@cabbies. I think we should stop trying to play like Spain or Italy or Germany or whoever is the flavour of the month and play like a British team. I was being flippant about Carroll and Shawcross, but we do need to play the way English players are used to playing and in a system they are comfortable with, instead of chopping and changing. Leicester showed the way last season.
On the wider issues, the premier league academies are producing players who have natural footballing ability, but can only play in a certain way and cannot adapt or think for themselves, let alone gell as a team. I watched the England U19s play a couple of matches in the current tournament, in which they looked like a collection of individuals with no real tactical nous or team play. Identikit players who lack footballing intelligence and are more concerned with their own performance or how they look, than anything else.
A big bug-bear of mine at present is meaningless possession, not only with England, but at all levels. There is a tendency these days to pass the ball backwards when gaining possession and then pass it around the back before thinking about passing it forward. Midfielders pass the responsibility of making a forward pass to defenders, who have less ability on the ball. Possession for possession sake. I will be interested to see if Allardyce preaches getting it forward into the last third early and putting the opposition under early pressure, as his team's have done in domestic football.
Absolutely spot-on with so many points there mate.
We keep trying to copy other nations, and have consequently lost all of our footballing indentity.
Sam will also cut out all this posession based football, which everybody seems to have become obsessed about. I have heard so many 'experts' during the Euro's claim some kind of victory as England dominated posession of the ball! As all on here will be aware, the only currency in football that counts is goals.
England had 68% of the ball against Iceland, and yet who looked more like scoring?
Could any of those England players tell you in less than a minute what our basic strategy was in the Euro's? No they couldn't, because there patently wasn't one in place!
I think tactics are generally written off in English football as not being as important as the pace and power. Amount of praise i see Kyle Walker get, personally baffles me, I think he is a liability who should be getting defending right first before bombing down the line.
But get the tactics right, aswell as a team involving players disciplined and smart enough to understand, then you can be a better team twice over.
Big Sam tactically is spot on and can do so with different levels of footballers. Very interested to see how he does.
I think Walker and Rose are decent players who allow you not to need wingers, but you do need an extra man at the back as they are not the best defensively!. Sometimes it isn't the players but the system which accommodates them!
The problem that I had with Walker and Rose, was that although there was plenty of running up the wing, I am struggling to recall too many quality balls that went into the box.
Secondly even if we had got good balls into the box, we only had one bloke in there to get on the end of them (Harry Kane), and even he isn't really a six yard box player.
The whole system and 'strategy' was floored from the start!
I think tactics are generally written off in English football as not being as important as the pace and power. Amount of praise i see Kyle Walker get, personally baffles me, I think he is a liability who should be getting defending right first before bombing down the line.
But get the tactics right, aswell as a team involving players disciplined and smart enough to understand, then you can be a better team twice over.
Big Sam tactically is spot on and can do so with different levels of footballers. Very interested to see how he does.
Problem with the defending side of full backs is most of them are failed wingers but have great pace and clubs want that to defend against good wingers with pace.
I think tactics are generally written off in English football as not being as important as the pace and power. Amount of praise i see Kyle Walker get, personally baffles me, I think he is a liability who should be getting defending right first before bombing down the line.
But get the tactics right, aswell as a team involving players disciplined and smart enough to understand, then you can be a better team twice over.
Big Sam tactically is spot on and can do so with different levels of footballers. Very interested to see how he does.
Problem with the defending side of full backs is most of them are failed wingers but have great pace and clubs want that to defend against good wingers with pace.
Most full backs game isn't defending.
It didn't seem to be the case just a few years ago.
The future could have Gomez, Stones,and ? as a back 3. With two wing backs who can attack and defend ; Shaw and ? Dyer as the holding/defensive midfielder in front.
3-5-2 without being rigid as the wing backs can operate in any part of the field depending on the state of play.
The main problem would be to find another ball playing defender to play along side Stones and Gomez so the wing backs can unleash their attacking prowess.
This could still have a fast tempo, to unlock the oppositions defense. plus a calmness on the ball which has disappeared from England once we reach Tournament football.
The Unknown is how will Big Sam adapt to having a squad of Footballers on a higher Level ( in theory ) to the Journey man type of players he is used to. The skills of Jay-Jay Okocha, Youri Djorkaeff and the prowess of Jemaine Defoe in the Box didn't suffer under Allardyce, so let's see if he can motivate and correct the mindset of young Talented footballers who leave their A game back at their clubs.
The Iceland Game was a new Nadir. The only way is UP. Fingers crossed.
Why is Stones constantly mentioned as our saviour at CB for the years to comes he's woeful, have any of you actually watched him.
His form after he was linked with Chelsea suffered, plus he played in a defense at Everton where both full backs attacked at the same time in a 4-4-2 leaving him Exposed. Anyone who saw the Mistakes that Rio Ferdinand made at West Ham in his early days ( against CAFC at the Valley when he tackled with wrong leg, resulting in a pen)) will understand that Stones still have a lot to learn.
Both the Giants in Spain as well as any of our top 6 clubs would buy him.
listened to his interview on the bbc, like what I heard, particularly about considering more psychological support. cause clearly that useless bunch, that call themselves England footballers, bloody need it.
Great stat. Everyone outside SE7 massively underrates Curbs as a manager. He's seen as a byword for boring solidity but he had both us and West Ham in the top four before having the rug pulled out from undeneath him. His record stands up better to scrutiny than many more fashionable managers'. If I was a Premier League chairman of anyone other than the big 5 or 6 I wouldn't have anyone higher up my shortlist for manager than Curbs.
Comments
We keep trying to copy other nations, and have consequently lost all of our footballing indentity.
Sam will also cut out all this posession based football, which everybody seems to have become obsessed about. I have heard so many 'experts' during the Euro's claim some kind of victory as England dominated posession of the ball! As all on here will be aware, the only currency in football that counts is goals.
England had 68% of the ball against Iceland, and yet who looked more like scoring?
Could any of those England players tell you in less than a minute what our basic strategy was in the Euro's? No they couldn't, because there patently wasn't one in place!
But get the tactics right, aswell as a team involving players disciplined and smart enough to understand, then you can be a better team twice over.
Big Sam tactically is spot on and can do so with different levels of footballers. Very interested to see how he does.
Secondly even if we had got good balls into the box, we only had one bloke in there to get on the end of them (Harry Kane), and even he isn't really a six yard box player.
The whole system and 'strategy' was floored from the start!
Most full backs game isn't defending.
With two wing backs who can attack and defend ; Shaw and ?
Dyer as the holding/defensive midfielder in front.
3-5-2 without being rigid as the wing backs can operate in any part of the field depending on the state of play.
The main problem would be to find another ball playing defender to play along side Stones and Gomez so the wing backs can unleash their attacking prowess.
This could still have a fast tempo, to unlock the oppositions defense.
plus a calmness on the ball which has disappeared from England once we reach Tournament football.
The Unknown is how will Big Sam adapt to having a squad of Footballers on a higher Level ( in theory ) to the Journey man type of players he is used to.
The skills of Jay-Jay Okocha, Youri Djorkaeff and the prowess of Jemaine
Defoe in the Box didn't suffer under Allardyce, so let's see if he can motivate and correct the mindset of young Talented footballers who leave their A game back at their clubs.
The Iceland Game was a new Nadir.
The only way is UP. Fingers crossed.
Anyone who saw the Mistakes that Rio Ferdinand made at West Ham in his early days ( against CAFC at the Valley when he tackled with wrong leg, resulting in a pen)) will understand that Stones still have a lot to learn.
Both the Giants in Spain as well as any of our top 6 clubs would buy him.
Don't judge him on Last season.
Stones has gone backwards. Can't get my head around the reported value of £50m either.
His own making though
I think in hindsight he should've taken the Wolves job...
Edit: just saw their win ratios, 42% and 33.6% respectively. What can I say? *sigh*