Herr Hippo’s crystal ball has revealed that England will play either Portugal or Holland in the quarter-final of this year’s World Cup. He therefore sent his scouts on a mission to uncover the respective weaknesses of the two sides. Their reports follow:
 
Holland
The main weakness of this side is the left full-back position. Giovanni Van Bronckhorst has played at left-back for Barcelona and Holland for some time, but on occasions he still looks like a midfielder playing out of position. He is quite one-paced and if taken on consistently by a fleet-footed winger he could be demolished. When Van Bronckhorst played for Arsenal he was usually deployed in midfield, but on one particular occasion he was stationed at left-back and taken apart by Blackburn’s Keith Gillespie. Van Bronckhorst may have become more accustomed to the full-back role since then, but Holland’s defensive left-side should still be viewed as a potential weakness. Manager Van Basten also favours a 4-3-3 formation: the midfield trio in this system play quite narrowly and the wide players up front are focused predominantly on supporting striker Van Nistelrooy. This approach could leave Van Bronckhorst exposed, particularly if attack-minded players like Van der Vaart and Robben eschew their defensive duties. Aaron Lennon should therefore be played on England’s right-flank, and told to run at Van Bronckhorst at every opportunity. Outcome: England 3 Holland 0

Portugal
If England dominate the midfield then they can beat Portugal. Portugal play with two defensive midfielders: the veteran Costinha and Maniche. Costinha is solid but perhaps past his best, while Maniche failed to hit form for Chelsea in the latter half of the Premiership season. It is therefore this area in front of Portugal’s back four that must be exploited, and England’s central midfield must be organised so that it can effectively address this challenge. Also in Portugal’s midfield we have the overrated “magician” Deco, star of yesteryear Figo, and the tricky Cristiano Ronaldo. Michael Carrick can cope with Deco, Figo should no longer be feared, and full-backs Gary Neville and Ashley Cole are well acquainted with Ronaldo and can nullify his threat. With this defensive solidity as a platform, England must play attacking and aggressive football and take the game to Portugal’s defensive third: if Gerrard and Lampard are protected by Carrick they can both push forward into this zone and cause major problems for Maniche and Costinha.  Outcome: England 3 Portugal 0.

This entry was posted on Friday, May 19th, 2006 at 8:12 am and is filed under Analysis. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.  Return to home page.