Expected a fairly boring ass game, with England doing what they need to do to win. Which is exactly what's happening. It's like in boxing, sometimes a good fighter will take on a journeyman and have a real hard time knocking him out, because he's there to survive and to defend, not to fight. Same way with Malta tonight, they've defended like crazy and had guys getting back all night. Now don't get me wrong, I hope the USA game later is far more entertaining than this, but I don't understand all the doom and gloom on this board. It's not like this is something that's new, struggling against the lower teams. Everyone seems to be criticising the current generation only. I've seen England struggle against teams like Macedonia. Lose to Northern Ireland. Not qualify for Euro 2008. We've got some good young players right now and we're winning. Is there stuff to work on? Absolutely, but we're on course to qualify for the World Cup (top of the group) and we're getting some good prep for that tournament. And for those who simply say they hate internationals and that they should ban international breaks, don't act like you didn't get a hard on when Adam Davies got the call to play for Wales.
Can't stand international football. The magic it had when I watched it in the 80s/90s and even early 2000's has died. We now watch a bunch of massively overpaid primadonas who lack even basic footballing talent huff and puff against Malta. Clubs will soon ban international football. Can't risk a £100m Jake Livermore getting injured playing Malta.
England just can't break down these poor sides who put 11 men behind the ball. We ended the game with what looked like a 4-2-4 after starting with 1 recognised striker. Why on earth don't we play that from the start against the teams that aren't going to offer much threat going forward. Malta's best performer on the night plays for Ebbsfleet. Sums up the gulf in class really, but poor tactics let us down time and time again. That said. We won 4-0 in the end.
But even the commentator quoted your catchphrase when Misfud came on and he said he used to play for 'teams like (Coventry and) Barnsley'. You may have missed that though as you'll have been busy eating your betting slip (insert laughy smiley face thing here when I get a phone that actually does them)
Look what can we/England do against these genuinely awful talentless teams like Malta ?. If we had played better and if we were unlucky to only win 0-1, how is that better than being 'lucky' and winning 0-4 ?. We've got the win and deservedly so, now let's look at the Slovakia at Wembley on Monday.
