England's November 2013 friendly double header vs Chile & Germany thread [R]

unlucky Townsend off the post, looked too far out to score.

 

What a shot by Townsend.

 

Great effort by Townsend, wonderful strike. So close to an equaliser.

 

I know Townsend is a one trick pony, but what a trick.

 

Hart with a rush of blood there.

 

Walcott is a one trick player aka Pace and nothing else. Townsend has got more strings to his bow.

 

Can't stand losing to this lot.

 

C'mon...gone are the days of your parents and grandparents and mine as well. These kids are actually likable kids.

 

Been a pretty typical friendly game, very patchy.

 

We didn't deserve to lose but in fairness they were better in the second half.

 

Full time!!
I thought we should have had a draw out of it ,but it wasnt to be. We'll have to decide if we got anything out of these games with the new players that featured.

 

Onl

Only Lallana staked any claim. I thought Kyle Walker was useless.

 

Can someone explain to me what Sturridge was still doing on the pitch at the end?

 

The saddest part is, I don't expect Hodgson to learn anything from this. He'll stick with two up front and two in the middle and we'll continue to be all over the place on the counter.

 

Cleverly was decent tonight. He played better in a more balanced system .

 

Why does Roy refuse to play 3 in midfield?

I am beginning to really dislike Hodgson.

 

Thought Townsend was great today. Barkley showing his immaturity though, shame as I hoped he would step up. Sturridge and Rooney were baws. Rooney is still so overhyped in the last few years, powerful but nothing like the player he was pre 24 years old and definitely not world class anymore.

 

He does eem to have improved this season when he's played, but Carrick and Gerrard should be no.1 partnership IMO.

 

Wow....that was terrible. I expected we'd probably have a narrow loss against a weakened German side...but not that their B\C team would hardly be bothered in the first half...and we were still predictable and toothless.

We hardly ever press as a team, too few players try to take people on to create space, and 95% of our passes are predictable and easy to organise against. This isn't just based on the last 2 games, it's an underlying theme from most of our matches for quite some time. When you have these issues, 442 is the worst possible formation, stupid to stick or keep going back to it when these issues are so apparent.

 

I can. F*cking Hodgson trying to prove that he's in charge. He took fitter players off when Studge was obviously slowing down.

England v Germany: I will use Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge when I see fit, insists Roy Hodgson

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/...en-i-see-fit-insists-roy-hodgson-8947936.html

 

England started off brightly but at from 30 minute mark the game slowed to Germany's pace. Germany controlled that pace and most of the game today. England got a shitpot full of corners but it was Hart who was the busiest goalie.
At the end it was Germany pushing for a second goal rather than us trying to get an equalizer.
Got to do better than that Hodgson.

I'm one of the Grandparents and even I agree with that. It's a far different world these days.

I still hate to lose to them or anyone else though...

 

It does not matter who is in charge of this bunch of players, because you can't build a silk purse out of a sow's ear because this team is full of has-beens and never will be type players, I just hope that they don't rush some of those U21's players into the team too soon and let them develop away from the train wreck that it the full England team

 

Hmmm... yeah, that's not really true, is it. Granted we've got some gaps in the side, (the keeper atm... somewhat surprisingly), but we've also got various players who start for sides who've competed at a high level quite recently, i.e. within the past 4-5 years. The idea that we've got NO good players is nonsense.

I don't think anyone's thinking we're going to win anything any time soon but we should be able to put on a better and more balanced display than we did in the past couple of friendlies.

There have been some decent bright spots from these friendlies and some people who've shown their shortcomings, in some case quite markedly.

It seems obvious to me that guys like Smalling and Jones aren't at the required level for a CB berth yet but Lallana has marked himself out as a possible 'fill-in' on the wing and Townsend seems quite comfortable as well.

I'd play three in midfield, probably Gerrard and Wilshere alongside Carrick or Cleverly. With Rooney up front, Townsend on one wing and either Welbeck or Lallana on the other that seems a reasonably balanced midfield and forward line. Hart in goal, (nobody's noticeably better unfortunately), and a back four of Cole, Cahill and Jagielka that just leaves the RB slot. My shout would still be Walker, (even though he was pretty dreadful tonight), for his attacking play.

Some of that is less than ideal but has a reasonable chance against the weaker sides. Against the better sides we'll have to rise our luck, obviously and we'll probably have to sit back but the three in midfield should be capable of holding the ball for a while and let the other fellas get into the game.