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Joe Hart’s save: Not all that
God knows I’ll sound like a curmudgeon for saying this, but was the Joe Hart save really that good? The ball had to travel a reasonable distance between the player’s head and the goal so Hart had enough time to react. I would say he reacted rather slowly meaning that when he did reach the ball it was almost over the line – and that was what made the save look spectacular. I know we all like a redemption story – and I have nothing against Hart per se – but I think everyone’s getting slightly carried away.
Matt Pitt
I’m not tactics expert but…WHY ARE YOU DO DEEP?
Now I have to admit I don’t have any UEFA coaching licenses but watching England last night it seemed blatantly obvious why we don’t create chances.
At one point we had SIX players closer to Hart than any opposition players. SIX!! __with Dier and Henderson dropping square of Cahill/Stones to receive the ball is it surprising there isn’t an option to play the ball forward? Am I missing something? Stones is meant to be a ball-playing CB and surely Cahill can make a 10-15 yard pass in between the Slovenian forwards to allow our midfield to play against theirs? All it meant was our forward players dropped deeper and deeper to make options, always __with their backs to goal. It doesn’t help that we struggle with keeping the ball in tight areas yet our first touch is always to take the ball backwards to an empty area rather than on the half-turn.
Again the lack of movement hindered us. As limited as Lingard is, at least he moved across the line trying to find space. How are we meant to get the ball facing their goal when we are so easy to mark? Although Rashford didn’t do a great deal when he came on at least he ran the channels and stretched their defence. And hey presto, a bit of space opened up across the pitch. Sturridge did a Rooney audition of dropping too deep and offering limited threat to their defence although partly down to my first point.
Until we start pushing the midfield on and getting some movement throughout the team then turgid football is all that’s going to be served up.
Depressing.
Somerset Dave (Limited tactician)
England need a big man
Pretty poor from England last night; I can’t see how anyone would disagree with that. However, it’s not the end of the world. Teams drop points in qualifying, only it very rarely happens with England, doesn’t it? So let’s be thankful for that at least.
For those that haven’t noticed, there are probably ten teams in world football that will come out and try to attack England with any sort of regularity during a match. None of those teams are in our group, so get used to teams packing the defence, and trying their luck at set-pieces and the odd counter-attack.
There were two worrying aspects to the performance last night. In defence, we looked vulnerable at set-pieces, and individual errors meant we were lucky to escape with a draw. It’s exactly what plagued the team in the summer, and the lack of progress is a concern.
Going forward, the biggest issue was the apparent total lack of end product. The root cause of this however, was the poor movement from the team as a whole. Henderson didn’t play well, but to his credit he constantly looked to give the man in possession an option. I lost count of the number of times he looked to play forwards and had to play a short sideways or backwards pass instead. Walcott appeared to stand on the toes of his marker, Lingard’s movement was better, but he lacked the quality to turn it into something else, and Sturrdige had one of those games where he’s everywhere but where you want him. Alli struggled to find space in a packed midfield, and was snuffed out of the game.
All of this looks much like it did in the summer. The issue I have with this is the absence of Plan B. England aren’t blessed with players who can open up a tightly packed defence. At least not with any regularity, which means it’s easy to defend against if we’re not at the races. I hate to say it, but the option of a big guy coming off the bench to offer something different would at least cause the opposition to think. All we’d need to do then is train Townsend not to float crosses into the goalie’s arms.
That said, I thought Slovenia defended really well all throughout the team. They pressed well, knowing the pitch was tricky, and they’re no mugs. Expect them to be in the mix by the time the group finishes.
Andy, London
Do we need two strikers?
Why can’t England take a step back and be simple, play a 4-4-2, instead of this 4-5-1; 4-3-2-1 nonsense. At least with two strikers to aim for in the box they’ll have a better chance of actually getting their crosses on to someone. England don’t have players that are good enough to dribble and cut inside (or cross it seems and score). If they play basic football, get their passing and crossing sorted and eventually they’ll score goals. The English team is not great either we all know that. English players are surrounded by foreign players that make them look good, but if they stick to the basics they will score goals and defenders should not be playing with the ball in their own half.
The team play with no imagination so keep it simple.
Jay (why have a team with four strikers and play one?)
Worried about Rooney
It’s been a long time since it was clear Rooney is not good enough for United or England. A very good player, yes. But an elite player, no.
But the hyperbole has to stop. he is human. His skin can only be so thick. Half the vitriol directed to Rooney has seen other people walk away from life, never mind football.
Blame the idiot who gave him a 300K a week contract and the others who felt he was undroppable because of that contract. I genuinely worry about the mental health of the man.
Jay (Man united since 1979) now living in Melbourne
Welcome back, Phil
Sound the trumpets! Peal the bells! Give away a commemorative Gareth Southgate blazer to every schoolchild in the land!
Amid managerial crises, countless defensive lapses of judgement and the fear that perhaps Rooney was the Poundland PVA glue holding the whole team together, at least one thing is back to being a rock of stability.
I read the England Ladder with increasing fear and gnashing of teeth and was just about to let out a wail of despair when I scrolled down…
50: Phil Neville
Justice is done! Welcome back Phil, you glorious old soldier.
Greg Tinker (He wouldn’t have made any of those errors last night, no sirree), MUFC
…Whilst it does warm the cockles to see Phil back where he belongs at number 50 of the World Cup ladder, given the dearth of centre-halves at the moment I was half wondering if that coveted spot would go to Gareth Southgate himself.
Bobby Gould subbed himself on for Wales in a friendly, after all (and I’m not sure he was even eligible to play for them.)
Terry Hall, Switzerland (for those wondering, aged 50, against Cwmbran, and he scored from a Giggs cross)
Why not go abroad, Englanders?
Have to agree wholeheartedly with Terry Hall.
Why don’t more England players go out on loan if they are finding first-team football hard to come by?
I would loved to have seen Wilshere move to one of up and coming teams in Spain or Italy but instead he chose Bournemouth. Equally could Rooney go and play in Turkey or the Netherlands for a few months?
I appreciate moving to another country is not for everyone but for every Ian ‘It was like a foreign country’ Rush, there’s a David Platt, who played at three different Italian clubs, or a Lineker who not only played in Spain but learned the language.
Graham
The best worst goals
If anyone can remember through the haze of last night’s excitement, there was some talk of both “best worst goals” and “best goalmouth scramble” over the last few mailboxes.
Unless I missed it, no-one mentioned Pippo Inzaghi. Which is odd, because you can watch almost half an hour of mis-kicks, toepokes, scuffs and deflections bobble beyond bemused goalkeepers from some of the world’s best teams (and Inter Milan).
My dad once said that with the talent in midfield at Man Utd, they could afford to put him, and my 10-year-old self up front, and still give us enough six-yard open goals every season to mount a title challenge.
So come and marvel as Pirlo, Seedorf, Kaka, Ambrosini, Ronaldinho and others prove him right. Particular highlights include the three Pirlo free-kicks that go in off his shins, chest and, gloriously, face, all followed by that infectious combination of Shearer and Tardelli with which he greeted every successful strike.
Forget a child and a middle-aged smoker, a brick on a stick could have been as effective with that service. But bloody hell was it fun to watch.
Robin, South Wales
(Sheva’s got a pretty good shout with the first one of these, too.)
An international edition please
I know all the talk is about England now but I just wanted to say that I really enjoyed the worst ever goals feature. May I suggest an International version as a follow up? I can’t help but feel that David Nugent is getting off very lightly otherwise.
Phil T
Love for Maldini
What a player. My brother’s 12 years older than me, and wore Paolo’s name proudly on an AC shirt in the mid 90’s regularly. When he was well into his twenties. That was based on Football Italia and a trip to the Delle Alpi to see AC play Juventus.
It’s hard to describe just how good he was. I was chuffed for Fabio Cannavaro when he won the Ballon d’Or. But he was nowhere near as good as Maldini. Anticipation, pace, and a hard tackler. Yet somehow made it look so easy. Playing outside Baresi must’ve made it easy for a while mind!
Thank you – I’ve now been convinced that I’ll have to buy the book.
Aidan, EFC, Oxford
Portrait of an Icon XI
First up, compliments to Mr Storey on yet another cracking piece. It was obviously worth composing to encapsulate the genius of Maldini but it would have been worth doing so merely to include the stat that only two teams have won the European Cup more times than him and that one of those clubs is AC Milan. Amazing stuff.
Anyways, reading this particular portrait got me to thinking; it might be fun to come up with a team comprised of subjects of the portrait series. So I did.
And here it is…an unbalanced mess that Garth Crooks would be proud of but my God it would be fun to watch ’em:
GK: Lev Yashin (Obviously)
SW: Franco Baresi
CD: Fabio Cannavaro
CD: Paulo Maldini
LWB: George Best (Busby said that he was the best tackler at United)
RWB: Johan Cruyff (Let’s face it, he could play anywhere)
DM: Paul McGrath
CM: Michael Laudrup
CM: Michel Platini
CF: Marco Van Basten
CF: Eric Cantona
Thoughts? Alternative suggestions? I’m sure there’s a few.
John, Galway
Thanking F365
Can I just say how much I enjoy this site, ever since I found it around five years ago it has been a constant in my life. Be it Degsy’s gambling escapades, John Nicholson’s post-modern views about football, Sarah Winterburn’s candid unbiased opinions or the thoroughly enthralling Daniel Storey pieces like Portrait of an Icon (can’t wait for the book by the way – one for the ages).
I would tell you to keep up the great work but you have already set standards for yourselves.
Jamo, Nairobi, Kenya (shout out to ‘compiler of the week’ Matt Stead)