Archive for the ‘Sport’ Category

I can summarise in one word what England’s lacking above all else.

Patience.

They don’t wait on the ball enough; they’re rushing themselves, treating every pass as though it’s the last minute of the match, rather than building a move. (Ok, either that or they pass it back to the Goalkeeper!)

Get Barry off, and put Joe Cole on. Playing Barry = defensive minded, much like… Emile Heskey. The difference when Defoe came on for him was incredible. Much more energy in the team.

Further analysis before Slovenia!

So England drew 1-1 with the USA.

Comments flying around include such generalisations as ‘same old England’, ‘England are way overrated’ ‘USA are better than expected’. The reality of the situation is England came out of the blocks on fire, then fizzled out until midway through the second half, before at around the 85′ mark settling for the draw.

A 1-1 draw isn’t a bad result, but it’s certainly not a good one. The USA are likely to be our strongest group opponents, but we now need to outscore them against Algeria & Slovenia to top the group and likely play Serbia as opposed Germany.

We came out fast, but had a defensive formation. Heskey is a holdup merchant, allowing everyone else to come into play. For a game we were expected to win, a striker holding up the ball – as their sole role – is not the way to win games. Heskey’s goalscoring record speaks for itself, as does Crouch’s; I don’t particularly love Crouch, even as a Spurs fan, but he scores more goals for England per game than anyone else. In addition to this, Defoe and Heskey are built to be super-subs. Heskey if England are winning & want to hold on, Defoe if we need a goal.

Milner also doesn’t suggest an attacking formation – where was Joe Cole?

My ratings out of 10:

Green: 7 – One mistake doesn’t make a performance.

Johnson: 8 – Our defensive MoM, who did everything asked.

King: 6.5 – Simple & effective.

Terry: 7.5 – See King, but added threat at corners, and involved more. When his shirt wasn’t being ripped…

Cole: 5 – Thought he was an attacking fullback? Our left side as a whole was poor. Again.

Lennon: 6 – Poor crossing has returned! Sort it out Aaron!

Lampard: 7.5 – Hustled the ball well, lacked the creative spark held by Gerrard.

Gerrard: 9 – MoM; Did everything, including a stint at RB! Ran himself, and the USA, ragged, whilst being the centrepiece of our attack.

Milner: 3 – Lucky not to be booked earlier on, and in turn sent off. Surprised if he starts next match. Poor performance.

Heskey: 6 – He held up the ball well. That’s it.

Rooney: 8.5 – If he had had a proper partner up front to take some reliance off him…

Subs:

Wright-Philips: 6 – Didnt really do much, but should have done better with his one-on-one shot.

Carragher: 6 – See King.

Crouch: N/A