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Putting things into perspective - In support of England

1. We were unlucky with injuries. If you look at Germanys and Spains squad they have all their stars included, unlike us, our midfield was almost depleted. The difference would have been huge if we had Jack Wilshire, Lampard and even Gareth Barry involved. We had other players in the squad, but because they were not that good, our starting 11 almost picked itself in every game. It might have helped our cause if Rooney was involved in the 1st 2 games aswell. You could argue that I am stating the obvious hence the low expectation going into the tournament, but the positives need to be recognised.

2. Limited Preparation. We went into Euro2012 with just a matter of weeks for the players to get used to the new manager, new team mates etc. In some ways that doesn't sound too bad and can motivate and create more drive, determination, but compared to other teams like Germany and Spain, they know what they are all about and have done for the last 4 years! We had to identify our playing style in a rushed period.

Our back 5 were fantastic given the pressure we had in the 4 games and we could all see that.

Hodgson plays 4-4-2 and IMO its niave to think that, anticipating being the more defensive side, we could play that formation against a big team like Italy. Our Midfield just looked isolated for 100 mins of the game and the more Italy kept the ball, the more tired we got and looked unlikely to get a goal ourselves.
Our defence was very resilient to all that came their way, especially in the later stages of the game highlighting John Terry as our best performer.
We didnt believe in ourselves enough when we got to penalties. We had reason for that as we was outplayed throughout the game and had nothing to hold on to for us to believe we are better than the Italians.
In some ways Italy were there for the taking because they failed to find the back of the net after having alot of chances. That is a very dissapointing outcome as we could have sneaked at least 1 goal via set piece or counter attack.

I might be saying the same old thing everyone else has said or thought of, but I feel like we gave it an honest go and as long as you know they gave it 100% effort wise, its hard to fault the actual players. Its a big learning curve really.

I support England more now than I have done in a while.

Hodgson is a good man and a manager.

Bit early to say it but....World Cup Qualification Brazil 2014! lets bounce back and show everyone what we are really made of! I think we will!




Comments

  • Nice article, lets see how it goes over the next two years.
  • Just have take issue with point one, David Villa is a huge, huge loss for Spain. But you're right on the whole.
  • You're right there. Think having Wilshire in the team would've changed our whole dynamic.
  • We finally have a manager that speaks sennse... and English!
    Completely agree with the back 5 they were awesome and IMO the best in the tournament, but then again I am massively bias...
  • Yeh to be fair to Spain they do not have Puyol either.
  • I thought this was going to be some awful thread about the fact that 'our troops' are dying for our country or people dying of cancer so football doesn't matter blah blah blah. So glad it wasn't, nice post.
  • I do agree with most points if they are a little too simplistic. Firstly our defence, yes it was good, at times very good but fantastic? I would say that those defences that make up each of the semi-finalists have been better than ours.

    yes the limited preparation had an impact both in terms of personnel and in the tactics employed, but for a couple of changes some people would have made it was probably the best squad Hodgson could have picked from and to have any chance of doing anything a well set up hard to beat formation/tactic was the best he could have played however that only gets you so far, only 1 match out of the 4 did England enjoy more possession than the opposition and even then that was only 52% against Sweden.

    I've said for a long time our current game is not set up to be successful at International level, you have to dominate the play for long periods and be patient in creating chances, in this country you can hear the collective groans as a pass is sent backwards when really we should be happy to retain possession, the very simple idea of if you have the ball your opponent will find it very difficult to score. Maybe Wilshere can be our Pirlo player who can dictate the game but it is far too early to say, other than that who do we have?

    I would like to agree that in a couple of years the team can improve but there is a distinct lack of quality coming through at the moment that I fear in a couple of years we will still be saying the same, Hodgson will probably be hounded out by the press because he has had 2 years to get it right and we are back to where we started. I have high hopes for the new England development centre and if we can change the mentality of coaching young players as others have said and at the same time encourage more people to take up coaching then maybe things will start to change, even if those things do happen it will take a lot longer than 2 years to make a difference.

    *Sits back and waits for the miserable/anti-English comments*
  • Charlton will be in the Prem by time England qualify for the World cup ;)
  • I agree with the OP.

    We played with two banks of four who were clearly told to not roam out of position. This minimised the amount of times our full backs and centre backs were isolated into one-on-one situations. It also meant we were unable to provide options to the man on the ball. It was a plan we largely knew had to be implemented if, as hoped, Roy would make the team better than the sum of their parts.

    The only way that system can work is if you steal a goal at a set play or counter. We nearly did against Italy, although we conceded far too many chances for such a defensive set up, they were largely half chances.

    The amount of negativity, while far less than 2010, still surprised me. I agree with the 'fantastic' description - to defend for that length of time took extraordinary patience and resilience.

    Had Rooney played like we hoped, or at least, with the desire of Andy Carroll, then perhaps we might have nicked a goal.

    Alas, that system comes unstuck against excellent movement, which is why Germany would have put us out of our misery in the next game.

    A shame, but not a surprise, therefore nowhere near as painful as years gone by.

  • Keep this post. You will be able to recycle it in four years time. Nothing much has really changed over the last twenty years. Lack of players technique and predictable and inflexible formations have been banged on about as long as I can remember and nothing much has changed. I am afraid, football in the UK needs a root and branch overhaul and that begins with the FA's. England's is probably the worst.
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  • I wonder, if England had won their penalty shoot-outs in 2004, 2006 and 2012, would they still be seen as such huge failures? Or would the fact that we'd got to a few recent semi-finals placate people?
  • I wonder, if England had won their penalty shoot-outs in 2004, 2006 and 2012, would they still be seen as such huge failures? Or would the fact that we'd got to a few recent semi-finals placate people?
    exactly and look who we are going out to every time its not like we are being eliminated by Greece or ireland we are being knocked out by the best teams and we are taking them all the way to penalties
  • Keep this post. You will be able to recycle it in four years time. Nothing much has really changed over the last twenty years. Lack of players technique and predictable and inflexible formations have been banged on about as long as I can remember and nothing much has changed. I am afraid, football in the UK needs a root and branch overhaul and that begins with the FA's. England's is probably the worst.
    Exactly,Cardinal.What Alan Shearer said at the beginning of the Spain Portugal game was right.Germany a few years ago did poorly at a major tournament so they decided to have a major overhaul of how they coached young players,the number of coaches required,the style of football etc.This is now bearing fruit and it would for us if we looked at how the successful nations did it and use it as a blueprint.There are some good points,the defence but the basics of football,ie passing the ball and keeping control of the ball are sadly lacking.And have been for a very long time.

  • Last night's Portugal/Spain game was not a classic, but I watched the slick one-touch passing from both sides and thought "we are miles away from that - not even close". It's a shame that with all that neither side could score.
  • I wouldn't disagree with a lot which has been said, but before we can change anything we need to change the mindset of the fans.

    If england started passing the ball around the back probing for openings, the majority of fans would be screaming 'get the ball forward'.

    You see it already, Parker and Gerrard pass the ball around the back and fans in the stands are shouting to get it forward, they panic do exactly that and lose possession.

    Until the rank and file of england fans accept the patient style of build up nothing can change.
  • All good comments and agree our back 5 were excellent and there are some positives to be taken especially the facts that we were not beaten in open play only on penalties and by one of the better teams in the world. I just think that we fall down not just because of technique but because we are alwys overrun in midfield by sticking to 4-4-2. You could plainly see that Gerrard and Parker struggled to contain the Italians and instead of getting forard and making chances were constantly chasing and defending. We have to play in a more modern manner and the return of Wiltshire should (but that's not a given seeing as he has had a year out) help.

    By the way if Rooney doesn't like playing up front on his own, given his contribution in the last 3 major championhips, then ditch him and play a forward who is able and willing to play this role. Enough of this ego driven nonsense as well.
  • I wouldn't disagree with a lot which has been said, but before we can change anything we need to change the mindset of the fans.

    If england started passing the ball around the back probing for openings, the majority of fans would be screaming 'get the ball forward'.

    You see it already, Parker and Gerrard pass the ball around the back and fans in the stands are shouting to get it forward, they panic do exactly that and lose possession.

    Until the rank and file of england fans accept the patient style of build up nothing can change.
    I think (finally) attitudes are starting to change, last night before the match the BBC lot said for the first time (well first time I've heard) that we aren't good enough and a complete overhaul needs to occur. Just a shame a lot of us have been saying it for a long time and now we are so far behind other countries I wonder whether we will ever be able to make up that lost time.
  • They aren't changing with your average supporter though, who is basically ignorant tbh. You hear it at the Valley and you hear it everywhere else when the ball is played backwards - especially if your team is behind.
  • I think that's nail on head. Our own fans and media will scupper any chance of playing decent football. Pass it backwards or square and the fans start booing. Drop Rooney the papers start a campaign to oust the manager. First game we lose playing patient football the headlines will be "Negative Hodgson must go!", etc. etc.

    :(
  • It's interesting that Spain had no hesitation in leaving their star striker on the bench.

    Compare and contrast with England.
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  • They drew 0-0, we drew 0-0. They missed one Pen, we missed two. So I would say we are about one penalty behind Spain...

  • They drew 0-0, we drew 0-0. They missed one Pen, we missed two. So I would say we are about one penalty behind Spain...
    Really ? No really ?

  • No, not really SHG, however the best team in the world were a kick away from being eliminated by a team that wasn't even supposed to make it out if their group, and conceded 4 goals to mighty Cyprus in qualifying. If we were Spain there would still be people on this forum saying we were a disgrace for only winning on penalties.
  • Our passing and ball retention isn't good enough -the fact that we have a good manager who compensated tactically doesn't mean we should continue to bury our heads in the sand.
  • We're better than the Germans - Italy couldn't score against us in 120 minutes!
  • That game, Germany vs Italy helps put things into perspective in a positive way for us. The Italians are really good too, to give them credit.
  • Our passing and ball retention isn't good enough -the fact that we have a good manager who compensated tactically doesn't mean we should continue to bury our heads in the sand.
    All I ever hear after every England defeat is this sort of thing, why aren't we this, why don't we that, every other country in the civilised world is so much better etc etc... Far from burying heads in sand all we seem to do is knock the national tem, this thread is a perfect example. Someone tries to put it in perspective, and it's hijacked by the " We are the worst team ever in the history of the world" brigade as usual.

    When England have had a good team that has deserved to win, but lost on penalties the same people tell us how we should be more efficient and that all the great play in the world does not win matches if you can't put the ball in the net...

  • Lots of different views here but I would still like us play with a strengthened midfield that would allow Gerrard to play more in the hole and give us a better chance to compete for the ball. As for Rooney I think we looked a worse team with him than without him. I have Italian colleagues who said openly that they were glad he played they think hes overrated
  • I think if you understand your weaknesses, it doesn't mean you are saying we are the worst, but you are saying, this is where we must improve. If you are satisfied that so many of our players can't pass the ball or retain possession, you are not helping the Country IMO. I want England to win things because I am proud of my country.
  • To the first point - both of the finalists have had a number of key injuries. Suggesting anything else is delusion. Every squad must be able to cope with injuries.
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