Thursday, November 22, 2007
and so england couldnt draw against croatia, thus ensuring that they arent going to Euro 2008. I stayed up the watch the first half, and seriously England was abysmal.
Firstly, why did McClaren play wright-philips on the right flank instead of beckham? I'm sure Christine would agree with me on this. wright-philips is fast, but his crossing is really bad. With a single man strikeforce, and its peter crouch at that, what you need is a good crosser of the ball. whats the use in being speedy and tricky when you cannot put in a decent cross for a 2m striker? I remember seeing a good through-ball to wright-philips in the first half; its a pity that he hesitated and took 1 extra touch before trying for the shot, which got parried. I'm sure beckham would have put that away, and equalised for England.
Secondly, why did he play scott carson? granted that Robinson was really off form, but he could have played david james instead! between choosing a veteran and a keeper who only previously turned out for England in a friendly against Austria for a do or die match, I would go with the veteran any day. there's simply no substitute for experience, esp in a high pressure match. and scott carson did let the ball slip for the first goal.
Thirdly, why gareth barry instead of hargreaves? I remember the commentator saying that hargreaves is perhaps the most disciplined player in the team in terms of tactics, and that if he was out there england would definitely retain possession better. that is definitely true, considering that barry is really short of form outside the england squad.
Fourthly, why wayne bridge instead of ashley cole? cole was on the bench, and if he's on the bench surely he would be fit to play at least some part in the game. its undeniable that cole is the better left back of the two. If you look at the 2nd goal carefully, you will realise that the defence was in shambles, that while the 3 defenders tried to play the guy offside, bridge at the far end played him onside! his play down the left flanks were also not effective at all.
Finally, why 4-5-1 and the insistence on lampard and gerrard together? It was proven in the last few matches that england was much better at a 4-4-2, and that gerrard doesnt play with lampard. This game surely would be another shining example of why both of them are ill suited to play with each other.
I think england needs a new manager. haha maybe they should come look for me! in the meantime, i shall start prepping for the england job by undergoing intensive Football Manager 08 training after the exams =)
More Fuzzy Logic @ 2:13 PM
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