England vs Spain
- Thread starter psd99
- Start date
Man of Honour
I wasn't expecting that result but congratulations to England anyway, beating Spain with the way they've been playing for the past few years is a very creditable result although I do rather hope for their sake it isn't now taken as a fait accompli that they'll do well at the Euros. There does appear to be a tendency to exaggerate any result whether positive or negative and I don't think that can help the team at all.
Caporegime
I'm tempted to avoid the Sunday papers for just that reason. May make me nauseous... I can only imagine the Sun now
Caporegime
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quoting someone who only posts a quote doesn't work very well
Seriously, its ONLY the teams with no hope who give a monkeys about these games. Ever noticed why Germany, Spain and especially Brazil constantly lose games in both friendlies and often the qualification stage(thats more for Brazil to be fair). They peak for the final few games of the world cup, not for the friendly a year before.
Saying that, I don't think that was in particular Spain's problem, Silva was poor, he was either passing quickly off to others who also passed backwards as often as forward, or he was over hitting passes with very little angle, in behind the CB's.
Spain were playing Barca style, with the expectation of winning, no urgency, taking little risk, dominating up to 30 yards from goal but choosing to pass sideways/backwards more often than risking losing the ball with the pass in behind.
Frankly with Iniesta/Xavi you need a Messi, a runner who will be unpredictable in almost everything except his game is focused fowards.
Fabregas was actually freaking awesome when he came on, he could have pretty much made it 3-1 all by himself and maybe should have. I'll put that down to, not actually being a striker, but lately becoming far closer to Messi than his old role, and the fact he's just back from injury again and with no pre-season and a year of this injury coming back over and over, he's not looked as sharp(yet is still insanely good).
Either way the problem is, that realistically was the best we've seen England play, that was amongst the worst performances for Spain in a while.... Spain/Brazil/Germany will turn it on in an actual competition when its important, England don't. We focus all our effort on these games then wonder why we flop in cups.
Soldato
quoting someone who only posts a quote doesn't work very well
Seriously, its ONLY the teams with no hope who give a monkeys about these games. Ever noticed why Germany, Spain and especially Brazil constantly lose games in both friendlies and often the qualification stage(thats more for Brazil to be fair). They peak for the final few games of the world cup, not for the friendly a year before.
Saying that, I don't think that was in particular Spain's problem, Silva was poor, he was either passing quickly off to others who also passed backwards as often as forward, or he was over hitting passes with very little angle, in behind the CB's.
Spain were playing Barca style, with the expectation of winning, no urgency, taking little risk, dominating up to 30 yards from goal but choosing to pass sideways/backwards more often than risking losing the ball with the pass in behind.
Frankly with Iniesta/Xavi you need a Messi, a runner who will be unpredictable in almost everything except his game is focused fowards.
Fabregas was actually freaking awesome when he came on, he could have pretty much made it 3-1 all by himself and maybe should have. I'll put that down to, not actually being a striker, but lately becoming far closer to Messi than his old role, and the fact he's just back from injury again and with no pre-season and a year of this injury coming back over and over, he's not looked as sharp(yet is still insanely good).
Either way the problem is, that realistically was the best we've seen England play, that was amongst the worst performances for Spain in a while.... Spain/Brazil/Germany will turn it on in an actual competition when its important, England don't. We focus all our effort on these games then wonder why we flop in cups.
Credit where credit is due though, Spain may not have played to their best, however that was largely in thanks to how organised England were.
Fabregas played OK... he was not "freaking awesome". Xavi on the other hand! It was no coincidence Spain weren't as dominant after half time.
Associate
Scott Parker getting plaudits again, for the price Spurs paid for him he is a great buy.
England are so lacking in creativity its not even funny. Let's just put 10 men behind the ball and hope for the best.
does not inspire confidence. The teams that win the Prem/champ league/euro's/world cup tend to do so through attacking football and going for it. Would rather go out 1st round/group stage than grind out draws and 1-0's personally
does not inspire confidence. The teams that win the Prem/champ league/euro's/world cup tend to do so through attacking football and going for it. Would rather go out 1st round/group stage than grind out draws and 1-0's personally
That's the reason Capello will never win with England though. If Mourinho came in to manage England the first thing he'd do against the better teams is exactly what Capello did tonight. If you can't outclass them, frustrate them, nick a goal on the counter or set piece. It is unfortunately as you point out, not the best football in the world to watch. If he'd gone at Spain today like they'd came at us, you'd have been looking down the wrong end of a 0-3 half time scoreline with the potential for even worse if heads had dropped.
People want to see good football, but ultimately people want to see their team win. If we won the World Cup off the back of 20 **** blue and white bus 1-0's, I couldn't care in the slightest.
Soldato
Let me correct that:
Spain won't have to try, they'll score freely, we'll pray for a narrow defeat, it will be a miracle if it's a draw, it will be business as usual with all the excuses and I'll be there for a jolly good laugh:
Humm just trying to use the barcode scanner...00214039 it reckons. Close?
na, if you are going to win something do it in style, otherwise whats the point?
win ugly through a 40 game season fair enough, those teams also play bloody well and tear teams apart in between. We cant do that even against the dross!!!
win ugly through a 40 game season fair enough, those teams also play bloody well and tear teams apart in between. We cant do that even against the dross!!!
Soldato
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Does anyone else get frustrated with Glen Johnson or just me? He is one of few decent RB we have, and he cocks it up A LOT. He shows moments of brilliance like moving forward, but when it comes to clearing it he somehow gives them the ball. I've actually lost count the amount of times I've seen him do it. Terry is guilty of the same thing, except he misses back passes. These two are in my opinion the problem with our defense and feel we'd be better off without them defensively. Lescott was superb and I'd rather he play now often instead of Terry. As for replacing Johnson, still not sure who we could have in his place. Hmm.
I will assume your post isn't sarcastic, and have missed everyone jumping up and down screaming "Micah Richards!!" or "Kyle Walker!!"
Caporegime
Strange to pick out Johnson after that performance. Bar one weak header, which he couldn't get any power on because he was leaning back, he was faultless today.
Soldato
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I meant that Capello will 'allow' in his squad. Kyle Walker is there for England already, but I haven't seen much of him yet internationally.
I thought Lescott was brilliant but if there was one thing you can fault it was his distribution.
Johnson didn't do much wrong, maybe 1 or 2 things. Although, I'd much rather have Walker or Richards playing there.
I wonder whether some people actually watch matches. Alongside Parker, it was Johnson and Cole that played the biggest roles in keeping Spain out. Johnson and Cole got the balance perfect between when to track Villa and Iniesta and when to pass them onto the CB's and that's the hardest thing to do when playing Barca/Spain.