Analysis - England Vs Sweden
By Turftalker
June 21 2006
The Longside's very own Turftalker returns to give his views on last night's England Vs Sweden match. Your comments - praise and criticism welcome as always!
Well, well, well - I thought I would be able to sun myself this summer without digging out the Alan Hansen eyebrows for another round of match analysis! But with England stuttering, the world all watching and half of the Longside messageboard already surrendering - I felt it was time to give you my views.
England 2 - 2 Sweden
Player Ratings:
Robinson - 6.5 - A superb block when the Swede's were pounding us via corners, but tends to have Jensen moments of indecision on crosses and is failing to dominate his box.
Carragher - 6 - Solid defender who always looks more comfortable in the centre of any defence. Was utilised more in this match as Sweden went for the aerial threat.
Terry - 6.5 - Another solid start from Terry, but was guilty of some surprising gaps in concentration. Most painfully seen in his impression of Wayne Thomas for the second goal - he jumps, its mistimed and misses!
Ferdinand - 6.5 - Played well until injured, making some key blocks and moving the ball out of defence more often.
A. Cole - 6 - To say he has not played for most of the season his fitness is remarkably good. But still failing to link and support his namesake effectively.
Beckham - 6 - Another average performance from the skipper. The odd "Hollywood" ball but neither corners or freekicks seem to have that special edge. You just dont have the impression he is going to score via that route. Indeed it has been three years in an England shirt since the skipper scored direct from a freekick.
Lampard - 6.5 - Another game of effort for Frank, without a just result. He is regularly peppering the goal with long shots and looked more lively, but needs a goal for his confidence and for my fantasy football team!
Hargreaves - 7 - Much maligned player, I criticised his call up for the squad. But few could argue with this performance that was high on commitment, tackles and energy.
J Cole - 8.5 - Superb performance from the left sided midfielder who is rapidly becoming England's strongest performer at these finals. Skilful, goal scorer who the Swede's admitted scare the living daylights out of them!
Rooney - 6.5 - Glimpses of brilliance, but the lad is clearly not fit. Little strop when taken off showed he has not lost that firey nature that makes his game some compelling to watch.
Crouch - 6.5 - Little reward for a hard working performance from the big man. Ended up coming deeper and deeper for the ball and this nullified his threat.
Gerrard - 7 - Cracking goal from the Liverpool Captain and a key goal line clearance. Did very little wrong.
Campbell - 6 - Stuggled to get in to the match and bar one outstanding block looked lost. Was all the place for the second goal and generally seemed devoid of postional sense.
Man of the Match:
It has to be Joe Cole. He has been the strongest England performer on each occasion so far and last night was no exception. He is running at defenders, putting in killer crosses (2nd goal), scoring wonder goals and generally working hard. If the rest of the team perform like he has we might just sneak that world cup Colin Waldron et al :-)
Analysis:
Now for my analysis of the match - your views as always are appreciated.
1: The defence was tested and thank goodness it was!
I always felt that England would perform better against a team that allowed us to play a little more. This was clearly the case in the first half and while the early loss of Owen did nothing for our rhythm, we passed and moved far more effectively. But on the flip side we had the chance to see how our defence would fair against a side that actually wanted to attack unlike Trindad & Tobago or Paraguay.
Things were not disastrous through open play, but the defending from set pieces was too reminiscent of Burnley to be comforting for England fans. Marking was weak, movement was slow and the goalkeeper lacked any form of control over his box. Sweden's second goal was a calamity of errors with John Terry caught in no man's land and Sol Campbell performing the Salsa instead of defending. It is a clear understatement to suggest that needs to be worked on in training - the defending, not the salsa that is!
However such a performance can prove to be useful for England. We have seen our weaknesses and can now at least try to solve them. I would much rather learn earlier on in the finals than later.
Finally I must admit I was disappointed by Carragher and Campbell. The former really does not have the distribution skills of our other defenders and this is proving problematic when he is playing at full back. He lacks any form of playing relationship with Beckham and this makes us a little blunt in an attacking capacity down the right. Campbell meanwhile struggled during his cameo performance. I accept that it can be hard to get in to a game - but his postional sense at times was woeful.
2: The Big Debate - Speed Vs Height
With Michael Owen's injury, Sven is left with a couple of clear questions. What formation does he use and who fits in to it being the most important.
In a perverse twist of fate the distressing injury to Owen may actually force Sven to change to a 4-5-1 formation - something I think will strengthen England's play. Naturally I would have liked Owen to play a part in this, but quite clearly this is now impossible.
England have to utilise both Gerrard and Lampard more effectively and presuming Beckham will not be dropped for Lennon and could not or will not play in the anchor role (something I believe he could do effectively) we need to decide who will go up top.
This is the speed vs height debate.
One option would be to go for Crouch. He can hold the ball up, cause problems on crosses and generally offer an alternative point of attack. But my concern is that we will retreat in to the long ball too easily if we are pressured and that we will alas not use Rooney. As such I would go for Rooney's speed, skill and penetration up front and use Crouch as a useful ruse with 20 minutes to go to really shake up opposition defences.
Some might argue that pace is more effective later on, if so put Walcott on. But I just do not think we can fail to use Rooney. Yes he might be more used to playing behind a striker in the holding role, but he can change his play effectively and a Rooney, Gerrard and Lampard attacking trio is pretty frightening!
3: The leadership deficit
The next thing I noticed yesterday was the seeming lack of leadership on the pitch. Beckham seems to be a popular Captain off the pitch, but when the going gets tough and Sweden equalised I failed to see any players motivating each other, shouting at each other and directing each other.
Of course this may have been happening off camera, but Beckham just does not seem the kind of person who will shout and cajole if times get tough. This does not mean he is not Captain material, but it does mean we need someone to take control on the pitch. Where is our Bryan Robson character now?
4: Mystery Man
Finally I could not finish without mentioning England's very own mystery man. The Danny Karbayssion of England - Theo Walcott.
Perhaps Sven decided that 2 minutes in was a little early for the youngster, but he seems a more like for like replacement for the injured Owen. If it did not work he could easily have put on Crouch (though I admit to some press barracking). I just feel frustrated that the manager is clearly unwilling to use one of the strikers he has brought. Why not bring Defoe or Bent if he lacks confidence in Walcott? Or bring 5 strikers and reduce our rather long list of midfielders. Sven may well believe that it is in midfield where we will win the World Cup - there I do not disagree, but it was clearly chancing it to only have 4 strikers - 2 unfit and 1 untested.
Predictions
Finally I predict that England will win their second round match against a tricky Ecuador side. Do not focus on their absymal defending yesterday to Germany, but on their inventive play in the previous two matches.
They will make it an exciting match and perhaps surprisingly I do not expect them to pile men behind the ball for 90 minutes like Trinidad & Tobago. I just do not think they have skills to do that - they are more attacking in mentality.
Having said this, if England pick the following team - they should win and perhaps by two clear goals.
Robinson
Neville (Carragher) Terry Ferdinand A.Cole
Hargreaves
Beckham A.Cole
Lampard Gerrard
Rooney
(In the end I went for what I think Sven will choose and felt Hargreaves deserved another game in the team. Therefore Beckham got the right wing berth)