? What sort of a joke is that. When you playing on the break you arent going to do much with mr andy carroll up top are you. He is utterly dredful and wouldnt even be a professional in most other countries. I bet spain and germany had a right laugh at some of england's footballers this tournament. We should of lost 3-0 in normal time and were lucky not to. At least the penalty loss saves us an embarrasing thumping at the hands of germany. The only reason we got out the group was because there were two absolutely terrible groups and two amazing groups. I think the best 7 sides were in the other 2 groups.
Spot on mate. The problem is England supporters don't want to admit this, which is in part a fault from the media who brainwash happless and desperate England fans. Wilshere is an excellent example, he is one of the very few players that have skill on the ball. But everyone (including Arsenal supporters), are starting to overrate him already. Guardiola was right, he would be in the Barca B team but wouldn't get a sniff of the main team. But on a positive note, Wilshere is a step in the right direction. The conclusion is, be realistic and from there you will be able to get better and have a chance of winning something in the next 10 years onwards....
i don't think you can say that about wilshere and oxo in fairness, unless you've never seen them play. i'm sure someone in barca's youth team could run rings around xavi and iniesta all night at the emirates... oh wait, no then they'd be in the first team. oxo is still raw and young, but he will evolve into one of the worlds best, as will wilshere.
FFS when will England ever learn, im Scottish and admit it was great watching you lot go out on pens again haha. You seem to swing from one extreme to the other, one minute you are terrible and the next you are the world's best, a prime example of this was the first game, as soon as you scored the commentators were talking about winning the tournament, then when France equalised their mood changed completely. Your media seem to love making out that you have some divine right to be a good team simply because your England, and the complete lack of respect shown to other teams by both your media, fans and even players makes it even more sweater when you inevitably go out. It is no surprise that you usually end up going out at the quarter final stage of most tournaments, as this is the first time you come up against a decent team. Remember Gerard comments about Sweden, and how they weren't France and England should beat them, and you were lucky to win that game. You just keep giving your opposition the motivation and encouragement to give that extra 5% simply because your media and players disrespect every other nation. You seem to have enough quality to qualify for tournaments with relative ease, so just accept that is success and probably the best you can hope for. God I wish my country could do that.
We are talking about people overhyping English players. Yes the Barca first team is special, but Barca B/youth players are still able to get into their team. The "reject" players could still get into top european teams. I bet their B team would give Barca first a better game than the majority of European teams that have one way to play, park the bus. We are still pouching Barca youth kids and apparently have 2 playing in our reserves, who are apparently some our best players. The quality between our reserve and their reserve is huge. What's come through ours, Wilshere, Gibbs and Frimpong? Gibbs and Frimpong are still touch and go, and Wilshere is the only true bit of quality. Wilshere has had one good season, lets wait for him to replicate that a few years before overhyping him like the rest....
This is the reason you keep getting beat at these tournaments, believing crap like this, England are not better individually that Italy, nor are you better as a team. You lot just keep making the same mistakes lol, the sooner that you accept that you do not have better players than other teams, then you might actually start to progress.
shwan 'I look to italy squad and aside from Pirlo, I think england squad look better individually ..' Strewth - I think I better stop watching footie - I've got it all wrong all these years. Hodgson must go - he has a team full of world-class players and we sit back. .
Buffon = one of the best keepers of all time. Abate and Maggio are two of the best right backs in the world. Pirlo is class. Di Rossi is class. Their subs were strong. Their defence generally good. Their weakness is balotelli and cassano arent very good (cassano since his stroke).
Germany have REAL top quality players - Mario Gomez, Muller, Podolski, Ozil, Kadhira, Neuer, Hummels, Schweinsteiger, Lahm, Gotze. They all play for top European sides and are the real deal. How many English players are the real deal? Only players England have playing in this tournament are - Hart, Cole, Rooney (was garbage), JT, Lescott........The rest are questionable. I won't include OXO and Wilshere as they are too young/injured. We are so **** that we have some big ass gypsy playing up front for us. I would liken him to Duncan Fergason, and then i would rate Big Dunc higher. Everyone must be laughing at us, seeing players like Carroll and Milner....
Very true. But I think its fair to say the 'Golden generation' have blown their chance too many times and its now time to move on and go with the next generation of players. Wilshere, Hart, Chamberlain, Wellbeck, Sturridge, Richards, Gibbs, Jones, Smalling, Kelly, Walker, Rodwell etc.. are the players England should be going with.
