Football Focus

[rendelharris]

And that's why bums lose to Iceland.

I'm here all week, don't forget to tip your waitress.

(repeated from another thread, I'm just childishly pleased with it as a gag, though not with the result)

[Salsaboy]

He jumped before he was pushed.

Ladygooner Wrote:

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> Another European exit and another sacking I

> expect!

[Otta]

Fair play to him for falling on his sword at least.

Not all his fault, the players were toilet.

[maxxi]

Hodgson's tactics were non existent but you can't say they're responsible for Sterling being unable to pass a ball 5 yards with accuracy.

Pointless dissecting it all (nahh we love it) but i can't understand persevering with Kane and Wilshire and Sterling when they all looked off their game.

Iceland made it look easy.

Now if only he'd taken Noble and Carroll.... :)

[Jah Lush]

Embarrassing. We're a laughing stock. Absolute crap. I'm glad Roy quit. He'd have been sacked anyway. He'd obviously written his resignation letter long before the final whistle. He's been tactically inept at two tournaments in a row. Perhaps it really is time we took a winter break. Everyone else does. It has to help in some way.

[maxxi]

Jah Lush Wrote:

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> Perhaps it really is time we took a winter break.

> Everyone else does. It has to help in some way.

Maybe - but try telling that to Pelle and Payet and all the other Premier league players at the Euros - tell it to Gylfi Sigur?sson.

England were poor in ALL their matches because they had no idea how to go about things - that's the manager's job. And they need an inspirational driving force as a captain because the current one - well, isn't.

On a more positive note - Italy were great to watch.

[Seabag]

I'm not overly upset we're out, as I was finding the will to support 'Inglnd' a little hard to muster

Negative I know, but the flags and the rest of this weeks events are just too much

[Jeremy]

Wot c-bag said.

And also the fact that they were one of the worst teams in the tournament, on the basis of these performances they didn't even deserve to be there in the first place.

[DulwichFox]

There's more bad news.. Iceland play Cricket too..

Foxy

[Otta]

Jeremy Wrote:

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> on the basis of these

> performances they didn't even deserve to be there

> in the first place.

This is the problem though. They'll now go in to World Cup qualifying against a load of old shite. Rooney will score a hat full of goals and The Sun will tell us that this is the new dawn (bit like that one in '96 after "30 years of hurt"). And then exactly the same thing will happen again.

[Jeremy]

Otta Wrote:

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> This is the problem though. They'll now go in to

> World Cup qualifying against a load of old shite.

But they got probably the luckiest draw in the euros - against a load of old shite - and embarrassed themselves.

[miga]

Something happened between the quals and the Euros. They were scoring plenty against opposition not much worse than what they faced at the Euros. Then they choked. They're not objectively a bad team, and they're not objectively worse than Iceland, but there's a mental issue.

[red devil]

England sailed through the qualifiers with a system/formation that picked itself. The problem started when there was a clamour for him to pick Kane and Vardy, thus the system was changed to accommodate them. The Italians play with a well drilled system, not necessarily the best 11 players at their disposal. We've always fallen in the trap of picking the best individuals rather than a team that gels. Remember trying to play Gerrard, Lampard and Scholes together, it didn't work, Scholes arguably the best midfielder of his generation ended up on the left wing.

Hodgson being a natural ditherer, exacerbated the problem...

[Jah Lush]

Agree, RD. I'd been saying throughout the whole tournament that Kane needed to play on his own up front with Alli tucked in behind him. Too late now. Hodgson was always going to to try to accommodate Rooney and Vardy because of popular opinion. Harry looked shattered, having not had a rest for two years. Worst of all though was Hodgson complete ineptness tactically and very poor decision making (Wales apart), stroking his chin on the touch line dithering.

[red devil]

Hodgson had a chance to play Kane up front alone in the Turkey friendly when Rooney was tied up with the FA Cup final. But he went for Kane and Vardy, and it went downhill from then with all his chopping and changing.

I had to laugh last night before the match when he said he had picked Sterling and Sturridge for width. A right side player on the left, and a left sided player on the right. So what do they both do, keep coming inside on their stronger foot, thus negating any width. Genius. I said earlier that Rashford had played well on the wing for Utd's U21's, he has natural pace and can beat a player. Him and Townsend would've worked much better...

[DaveR]

English England managers are too respectful of supposedly 'top' players and of club managers and pundits. Capello understood what was required but was undermined by everybody around him, players included (he still has the best winning record of any England manager from the past 20 years). You have to pick a system and play to it, pick the best players for the system, and when you bring in new players make them understand that they have to fit with the system, and play their role.

[????]

Drinkwater and/or Townsend were the scratch my head omissions with Wilshire in. As for out there all very poor performances as I said earlier even the Russian game when Russia were the worst team in the tournament by miles. But I did think we'd get past Iceland to be mullered by France in the QF. To be honest I was hoping Iceland scored again in the last 10 mins or so.

[Alan Medic]

It's time you guys starting supporting your rugby team. They're going to be very good I spect. Following the football team must be a recurring nightmare for you. It starts off ok, gets up a bit of speed but invariably the wheels fall off the wagon and often for the same reasons. As RD said and DR implied, pick a team, not simply the best 11 players. I must say it did occur to me that had Andy Carroll been picked he would have been a great plan b or c if required. He was in good form too and hadn't played that much.

[Otta]

It's possible to support both.

I agree with all the criticism of Hodgson, but if the players were that good they'd have been able to beat Iceland despite his tactics. I was looking forward to seeing Alli in this tournament, and I know he may not have been in his favourite position, but he was bloody anonymous.

[Jah Lush]

One thing that is clear is that Hodgson has been tactically inept in two tournaments and against Iceland he was out thought tactically by a manager who is a part-time dentist.

[red devil]

No jokes abut looking down in the mouth. His assistant is Lars Lagerback, ex-Sweden manager, who has now played England (I think) 8 times and never lost...

[Parkdrive]

That's been happening for decades otta. The press claiming ingerlund are invincible one minute and a crock of shite as soon as they have a bad game

[Mick Mac]

Otta Wrote:

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> It's possible to support both.

>

>

> I agree with all the criticism of Hodgson, but if

> the players were that good they'd have been able

> to beat Iceland despite his tactics.

I sort of disagree with this Otta. That match if anything was a demonstration of how a group with average players can be taught to play well as a team (Iceland) and a team of quality players can be held back by poor coaching (or playing the wrong system for their talents) - so much so that, with a bit of luck, the former rises above the latter.

I was very critical of Liverpool appointing Hodgson on here, and was equally critical of England appointing him. Its been 4 wasted years - at very least it should have been obvious after losing in the world cup, he should have been sacked then. That would have been decisive but fair.

AM's comparison to rugby is a good one - England's rugby team demonstrates that, the same team, with the right coach can go from a poor world cup 9 months, to world beaters. I do think the England football team have good players, but the FA have a habit of picking a coach that plays a very different style to the one they play every week.

England passed the ball behind each other the whole tournament - you constantly lose momentum - you create momentum by passing the ball marginally in front of the player you are passing to, so he can move forward and look forward, not back.

[Jeremy]

Mick Mac Wrote:

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> That match if anything was a demonstration of how a group with

> average players can be taught to play well as a

> team (Iceland) and a team of quality players can

> be held back by poor coaching

Is it also something to do with the attitude/desire of the players?

[red devil]

Mick Mac Wrote:

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> England passed the ball behind each other the

> whole tournament - you constantly lose momentum -

> you create momentum by passing the ball marginally

> in front of the player you are passing to, so he

> can move forward and look forward, not back.

Watching England, especially in the Slovakia game, I was getting cold sweat flashbacks to LvG's Utd...