Surprisingly Enjoyable

Germany 1 England 2

“We played very well — like a team. This is very important to me. I liked the attitude of the team. We played with confidence and personality.”

“We had the opportunity to get to know some players we hadn’t seen, “I have a problem now but I’m very happy to have it. We have time to decide before we pick the next squad. I have no message to the others — I think they will be very happy because we won.”

Sometimes you are invited to a social occasion that you do not really fancy going to. Maybe it is at an inconvenient time, sometimes you are just too tired, sometimes you just think it is going to be a waste of time. You end up going as you have to, after an hour or so you realise you are quite enjoying the evening. Ultimately you leave with a warm glow and a lesson of life is learnt, not to be too judgemental, and you are glad that you went because you made new friends and feel uplifted. That is what yesterday’s friendly against Germany felt like. All those who turned up to the party, well, they enjoyed it.

Watching the match on TV, the initial talking up of the match as the commentator told us (often) that there is no such thing as a friendly when England play Germany sounded a bit desperate. As the game got underway it became quite enjoyable. England’s makeshift team were lively and played with a zest for the game that seemed to be lacking from the German team. Whilst this performance was by no means the finished article, the team were enthusiastic lively and confident. Everyone of the players furthered their case for inclusion into a future starting XI and perhaps we have strength in depth in the squad.

The two England goals were from set pieces and scored by the central defenders, though there were chances created in open play the lack of a real predatory goalscorer did become apparent. Agbonlahor played well, Wright Phillips was very lively and Michael Carrick really looked a stylish player. Carrick above all must have given Capello some thought for the months ahead.

Capello decided to bring on Scott Carson for David James at the start of the second half and Darren Bent for Defoe up front.The commentator reminded us of that November night against Croatia when these two players last appeared for England. And then it happened, England gifted an equaliser to Germany. A defensive mix up between Terry and Carson allowed Helmes to nip in and score. Both players were to make amends with Terry scoring the winner, and Carson making a perfectly respectable save on what really was an unbusy night for the England goalkeeper.

Post match, John Terry took responsibility for the mistake abrogating any responsibility from Carson. To a certain extent this is probably true, every schoolboy knows “when in doubt, put it out”. Terry certainly had the chance to do this and did not, Carson was in two minds whether to come for the ball or not. That Carson was not in charge of the situation can be attributed to the fact that he had just come on, he was adjusting to the game and had no time to stamp his authority and gain an understanding with his defence. Scott Carson is a good goalkeeper, but his international career certainly has not started the way he would have hoped. If a player ever needed 90 minutes and a faultless performance for his country, it is Carson. It will happen. It was a mark of a leader and the mark of a man for Terry to take responsibility.

So we finish the international calender for 2008 on a positive note. This victory was a morale booster and demonstrated we might have a strong squad. Let’s not get things out of proportion though, the focus is qualification for the 2010 World Cup and more immediately the match against Ukraine at Wembley on April 1st. We have a warm up game against Slovakia on March 28th.

Perhaps I am being too fanciful but I sense something interesting happening. When Capello took over the team, it was akin to a strict schoolmaster coming in to a classroom with a bunch of spoilt, arrogant and underachieving kids. He laid down the law and questions were asked as to whether he was being too strict. Results speak volumes and the results are excellent.

In Fabio’s post match interview he said he had confidence in his players. There seemed to be an affection there. Is he beginning to really like his charges? Does he sense something special? They are performing for him and realise the regime is working. He has got their respect, he has the media, he has the fans, he has put the spring back in English football. He is educating us. Grazie Fabio.

 

“I couldn’t have asked for a better year as England manager,” Capello said. “To be better than this, I think it is impossible. We have played ten games and after every game I have said that the players have taken another step forward. Today I saw another step forward”.

England Team: James, Johnson, Terry, Upson, Bridge, Wright- Phillips, Carrick, Barry, Downing, Defoe, Agbonlahor.

Subs: Bent for Defoe (45), Carson for James (45), Young for Agbonlahor (77), Crouch for Wright Phillips (90).

England goal scorers Upson (24), Terry (84).

It gets worse

Theo dislocated his shoulder in a freak collision with Scott Parker in training at the Olympic stadium last night. He will be out for about 2 months. Mark Lawrenson suggested on the radio this morning that a training camp would be more sensible than playing a friendly. I think there is a great deal of sense to this. Friendlies may be useful in the close season in the years there is not a major international tournament, but it is absolutely crazy to play a friendly international at this time of the season.

There seems in the media to be a sort of standoff between Fabio and the the Premiership managers. I think this is maybe going too far. Capello understands football and more than anybody understands managing a successful club and players. That the England medical staff can check on a player as with Gerrard makes sense. There is no need to try and make it into a standoff as the press seem to be suggesting. As mentioned before it is so obvious that there were going to be withdrawals and managers who were not overenthusiastic to release players. A competitive match is one thing, a friendly another. Let’s at least learn the lesson and avoid these pointless matches in the future.

Update

Revised England squad for friendly. Jimmy Bullard (Fulham) and Scott Parker (West Ham) in place of Gerrard and now Lampard.
Carson, Robinson, James, Bridge, Davies, Johnson, Terry, Lescott, Mancienne, Richards, Upson, Barry, Carrick, Downing, Bullard, Parker, Wright-Phillips, Young, Agbonlahor, Bent, Crouch, Defoe, Walcott.

Is it all worth it really!

Friendlies Again

On November 14th, I speculated over the Lampard Gerrard conundrum and optimistically thought that the forthcoming friendly against Germany might just go some way in sorting out the midfield. No such luck. The club v country debate has reared it’s head again as Steven Gerrard pulled out of the squad. Fabio wants to see for himself Gerrard’s injury and has ordered the player to meet up with the squad,  to be examined by the England medical staff independently.  

Here is the squad:

James (Portsmouth), Carson (West Brom), Hart (Manchester City), Johnson (Portsmouth), Upson (West Ham), Bridge, Terry, Mancienne (all Chelsea), Davies (Aston Villa), Lescott (Everton), Richards (Man C), Barry, A Young (both Aston Villa), Carrick (Man Utd), Lampard (Chelsea), Downing (Middlesbrough), Wright-Phillips (Man C), Bent (Spurs), Walcott (Arsenal), Agbonlahor (A Villa), Defoe, Crouch (both Portsmouth).

Here is the injury list:

Ashley Cole (Chelsea) Calf strain, Rio Ferdinand (Man U) Back strain, Joe Cole (Chelsea) Ankle injury, Steven Gerrard (Liverpool) Adductor, Wayne Rooney (Man U) Chest infection, Emile Heskey (Wigan) Groin strain, Joe Hart (Man City) foot injury.

Fabio says about the game, “Germany are always a strong team, and when they play at home even more so. Everyone has told me that it is not a friendly game against Germany, but I think this will be a friendly game. We will do some experiments and afterwards I will know better some different players.”

Are these friendlies basically a waste of time? In matches like this the club v country conflict is so predictable.

The squad itself is notable for the inclusion of Michael Mancienne. We have got to know Fabio’s thinking over the last few months and injury permitting it would seem the first choice picks are, Terry, Ferdinand, Ashley Cole, Theo, Joe Cole, Rooney and two from Gerrard, Lampard or Barry.  So eight positions injuries permitting seem to be settled.

Positions that are open are Goalkeeper, though David James is the best solution at the moment, right back, Wes Brown or Glen Johnson at the moment seem to be the choice, but the inclusion of Mancienne might give us a glimpse of the future. Gary Neville’s international career would seem to be over, and Micah Richards is playing in central defense for his club. Interestingly though Mancienne who was on loan to QPR last season played at right back, but at Wolves where he is currently on loan, has apparently been playing in central defence. It will be interesting to see what role he will play on Wednesday.  The other position but probably the most secure for the incumbent is Rooney’s strike partner where Emile Heskey has done brilliantly since his recall.

As Fabio say he will be able to experiment , see new players, but the whole exercise is not really cohesive and we really should on a UEFA/FIFA level reconsider the whole friendly question. At this time of the year as the Premiership gets into full stride, Champions league and UEFA cup ties still to be played and a punishing domestic Christmas schedule to come, it is hardly surprising that clubs are protective over their prize assets. The match against Germany is little more than an exhibition and the bad feeling that is being generated due to availability, just makes the whole thing a rather dubious exercise.

World Ranking

On July 3rd we noted in this blog the new world rankings and England’s position then was 15th. Since then we have moved up to 10th after the latest rankings of Nov 12th.

http://www.fifa.com/worldfootball/ranking/news

/newsid=944646.html#england+back

Lampard Gerrard conundrum

Friendlies do not really mean that much as they are essentially non – competitive games and the amount of substitutions allowed, makes the game a little unrealistic. They do have their place in that a manager can get the squad together and try out some new ideas, club and injuries permitting. In the great scheme of things the result of a friendly does not really mean much. At best a small morale booster and at worst a bit of a waste of time and some sort of resulting moral crusade as when England played Spain in 2004.

Whilst not particularly interested in the forthcoming friendlies starting with the game against Germany next week, maybe these games can go some way in sorting out the England midfield.

Philosophers and scholars up and down the country have been debating the issue for some years now, can Lampard and Gerrard play together in the same midfield?  One argument suggests “yes they can” as they are two world class players who should be able to organise themselves effectively in the England central midfield. Others postulate a counter argument, suggesting that the pair are too similar in their approach to the game and consequently unbalance the midfield. Far more effective to drop one and play a traditional holding player instead. Both arguments have merit. Another element is the left sided position as England have not really had a natural left footed midfielder for some time now. The first choice midfield under Sven was from right to left, Beckham, Lampard, Gerrard, Joe Cole. It is fair to say that Joe Cole is probably the best choice for the left sided position, as he is able to attack and score, is skillful and able to run at defences. His natural right footedness is a disadvantage but he has settled into the position for his country and is rightly the number one choice at the moment. Sven, Mclaren and now Fabio seem to favour the Lampard / Gerrard partnership BUT until now Fabio has not had to make the choice with all the cards on the table in a competitive match.

For the first two World cup qualifiers, Gerrard was unavailable and so Barry, a natural holding player type of midfielder partnered Lampard and the results were effective.

In the next two qualifiers Joe Cole was unfit and an interesting and elegant on paper at least, solution was introduced against Kazakhstan, in the first half anyway. 4-3-3 was deployed with Gerrard on the left, Lampard on the right and Barry suppposedly linking to the pair who would support the attack. It did not work, Wright Phillips was put on in the second half to play on the left (even though he is as natural a right sided player you can find), Gerrard and Lampard in central midfield and Walcott to the right, reverting back to the familiar 4-4-2 formation. The result of 5-1 does not really reflect an afternoon of rather non fluent football, misplaced passes and lack of cohesiveness.

So to Belarus, and the need for 4-4-2 was recognised and Gerrard was deployed to the left of midfield (where he did a good job though is an unconvincing first choice for this position), with Lampard and Barry as the central midfield partnership, one with attacking responsibilities the other with defensive. Walcott on the right, later substituted in a straight swap for Wright Phillips still maintaining the formation.

So the question is with a fit Joe Cole as the natural first choice on the left, Theo or Wright Philips on the right, what will Fabio’s thinking be on central midfield? Will the Gerrard – Lampard partnership flourish in the way that it is envisioned on paper, or do we need Gerrard or Lampard and a holding player, and with the loss of Owen Hargreaves for the foreseeable future that must mean Gareth Barry. The England midfield problem has to be sorted effectively. Against top class opposition, the lack of fluency there is exposed. If Fabio can solve this problem and get the midfield ticking nicely then the England team may be one of the best yet. These friendlies should give us some incite hopefully into what the plan is.

A Happy Home?

 

On Saturday, 7 October, 2000, England lost to Germany 1-0 at the old Wembley stadium. The then manager Kevin Keegan left the pitch to a chorus of catcalls, he resigned as England manager later that evening. An ignominious end to the old Wembley, the so called iconic stadium of World football, where England’s greatest moment was achieved, and the name Wembley had historically become entwined with the very essence that is football during the 20^th Century.

Keegan’s resignation led the way for Sven to take charge of the England team. During his tenure England did not have a home ground as the new Wembley was undergoing it’s development. England’s home matches were played around the country at various grounds and with some success both on and off the pitch. People quite liked the fact that the England team was more accessible to the country rather than being based in London. After all in Italy, Spain, and Germany there is no dedicated stadium to the national team and the international matches are in one city and then another. Between 2001 and 2006 as the new Wembley project finally started after revisions to the final design and construction got underway, the England team travelled the country and qualified for all three major tournaments.

The new Wembley was ready in 2007 and the England team returned home. After a couple of victories in the Euro qualifiers the crunch match came when England took on Croatia. Due to fortunate results elsewhere in the group the match required England to achieve a draw to qualify for Euro 2008. The manager Steve Mclaren made confident noises that it had been a tough group and that this match was the crunch match that he had foreseen. That November night, turning on Sky Sports news the reporter stood under cover as the rain came down and a groundsman went about forking the pitch in an attempt to create drainage for the rain that was falling. The new Wembley does not have a retractable roof. The pitch itself still had the faded markings of an American football game that had been recently played at the new Wembley as an exhibition match. Prince William was present at the match and a full-scale jingoistic atmosphere was created to support the England team in this crunch game. There was also the now characteristic half time empty seat phenomenon that afflicts the new Wembley and which really is a disgraceful sight. The next morning Mclaren was sacked and we were all free to book our summer holidays without having to worry about 2008.

The game against Kazakhstan marked England’s first World Cup Qualifying game and Fabio’s first competitive game at the new home of English football. Fabio had made it clear that he was happy to start the qualifying campaign against Andorra and Croatia away from home, as this would take the pressure off the players. The fact is that the crowd at Wembley has become a hindrance to the team if things are not going well.

A crowd for an international game is a collection of football fans of differing club loyalties and consequently differing opinions on the effectiveness of the chosen players. When Ashley Cole made his mistake the crowd, who for the most part would not find Cole the most loveable of players, vented their frustration. A home crowd booing one of it’s own players, this is quite a statement. An England crowd however as mentioned is a collection of supporters from the many clubs that make up the English football league.

One of the wonderful things about attending club matches is the home crowd’s in jokes, banter and singing and the riposte with the away supporters which for the most part is taken in the tradition of the game. Sometimes the language uses very colourful metaphors and if easily offended a football match is probably not the place to go. Crowds display a good sense of humour and the clubs songs and chants are sung and the ability to react to situations with an appropriate chant on the spur of the moment is sometimes both clever and funny.

With an England crowd it is a different experience. There is no definitive England song or chant that can be sung other than Eng-er-land, and the songs that are sung include the national anthem and rule Britannia both of which seem a little incongruous at a football game. Added to this there is a band that have taken it upon themselves to play World War 2 movie themes and the “self preservation society” theme from the wonderful film “The Italian Job”. Well everybody should have their opinions on this and whether they enjoy the usual Wembley flavour or not. Whatever your opinion there certainly is not the wit and choice of chant appropriate to the situation that exists at a club game. We really do need a new song or chant that does not rely on World War 2 imagery or fervent nationalism.

The home crowd has to be supportive to the players during the game and get behind the team with a new chant that should send shivers down the spines. (Anfield is the probably the best example of this). We should also as a crowd approach games with humility and a sense of humour. The new Wembley is not the best stadium in the World, and is perhaps a testimony to the times and the culture that we live in England. The half time empty seat phenomenon at the start of the second half should be sorted out. Most importantly of all the new Wembley should become a fortress for the England team, that know that during the game the crowd will support them and be as much a representative of the nation as the players are. We have to make the new Wembley a happy home and one that the team thrives in the atmosphere. Our next competitive match is not until April 1^st 2009, Spring will have arrived and hopefully the new sense of optimism, purpose and attitude will begin to bud as befits that time of the year. We need a happy home.