SkyBlue_Bear83
Well-Known Member
Hodgson is useless, his record for qualifying. 3 wins and 3 draws. We've already played San Marino twice and are other win was against Moldova. Draws against Ukraine, Poland an now Montenegro
England Montenegro (8 Viewers)
- Thread starter Nick
- Start date
stupot07
Well-Known Member
The fact James Milner is an international footballer says it all to me.
scroobiustom
New Member
Work in progress I think, there are some very talented players in that squad and need time to come through...
Ashley Young however I would of gone with the Ox, but hind-sight and managing England is easy from sofa
Mood after the game: disappointed
Ashley Young however I would of gone with the Ox, but hind-sight and managing England is easy from sofa
Mood after the game: disappointed
scroobiustom
New Member
Out of interest: Megaphones are illegal, object throwing is illegal, flares are illegal - hope retrospective action is taken
Otis
Well-Known Member
SkyBlue_Bear83
Well-Known Member
Not a chance, I reckon that stuff goes on at everyone of Montenegro's matches
Brighton Sky Blue
Well-Known Member
An encouraging first half but an absent second. Gerrard's delivery from set pieces poor throughout, Johnson horrendous defensively at right back. It was obvious that something needed changing yet Hodgson left it too late and the sub was a little meaningless.
Fortunate to escape with a draw really. I keep saying it-we need our best players to go abroad and widen their footballing horizons.
Fortunate to escape with a draw really. I keep saying it-we need our best players to go abroad and widen their footballing horizons.
scroobiustom
New Member
I wished they had had that law in the 1970's!
Flare (acrobatic move), an acrobatic move employed in b-boying, commonly known as breakdance, and gymnastics - no place for this in football IMO
hutch1972
Well-Known Member
Been thinking for an hour since the game finished, and i have decided that Wellbeck is the laziest fecker since Stan Collymore to play for England .
England were under pressure and most of the time he strolled back to help Cole and even then couldn't be arsed to make a tackle.
England were under pressure and most of the time he strolled back to help Cole and even then couldn't be arsed to make a tackle.
skybluelee
Well-Known Member
Says it all about how little I care about our national side these days that I greeted the full-time whistle with "meh" and hadn't thought about it again prior to seeing this thread.
LastGarrison
Well-Known Member
Cole and Gerrard were poor. Cleverley went missing for too long and should have been subbed about 15 minutes before he was.
I actually though Welbeck had a decent game and liked the look of Young when he came on.
Fact is England are a slightly above average international side and as Otis says the strength of depth is severely lacking. There is certainly a dearth of quality strikers coming through.
I actually though Welbeck had a decent game and liked the look of Young when he came on.
Fact is England are a slightly above average international side and as Otis says the strength of depth is severely lacking. There is certainly a dearth of quality strikers coming through.
Mucca Mad Boys
Well-Known Member
We should be playing 4-4-2, playing 1 striker upfront is negative! :facepalm:
Seriously, I don't know why Welbeck was on the wing, nor Milner, none of them are wingers.
I don't know why Hodgson is picking older players, if anything, the average age has gone up since Euro '12, not down! So short-sighted on Hodgson's part. It's frustrating. In fairness to him, it isn't like the Premier League is exactly great for blooding youngsters through. We really missed Wilshere, he's the only CM England have who can actually control the game's tempo, I feel he would've regained control when we lost it.
The fact we "hung on" v Montenegro is very worrying for me.
Seriously, I don't know why Welbeck was on the wing, nor Milner, none of them are wingers.
I don't know why Hodgson is picking older players, if anything, the average age has gone up since Euro '12, not down! So short-sighted on Hodgson's part. It's frustrating. In fairness to him, it isn't like the Premier League is exactly great for blooding youngsters through. We really missed Wilshere, he's the only CM England have who can actually control the game's tempo, I feel he would've regained control when we lost it.
The fact we "hung on" v Montenegro is very worrying for me.
Otis
Well-Known Member
Woe is me!
I can't think of 2 worse teams to support than Coventry City and England.
And lo and behold, I support both. :facepalm:
Both fill you with anticipation to only then succeed in letting you down time and time again.
Watching last night was so much like watching the City. Dominating and then in turn being dominated. Winning, then hanging on at the end. Passing the ball about nicely at first, but then resorting to lumping the ball upfield as the game wears on.
I can't think of 2 worse teams to support than Coventry City and England.
And lo and behold, I support both. :facepalm:
Both fill you with anticipation to only then succeed in letting you down time and time again.
Watching last night was so much like watching the City. Dominating and then in turn being dominated. Winning, then hanging on at the end. Passing the ball about nicely at first, but then resorting to lumping the ball upfield as the game wears on.
SBS
Active Member
Don't forget conceding from a corner.
SkyBlue_Bear83
Well-Known Member
Milner is just not an international standard player in any position never mind not being a winger.
Welbeck I think is a promising player but agreed not a winger either
You mention age but I still feel Lampard should be in the team, I really hope he stays in the premier league as I think he has been brilliant this season. Not sure what Hodgsons obsession with Cleverly is about
Brighton Sky Blue
Well-Known Member
I wouldn't go and say it's a fact that we're slightly above average. We're not going to be contenders for a major tournament any time soon but equally we should be aiming at a 1/4 final slot in such competitions. Say what you like about the FIFA rankings but we have stayed consistently in the top 10-15 more or less since they first started-and our performances in the WC and Euros generally reflect this. International football is no longer what it used to be in terms of quality and prestige anyway.
Mucca Mad Boys
Well-Known Member
I agree with everything you've said bar on Lampard.
For too long we've been saying Gerrard and Lampard can't play together, there're past it etc. I would be happy to see them both dropped, good players, but I think it's time we move on.
I'd consider 4-2-3-1 something like this:
Hart
Clyne* Jones Smalling Baines
Rodwell Wilshere
Walcott Rooney Oxlade
Sturridge
It's difficult, maybe Cahill for Sturridge, Rooney upfront, Wilshere behind Rooney Jones and Rodwell in midfield?
*or Walker, just anyone BUT Glen Johnson.
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LastGarrison
Well-Known Member
Too be fair you are right and I was under selling us, however, we are certainly not a footballing "super power" for want of a better phrase and I cannot see that changing anytime soon.
SkyBlue_Bear83
Well-Known Member
Some decent players for the future there in there but Rodwell, Jones, Smalling an Ox don't even get in there club side regularly
Also don't think Walcott has enough technique to be an international starter although I think he has improved a lot this season, he isn't consistent enough. Good impact player to have off the bench
WillieStanley
New Member
stupot07
Well-Known Member
To be fair, the second half yesterday showed one of the flaws of the lone striker - if you can put some sustained pressure on the opposition, push the two wingers back and make them defend you then completely isolate the lone striker which makes it difficult to get out of your own half. This is the graphic from the bbc, showing average position - 2nd half Rooney was isolated.
This has been one of our biggest flaws when playing a lone striker at home, especially when neither winger has any significant pace to get up and support quickly.
scroobiustom
New Member
good jpg :claping hands:
Hardly quaking in boots time for the worlds best teams
Brighton Sky Blue
Well-Known Member
We certainly don't have players that fit into the truly world class bracket, that's for sure. I'd say we're on a par with Holland in terms of on pitch quality, but our attitude in games seems to vary enormously-I'd go as far as saying that our players just don't care about playing for England as much as they do their club sides. I keep saying we'll do a lot better in the long run if we send more of our better players to the continent; only Owen Hargreaves and Beckham have really fit into this bracket over the past decade.
Brighton Sky Blue
Well-Known Member
Far too inexperienced more than anything else.
Mucca Mad Boys
Well-Known Member
Some of those players will be up there amongst the best for their position; most notably especially Jones, Wilshere and ARGUBLY Walcott at RW, he's doing good ATM. And Rooney obviously is one of the best too.
Our team is weak, we need to overhaul the culture of English football and model ourselves on Germany, Spain and The Netherlands, that is how we'll be competitive.
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Mucca Mad Boys
Well-Known Member
2 strikers can equally be isolated as well, people seem to think having 2 strikers makes it A) attacking and B) less isolated. I'll give an example for CCFC this season, Shrewesbury, lets forget they won, they relied on counter-attacking football, and they literally had 8 players behind the ball and 2 isolated strikers who couldn't affect the game for large periods of the game. For England, the nearest example I can think of is v Italy, Rooney and Welbeck were totally anonymous.
It's all in midfield, if you dominate midfield, your strikers will get service. Tuesday saw Carrick, Cleverley and Gerrard go missing and as a result we lost our grip on the game.
stupot07
Well-Known Member
1) you can't forget they won because they did - they did exactly what they set out to do.
2) we've played counter attacking football away from home all season with a 5 man midfield. There's nothing wrong with counter attacking football. That's the reason we've struggled at home - we are expected to dictate play and teams sit back and counter us.
On Tuesday as much as the midfield trio went missing second half you also have to look at the changes Montenegro made - went 2 up top and brought the attacking midfielder in to the hole. This helped hold the ball up, stopped the fullbacks getting forward, stopped the centrebacks giving easy posession to the midfield, took Carrick out of the game, and meant when they attacked they had plenty of men committed forward.
There are pros and cons for 1 striker or 2 striker formations.
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Brighton Sky Blue
Well-Known Member
Disagree entirely. Spanish players who have come over here and either stayed or gone back end up learning how to incorporate a higher tempo, physical side to their game as well as learning how to handle more physical opposition. The likes of Gerard Pique are absolute tanks and have benefitted hugely from this. If English players went abroad to ply their trade they would also learn the opposite, incorporating tactical and technical intelligence to their game and becoming much more familiar with that kind of opposition on a weekly basis.