Post by theriverside on Jun 19, 2010 9:23:26 GMT 1
Jun 19, 2010 7:58:57 GMT 1 @drcrippen said:
The Doctor’s expert thoughts are as follows:The main factor in England’s dismal start to this World Cup has been caused by the mundane tempo. There is a lack of urgency, fluidity and energy to England’s play and the situation is exacerbated by ineffective, route-one football.
Gerrard is NOT a left-midfielder and by playing him there, Capello is marginalising England’s best player. As for Gareth Barry, what was all the hype about? I understand the idea of having left-sided balance in the midfield but his passing was woeful and he failed to make any sort of impact. It is laughable that Gerrard was pushed out onto the flank to accommodate him. A useful squad player and nothing more.
The Heskey situation is an interesting one. Personally, I feel that the Heskey and Rooney are the best strike partnership that this country has to offer. I simply do not rate any of the other forwards at Capello’s disposal – Crouch is an overrated beanpole with no aerial presence and Defoe is garbage at international level. Heskey has the power to disrupt defenders whereas the flimsy Peter Crouch is the proverbial bitch in the prison showers.
Carragher’s performance was also poor and John Terry seemed incapable of retaining the ball. His distribution was dreadful and there can be little doubt that he is one of the world’s most overrated players. He is also not the lion-hearted ‘Captain Marvel’ that the press make him out to be – where was his dogged determination last night? Comparisons with Terry Butcher are really wide of the mark.
As for *Lennon and Wright-Phillips, both are useless. All flair and no trousers. Did Wright-Phillips manage to deliver a single cross into the box last night? He had easily half a dozen chances and every single one was blocked for a corner. A dreadful player that has really gone off the boil since greedily leaving Man City for Chelsea several years ago. Send him home.
I also found the hype as to Capello’s goalkeeping choice to be laughable. We were playing Algeria and it was hardly a pressing issue. The issue detracted from England’s main failings – an inability to dominate and, above all, a lack of ideas.
My formation for the Slovenia game would be a 4-4-1-1. I like Heskey but his performance wasn't good enough and with that in mind:
-------- James -------
Johnson Terry Dawson Cole
J. Cole Lampard Barry Milner
------- Gerrard -------
------- Rooney -------
Crouch comments apart - good post.
There, I've said it
Would go with that XI as well, despite at least 5 of those needing to realise that they're not half as good as they think they are. Time for a TEAM performance.