France- England Internationl Friendly

Hallelujah to lo zio, gerd and Milanista for a bit of perspective!!

England fans are so fickle, it's ridiculous.
Yesterday for about 25 minutes, we played some of the best passing football for years and France could not get near us. We just lacked a little bit of creativity and spark in the last 3rd.

He was right to go 4-4-2 in the 2nd half, simply to test the formation... although it never worked and the 2nd half became predictable and boring.
One thing it did show me is that if we play a 4-4-2, we need a strike partner for Rooney and for me, only 1 person realistically in the country can play 4-4-2 as a strike partner to Rooney....

Step forward, Mr. Dean Ashton :)
 
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Abhishek said:
Did England play the 4-2-3-1?
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Yes mate, Capello style...

--------Hargreaves Barry

Beckham ----Gerrard ----Cole

------------Rooney

Went to 4-4-2 second half and it was shite... we need Ashton for that big time!
When fit, possibly the best all-round centre forward this country has.
 
steevio_uk said:
Yes mate, Capello style...

--------Hargreaves Barry

Beckham ----Gerrard ----Cole

------------Rooney

Went to 4-4-2 second half and it was shite... we need Ashton for that big time!
When fit, possibly the best all-round centre forward this country has.
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I really rate Ashton, but he's been plagued with injuries, and just hasn't been able to get into a groove.

Also, I don't see the point of playing Beckham on the right, if Rooney is the center forward, since Beckham is a very one dimensional player. Bentley would suit Rooney more, as he has so much more about his game, and is also a very intelligent player, like Rooney.

How did Stevie G perform? Did he seem bothered to play?
 
I thought Gerrard was poor. Beckham was great down his wing and I think there are better center forwards than him to make England work. Rooney is very talented but hes not the kind of player you send in loads of crosses to. Against Liverpool he showed how he's not a great striker but a great support striker. Why doesnt Crouch start? He is the saviour of humanity!
 
Beckham is doing good and for some strange reason he and gullit has Donavan playing good football for the US NT
 
Abhishek said:
I really rate Ashton, but he's been plagued with injuries, and just hasn't been able to get into a groove.
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Little bit of a misconception really.
He had an impact injury when Wright Phillips broke his ankle on England training, which has nothing to do with how injury prone a player is.
Basically he was out for an entire season with that, so apart from that he has spent about 6 weeks on the sidelines in about 14 months ;))

Most players suffer problems with fitness after such a bad injury and his main problem was that he put on so much weight and muscle, but the last 4-5 weeks he has really shaped up and is starting to look more and more like the Dean Ashton who we know is a great prospect.
Scored 2 in his last 2 and I look forward to him getting better and better... if he does, I'll be VERY surprised if he isn't in Capello's next England squad:))


I know it may not seem THAT much, but to a professional athlete and to his performance, it has been a massive difference.....

dean_ashton.jpg


sfgeve123.jpg
 
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Shame it was a boring match, but nevermind it's only a friendly. Thought we played well in spells, but the second half was a bit of a non event.

I've heard nothing but bad things about Beckham today but I thought he played well. On the radio they were laughing at him saying he was past it and a few people at work were saying similar. Usual media balls I suppose, don't actually watch the match.

Rio was excellent as well. I think playing Rooney as one of the three attacking midfielders would work well with a different player upfront.

I was suprised at how shockingly bad Owen was.
 
jumberto said:
I was suprised at how shockingly bad Owen was.
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Owen can't do shit without decent service.

Crouch held it up well, and would play in Downing who would then play in A. Cole to cross only for it to either go out for a goal kick or straight to the keeper. I lost count of how many times that happened.

Surely England has a better left back than Ashley Cole. I'd take Wayne Bridge over him, despite his shocker against Croatia.
 
lo zio said:
:anx:
the biggest problem of england national team..... are the fans...

i mean, this is a football forum... wich means that users should have a quite decent knowledge of the game (at least, considering the amount of matches u guys watch every year).......

did u really expect england to become a different team after 2 matches under capello????

do u really think u can express a fair judgement about capello's work after 2 matches? i mean, how many training\tactcal sessions did he hold so far? 7, 8, maybe 10? it's less than a 2 weeks job as a club coach! and u expect to see already any big changes?
honestly i have never been a big fan of capello, but still i (like everyone else who has watched football in the last 20 years)have to admit he's one of the greatests and most successful coaches of all times. saying "he's not the genius we thought he was" is very harsh. i mean, where have u been in the last 20 years????

did u really expect england to play good football after just 2 matches under capello?... against france??? in french territory??? i'd say that's pretty ridiculous, honestly :-k
it will take at least 1 year (probably 2 years) to really appreciate some changes in england national team's football, to judge capello's work.

Nowadays Lippi is praised like a god and considered a living legend.... but still his first 5 matches as italy's national team's coaches were pretty poor (he lost his first match against iceland!!!).

beside i already noticed some steps foward yesterday. i just watched the first half (because after the 1st half the italy match began) and i already saw a difference between yesterday's match and capello's first match. the team was well lined up, the distance between defence and midfield was perfect, the central midfielders covered their own midfield really well, keeping the right distance between each others and between them and the 2 cbs. the players also looked more cool than last time. they didn't look "scared" and under pressure like last time, and we didn't see those ridiculous mistakes in the passing game we saw last time against switzerland.
definitely they didn't look really dangerous, talking about the attacking phase, but afterall they were playing against france, in paris.... and besides it was just a friendly match.

so be patient, give a break to the team and the coach ;))
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Good post mate and I totally agree. My dad text me after the match moaning and I said "Look, it was a boring match but don't expect us to be playing free flowing, attacking football & winning 5-0! It takes time to develop a team.

France were average too in my opinion - apart from the penalty they did feck all. England kept the ball pretty well in my opinion.

I still hate internationl friendlies though. Yawn. :rant:
 
France defender William Gallas was impressed by England despite defeating Fabio Capello's side 1-0 at the Stade de France.

A 32nd minute Franck Ribery penalty condemned Capello to defeat in his second game in charge of England in Paris.


However, Gallas believes England are much-improved under the Italian, and are returning to their best after a humiliating Euro 2008 qualifying campaign.


"It was not easy to beat England," the he told Sky Sports News.



Compact


"They play very strong and they were very compact. For me, England are back."


France coach Raymond Domenech was pleased that his side overcame a 'top-class' team as part of their preparation for this summer's finals at Austria and Switzerland.


"I wanted a tough match against a top-class team and I got it," he said.


"The English showed some good things and it was more of a thinking man's game than a spectacular one.


"But we did what he had to and leave here on solid ground.



Imagination


"We could have had more imagination up front. Especially in the second half, we lost the ball a little too quickly and we were wasteful with our passing.


"The last pass we wanted to make did not go where we wanted."


Striker Nicolas Anelka echoed his manager's thoughts, adding: "England have big players and they are a big nation of football.


"I think we are ready to play in the Euro 2008 finals because we won today."

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,12016_3353442,00.html
 
Plan M said:
Good post mate and I totally agree. My dad text me after the match moaning and I said "Look, it was a boring match but don't expect us to be playing free flowing, attacking football & winning 5-0! It takes time to develop a team.
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thanks mate :))
anyway don't expect england to play fancy attacking football, with capello in charge. this just won't happen. If he will be able to give his imprint to the team, then u'll see a very balanced team, wich fills the spaces with a terrific accuracy.

capello is not a defensive coach a la trapattoni, so no man coverages, no intensive double markings.....
but definitely he's not a spalletti-like or a prandelli-like coach.
the key factors of his gameplan are an intensive pressing on the ball carrier (even when the ball is in the oppponent's midfield) and balance (he has a religious respect for balance).

so do not expect any kind of 5-0 victories..... but a lot of 1-0, 2-0 victories ;))
 
Was just thinking the same thing. It's just not Capello's style to advocate champagne football. But it also won't be constant hoofing either. Balance is the correct word. He likes to have perfect balance between attack and defense, and I feel this 4-2-3-1 formation allows him to have this. That's why it's also preferred by Rafa or Mourinho (though slightly modified), as it allows him to have tactical flexibility while still have clearly 4 attacking players.
 
--------------------Ashton
--------------------------Rooney
---Young
-------------------Scholes------------Gerrard

-------------------Carrick

--Cole ----Woodgate ---Ferdinand ----Richards

---------------------Green

Is a team I would love to see.

If Scholes is not willing to return from retirement. then bring in Joe Cole for Scholes in the centre.
Then have option to play Cole in centre or right and put Gerrard in central midfield. :))
 
And they lack synergy between the midfield and the attack. what were the players playing and on the bench for the france game?
 
England are spoilt for choice, they should be winning every game when Capello settles in.
 
In that case, I know what you mean. I think Michael Carrick is one of the few players capable of playing that role but he doesn't often get given a chance for England and when he does he doesn't play as well as he does for Manchester United.

Gareth Barry's good defensively but he's not quite right for that position I don't think. Obviously Gerrard is far more effective higher up the pitch and Hargreaves is more of a 'destroyer' so we're short of options for that role.
 
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