England at Euro 2012

[fish]

As per Bills suggestion here is my view on England at 2012


I went into with expectations low and from looking at the squad selected expecting us to be dull to watch and negative but I also expected Roy to have us compact and with a system.

I was impressed by the start of the France game but it was like a flashback to watching Ipswich under Roy Keane as soon as we scored we tried to shut up shop and failed

The next 2 games were very similar that we would have a good 15 minutes were we showed we can compete but then we would have a nightmare 30 minutes.

All in I think going out in the quarters having kept a clean sheet for 120 mins is over exceeding expectation and it was great to see some pride back and England actually playing to a system opposed to sticking 11 players on a pitch and saying play.

Looking at the squad we were woefully short of options in the centre of the park and the attacking/wide players didn't perform

Hart - "Best in the world" looked shaky at times but didn't make any costly mistakes

Johnson - I was impressed, he benefitted hugely from Milner and it is the best I have seen him overall

Terry and Lescott - caught out seveal times against Italy BUT they always recovered. Very good tournament for the pair

Cole - Nowhere near his best but still reasonable

Milner - The OTT criticism is ridiculous he was a very iporant player to the system, offered cover all over the park and gave Johnson the freedom. When he went off in the quaters we were exposed.

Gerrard - I don't buy the love in for him but he had a decent tournament

Parker - Superb Man of the match in a couple of the games and was absolutely immense until he went off in the quarters

Young - Went into it with so much hope but he steadil got worse and his confidence was shot to pieces by the end

Rooney - so so disappointing, massively off the pace and also lacking a bit of confidence

Carroll - Very impressed, top class header against the Swedes and play the role of 2 players when he cam on against Italy

Welbeck - Patchy at times but superb finish and a very impressive performance against the Italians

Walcott - How does this guy get a game still? Without the ball he is basically a spectator, he watches the game go by. WIth the ball he is clueless and the 1 in 20 times that his pace does pay off is not enough to justify the selections

Ox - Underused but it was a big ask from the young lad


Roy - Not many complaints as the squad was very short but in the quarters I would have taken Young off for the OX at HT and told Rooney he had 15 mins to make a difference before swapping him for Carroll.

Feel free to pick the bones out of that

[BUFF]

What an insightful post.
I thought Hart was very accomplished.
Terry was never exposed to pace coming at him, basically because we were on the backfoot all the time.
Lescott proved that he is well up to international class as defender, and had a very good tournament.
Johnson...best i have seem him play as a defender.
Cole......never had a chance to go forward but did well enough in defence.
Parker..........worked his socks off..the human block.
Gerrard.......Age is catching up with him, but played a captains role, and talked well at the press conferences.
Milner....might have worked hard and held his end up in the 4 4 2, but in my opinion totally one dimensional and complete lack of ability to actually create space by beating or moving off a player.
Young.................Would have struggled to make the Ireland team, was he on the wrong side of the pitch?
Rooney: Englands only threat against Italy.........did not play as badly as people say, but actually is not a natural striker, and really not that good anyway...Manboy no more...just man.
Welbeck: In my opinion totally out of his depth at this level...should have done much better with the chance v Italy. His goal v Italy had a bit of fortune about it.

Walcott............alright as an impact player...like Aaron lennon, only much better, but no real composure.
OX......Can't recall much of him
CARROLL................Works v hard, combative, but very very slow, and nowhere near as good a player as Crouch.

Roy: Great start as manager....lets face it, nobody beat us, and the defence did really well. There did seem to be a gameplan, and it is not his fault that the England players are so technically poor (except Hart) that our only hope is to soak up the pressure, and hope for a breakaway. If we tried to play the Europeans in a passing contest, we would have been anhilated. The FA made their 1st correct decision in years in giving him the job as manager.

England have actually invented a new game....Football without the Ball.

I don't know why we are so poor at actually playing the game....I think it is because any natural talent is coached out...I don't know. You never see lads playing unstructured, unsupervised football anymore, which is where you learn the real skills....Football is totally different from cricket, where the players have to hone their technique, without much room for improvisation.