Slovakia v. England

[Steve]

Surprised some of you lot have not posted your analysis of the match. Obviously the state of the pitch was a huge problem. There are probably pitches in the Nationwide league from some small country club with no money that have better grounds that this place. I know it rained but really!

 

I think England had a problem getting its footing early on. Many players were slipping and falling unable to get a sure footing. The Slovakian side seemed more used to it.

Gerrard and Butts didn't play too well IMO. Surprisingly I thought it was Cole who was the one that was at fault for Slovakia's first score. He should have challenged the header. Perhaps he was out of position and didn't want to get a penalty. He also made an error that almost resulted in a possible 2nd goal.

 

On a dry pitch I felt England would have scored 3 or 4 goals. Owen couldn't get any good runs and I think he is much too fast for the Slovakian defenders. They would not have been able to handle his pace. Heskey played particularly well, which surprised me. I am not a big fan of his for your national team and think you can do better than him.

 

What was the deal with bringing Leeds striker Alan Smith on with seconds remaining? He was the only one that could claim to have been on the pitch without a spot of mud or dirt on his person.

 

All in all, not bad, a result is a result. Especially away. The obvious teams to watch are France and Germany but due to their world cup performance I think Turkey has to be considered greatly. What do you guys think?

 

 

[bibblies]

Don't think you're going to get many replies Steve. It's one of those understood 'not much to say about it' situations for Englishmen. The pitch was the worst I've ever seen for an international - it looked similar to pitches I used to play on as a kid, let alone the Nationwide league. Apart from that, the defence sat back too deep and we didn't play with real confidence, as always. If the England players had the self-belief of the Germans, we'd have won the last World Cup.

[Guest]

The sad fact is that at international level we have been left behind. We do not have the basic skills, ball control or individuality of the foreigners. Beggars belief how we worship these `superstars' when it is clear for all to see that the players on the continent are years ahead in terms of ability.

We play at a pedestrian pace in a robust manner and have adopted a `hit and hope' strategy. We have become the dullest international side in Europe.

Have to admit that the tiny countries of Macedonia and Slovikia outpassed and outplayed us for long periods of play.

Players on the continent are comfortable with the ball on either foot. English millionaire internationals are one-footed with no flair.

It's a shame really cos the English are passionate about their football and deserve much better.

 

[bibblies]

I don't agree - I think it's just a lack of confidence. The same English players shine in the Premiership against the same foreign players. For some reason they become inhibited when they play for England. They're afraid to make mistakes and so don't play with their normal pace and flair.

 

I've heard it asked before by foreigners similarly mystified: "Why don't England play like they do in the Premiership? Why do they slow down?". I suspect that they listen too closely to the doom-mongers who'd have us believe that every continental side is innately superior. They should just go out there with self-belief and blitz the opposition.

[bibblies]

This from a piece in The Times about Paul Merson:

 

"Merson is a football fan. Games are always bubbling away on the television at his St Albans home and he is an expert on players.

 

Wigan?s Andy Liddell is a favourite. England, he says, would be world beaters if they played at a Premiership tempo. ?We say let?s be like the Europeans, but we can?t keep the ball for 50 passes. Give Macedonia time and space and they can play, but nobody could cope if we were closing down and getting in faces like we do every Saturday.?

 

I agree. Why don't we do it?

 

[sayjann]

merse is doing the business at the moment for pompey.

 

problem is(i think) is that Sven has always played 4-4-2 with all his teams over the years.

no matter what the other team's tactics are,he will not change to suit the circumstances.

 

i don't think he knows his best team,unlike premiership managers.

most weeks managers from utd,arse,pool play the same 6-8 players with a bit of tinkering to suit the occasion.

 

but Sven likes to cap a new player each game and with all the substitutions each game,things get disrupted,no continuation of the team.

i may be wrong,but i think i saw somewhere he had capped 30-40 players in his tenure.

 

i see the latest player he has mentioned is Rooney from Everton.

Rooney is 17,started all(most) of his games from the bench and scored the winner against the arse.

 

now he is touted as the next big white hope,and talks of him starting in some of the qualifying games for Euro 2004.

he must be desparate to think with an untried,inexperienced player for the big games.

 

i want my country to do well,but at the moment things are not well.

 

[bibblies]

I think we've got the players but that Sven's simply overrated. Look at the way that Arsene Wenger, say, brings the best out of his English players, encouraging even Tony Adams to spray passes around with the outside of his foot. Yet Rio Ferdinand who, if given a free rein, could revolutionise the way English defenders play, said rather flatly "Sven likes his defenders to defend". How depressing.

 

Sven's given a relatively easy time because of his 'foreign-ness', which media types take to be mysteriously on a higher plain, not to be criticised like our own. The same media types encourage us to play a 'European way', which means that we slow down our natural game and instead plod around without aim, trying not to attack. Did you see how Nedved horribly missed a simple open goal in the Newcastle game when Harper miskicked straight to him? If that had been an English player, they'd have been wailing about our lack of technique..

[Steve]

The EPL is widely accepted as the fastest, most physical 'liga' in Europe if not the world. The Brits are used to that type of game but do the opposite in International competition. That has always confused me.

 

Just my 2 satang but a more aggressive attacking style just to see how it works wouldn't be too bad for once.

 

I notice Sven is given demigod status in the media. Rarely criticised personally but the players are in the press.

 

The talent is there. Owen, Becks, Gerrard, Scholes, Cole, Butts, on and on. A change in style is needed. More EPL and less bunker down everybody behind the ball except for Owen.

[check_bin_krap]

England has always been overrated by the English press and supporters. They have 1 world cup to brag about, and that was on home ground. They have been failures both in EC and WC. Different styles have been tried, turnip Taylor, Wilkinson and the more continental style supporters Veneables and Hoddle.

 

Its difficult to drag the qulity of EPL into the pic. Apart from all the foreigners playing there its also players from Wales, Scotland, Ireland and NI. But the English clubs have not been doing well in Europe for some time either. Apart from the 1 time Man.U. won CL there is not much to shout about there either.

 

When the next major championship is due, we will see the same expectations from the media "we will win it, Beckham bla bla." Some things never change!

 

Cheers!

[bibblies]

Not sure about that. Objectively, they were unlucky to go out of both the 1990 and 1998, having outplayed Germany and Argentina, respectively. English clubs have been doing fine in Europe over the last few years - certainly as well as any other nation - and look to be getting better and better.

 

The central issues haven't been addressed:

1. Why don't England play the same speedy game that they play in the Premiership?

2. Why do the same English players that outclass the likes of Nemeth, etc, then sucumb to their foreign counterparts so meekly when they play for England?

3. Why do other countries with worse players (and yes, they ARE worse,) do better? I.e. Denmark winning the 1992 EC.

 

I've a feeling that it's a lack of confidence and I'd bring in quotes from people like Jurgen Kilnsman to support me: "We felt that they never really believed they could win it". I think that's because they actually listen to the media and people like you! (I don't agree with your analysis of the media either. The English media is very negative on the whole.)