Thoughts on last nights England friendly

Well, I was so rivetted that I fell asleep! Anyway, as I missed nigh on the majority of the game, what was it like? Did we play well?

 

firts half rubbish , save for a 3 minute spell where we could/should have scored 3 goals ,

second half , better but brazil will not be quaking in there boots just yet

 

Second half was excellent, played very well - Owen Hargreaves was very poor, Carrick should have gotten the nod. We looked a far better team when Crouch came on, i really cant see why people hate the guy, he has great ball control, great in the air and his work rate is brilliant - not to mention that finish - first class!

First half was very poor though, Save the last 5 minutes of the first half...

 

First half a bit like watching paint dry (or watching Tony Head on Bath railway station!)
Second half better, not bad for a friendly
ff

 

First half shocking... second half better but I was kind of expecting a 3-0 massacre. Don't think the rest of the World will be too worried just yet./poo

 

The good sides will have been pissing themselves.

Awful first half, decent spell in second without ever dominating a side that wouldn't look out of place in the lower reaches of the Championship.

Ashely Cole, Campbell and Owen are still struggling, we can't play with a holding midfielder, and despite Crouch playing well, I can't see how he can link up with Owen, Defoe or Walcott, which poses the question - why try that formation?

 

RE: The good sides will have been pissing themselves.

I don't understand the sudden panic to try out 4-5-1.
It may be worth tweaking the tactics against better sides who outnumber us in midfield (e.g. Portugal 2004) but surely against the likes of Trinidad Paraguay etc we should be going out to win.
It all seems a bit negative to me. We've got an excellent record with 4-4-2 and on the odd occasion we have experimented it has backfired spectacularly (Northern Ireland).
Further to all that. If Carragher and Hargreaves are above Carrick in the pecking order for defensive midfield...why is he in the squad? He'd be in ahead of both of them for me.

 

Agree entirely mate.

Carrick has the vision and passing ability to kill a side. However, Sven seems to want someone who runs around and puts his foot in to play that position. Effectively, if last night is anything to go by, we were inches away from playing five at the back.

Wrong on so many levels.

 

RE: Agree entirely mate.

We never looked even remotely like creating a chance until the last 5 minutes of the first half. Granted, it is only a friendly but that is worrying to me. Trinidad, Paraguay and possibly Sweden will sit deep giving us the chance to push forward. Why have a defensive midfielder twiddling his thumbs?

Plus points from last night. Becks playing like a proper winger again instead of fecking around in the middle of the park. Crouch showing that he can be effective and Joe Cole looking on top form.

As for Owen Hargreaves....well, I just don't understand.

 

RE: Agree entirely mate.

Hargreaves had a 'mare. Poor lad gets played all over. Don't think he's that bad a player - he looks good for Bayern on the occassion I've caught them, but for England he's the new Phil Neville.

Crouch was excellent, Terry was a rock, and I've always rated Cole. Never been Beckham's biggest fan, but if he continues to play like that (and not get booked for needlessly spouting off at the ref), we can't go far wrong.

Minus points - Ashley Cole's two-yards off his usual pace, Owen lacks match fitness and practice (that header? On form, that was a goal without a doubt), Gerrard didn't convince at all in the 'Rooney' role, Campbell is all but shot, and Lampard was anonymous.

 

Oooh, I forgot about seeing him!!

That's another flash back for me. I blame the euphoria and nowt to do with the wine I'd supped.

Good to meet you

 

Yay!

About time Mrs RevvieP was registered

 

It'll be interesting to see what he plays on Saturday

 

RE: It'll be interesting to see what he plays on Saturday

I imagine he'll persevere with 4-5-1 to get the players used to it. He's already hinted that he will probably start with that formation.

I'd like to see Ashley Cole and Owen get 90 minutes each, they clearly need it. Probably rest a few of the others.

 

Sven is looking for a Makalele type player,

someone one to break up attacks and give it easy.</p>

Carrick is a lightweight , who on a good day is a decent passer.  However his passing ability is no better than Gerrards or Lampards so I dont see how he gets in the team unless we change the system.</p>

 

RE: Sven is looking for a Makalele type player,

Lampard for me not looking the same player in a England shirt.

 

Was he playing last night?

Its a different system at Chelsea , he looks like he cant adapt to playing in a 4 man midfield.

 

RE: Was he playing last night?

I cant wait for Sven to go to be fair.... Hopefully McClaren will shake things up and have the balls to drop certain players and try new things from the start.

Problem with England at the moment is that we were never prepared for a plan B.

 

Disagree.

Carrick's long range passing is on par with Lampard and Gerrard if we're talking standard sweeping balls to the wing, but he spots the killer pass better than both. Can't really tackle, admittedly, so he loses out to both on that score.