England v Jamaica
by Herr EdIt’s difficult to draw too many conclusions from a fixture in which the opposition was so weak, so I’m going to focus on a couple of key points.
Peter Crouch put in another excellent performance and should now be considered England’s number one striker! He is playing with immense confidence and offers a host of attributes to the team. Crouch’s physical presence contributed to the first goal and throughout the game his touch and movement were excellent. His final goal (of three) was also expertly taken. Is it possible with Crouch on this sort of form that we won’t miss Rooney too much? If this is stretching credulity a little, one thing that cannot be doubted is the added value Crouch’s height brings to the attack. It’s a resource that is useful to have over 90 minutes of play, never mind as a Plan B stored on the bench. A dash of ‘route one’ in England’s game, with Crouch as the target, should prove an excellent addition to the tactical repertoire.
Sven reverted to the Lampard-Gerrard axis in central midfield. This partnership has previously failed to fire: both players have understandably struggled with a contradictory brief which prompts them to play their natural attacking game, whilst also undertaking a more restrained role to accomodate their partner. Sven’s recent search for a designated defensive midfielder perhaps suggests that he now views it as a unique position, rather than one which can be equitably shared. Therefore in this game Gerrard was deployed in a deeper role than Lampard, and this approach worked well enough, although Jamaica posed little challenge. Gerrard is better equipped to perform this defensive role than Lampard: Gerrard is the more adaptable player, and has also performed this role effectively for Liverpool in the past.
I’ve argued previously that Lampard and Gerrard should not be paired together in the centre of midfield. However, if the division of labour between them is clear I’d have no problem with them featuring together. The question isn’t whether Gerrard can perform the defensive midfield role or not, but what the team will be losing from his game if he is placed here - but something has to give! The attempt to retain the attacking flair of both Lampard and Gerrard by encouraging them to negotiate duties throughout the game merely quashed the impact of both. Football is a game predicated on continuous sequences of play, not discrete episodic units; therefore, a clear team structure has to be in place to provide a framework for negotiation. Defensive midfield is not an optional position, nor one that should comprise ancillary elements from two players’ roles. With Crouch set to support Owen upfront, and Captain Beckham immovable from the right, the only way to play Lampard and Gerrard together is to allocate one to a clear defensive role. This has to be Gerrard!
Sven was right to try Gerrard as a support striker, and explore options for the holding role in the pre-World Cup games. But I think England’s first XI picks itself now, and should perform well in Germany – as long as there is a clear division of labour in central midfield!
June 4th, 2006 at 7:04 pm
Has Herr Ed lost the plot? Surely it’s difficult not to draw too many conclusions from this latest friendly. I think the main conclusions are:
Petr Crouch is going to be player of the tournament.
Michael Owen is back to his best.
Beckham has remembered he can still have a good game without playing every position on the park.
We have the best defence in the world.
Gerrard and Lampard can work well together.
Bringing David James on does not necessarily mean we will lose.
As a nation, we are shit at penalties.
England are definitely going to win the world cup.
Are there any other conclusions we can draw?
June 5th, 2006 at 10:11 am
Owen is nowhere near back to his best but is becoming a real genius when it comes to falling over in the box.
Campbell resembled a parent in a ‘lads v dads’ game.
Downing played as though he was in a daze.
June 5th, 2006 at 10:58 am
Based on the one save he made in the first half, I reckon Paul Robinson will be the keeper of the World Cup.
Crouchy will be England’s top scorer.
Ashley Cole should be chief penalty taker, he’s never missed one for England.
Aaron Lennon could be converted into an Henry-style, striker-coming-off-the-wing-running-at-the-defence type striker if needs be. I really want to see him (and Walcott maybe) running full pelt onto a Stevie G through ball, splitting a T&T defence in two.
Campbell-Rice looked pretty handy for the Jays.
June 5th, 2006 at 11:11 am
Both of them running full pelt at the same time?
June 5th, 2006 at 1:42 pm
I think England could have done with another friendly. Possibly one against a team better than Hungary, Belarus and the Reggae Boyz!
June 5th, 2006 at 2:55 pm
Yes, both at the same time. Lennon down the flank chasing Stevie G’s pass, Walcott into the box to get a diving header on the end of Lennon’s pinpoint cross.
June 5th, 2006 at 3:13 pm
Get in!
June 5th, 2006 at 3:21 pm
And if the division of labour hasn’t been sorted yet aren’t we asking a bit much for it to come good when we need it? Or is this Jossie’s Giants????
June 5th, 2006 at 3:33 pm
Team spirit, a little bit of luck and Sven’s motivational skills will see us to victory.
June 5th, 2006 at 9:56 pm
If it is Jossie’s Giants, let’s hope that the kit man doesn’t wash the home and away kits together. I can’t see Brazil losing to a team wearing pink.
I think the idea was to play three friendly games against opposition similar to Sweden, Paraguay, and Trinidad and Tobago. That way we could learn about their tactics and systems and thus beat them easily and qualify for the second round. However, surely we would have learnt much more by playing Sweden, Paraguay, and Trinidad and Tobago themselves. Sort it out F.A.! You don’t need to be Jeffrey Archer to work that out.
June 6th, 2006 at 12:29 pm
To which team is Hungary similar?
June 6th, 2006 at 2:34 pm
Hungary are similar to Paraguay. They both have the letters u,a,r,g and y. They’re also both foreign. Hope that helps.
June 6th, 2006 at 2:48 pm
I hope they don’t have players who can score tremendous goals from 30 yards.
June 7th, 2006 at 9:31 am
I hope they don’t have players who can score any goals from any distance.
June 7th, 2006 at 9:39 am
I agree, it would be great to get away with a 0-0 draw.
June 7th, 2006 at 1:40 pm
What happens if every game in the group was a 0-0 draw? Would the ref flip a coin?
June 7th, 2006 at 2:27 pm
Rule 199(c) If all group matches finish 0-0 the coaches will participate in a round-robin wrestling tournament to decide the final positions.
June 8th, 2006 at 9:06 am
That’d be a tricky one to call. I can’t see Sven making much of an impact in the wrestling ring, but ‘Big’ Phil Scolari must surely be one of the favourites.
June 8th, 2006 at 9:43 am
Bruce Arena looks like he could have been a jock at high school and captain of the wrestling team so I’d go for him with Marco van Basten a surprisingly close second.
June 9th, 2006 at 11:57 am
I think England would have to enter Tord Grip instead of Sven.