The Official England Thread-The Team We All Support [Vol 2]
Discussion
Well I was there. Bloody terrible, it was like watching a 3rd division team at times.
Delph- waste of space. The whole team was so negative, passing back to hart every opportunity. No effort (ok I know it was a friendly) but Rooney (as much as I don't like him) was the only one to make an effort to close down.
And the first ground I've ever been to where there was no seat numbers!! Basically you found your row and sat where you liked! Recipe for disaster lol.
Delph- waste of space. The whole team was so negative, passing back to hart every opportunity. No effort (ok I know it was a friendly) but Rooney (as much as I don't like him) was the only one to make an effort to close down.
And the first ground I've ever been to where there was no seat numbers!! Basically you found your row and sat where you liked! Recipe for disaster lol.
What is our national footballing identity. Our culture of play.
The Italians, great in defence, patient, dour, slow build up.
The Spanish, short crisp passing, technically gifted.
Germans, ruthlessly efficient, never play below par, workmanlike, self belief.
Brazil, flair, tricks, great free kicks, flaky at the back but will just try and outscore you.
Argentina, like Brazil, not quite as good but more ruthless, flair and a mean streak.
Uruaguay, horrible, vicious, like Leeds Utd of the 70s but worse, with the odd great player
And on and on.
I watch England and I honestly haven't got a f
king clue what our football culture is. No identity at all.
That's the first thing we should address. Personally I'd go for physical fitness, technically weak but we will run and run and chase and pester and wear the opposition down like a pack of hyenas attacking a wildebeest.
But ffs, we need something to hang our hat on.
The Italians, great in defence, patient, dour, slow build up.
The Spanish, short crisp passing, technically gifted.
Germans, ruthlessly efficient, never play below par, workmanlike, self belief.
Brazil, flair, tricks, great free kicks, flaky at the back but will just try and outscore you.
Argentina, like Brazil, not quite as good but more ruthless, flair and a mean streak.
Uruaguay, horrible, vicious, like Leeds Utd of the 70s but worse, with the odd great player
And on and on.
I watch England and I honestly haven't got a f
king clue what our football culture is. No identity at all.That's the first thing we should address. Personally I'd go for physical fitness, technically weak but we will run and run and chase and pester and wear the opposition down like a pack of hyenas attacking a wildebeest.
But ffs, we need something to hang our hat on.
Edited by TwigtheWonderkid on Saturday 14th November 20:51
I agree. Mine would be thump the ball up field and rely on 2 big forwards (6 ft 2+) to play off each other. Ugly as hell but seems that's what we're best at! That and physical strength and fitness. Run the opponent into the ground.
We try and copy other (more technical) countries and we just can't do it. Route one!
We try and copy other (more technical) countries and we just can't do it. Route one!
audi321 said:
Well I was there. Bloody terrible, it was like watching a 3rd division team at times.
Delph- waste of space. The whole team was so negative, passing back to hart every opportunity. No effort (ok I know it was a friendly) but Rooney (as much as I don't like him) was the only one to make an effort to close down.
And the first ground I've ever been to where there was no seat numbers!! Basically you found your row and sat where you liked! Recipe for disaster lol.
The 10mins I watched (nothing else on) Spain just hassled our players, we passed backwards, got to Hart who kicked it forward to no-one and Spain then passed it around as normal. Delph- waste of space. The whole team was so negative, passing back to hart every opportunity. No effort (ok I know it was a friendly) but Rooney (as much as I don't like him) was the only one to make an effort to close down.
And the first ground I've ever been to where there was no seat numbers!! Basically you found your row and sat where you liked! Recipe for disaster lol.
England are overrated, overpaid and for some think they are world class. No chance.
The manager is the very definition of average. He has a managerial win percentage of 43.5%. His most successful spell at Malmo, he achieved 62%. Remove that anomaly and it's 41%!! He makes poor team's into average ones (Fulham) and also good teams into average ones (Liverpool).
What was anyone ever expecting from him?
What was anyone ever expecting from him?
audi321 said:
I agree. Mine would be thump the ball up field and rely on 2 big forwards (6 ft 2+) to play off each other. Ugly as hell but seems that's what we're best at! That and physical strength and fitness. Run the opponent into the ground.
We try and copy other (more technical) countries and we just can't do it. Route one!
If we could combine the long ball with the chasing and running, we might even be able to play that way in warmer climes. We try and copy other (more technical) countries and we just can't do it. Route one!
Everyone moans about route 1 but when we went ahead against Brazil in the WC QF in 02, long ball hoofed aimlessly upfront, defender mis controls it and Owen hammered it in, no one was moaning.
I don't really care what we do, so long as we have some sort of style and stick to it and perfect it.
TwigtheWonderkid said:
What is our national footballing identity. Our culture of play.
The Italians, great in defence, patient, dour, slow build up.
The Spanish, short crisp passing, technically gifted.
Germans, ruthlessly efficient, never play below par, workmanlike, self belief.
Brazil, flair, tricks, great free kicks, flaky at the back but will just try and outscore you.
Argentina, like Brazil, not quite as good but more ruthless, flair and a mean streak.
Uruaguay, horrible, vicious, like Leeds Utd of the 70s but worse, with the odd great player
And on and on.
I watch England and I honestly haven't got a fking clue what our football culture is. No identity at all.
That's the first thing we should address. Personally I'd go for physical fitness, technically weak but we will run and run and chase and pester and wear the opposition down like a pack of hyenas attacking a wildebeest.
But ffs, we need something to hang our hat on.
English football is all about pace, getting stuck in (in Europe you just give away fouls) and being athletic, technically we are rubbish, against technical sides who can keep the ball we look amateurish.The Italians, great in defence, patient, dour, slow build up.
The Spanish, short crisp passing, technically gifted.
Germans, ruthlessly efficient, never play below par, workmanlike, self belief.
Brazil, flair, tricks, great free kicks, flaky at the back but will just try and outscore you.
Argentina, like Brazil, not quite as good but more ruthless, flair and a mean streak.
Uruaguay, horrible, vicious, like Leeds Utd of the 70s but worse, with the odd great player
And on and on.
I watch England and I honestly haven't got a f
king clue what our football culture is. No identity at all.That's the first thing we should address. Personally I'd go for physical fitness, technically weak but we will run and run and chase and pester and wear the opposition down like a pack of hyenas attacking a wildebeest.
But ffs, we need something to hang our hat on.
Edited by TwigtheWonderkid on Saturday 14th November 20:51
Doesn't matter how quick or strong you are if your first touch is poor at this level.
It all goes back to how you train kids and the crappy weather we have in this country in the winter time and the lack of decent indoor facility's for most kids, so British kids will be on play stations etc when it's pissing down and the ground is waterlogged where in places like Spain they can play all year round outside free of charge most of the time.
Edited by Lotus E300S on Sunday 15th November 12:31
Lotus E300S said:
English football is all about pace, getting stuck in (in Europe you just give away fouls) and being athletic, technically we are rubbish, against technical sides who can keep the ball we look amateurish.
Doesn't matter how quick or strong you are if your first touch is poor at this level.
But we don't play with pace, get stuck in or look athletic. Even the stuff we're meant to do well, we don't do.Doesn't matter how quick or strong you are if your first touch is poor at this level.
And we have a poor first touch and lose the ball.
TwigtheWonderkid said:
But we don't play with pace, get stuck in or look athletic. Even the stuff we're meant to do well, we don't do.
And we have a poor first touch and lose the ball.
A couple of times we counter attacked with pace but we are ultimately let down by poor first touches that slow our play down, it's alright having lighting pace but if you need 3 touches to get the ball under control that advantage is lost. Our defence and keeper aren't comfortable with the ball at feet so just boof it up field and give away possession.And we have a poor first touch and lose the ball.
In Spain they find young natural footballers who are technically good early on, here we still go for the big quick strong lads and try and turn them into natural footballers.
We can't play our natural game of getting stuck in anymore in Europe or even in the Prem now as its deemed to dangerous and that gives a big advantage to the more technical teams Spain etc.
We are also not generally known for play acting diving etc (and rightly so) unlike the Europeans who consider it part of the game by over reacting and fooling the Ref.
Agree with the above posters, about our 'strong' point being about pace and power, however that is so easy to read as well, regardless of how good your first time touch is. You cannot run around like headless chickens for 90 minutes. I think the England game reached its hiatus as far as my memory serves me, in the 1996 Euros, where we combined the pace and power game with a bit of technical ability also, but then we had the players to provide this with people like Sheringham and Gazza. I was watching Sterling against the Spanish - he seems to typify English players; appalling first time touch, puts himself and the team in trouble every time.
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