If I were English I'd want SGE out. He's turned England into a quasi-Italy catenaccio style outfit who are far too passive, and who defend far too much. Never mind bad refereeing decisions, you'll always get that in a game. What lost you the tournament is tactical ineptitude, and SGE is to blame. I mean, if you're Latvia and keep 10 men behind the ball, I can understand. But with the quality England have, it's a shame to.
SGE should take note that David Beckham is a crap player. He doesn't deserve to play for England, much less captain them.
But yet two weeks ago he was seen as perhapos their best players, maybe not by you, but certainly by the general public. While I have made it abundantly clear that Bekham is not exactly my favourite player in the world, and that I do believe he is overrated and not worthy of a place in a team like Real Madrid or Manchester United by his club standards, almost every time he pulls of Englkand's shirt & armband he plays brilliantly. Yes, he had a very poor tournament, that is true - but is this a reason to kick him out of the England squad? No. Is this a reason to take the armband from him? No. Although I do believe Gerrard would possibly make a better captain, it would be unjust to strip David of the captaincy. As for Sven, he has brought England a long way and is a quality manager, but I do agree that he needs to more adventurous and do something to compensate for the lack of a left winger. If he refuses to try Ashely Cole out there (he even gave Bridge, far more deserving of a left back spots with his defensive abilities as opposed to Cole attacking skills) a shot or do something to add pace & width to the team, then he should try a 4-3-3 or something., OH well, not my worry...
Johan Cruyff is the worst coach in the world. I remember how he sucked in Barcelona. Eriksson > Cruyff
Some may have thought Beckham a quality player until two weeks ago, but not me. Although I hate Sir Alex and Manchester UTD. , the red faced one saw last year what no one in England has been able to see--Beckham isn't the player he was a couple of years ago. Becks has never been the most naturally gifted--he lacks speed, hardness, and creativity. He has always had to rely on his work rate and his set pieces. If he can't deliver on those two accounts, he is worthless on the pitch. When has he played brilliantly for his country? I guess in Greece, but beyond that?
Ah, there he is, the Swede with a grudge against Holland. I'd advise you to check Barcelona's achievements under Cruyff before you come up with your idiotic statements. Last time they won the CL was with Cruyff, ignoramus.
England played a very good tournament. They showed determination and personality. They are out because they played a highly motivated local Portuguese side and in penalties. I would leave SGE til after the WC ... and maybe look for someone else to carry the captain's armband for England. There are players who grow their role in the field with the armband on them ... Beckham I believe suffers from the added pressure of being on the spotlight regardless. Becks had a flat tournament .. and the reasons could be equally valid in terms of physical and psychological nature. Let him play without the extra pressure. He doesn't need it. Give it to Gerard or Lampard (what an excellent player : bowdown : )
We need a true defensive midfielder before the next world cup, and a left winger who can run at players. Hargreaves or Parker I hope will do the first job. The second, God only knows. That way we won't need all four midfielders to dig back. Lampard's performance was limited by the defensive style of the team for much of the tournament. Gerrard was more complete than him. But we are far too negative when we have a lead, and struggled to kill the Swiss till they had 10 men. I was ******** scared against Croatia at 3-2, and that should never be true!!! But Rooney in two years time, hope you are all genetically modifying your centre backs!!!
England has done well in qualifying for tournaments under SGE and have played more or less well in the WC and in Euro. I'm not an apologist but they did lose to Brazil in the WC and to a very motivated home side in Euro. Lets remember that if you lose to the champion in the quarters or in the finals you still lost, it doesn't entirely mean one team is better than the other. IMHO England's problem is that when they take a lead they play way to conservative. Happened with France and with Portugal. It happened with Brazil. I think SGE gets his players to play at their best ability but he has to change a couple tactical isssues. I don't pretend to know enough to point out which ones. Is Beckham crap? No, but it wasn't a great tournament for him. Lost in all of this is he actually played better defense than usual if you take away the foul against Croatia. His services were often too low, still some were spot on. He was definately a step behind against Portugal. I think his time with the armband is about up, but still has a spot on the team.
Gerrard and Lampard were a mystery -- Gerrard had only a few of the surging runs that I know he's capable of (one of which culminating in a shameful dive) and he seemed to give the ball away very easily, aside from the historic French gift. Lampard wasn't taking people on one v. one very often, even though he scored on one of those occasions. Both of these things do point to coaching, so depending on your view of England's quality of midfielder: SGE's doing the best with what he has, or it's time to drop him for a more postive thinking coach. As for Beckham, I'm not a big fan but for those who think he's crap I'd refer you to some of his early games for Madrid where his passing was truly incredible. Who knows what's happened in the meantime. But I noticed him on the wing in Portugal looking terminally bored a few times. I know he wants to play in the middle of the park, so he may just have moped himself out of a chance for glory.
Creativity??? Who've you been watching for the last four years? He does lack speed but with his early crosses and his set pieces he's worth having in the team. Admitedly he had a bad tournament and he didn't look fit, but when he is fit he's one of our best players. It just shows you the fickle nature of my english comrades when things go wrong! Who are you going play down the right for England??? Gerrard is better in the middle, as is Scholes, Lampard and Hargreaves. Bling, Bling Dyer is more concerned with his pay packet than England, he shouldn't even be in the squad! So who else would you pick????? Myself I would prefer two out and out wingers but we just don't have them at this present time.
...and perhaps remember that he wasn't the only Real Madrid 'star' who didn't exactly shine. Figo and Zidane have both looked over the hill and Raul has been a complete donkey. Maybe Real's late season collapse took a lot out of them. The problem to a large extend with the 'sitting back' tactic has been that until now it's been quite successful. Had England hung on against France and got a victory nobody would have been moaning about the bad tactics, ditto the Portugal game. As terrible as it made England look in both of those two games, even detractors would have to admit that although France & Portugal were having plenty of shots, they were creating very little in the way of real chances. I think there'll be lot of interested eyes on what happens next time England go a goal up in an important match.
What England needs is wingers. The only one I can think of is Sean Wright Phillips. England also needs a dominaating midfielder in the mould of Deco or Nedved. I think Lampard may be best suited for that. If Beckham is not going to get over his slump in form, he is not worth having in your team for the sake of free kicks and corners alone.
i don't think anybody who supported England during this tournament leaves satisfied with their mid field play. Scholes looked awful at best, and who would have figured that Becks would trot out his worst football of his career. But Beckham did figure with his crosses and his corners. The penaties are just written off in my book as bad luck. Barthez made the right play and the Upper Deck shot was fate. I think a lot can be said about the number of matches these guys play over the course of the season. That was Frankie Lampard's 70th match of the season! And he made an heroic run in extra time. Barros looks fantastic for the Czechs because he was injured for most of the year and didn't figure in the hated Red's run in that much. SGE had a major chance to win the whole thing. But, taking Rooney off in the first game for Heskey who came too far back to commit that horrible foul was the first sin for SGE. I like attacking football and I think if Dyer or joe Cole was used in substitution, England would have been playing tomorrow. I think luck had a lot to do inthat Portugal game. Scolari takes Figo off and the sub gets the goal. Gerrard goes down with cramps and we get the other Neville on. John Terry played hurt and it showed. The goalkeeping situation is one that will plague England for awhile. David James was unsteady at best, and bumbling at his worst. But he is the number 1 only because the other Prem Teams have foreign keepers! Man City finished 16th, and James had been relegated the year before. So, he isn't exactly stealing a lot of points for England. Rooney was amazing. Owen was unlucky. Sol Campbell was fantastic. Ashley Cole was great. I don't particularly care for Phil and Gary, so the less I say the better. But is they said in the half time commentarty. England gave the ball away very cheaply. they are not good tacklers of the ball. They had a tough group and they ran into the home team. All in all a dissapointing performance but certainly not the end of the world. R
What a huge difference Shawn Wright Phillips would've made for England. They have no one(safe Rooney) who can take on players one v one. Pathetic.
I'm not sure if it was so much as a sitting back tactic for Erickson. I think what happen was that England was forced back by the French and Portuguese midfield wich face it they are stronger and more skilled on the ball than the English midfield.
Robson's thought Tuesday, June 29, 2004 Robson: Euro standard is low Former England coach Sir Bobby Robson believes it is easier to play in Euro 2004 than in the Premiership. Robson thinks that explains why Milan Baros has scored five goals in four matches for the Czech Republic while finding it hard to play for Liverpool. In his column for O Jogo, the Newcastle boss said: 'The Czechs have been really impressive and especially Milan Baros who looks set to win the golden boot. I have never seen him play like that for Liverpool. 'Why? I think one explanation is that it is more difficult to play in the Premiership than Euro 2004. I am half-joking but half-serious when I say that.'
I have been watching Beckham's every move for 12 years just like everyone else in the world. And I agree that his work rate and set pieces can make him valuable beyond belief, but if those elements are missing, then..... The thing he lacks most at 30 is hardness. He isn't tough. And as to his creativity--yes, his accurate crosses and deadly free kicks have created goals in the past, but there's a sameness to his play. Please compare Ronaldo and Beckham. Ronaldo will drift inside, to the left, and forward. Beckham doesn't. He's pulled out on the right and stays there. Even Figo drifts now and again. This issue could be a coaching problem, though, rather than Beckham's fault. The wings are always a problem with England. England lack pace on the wings. I think I would rather have Dyer or maybe even Etherington. Beckham is a strong player, but he isn't good enough to captain England. A captain should be a player that without doubt should be on the field. My vote goes to Lampard or Campbell. Scolari has juevos. He pulled his captain. SGV should have done the same.
I know and understand everything that has been discussed against Beck's Euro performance. But the pressure of that tournement didn't only get to him, it got to several other players and other teams, ex: Italy. With that being said, Beckham can't possibly be expected to have a stellar performance in every single game of the competition. He did deliver some good crosses. Those two terrible penalties weren't his fault completely either. His first was a great save, and his second can partly be blamed on the surface. He is a very devoted player and captain to the team and shouldnt be stripped of his captaincy because of this. Just look at Figo, he played one million times worse than Becks and he still remains the Portugese skipper, althoug there are talks about that. ANd comparing him to other players isn't really justifiable because each player is his own, and plays a certain way. In any case, that's just football. You win some, you lose some.
Longish post/rant: I was very disappointed with England's complete inability to maintain possession of the ball. Most of the players play on teams that pass the ball around, connecting passes, maintaining possession, but for England they don't. I intensely dislike the style of play SGE has England playing. There were only small glimpses of what the players were truely capable of and then it was backs against the wall stuff for most of the matches. How the hell do Switzerland look better than England with 10 men? The team should be made up of players who are in form. Beckham's form over the last half of the season had been very poor. Its time to start trying out some different options on the right, Shaun Wright Philips, Dyer, Gerrard, Hargreaves should all get a chance to play there. How long has England had problem at left wing and there is still no answer? Aren't players taught to use both feet? Robben improved is weaker foot last season, C. Ronaldo can switch wings. Why hasn't England addressed this problem in the academy system? For England's sake they better hope Milner comes good. David James should never get a game for England again, ever. Robinson and Kirkland should be pushed through now. The less said about P. Neville the better, but G. Neville was a rock at the back. A. Cole is going to be hard to dislodge, but Bridge needs to be getting some time there as well. Just once I'd like to see them use both on the park at the same time, if it fails well then back to the drawing board. Campbell, Neville or Gerrard should be the next captain.
I've never been much of a fan of Beckham, but I think in the case of Euro 2004 he has received a raw deal due to SGE's personnel choices. Beckham's strength is sending in accurate crosses from deep, but SGE choosing two small forwards negated that advantage. Not matching tactics to the personnel on hand (or vice versa) seems to be SGE's weakness. It is as if he decided he had to play 4-4-2 and also had to play with those midfielders and strikers, never analyzing whether the two decisions actually agreed with each other. If I were the England manager and was deadset on playing 4-4-2 I would spend the next two years finding left-wingers who can get up and down the pitch and a target man to replace Owen so they will have an aerial threat inside the box.
Biggest mistake Eriksson has made-Not bringing James Beattie, a clear ball winner, good on the ground and great header. Could've capitalised on Beckhams crossing. I reckon had Beckham better options when crossing the ball he wouldn't have been such a flop at this championship. Don't get me wrong I don't think Beckham is an outstanding player and that he alone could have turned Englands fortunes but he is excellent at what he does best i.e. crossing and was unable to play to his strengths.