Written by Kedge
Following the draw with Brazil in a friendly to welcome the team back to the spiritual home of football and a win in the Euro 2008 qualifier in Estonia, what have we learnt about England?
Or maybe more to the point, what has been confirmed?
1. Our defence still tends to lose concentration in the final minutes of the game.
2. David Beckham can put the ball on a sixpence.
3. Joe Cole is very one-footed.
4. The left side is still England's big problem area.
5. Cole, Lampard, Gerrard, and Beckham do not gel as a midfield unit.
6. We still pick too many players on reputation rather than form.
7. We still play too many players out of position just to fit them in the side.
But we must have learnt something, surely? Well, if we didn’t know these already, we do now:
1. Robinson’s reflexes are good, but he sometimes flaps at crosses.
2. Joe Cole has perfected the 'step-over'… unfortunately no one is fooled by it.
3. Our midfield don't push up enough when our defence has the ball.
4. We need someone who can cross the ball from the left (i.e. a left-footer).
5. Alan Smith is not an international centre forward.
6. We need to find some new, young, very good players from somewhere.
Let's hope England start getting it right soon. It might be too late for 2008, but this dilemma needs to be solved ready for the 2010 World Cup campaign.
Monday, June 18, 2007
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5 comments:
From what I've seen in the UEFA Under-21 tournament recently, England have got a number of good players that could be a great talent in the not-too-distant future.
Scott Carson in goal, Leighton Baines in defence, Mark Noble in midfield, Matthew Derbyshire up front... things look pretty good for England's future. Let's hope they get a coach who can bring out the best in them!
I agree, Carson, Baines, Richards, Huddlestone, Taylor, Milner, Nugent all seem to have bright futures. And I especially like Derbyshire. I can't understand why Pearce insists on starting Lita over him. Lita is far too inconsistant.
I'm very disappointed in Bentley. I would hope this won't effect his senior career, but it was poor judgement to pull out they way he did. I can't tell if it was Blackburn influencing a young player, or a young player making a poor choice of his accord. Either way, it speaks to his character. The only understandable explaination is the rumour that he has been sold. And picking up an injury in this tournement could mean the transfer would fall through. Outside of that, I think it is an offensive sentiment toward his country. It's quite a shame considering he would have been the player on that team.
It's quite a shame considering he would have been the BEST player on that team.
well, I've seen the U21 match against holland and what I don't understand is why they just give these long balls to Lita...I mean he's good and it works, but what's the fun in that? It's not really attractive is it. The youngsters have a lot of heart though, and only missed the final because there was some magic in the air for holland that night...
I agree. Although Lita scored a few, I wouldn't call him prolific - certainly not enough to warrant all the direct balls to him.
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