England v Russia

[baboon2004]

Football takes more than skill and guts though - throughout the years England teams have huffed and puffed and never given up but still been put to the sword by cleverer sides time and time again. I'm fed up of seeing Graham Taylor/Kevin Keegan or whoever coming near to bursting a blood vessel as they exhort their sides to greater effort to get that equalizer when effort simply isn't enough.

True, but (maybe not yesterday, didn't see the game) how many times have England just sat back and let the opposition come at them again and again and again??? France/Brazil/Argentina/Portugal blah blah blah....the opposition WILL score if they're constantly in the England half. Ok, maybe that's tactics then.

And whether it was a penalty or not, can England managers (and football managers in general) please stop making excuses EVERY FUCKING TIME something doesn't go right? McLaren said he wouldn't blame the pitch, but only because he'd already found something else to blame.

 

[mixed_biscuits]

Fannywagon?

You know, fannywagon innit.

It is very annoying how England sit back. Tho' the recent 3-0s suggested that they were beginning to unlearn that habit. *sigh*

 

[IdleRich]

"True, but (maybe not yesterday, didn't see the game) how many times have England just sat back and let the opposition come at them again and again and again??? France/Brazil/Argentina/Portugal blah blah blah....the opposition WILL score if they're constantly in the England half. Ok, maybe that's tactics then."

Well, you have to get a balance of course. People slated Erikson for being too cold and unable to rouse the team whereas Keegan could rouse the team - he just had no idea what they should do when they were roused. I agree regarding sitting back though - it never works for England. We may like those desperate rear-guard actions but unless you've got a defence like Milan it's pretty hard to hold on for a whole game.

"And whether it was a penalty or not, can England managers (and football managers in general) please stop making excuses EVERY FUCKING TIME something doesn't go right? McLaren said he wouldn't blame the pitch, but only because he'd already found something else to blame."

Yeah exactly. I only saw the last half hour and presumably England were better before that but they were terrible in that period. Maybe they should address that first.

 

[boombox]

I don't believe England do sit back; they simply cannot control a game through simple one-touch passing. When they are under pressure they do not have the ability to stop the flow and slow the pace. The Premier League is helter-skelter, and it is the foreign players who can make time, like Elano or Fabregas who make the real difference for their teams. Scholes was the last England player with that requisite technique and confidence.

 

[mixed_biscuits]

Word is born, bro.

 

[boombox]

Did anybody watch Scotland-Georgia? The gap in class was astonishing. Can anyone explain Darren Fletcher?? He...just...can't. Poor chap. I pray Italy beat Scotland for the good of football.

 

[mixed_biscuits]

Of course nobody watched Scotland-Georgia.

As if anybody in England is interested in football per se.

 

[IdleRich]

"I don't believe England do sit back; they simply cannot control a game through simple one-touch passing. When they are under pressure they do not have the ability to stop the flow and slow the pace. The Premier League is helter-skelter, and it is the foreign players who can make time, like Elano or Fabregas who make the real difference for their teams. Scholes was the last England player with that requisite technique and confidence."

Not last night but against Portugal (for example) they were far too negative starting with a 4-5-1 formation.
I wouldn't necessarily pick Scholes as the England player with the best technique over the last few years - although obviously he's been great for them - I would say his tackling disqualifies him from that, but you're right though, England need a playmaker and while Gerrard seems able to make things happen for Liverpool he somehow just can't do it for England. Lamps is even worse and that basically means that the only creative threat in the England midfield is Joe Cole (unless you count Subbuteo Sean - no not really I just wanted to say that).

 

[boombox]

LOL.



ROOOOOMANIIIIIIA! Haide Baieti!

 

[boombox]

England need a playmaker.

Put Joe Cole in the middle with Barry and see what happens. It's England's best hope of fulfilling whatever potential they have.

Also, Terry and Owen are our only world-class players IMO so play to their strengths: i.e. Rooney out Heskey in.

 

[IdleRich]

"i.e. Rooney out Heskey in."

Yeah, very funny.

 

[boombox]

Germany in 2001 found it hilarious

 

[IdleRich]

"Germany in 2001 found it hilarious"

Well Rooney was fifteen then, if he'd been of age I'm sure he would have played and done the business. I can't seriously believe you're suggesting picking the eponymous hero of my friend's movie pitch "Spoon it like Heskey" over the most talented footballer we've got.

 

[IdleRich]

Anyway, I'm off to try and put theory into practice and play the damn game...

 

[boombox]

over the most talented footballer we've got.

For an international striker, his goalscoring record is average. For a striker dropping deep his passing is poor and his dribbling is largely ineffective.

To justify being given the freedom to roam you need to be an exceptional footballer. Francesco Totti plays the same way as Rooney - both Striker and Midfielder - but scores the goals required of a striker and creates the chances required of a midfielder. Rooney does neither. Rooney is a hindrance.

England would hold the ball up, control possession and release Owen better with Heskey in the team.

 

[hucks]

Anyway, I'm off to try and put theory into practice and play the damn game...

I'm off in a few minutes to do the same - possibly against Idle Rich, who knows? But I watched the Georgia Scotland game, 'cos my parents are Scottish and I need someone to support next summer. I'm shameless like that. Georgia were excellent, all quick, first time passing. Scotland were awful, Fletcher in particular. In his defence, he was coming back from injury, and was clearly miles off the pace. I don't think he's as bad as all that - he suffers from not being Roy Keane, I think, who was his predecessor at Man U.

Back to England - surely if you're going to build the team around anyone, it should be Rooney, not Owen? I would very much like to see him and Ashton up front. It's mightily tedious when people make grand claims for players who are outside the squad, as if they'll solve everything, but I do think Ashton good enough to at least improve the team. His awareness and ability to bring other players into the game is fantastic. And he can really finish, too. He is apparently made of balsa wood, though.

 

[boombox]

I do think Ashton good enough to at least improve the team. His awareness and ability to bring other players into the game is fantastic. And he can really finish, too. He is apparently made of balsa wood, though.

I agree.

 

[tht]

the england football team are a synecdoche for national disgrace sort of like tianenmen square tanks, though less egregious as befits the poesies of alfred lawn tennyson or rudyard kipling-cake

however, it is possible that a good team could be cribbed together from the few players with notable skills (joe cole, carrick, rooney, ferdinand, lennon) alongside those who can compensate with exceptional agility and 'commitment' etc (ashley young, richards, gerrard, ashley cole), maybe semi-final level, would that make you happy?

 

[hucks]

maybe semi-final level, would that make you happy?

That would be the (joint) second best performance ever by an England team. Where do we sign?

 

[mos dan]

my friend's movie pitch "Spoon it like Heskey"

please tell me this will be getting a theatre release

my that game was depressing, i was listening to it on the radio too, mobile phone transmission and all. it's such an english way to ruin everything: obscurely, pathetically, without putting up a fight. in five years time no-one will quite remember how or to whom we went out of euro 2008, but that weird distant afternoon in russia was it.

fwiw the idea of getting rid of rooney is ridiculous. i don't care what his goal-scoring record for england is. nor do i care that peter crouch scored twenty goals against jamaica or whatever it was. I could have scored twenty goals against jamaica in that game.

incidentally, i saw england beat russia 3-0 at wembley the other week. we were great. i can't quite picture how, now, but we were.