Surprise - England’s problem was not just the previous manager
It is fashionable to round up on Eriksson and blame him for all of England’s problems.
Steve McClaren used this card to full-tilt by dumping David Beckham and then going on a charm offensive where he emphasised himself as the anti-thesis of Eriksson - emotional, flexible, in control of his players, passionate about England.
Thing is, all that is bullshit if he can’t get England to play well.
McClaren talks a good game - he’s worked hard on his PR skills and during press conferences and interviews comes off as remarkably confident and polished. To add to that, Macca has learned from one of the best managers in the business - Alex Ferguson - and as such is ideally placed to become the next big manager in England.
But eventually, all managers will be judged by history on their results. 100 years down the line, no one will remember Mourinho as a pompous ass - they’ll know him as the manager who helped Chelsea win back-to-back Premiership titles. It’s arguable that while the money will still be a talking point, the results are all, and will be all, that matter.
McClaren, as a manager, has wasted two glorious opportunities to bag quality results, both of them against a tough but beatable Macedonia side.
Andorra and Greece - 9 goals in two games - were easy pickings - didn’t England romp to a 6-0 win over Jamaica right before the World Cup?
Away at Skopje Macedonia brought us back down to earth, and tonight at Old Trafford even Crouchie’s luck ran out and England ended up with just a point to show for their 90 minutes of toil.
People will blame Michael Carrick and Manchester United fans will rightly fear that the 14 mil signing could have been a waste. What these same people will fail to realise is that Frank Lampard played a major role in England’s inability to score - he was constantly dropping back to fetch the ball when he should have been pushing up forward at Macedonia’s defense.
Carrick is not the hard-tackling type - he intercepts passes, creates moves and is generally a ’soft’ player (although he does put in crunching tackles once in a while). Macedonia read him well and ganged up on him, but without Lampard moving up front Carrick had no where to spray the ball except left and right, and move after move was sent back because England tried being too clever or were lacking that extra man in the box (Lampard).
Verdict? McClaren needs to weed out a couple of players before he can say that his team is truly different and capable of playing well. Right now, this is just England without Beckham, and the Beckham I remember would have forced at least one goal out of a free kick or a cross.
What price will England eventually play for dropping Beckham in place of Frank Lampard?
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i have to agree with your comments. lampard has done nothing to warrant his place in the middle. its no wonder steve wants scholes to come out of retirement. it remains to be seen if he has the balls to drop the players that are not performing.
I think it’s still about the manager. Englands’s style and quality of play is still not being addressed. Crouch affects their style negatively, Rooney is in the wrong position and the pace of SWP only comes on in the last 15 minutes. The talent is there but England continues to look like a team that does not know how to play football…does not like to play football…and is not making the most of their talent…
Very harsh criticism of Lampard. The problem was from the wings, where Gerrard displayed tactical ineptitude of the highest degree (does he understand what ‘winger’ means), while Downing confirmed he is nowhere near international quality. Lampard was the best of the four in midfield - the reason he didn’t get forward enough was because he was having to do a lot of Carrick’s foraging for him.
Thank god whoever wrote this article is not in charge of the England team!!
I laugh so much at you English - firstly everyone wanted to drop becham when the results were not going well. Now he is dropped, Frankie is the new target and we should drop him for becks!! hahaha
This is the perspective of a Dutchman who is a CFC fan and loves England as his second home:
a) England has the best squad in the world in terms of talented players, the only area slightly weak is upfront as in my opinion, only Rooney and Owen are world class. You have world class cover everywhere else.
b) Neither Frank nor Becks were responsible for bad results. It is a team playing out there. Frank has justified his place in the team as the EPL highest ever scoring midfielder. Also he was 2nd best player in the world - Ronaldinho was 1st and Eto 3rd. Not bad. Becks is also a fantastic player who can cross better then anyone playing right now.
c) The cold facts are that Gerrard and Lampard cannot play in the middle of a 442 formation. But they can play in a 433 or 352 i.e. if there is a holding player. Since Gerrard is more versitle then lamps, he is forced out of position. Is gerrard a better attacking player then Lamps? it is very close.
Solution: Unknown - that is why i work in a chippy and Maclaren is paid millions ot mange the team. However even in Holland we were have serious race issues dividing our team and serios ego’s (Ruud and Robben and Davids, etc) the country and it’s press get behind the team ans support them. In some countries the way your press slate your national team would be considered traitorous!!
As a potential opponent of Englands in Euro 2008 - I hope your press and legion on internet fans continue to slate your own team as it gives teams like Hollans, France, Spain and portugal a much better chance. These teams know they have the support of the country and therefore do not fear failure or taking risks trying new players or formations.
Anyway - keep up the good work and hopefully you won’t even quailfy for Euro 2008 and then perhaps you will get rid of the national team altogther and just send either CFC or ManU to represent your country!!