Euro Qualifiers 13th & 17th October **Spoilers**
- Thread starter Anders0n
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Oops The penalty "tackle" was the consumate "strikers challenge". Saying that, had horrible flashbacks of a certain P Neville vs Romania in 2000....
I think we will still qualify, as I think Israel will hold them.
If not serves McClaren right for a)picking Barry too late, and b)not giving Ashley Young a run out.
I think we will still qualify, as I think Israel will hold them.
If not serves McClaren right for a)picking Barry too late, and b)not giving Ashley Young a run out.
fair enough but iirc Gerrard and Lampard have been our first choice central midfield since a while before Scholes retired. these are both experienced pro's and excellent quality players not 2 21 year olds still finding their feet on the international stage who you could forgive for needing to develop an understanding. i don't particularly like the term attacking midfielder or defensive midfielder but like it as not Lampard operates better when he has a Claude Makalele or Essien behind, him and Gerrard is free roaming with either an Alonso, Hamann, Sissoko, Mascherano covering for him. Both players simply like getting forward to score goals and thrive on having someone willing to stay back and do the donkey work for them, it's not to say they can't do it but they typically don't do it. On occasions when i've seen them try to work it then it's been Gerrard who has had to stifle his game and he's been very subdued from what I've seen.
Barry, Hargreaves, Carrick etc all don't mind hanging back and letting other players shoot for glory and when i've seen england play with with a more 'mop it up and keep things tidy' style midfielder alongside either gerrard or lampard then i see a better shape to Englands side and that's immediate pretty much after 1 or 2 games. not 3-4 years of trying to build an understanding.
Russia 66.8 Possession 33.2 England
It's alright saying don't blame the pitch but i am i don't care ! we just couldn't pass on that plastic heavily watered doctored pitch.
Those stats were the opposite on the grass pitch.
If i were chairman of the FA i'd take uefa to court over the pitch
It's alright saying don't blame the pitch but i am i don't care ! we just couldn't pass on that plastic heavily watered doctored pitch.
Those stats were the opposite on the grass pitch.
If i were chairman of the FA i'd take uefa to court over the pitch
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It is................................... Clairefontaine.
And yes they did, and yes they were.
We do however have players good enough to win any tournament they play in, our poor results are ENTIRELY down to the wrong choice of manager.
Its as simple as that.
Keegan was inept at every level.
Sven is a good club coach but nothing more (and never has been, he won the italian league with the most expensive squad ever assembled)
Mclaren has done nothing in the game, has no charisma and cannot read a game to save his life.
Were i in charge of the FA i would be breaking my back to get Maureen or someone of his ilk and passion in charge of the team.
Were i in charge of the Team, Half those players wouldnt even be in contention for the squad let alone playing.
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Thats the fella
Sorry i wasn't disagreeing, just being a bit sarcastic about our attempt of a 6 year plan; our plan involved closing down our national academies
The problem we have is that the youth team/academy coaching roles are just another step on the ladder to becoming a first team coach rather than a specialised job. You've touched on it above, the French FA employed the likes of Houllier and Wenger to coach there youth set ups (and both were high profile at the time) and its the same in Holland. Its only been recently that the top EPL clubs have started bringing in specialist coaches for the academies and youth set ups but this has been going on for a long-time in europe (Ajax being the main example).
Thats what i mean, with the exception of the very start of Gerrards career he's always had somebody sitting behind and had complete freedom to bomb on for Liverpool (though he started this season with more discipline while playing with Alonso and done well) and its the same for Lampard at club level.
Untill both players learn that its not down to one person to defend and the other to attack and learn that when one goes the other has to sit, it won't work. Gerrard has shown he can form a partnership where they've both CM's with Redknapp, Murphy and more recently with Barry and Alonso, im not sure Lampard has ever had to.
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yes but at erm 27 and 29? isn't it fair to say that they might well not be going to learn that anytime soon if they haven't learnt it since they began playing with each other in their early to mid 20's and just let someone else who you know will have a more disciplined approach come into the team and play alongside 1 of them?
Sorry i wasn't disagreeing, just being a bit sarcastic about our attempt of a 6 year plan; our plan involved closing down our national academies
The problem we have is that the youth team/academy coaching roles are just another step on the ladder to becoming a first team coach rather than a specialised job. You've touched on it above, the French FA employed the likes of Houllier and Wenger to coach there youth set ups (and both were high profile at the time) and its the same in Holland. Its only been recently that the top EPL clubs have started bringing in specialist coaches for the academies and youth set ups but this has been going on for a long-time in europe (Ajax being the main example).
My son is being coached at the moment in an under sevens league. Not saying hes going to be a world beater, far from it but the standard of the teams are pretty high and all of the teams they have always do well in the leaues they play in.
But here's the trade off. For every single team they have, they get coached between the ages of five and seven. If they are big enough and athletic enough they can then go into one of the competitive teams over the age of seven. Very little skills training and all you hear off the coach is "get stuck in, tackle him hard, throw it long, run faster, hit it hard" Each week they have played at home they have won at an absolute canter, last week the juniors won 16-1. What do they learn from that ???? Absolutley bugger all other than in a very simplistic way, I kick harder, I score. id much prefer them to win 2-0 and learn to pass and move pass and move and learn techniques. Don't even get me started on how much (or lack of) money is invested here and we are one of the lucky ones. This is the same the length and breadth of the country.
Its proberly fair to say that but im sure that if there was some sort of clear instruction (even if that is to say to Gerrard to sit) then they can make it work.
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England's performance can be summed up in two simple words; utter gash
I hope we don't qualify now, we don't deserve to, also maybe give a few people a reality check, we don't have some God given right to qualify for every competition, we have some world class players but they are not a world class team a lot of them don't seem to care whether we win or lose, it also doesn't help with have a totally un-inspiring manager
I hope we don't qualify now, we don't deserve to, also maybe give a few people a reality check, we don't have some God given right to qualify for every competition, we have some world class players but they are not a world class team a lot of them don't seem to care whether we win or lose, it also doesn't help with have a totally un-inspiring manager
I agree. Gerrard on the right, Hargreaves alongside Lamps in the middle. Cole on the left.
Thats exactly it, i remember watching the John Barnes show on Channel 5 a while back and they had an interview with Stevie Heighway and that was pretty much what he said went on too much over here; teams would put the quickest player up front and just launch the ball over the top for him to run onto. Heighway said this went on because the job of the youth coach wasn't recognised as a serious job and it was just a stepping stone to becoming a first team manager and that these coaches were looking for quick results to get themselves noticed.
So we can have Cole coming inside from the left and Gerrard coming inside from the right?
further to sandy10's comments i'd happily bring in luke moore, abonglahor, and ashley young to the squad at least. might have trouble displacing Rooney or Owen but out wide i don't see any reason they couldn't challenge and they would at least add another option in case of injury upfront.
Luke Moore hasn't got a hope but Young and Agbonlahor should be seriously thought of for the wide roles; with Lennon injured and Joe Cole doing **** all ever since the WC (for Chelsea too) we're seriously lacking in end product out wide.