England just looks like a Knockout Round and out team.
We’re plenty good enough to beat Ecuador. England have a very, very easy route to the quarter-finals. Unless we improve by then we’ll get no further than that, but it does give plenty of time to sort out the problems.
For the first time in years, I’ve something good to say about Sven. I was crying out to bring Lennon on, and he did it. Rooney looked a lot fitter than I thought he would, but it was Lennon who changed the game. Ultimately, though, England need to fix the midfield. Why he doesn’t play Michael Carrick is beyond my ken. We only need a draw against Sweden to top the group, so I imagine Sven will take it easy in that match. But for the last 16, I’d favor dropping Beckham and sticking Gerrard on the right. Benitez has shown that’s a really good way to maximise Gerrard’s contribution, and it’ll allow you to bring in Carrick to hold, which in turn will free Lampard. Beckham had an OK game, but is clearly not the player he was.
Alternatively, you can keep Beckham but drop Cole. Rooney cutting in from the left, Beckham on the right, Crouch alone up front. Carrick holding, Gerrard and Lampard breaking from midfield. The problem with this, though, is that the team might get excessively narrow.
It won?t affect the result of the game, but it could seriously affect who qualifies from the group. It could well come down to goal difference.
I know. I just wanted T&T to get some reward for playing really hard (if not looking particularly threatening) for two games against superior opposition.
Finally, after spending the greater part of 180 minutes on the attack, Sweden gets a goal. Now, if they can only beat England, we’ll be onto something.
Paraguay is eliminated. T&T can qualify if England beats Sweden and they beat Paraguay, with the goal differential swinging four goals in their favor.
England just looks like a Knockout Round and out team.
We’re plenty good enough to beat Ecuador. England have a very, very easy route to the quarter-finals.
I’m inclined to withhold judgment until we see how Ecuador handle Germany. Of all the teams I’ve watched intently (they are Poland, Ecuador, Costa Rica, England, Paraguay, the Czech Republic, the USA, Serbia & Montenegro, Holland, Mexico, Iran, Italy and Ghana), Ecuador have been with the Czechs and the Dutch the most impressive. And they play a kind of style that I’ve seen other England teams have serious trouble with in hot weather.
I suspect it is possible to muscle the Ecuadorians off the ball, and England are just the side to do that. But so are Germany.
This England team reminds me of the Italia 90 one. I don’t think they’ll be easy for anyone to beat. They certainly shouldn’t be afraid of meeting Germany in the next round. I’d prefer to send the Deutschlanders out of the tournament in front of a home crowd in the Round of 16 than save it for the Quarterfinals. What a humiliation!
We will see, fra paolo - I guess that’s why they play the games. But I think Ecuador are a very ordinary team and the Germans will crush them. I aslo think you underrate Germany. I was very impressed with Germany in the game against Poland, I think they could win the tournament - it’s an open field. Ballack, Lahm, Schweinsteiger and Klose are outstanding players, and if they defend deep like they did in that game, they’ll be incredibly difficult to beat. Plus they have home advantage.
In addition, if we play second-placed Ecuador in the last 16, we won’t be playing Germany in the quarter-finals. We’ll almost certainly play Portugal, or the worse of Argentina and Holland. Whereas if we play first-placed Germany in the last 16, we’ll almost certainly play the better of Argentina and Holland. So winning our group will actually make our quarter-final draw easier as well.
