|
|
 |
|
| | |
| | Spain 2 England 0 (Friendly 11th Feb 2009) | | | | Thursday, February 19, 2009 (12:24 PM) | | | Spain 2 England 0
England started by fielding a side that was without a forward known as having a good score record for England. We know what Heskey’s job is but there has to be a known scorer in an England shirt to play a team like Spain. We were certainly missing the presence of Joe Cole on the left. Rooney’s presence was also missing.
England made a couple of good attempts on goal, but good attempts don’t count. Goals count.
David James made a mistake as the ball bounced out of his grasp. All it was, was a mistake. A goal never came from that mistake so I don’t see all the fuss about it. He is still Englands number 1 keeper.
England had a problem most of the time getting into the Spaniards half and playing football. It seemed like when Beckham came on, he worked hard to get the ball forward with some good passes. Wright-Philips had an ok game. He had chances to test the goal keeper but his finish was lacking in this game.
Ferdinand was also missing at the back. Phil Jagielka probably wished his debut was not against Spain. His mistake gave Spain their first goal. At half time he was replaced by Matthew Upson.
In all fairness to the players who were only on for 45 minutes, sometimes players have a bad first half and a good second half. In these friendly’s those players who are on for 45 minutes have got to put their all into such a short space of time. Sometimes this can result into trying to hard.
There has to be some sort of organization when defending free kicks. Peter Crouch with his height should at least be in the middle defending and not out at the back of the pack. All these things need to be sorted out on the training ground. The second Spain goal came from a basic cross from a free kick which their forward headed in.
Johnson worked hard at right back and played ok. I would prefer to see Micah Richards in that position though. He has the hunger to want to score as well as defend.
Also it may be a good idea to put Aaron Lennon down the left wing if Joe Cole is not available. He has the ability to run at players, make space and score.
The question is, who do you put up front when Rooney is not available? Even though Michael Owen has had ups and down with his performances for England, I think he should be given another chance up there. We all know Owen is an attacking hungry goal scorer. But also, if England played the ball forward more then we could have got Agbonlahor running more and getting more chances to score. Carlton Cole did a good job getting around the Spanish keeper but unfortunately his shot was cleared away from goal. Hopefully we will get to see more of him in the future.
Even though England lost 2-0, if they put away the good chances they had they could have beaten Spain. The chances have to go in. Once England can get back to scoring in these types of games then we can make it to number 1 in the world. Don’t forget we thrashed Greece 4-0 not long after they won the European Cup.
Overall I don’t think it bothered Cappello much. It was good to see in a friendly what England could do against world number 1 Spain. Now England knows they can work on their game plan for the next time they meet Spain.
We are still on course to qualify for 2010. Those are the games that really matter. Lets get behind the team and give them our support for the qualifiers.
COME ON SUPER ENGLAND!!!!
| | | 32 Views | 0  Thumbs Up | 0 Comments |  |
|
|
| | Germany 1 England 2 (Friendly 19th Nov 2008) | | | Wednesday, November 19, 2008 (5:21 PM)
(I'm feeling accomplished) | | | This has to be one of the most comfortable England games I have watched in a while. I have wanted for a long time to see a whole set of new faces in the England line up in a friendly just to see what kind of impact it would have. What was produced was a team of hungry players playing their best in bad conditions to make the manager take notice of them.
In the 1st half England were confident, disciplined and outplayed a German side who are ranked number 2 in the Fifa world rankings. England’s passing was good, defending was good and their commitment was great as they produced a spirit of unity as a team. The big names were absent such as Gerrard, Lampard, Rooney, Ferdinand, Ashley Cole, Joe Cole, Beckham, Walcott and Heskey. Their absence may have done serious damage to some of their instant first team places.
This was a match where I found it really hard to give one person man of the match. The players seemed comfortable and in control. Germany had a hard time keeping the ball and attacking England. England snuffed out almost every German attempt, while England gave Germany pressure and eventually scored the opening goal through Upson.
The second half was a slightly different story. I could not believe Scott Carson was put on in the second half in goal. He may be a good keeper for his club but he “does his pants” when he plays for England. Germany must not have seen Carson’s previous game for England when he let in a howler. If Germany were awake and knew, I am sure they would have shot from distance just to see if Carson was going to crack again.
Germany’s goal came because of a mix up between Carson and Terry. Even though Terry took the blame it was clearly Carson’s fault. He either should have stayed in his goal or told Terry to clear it. You don’t come to collect then stop and not tell Terry to whack it up in the stands. Instead the German forward tapped the ball between Carson’s legs then guided the ball home. Germany did not deserve a goal in this game as they were out played by England. Carson loses his bottle in these types of games. He is a good club keeper but may not be an England keeper. I hope Cappello has learnt a new lesson. I wish Carson well in his career. If he does put on an England shirt again Super England will support him as he is one of the team.
Fortunately Terry scored to make it 2 – 1 near the end.
Also in the match Darren Bent went around the keeper and missed an open goal but he slipped on the slippery pitch as he kicked the ball. It was unlucky for him as he done all the hard work to get around the keeper. SWP hit the post with a good shot. It was also unlucky for him considering he got better and better as the game went on.
Who should have won man of the match? The team played so well together that I would have to say the whole team won “men of the match.” It was a really good performance. David James was a strong confident keeper when he was on in the first half. The back 4 done a great job. Johnson, Terry, Upson and Bridge were quality. In this game I have to give a lot of credit to Downing. He looked more comfortable in this game and contributed well. Carrick and Barry were simply excellent. I don’t remember if either of them made a bad mistake. SWP battled away and contributed to the team and gave Germany work to do. Agbonlahor and Defoe done enough to unsettle the German back 4 at certain parts in the game. I really wanted Defoe to score in this type of game to show he can score against the big teams too. I still believe Crouch should get the pick over Defoe. Hopefully Crouch will get long enough on the pitch to prove my point that he is a goal scorer that should get to play more. I would also like to see Lennon play down the wing in the next England friendly. He is a problem for the opposition to deal with.
Overall… very happy with England’s performance as they get another win over Germany.
Well done Cappello. Well done England.
Roll on the next match.
COME ON SUPER ENGLAND!!!
| | | | 59 Views | 0 Thumbs Up | 0 Comments | |
|
|
| | |
| |
|
|
|
