dave_ragg1984 Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 Wright-Philips cant cross for toffee... Neither can Walcott.... Lot of use having wingers that cant cross... Copello is selecting them because he has to!! Beckham isnt getting younger... But these guys are good enough as wingers.... He doesn't have to select them, he could select Beckham, but he isnt. Obviously, its working having Walcott/Wright-Phillips on the wing because the performances and results have improved. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oafc0000 Posted February 12, 2009 Author Share Posted February 12, 2009 He doesn't have to select them, he could select Beckham, but he isnt. Obviously, its working having Walcott/Wright-Phillips on the wing because the performances and results have improved. Well see what happens when we come up against a proper team... oh wait... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikejh45 Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 Beckham is in the squad on merit. Whenever he pulls on the England jersey, he always does what we expect him to do, i.e. accurately pass the ball around the field irrespective of the opposition. The younger wingers mentioned especially Wright-Phillips and Walcott have pace to burn but are still inconsistent in their output. Downing, on the other hand, has had one good game against Germany and for me is our weak link. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave_ragg1984 Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 Well see what happens when we come up against a proper team... oh wait... Proper team...proper game...Walcott on the right..and this is what happened. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stitch_KTF Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 We fail to keep possession by trying to force the tempo by playing more direct, losing the ball frequently and relatively cheaply, then we don't see it again for 5 minutes. Just watch our games against poorer European sides, we rarely control the lionshare of possession and edn up being frsutrated by the other team playing keep ball. If you're replying to me I think you've missed the point of what i'm saying and misread me. I want England to do well and see there has been some improvement under Capello, but what i'm saying is that people believe the hype that surrounds our players that they are the best in the world and that we should be able to compete with the likes of Spain. In reality, our whole approach to football just isn't good enough anymore to compete with any of the top teams on the international stage. We have made steps in the right direction, Barry in midfield, Carrick as well is a good option for us in my opinion because it moves us towards a slower tempo and a team that can keep the ball. However, you look at the way the centre backs play and they continue to play as though it were a Premier League game and instead of looking to keep possession and being patient, anything more than 4 passes along the back four is punctuated by a long hopeful ball to our target man whoever that may be at the given time. I'm not the sort of person who sees England win and decides we're going to win the World Cup nor am I the sort who sees us lose and says it's time for a change. If anything needs changing it's the fundamental way our players are coached. I know everyone loves the fast pace of the English game, but if we want to win trophies at international level and look effective on the international stage, something drastic needs to change. I'm not just talking about our standard English player here either. Even our so called very best are so wasteful in possession when you compare them to their European counterparts. Rooney and Gerrard as much as they can do something brilliant, they are possibly the worst culprits for wasting possession cheaply. The whole 'English players aren't as good technically' thing is true, however I think it is fundamentally a result of our climate and facilities. You try getiing someones dad to coach kids to play 'football' on those pitches, if you can get one. Until fairly recently even our professional pitches were a joke! It's not necessary to overhaul the system to try and win international honours, not that we could do if we wanted. Being just 2/3 games away from winning a few recent tournaments (and often only knocked out on penalties) shows that. You have to work with what you have and what you are, and what you look on as a disadvantage could be turned to our advantage. Let's get good at playing the 'English way', our opponents very rarely encounter it and we are never going to beat them playing it their way! Although we get lots of practice playing against it...... A team looking a lot more balanced. Lot more pace on the wings with Downing on the left, and Walcott on right (when fit). Plus we look a lot better with Wright-Phillips in there instead of Beckham (he is too slow for international football now). Rubbish. I wish we had another one of him to play on the left! Pace works too though so if that's the preference I'd like to see Beckham partner Gerrard in the midfield. If Ryan Giggs can make the switch inside then David Beckham certainly can! Where and how has he been playing for Milan?? I bet Serie A suits him down to the ground if it's anything like it used to be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeylandLatic Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 The whole 'English players aren't as good technically' thing is true, however I think it is fundamentally a result of our climate and facilities. You try getiing someones dad to coach kids to play 'football' on those pitches, if you can get one. Until fairly recently even our professional pitches were a joke! It's not necessary to overhaul the system to try and win international honours, not that we could do if we wanted. Being just 2/3 games away from winning a few recent tournaments (and often only knocked out on penalties) shows that. You have to work with what you have and what you are, and what you look on as a disadvantage could be turned to our advantage. Let's get good at playing the 'English way', our opponents very rarely encounter it and we are never going to beat them playing it their way! Although we get lots of practice playing against it...... Fair enough but my point still stands that we are too wasteful in possession and will never compete with the best international sides until this changes. I guess we could win trophies by playing the 'English way' but we would have to have a very strong defense and a midfield with players who can be counted on to win the ball back consistently. Even though we have got to the quarters or 2nd round regularly I don't feel we've ever lit up a tournement since 1996 with our performances or even put in anything above average in any of our games in those tournements. What was the last game we truly controlled and dominated in a major tournemenet? We aren't going to have an overhaul in coaching from the very youngest of ages, i agree, but we need to look more at the value of keeping possession. That doesn't eman we have to drop everything characteristically 'English', but it does in my opinion still require some serious changes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oafc0000 Posted February 12, 2009 Author Share Posted February 12, 2009 Proper team...proper game...Walcott on the right..and this is what happened. Your idea of what's a "proper" team is different than mine... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave_ragg1984 Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 Your idea of what's a "proper" team is different than mine... Thats because my idea of what a proper team is is correct . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rudemedic Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 I don't remember much of the game (no I wasn't drinking) but we were beaten by the best team in the world with two great pieces of induvidual skill and some questionable officiating. David Villa showed why the richest teams in th world want him (if I was City I'd have spent the transfer window going after him as opposed to another attacking midfielder). He turned Jagielka and Terry inside out twice and considering how much Torres has been in jagielka's pocket lately that is no mean feat. The set-piece delivery was a great one- and one which we could have defended better- but one on our day we have about 10 players who can deliver a similar ball. England have some great players but sometimes these great players try to do the match-winning feat too often- lets keep the ball and play killer 20 yard passes as opposed to trying to play a killer 50 yds one shall we. Its something we have done a lot of in the past and I thought Capello had got rid off but obviously it still remains. Heskey and Agbonlahor were no great shakes up front- but I'm not sure if we have all our strikers fit they both play. Neither are real goal machines and I do worry where our goals will come from at times- especially during the big games. For me that is the one player we are missing a Torres/Villa- someone who you know at a major championship will get a fair few number of games. One thing I would like to point out though- I've been very impressed with Aston Villa this season and they have a good representation in the squad but Capello isn't picking their two best players this season (and possibly the two best players in the premiership this season as well)- step forward Ashley Young and James Milner. SWP is OK he will scare defenders with his pace but make bad decisions and not produce a great final ball, Beckham is the polar opposite scare defenders with his final ball but be easy to mark as he's too slow. Downing (who I like) had a good game against the Krauts and probably deserved to keep his place but he's a squad player and no more for me (possibly not even that). Walcott is the incumbant on the right hand side (and after his performance against the Croats rightly so) but I would have liked to have seen Ashley young play more than he has done for England lately. I'm not panicking yet though, I fancy us to qualify quite comfortably and depending on the draw we could do something in SA. We might well have to beat Spain though and I hope Capello has learnt something- sacrifice an attacking midfielder, play two defensive midfielders in central midfield (probably Hargreaves and Carrick), tell them to mark Xavi and Iniesta (Senna and Alonso are great holding players but they aren't match winners), and then attack them down the wings. Spain play very narrow in midfield and I'm not sure either full back is all that great defensively- get some good, quick wingers running at them and they could have some problems and that means your passing has to be accurate but it only has to be 30 yards tops. This Spanish team is beatable though- it reminds me a lot of the England team from about 04, lots of great central midfielders not a lot of width and some quality up front and that Englsih team didn't exactly set the world alight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave_ragg1984 Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 I'm not panicking yet though, I fancy us to qualify quite comfortably and depending on the draw we could do something in SA. Capello is well on the way to restoring us to our former glories. A quarter final defeat on penalties is nailed on! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.