England must raise game in Zagreb

If I see another pointless long ball panic session I am going to gouge my eyes out.

Phil, and any other Lampard-lovers out there, perhaps you could answer us the question: When was the last time Lampard had a decent game for England? I don't even mean a good game, I mean just a decent, average performance?

How much longer are we going to have to put up with Lampard? His poor, lethargic performances for our country, along with his anti-fan moaning and his "I actually think I had a great 2006 World Cup" comments make us, the real fans, sick. That is why we boo him. When we will get a manager who will realize that 'lamps' does not play well for England and spoils the whole balance of the midfield for proper players like Gerrard, Joe Cole and Gareth Barry?

Some players can handle the pressure of playing for their country, some cannot. And some don't really seem to care anyway.

Well I'm glad somebody is finally chewing Rooney out for his endless wandering away from the area. His ball chasing has its uses, but not nearly as much as his attacking instinct. Someone needs to keep him nicely chained to the attacking area. Hopefully Capello can drive that into him.

Good blog Phil.
England main problem is the supply of good balls from the midfield to the strikers. I believe that David Beckham's inclusion will go some way in solving this problem. You are right that Rooney was hopelessly off his mark. It seemed to me that toward the end of the game Rooney was playing a little deep. I guess it was for the lack of supply of good balls.

It's easy to knock Lampard and Gerrard for that matter, but we have another England manager who doesn't seem to get the Lampard/Gerrard situation. I do not know how many times I've said this...........neither one plays central midfield for their clubs. They both play attacking midfielders with the freedom to range whereever they see fit. Which is why they are amongst the goals at both Chelsea and Liverool. The central midfielders at Chelsea and Liverpool are holding midfielders, one a little more attacking than the other. Three managers have now said we must play 4-4-2 because that is how they like their teams to play. So we have players who play in different formations in their club team having to switch into different formations, and positions, when in the National team. You wonder why the players look like they do not know each other ?
Until an English manager comes along who is willing to play to our strengths and use players to play to those strengths we will be unable to compete at the top level.

oh well wot a disaster they won 2-0 eh? lol give me a break would you and specially that presenter and the commentator on setanta sports who were panicking like its gonna be world war 3 when it was 0-0 at halftime. i mean they played some realy gd stuff in the first half and had several chances to take the lead unfortunately they didnt but you have to be patient sometimes i heard lawro saying andorra are a pub team well as far as a knw pub teams dnt play international football they had gd committment and a stubborn defence.

england got the job done i thought glen johnson, walcott and joe cole who for me should have started all played well but downing was a bit of a let down it was almost like he runs out of ideas when he revieves the ball and crosses in panic never tried to beat his fullback.

I knw wednesday is a totally different game but if england play with organisation and dont panic under pressure with the hostile atmosphere they ll be ok u feel sometimes that they are a bit scared to play their football on venues like these ( Moscow v russia) just be brave and not be firghtened by the occassion and they ll be arite. so i hope anyway lol.

It's worth noting, a draw against Croatia is as simple as not conceding. And the defense did not get tested today at all. If England is tight at the back then England is in fine shape.

The lack of quality crossing in the game was really frustrating. It seemed the ball was being knocked into a general area with much more hope than conviction and because that was what players in wide positions do traditionally, rather than because Rooney or Defoe were likely to make anything of it. In the first half all 4 wide players were guilty.
England will be more suited to the match on wednesday, with an emphasis more on defence than attack. They just need to re-produce an away performance from the Hoddle era and it'll be fine.

All said and done, both this performance and result pales next to Wednesday's game. That will truly set the tone for England's campaign.

"Capello may feel his (Beckham's) tactical discipline..."

WHAT? Whose tactical discipline? Mr "I want to play in central midfield and will drift in there as and when I see fit, and generally run round like a headless chicken"

Great. We're doomed.

I think Croatia would be far more wary if their left back were forced back constantly to deal with Walcott.

Glad to see Frank have another exceptional, match winning display, as well.

Lampard, Walcott, Downing.

None of them can cut it at International level.

Drop them FFS.

I spent a year living in Spain during Capello's reign at Real Madrid and went to see the man in all his managerial glory at the Bernabeu...

Real 1-0 down after the first half, 2 second half goals from Ronaldo and Carlos after 80 minutes. he was kicking and screaming on the touchline, but he did make the changes that eventually turned the match around. the crowd were getting slightly miffed...but nowhere near the hostility that sometimes gets shown towards certain players by england fans when thing's aren't going right. Although managing a country is a lot different to managing club football, i do believe fully in Capello and his ability to change/read a game. Judge us after Wednesday, i don't know why everyone is stressing out over Andorra. Pub team? No. A 10 man wall in the goal? Yes. Hard for any team to break down? Yes.

Give us a team on wednesday that counter-attack at speed and come at us, then we'll see what Capello's made of, and providing he balls-and-chains Rooney to the box, with our solid defense, and Capello's guile, I'm tempting returning with 6 points...

....oh yeah....and part of his strategy that turned the Real Match around??....he brought on Becks...who had a hand in both goals....

Correct me if i'm wrong but games like Andorra should be used to boost your goal difference, not as an exercise to find your best team for the Croatia match which the manager should already know! I just don't see why against a team who didn't want to come past the half way line that we played four defenders and a defensive midfielder in Gareth Barry. However Barry is possibly our best central midfielder at the moment so that says to me that you play 3 centre backs with barry offering protection and starting the passing movements off with two wide men who will hug the touch line, you could even have started Ashley Cole wide left in stead of Downing let alone Joe Cole. That then allows you to stick Beckam or Bentley in the middle giving Lampard the freedom he requires as someone else mentions he gets at Chelsea, or you could even have played three up top with Heskey and Defoe out and out strikers and Rooney as a link between the midfield and attack. In my opinion only half the team that started was correct in terms of personel and position - James, Terry, Lescott, Barry, Walcott - possibly Rooney! It all boils down to what somebody else said that every England manager feels they must play 442 coz its the English way, but whilst we're following tradition everybody else is winning trophies! Rant finished!

The game would have been completely different if one of those early chances had gone in.
Rooney does not stay anywhere the location he needs to be. That's not to say he isn't a hard worker. It may have been out of frustration at the poor sevice, but when the crosses came in, he wasn't where needed.
Thought the overlapping by Glen Johnson gave us another dimension.
Against a team more inclined to attack England will find it easier to score, Croatia included.

When did we last see a decent performance from an England team ? We should have won by at least 5 goals in thg second half.

Hopefully Gerrard should be back after the Croatia game. He will replace Lampard who never performs in an England shirt.

Downing and Defoe are not England standard either.

There will soon be an obvious candidate for the right wing position.By the time the next qualifying games arrive Sean Wright-Phillips will have played a number of games and be right in form.

If Rooney doesn't put in a decent performance against Croatia he should be replaced as well.

I see Germany had a similar game against Liechtenstein last night and scored six ! Enough said.

ayoungcom - fair point, maybe Gerrard and Lampard aren't being played in the same position for England as they do for their clubs. But if they can't - or won't- adapt, then they should be left out and more appropriate players, who don't think they have a God-given right to play, should be included. Do you think a duo of Barry with Bullard could have fared worse last night? I doubt it.

Good for Capello...
It's about time an England Manager had the backbone to geive this bunch of overpaid, mediocre underacheivers the kick up the backside they need.
They need to be picked to play for this country by passion and commitment and not reputation.
Sit them down and make them watch a video of Stuart Pierce's greatest hits, a video of the English Rugby Team winning the World Cup, and then they'll know what Three Lions is really about.

ibelive croatia will win in zagreb, ant it will be more embarasing for england the fact that we are playing without da silva and kranjcar, but the good news is that petric started scoring again.... so see you on wednesday in zagreb, i ll be there....

Oh, and one final point - most of the players play in a 4-3-3 / 4-5-1 at club level, so why do we persist with 4-4-2 at international level?

Nice to see a little appreciation for Joe Cole's contribution - what does he have to do to secure such confidence from an England manager? Any objective analysis of his contribution to England over recent years would conclude that he is our most creative (and effective) international player, despite regularly being substituted, overlooked or having to play regularly in a position that is considered beneath the dignity of the likes of messrs. Lampard and Gerard. How many times do we need to watch that pair individually or in combination for England before the penny drops that neither has what it takes at international level (i.e. technical quality, vision and, crucially, an ability to consistently pass the ball quickly and accurately)? As posted by others, their success in the altogether different world of Premiership football is based around club set-ups that play almost exclusively to their limited (but admittedly effective) strengths, as witness the belly-aching by and on Gerard's behalf whenever the Liverpool or England manager has the temerity to ask him to do a job for the team rather than just himself (or as honest Harry put's it, he's "been ruined").

I agree with "anyonebutlampard"..Gerrard and Lampard ARE completely overrated..

Mr Mcnulty.. do you write for a tabloid!!?? I feel your article is fantastic for provoking a reaction, if that was your aim then well done you are, in fact, a genius.

Firstly, if the opposition has 11 people in the way of the 18 yard box, then its always going to be hard to penetrate, regardless of professional stature.. FULL STOP. There is nothing wrong with the England elevens craft, that is ridiculous. 11 people, 18 yards.. do the maths!!!!!!

Secondly, Capello made the correct chages at half time to get a result... well done mr manager.

Thirdly, sending out the players early... to allow them to dwell on not scoring against poor opposition, maybe a very good psycological idea?

FOURTHLY!!! Joe cole got shouted at, as did Rooney, because they held no tactical discipline..Cole especailly had to stay out wide due to Andorras' lack of width.

To make my own point, away from our 'controversial' article THERE IS FAR TOOM MUCH PRESSURE ON ENGLAND PLAYERS. WE ARE NOT, BY ANY STRECTH, THE BEST TEAM IN THE WORLD! ENGLISH FOOTBALL FANS NEED TO STOP BOOING AND MOANING AND GET BEHIND THE TEAM. THE MOANERS (AND THE TABLOID PRESS) ARE THE REASON THAT TALENTS LIKE SCHOLES, ET AL LEAVE INERNATIONAL FOOTBALL. JUST GET REAL!

FIFTHLY!!! BLIMEY!! Beckham is far, far, far, far too old! he never had pace and now..... he cant even walk fast enough. My suggestion is... (ANYONE WITH AN * IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE TO THE NEXT BEST OPTION)

JAMES*
HARGREAVES F'NAND TERRY A.COLE

BARRY
GERRARD J.COLE
ROONEY
HESKEY* OWEN*

=============================

If I may give reason for the above... Look at the potential fluidity of the midfield 4 they could all interchange. Our right-back can move to midfield easily!!!! Our attcking midfielder(AND WHO DOESNT THINK HE WOULD BE BETTER THERE -THE NEW SCHOLES!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

on a side note but didn't Kazakhstan beat Andorra 3-0?

2-0 against Andora is unacceptable

England should have played an more attacking formation and laid seige on their goal

England always seems to play cautious against "anyone"

The old cliche there is no easy game is not true

if you are quality team with quality players you should get a few goals in the first half and teams like Andorra will roll over.

what you need to need to do is play like you life depends on it - the amount of grief england get these days it suprise me that they dont - if I was an England player I was would be going out playing the best I can just to prove the critics wrong..

good luck in croatia no doubt they will scrape a draw ..

To add to my last.. Rooney could always revert to a striker should subs dictate.


PHEW... I FEEL BETER NOW!

One big reason why england arent doing very well is because there isnt support from the fans. It doesnt help them or boost morale when they're being booed and its horrible to think that our own fans, english people, are booing them. It is frustrating but we do have a good team some really good players but they will get better but i dont think we should be criticisng their performance against andorra because we won in the end. Its not going to help the players if everyone whos english keeps saying that the players are crap or whatever else people say. Why dont we just support them and cheer for them and they'll want to do well and prove everyone wrong. COME ON ENGLAND!!!!!!

No doubt Croatia will not be sitting 9 men behind the ball, but bringing the game to England, providing a far sterner test of our defence.

I live in Germany, and while as an Englishman I could never bring myself to support their national team, I am always impressed with their "exchangeable lightbulb" mentality. If the star doesn't fit, go get a lesser known player who knows how to function within a team.

For me this is Jimmy Bullard. I've been saying for months that Bullard is a team player, not a 'star', and exactly what England needs in midfield: a committed, inspirational and inventive player who sees the breaks and spreads the ball with intelligence. Fulham were for the drop last season before Jimmy returned from injury and saved them. And this is what England needs. Forget Frank Lampard, retire David Beckham, stop relying on Steven Gerrard, and bring in the form players who can shape a team and make it flow. Jimmy Bullard's name rockets to the top with these credentials.

JAMES


HARGREAVES F'NAND TERRY A.COLE

GERRARD BARRY ROONEY J.COLE


HESKEY OWEN.



==============================

TO CLARIFY, HARGREAVES AS RIGHT BACK, CAN ALSO MOVE TO C/MID... BARRY CAN PLAY L/MID AND ALSO SWAP WITH J.COLE WHO CAN SWAP STRIAGHT AWAY OR GO TO THE RIGHT... SWAPPING WITH GERRARD, WHO OBVIOUSLY CAN SWAP WITH BARRY, THEN ROONEY COULD GO UP FRONT HESKEY DROPS BACK..... BUT LOOOK!!! SURELY THATS HOW FOOTBALL SHOULD BE... SIMPLE, YET, COMPLICTAED. SURLEY ROONEY WOULD MAKE AN AWESONE ATTACKING MID AS OPPOSED TO A CENTRE FORWARD?!

Phil,

Why is it that in football, it's always the manager's fault when England don't perform?

That we have one of the most widely respected managers in world football with a proven track record of results at a high level, and England are still performing like this, is surely indicative that the problem is with the same old bunch of overpaid underachievers on the pitch who don't produce the goods when wearing England colours.

Be realistic; England's players simply aren't as good as we'd like to believe.

*FURRYRICECRISPY* = we won 2-0 you can only judge each game on its merits! CHEER UP FRUIT, WE WON 2-0 NIL! OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

C'mon u English... give your team a break. I was expecting McNulty to knock Capello all around but i'm happy to be disappointed.
Anyone read the post-match comments of Rodrigo (Andorran coach) their one aim was to frustrate... get men behind the ball.. that was ALL they did... Anyone remember how bad it was to play against Big-Sam's Bolton?
I'm not English but i follow the english game and i think one thing that hardly ever allows for progress in your game is constant attacks from the press and fans. Capello's head is wanted for not picking Owen... if he picked him but Owen is anonymous in the games, then he's a fool... gimme a break!
It was a good result, not a great performance but a good result all the same...

Now all they need to do is to progress... get to know themselves better, get familiar wit the manager's tactics... and finally... listen all of you... get GOOD support from the fans!

Wingers without a target man! classic!

Tactically he has shown himself to be totally inept. Against Andorra who he knew would defend deep he needed at least one tall guy in the box and to get the ball down the flanks, it's not difficult.

For Croatia he needs a much more defensive/counter attacking formation which should mean Lescott in front of the back four, Barry and Lampard in the middle with 3 quick forwards, Rooney, Cole and Young.. oh wait he wasn't picked, erm Agbonhlar? Ashton? Owen? erm....

Joe Cole being shouted at for not doing what he was told...

Reminds me of when Mourinho did it.

We've got a good manager here. He is demanding discipline and players to actually do what his tactics say rather than them doing what they want - which was a problem under Erikson and McLaren - who had no real discipline.

Look at SAF, Mourinho, Clough etc....it wouldn't matter if you're the best player of the game, if you didn't do what they asked, you'd be out.

Time for these players to man up and not act like spoilt children.

Re Hiddenranbir post, I don't think Joe Cole will mind how much the manager shouts at him as long as he gets a game regularly. Cole has previously said he would play in goal to represent his country - doesn't sound like a spoilt child to me ...

A very good article Phil.
Just so sad to have to read posts from the same old moaners,ie;the anti Lampard/Beckham brigade,would love to see what these moaners can do with a football.
I have not had the opportunity to see anything of the match but as I understand some are complaining about the lack of decent crosses,ha! only Beckham and Bentley can cross a ball with any accuracy from what I have seen,so there.
To all those who always look for double figure goals,I would say just this,let England win every game with 1-0 and I would be a very happy fan,cause thats all we need.

Bolton were a much better team than Andora.

Joe Cole for sure Engalnd's best player - seems to be the one with zest for playing for England.

What does paucity mean?

The whole England selection of the past few years has been baffling! We are reliant on aging players such as beckham, and have rarely seen a significant change to the starting line up. With such promise in the U21 squad, why not call up someone like James Milner instead of beckham or bullard?

Why did david wheater get a full international call up after one good season in the premiership, when the captain of the U 21's Steven Taylor has has several?

Too long have England been reliant on the same names: owen, heskey, defoe, beckham, lampard, gerrard, james, terry, ferdinand.

I pose the question that there are other players who deserve a chance: Taylor, Milner, Agbonlahor, joe hart, Michael Johnson to name but a few.

David Bently should not be in the squad, as he is a player who once ruled himself out of an U21 squad because he was too tired! In that same tournament, Steven Taylor played on for the rest of a game and extra time whilst injured, and scored a penalty at the end!

Same boring old England for decades. Expectations are unrealistic. The team is not good enough and management can do little about it. They virtually always are less the the sum of their parts and rarely play to that produced for their clubs.

Management chops and changes and what is the benefit? Perhaps these overpaid and generally overrated players 'produce' for their clubs when they have good players around them?

Perhaps international matches don't really mean much to too many of the players apart from boosting their transfer fees. Football is becoming boring with its cliche-ridden responses. How can performances such as beating Andorra 2-0 be deemed creditable? It is poor. The sport at this level is flabby and it is time that the team, rather than being lionised (!), should be seen for what it is. A mediocre team which can grind out boring wins against teams who theoretically shouldn't be able to compete.

Forget the mitigating circumstances.

Phil,seriously,Beckhams "tactical discipline"???

What has happened to you,sir?You used to have bite and the courage of your convictions,now youre putting your name to claims of Daivd Beckhams "tactical discipline".These are dark times people,dark.

Comfortable away victory by two clear goals ... three points, job done, what on earth is the problem?

Hey, and did you guys notice how much better we looked without Stevie Gerrard cluttering up the midfield?

Im embarrassed of the way English bad talk England, sorry but i am. the mission .. beat Andorra. we beat Andorra. not good enough. we should have won 20 0 did anyone see or hear about France or Italy. the fact is that England fans are never going to be happy.
what will the English press and the fans say if we draw or win by one goal on Wednesday? that we didn't play like Brazil, we were lucky Fabio should be sacked blah blah blah. Im tired of us, our arrogance is known around the world that's why teams take such joy in beating us.
The whole of Europe were so glad we weren't there during Euro 08 why? because there wrong, stupid arrogant or is it us. I think the time has come to take a long look at ourselves. The England team might be embarrassing us now but us, the fans have embarrassed our country for years. sad.

GGGGGrrrrrrrrrrrs

Why do managers persist wiht trying downing?

What did capello achieve playing downing in the first half that he doesnt already know.

No matter how many times he plays downing in england he is never gonna have a good game.
Dont know what it is but 20 games later and not even 10 mins of a decent performance. How many of his crosses missed any sort of target? Why was he crossing for 30 yards out to the smallest man on the pitch defoe. Isnt a midfielder supposed to play up the top of the pitch when attacking the opposition and not just stand there and do nothing.

DOWNING IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH.

He's a big time bottler, he might do ok in the comfort zone of boro but for england he looks like rabbit caught between headlights

Capello now knows what he's up against: a group of players who don't think in the same way on the pitch, no matter how good they may be for their own teams...

They seem to have psychological issue - either 'we are better then they are, so we don't really need to try' or, conversely, 'we are worried, that it won't go well' ala Terry. I used to believe the first, but it seems to hae changed over the last 3/4 years into the second of these.

Croatia will be well up for this one. Let's hope it brings out a better side in England on Weds.

England's result does not look too shabby, given the other home nations' results.

As a team, England are on the slide. Scotland are at our level now in the Fifa rankings.

Until we can get teams in the Premiership playing with a majority of home grown talent, we are going to continue to decline.

We can't even find an English manager!

Sheesh...what capello needs to do is get them to play as a team and not individuals. We need creativity and the midfield had none; so keep Cole but bring in Young; Hargreaves and Carrick...yes, they are out now but Barry and cole can help...and on the wings, SWP and Young are better suited than Wallcott or the even more ineffectual Bentley. Up front, Ashton and Owen need to be int he squad, not Defoe...we need team players and not big egos who keep wanting to overdo things.
Nuff said

To get the best from Rooney, he NEEDS a strike partner. In the absence of Owen, Heskey's the man.

His talent is to play just behind a front man, drawing the defence and laying off passes.

A strong front man also gives Rooney opportunities to break through and score.

He hasn't played to his strengths at United since Van Nistelrooy left the club.

AND GET RID OF THAT AWFUL BAND!

As soon as they begin to play, I feel nervous. It must affect in the same way, those players who have been in the squad
during the last five disappointing years.

Let's begin a new era and:

GET RID OF THE BAND!!!

Mortyfan.

Phil-Beckhams "tactical discipline".Im going to repeat this and if you dont attempt to justify yourself then it goes on your headstone in 30 years time,sir.Is that what you want?

Careful Phil, you'll have Capello complaining that since he doesn't criticise your journalism, you shouldn't criticise his coaching :-)

re the sycophantic friendlyonewhocares post 34, whilst not wishing to count myself amongst the legion of the "same old moaners" (damn that revealing choice of identity, but it's the name of my all-conquering fantasy football team), I must regretfully take issue with the implication that you need to be a good footballer to offer an opinion on the game. I would suggest that a more relevant requirement is to manage to watch the match in question before posting ...

well done capello for wading into these so called stars; well done for making the tactical change that cracked open the door. listen, when i was at school we sometimes weren't accompanied by our tutor cos he trusted we had the skills to beat weaker opposition; he left us to work stuff out for ourselves in these cases; with a team like andorra they shouldn't need capello to guide them...no wonder the guy was angry! what do you want, someone to sit passively dreaming of the next woman he can pull or a buy getting out a brolly clueless but trying to look as if he knows what he's doing; its absolutely ace to see this guy getting passionate and not afraid to argue with the big egos like cole and rooney, well done i say, cos even if england don't go through, at least it weren't for want of a manager trying to thrash the best out of them.

I gave up watching football years ago as I tended to go to sleep with the excitement. How about only paying the players - and this could apply to league teams too - for a win. The larger the number of goals the higher the renumeration!!!

Take it one stage further and fine them for a poor display.

At work, we don't get pay rises or promotion if we don't perform, so why should they?

England's creativity is very much under par at the moment, but I do think some blame for this has to lie with team and tactical decisions.

Look at the team we had out there last night and you wonder why we dont create any chances of note.

Downing never has and never wil do it for england so why do we keep insisting on giving him a chance. He doesn't even light up the premiership. And his long balls and crosses into the box to a 5 foot 6 striker in Defoe is going to do nothing for us. Therefore, if you're gonna play him, then you need strikers with some height.

And playing Walcott on the wing is another mistake. Again, what has he done for Arsenal? He isn't a regular there?

If you want creativity then you need Joe Cole starting. And there is also one glaring ommission ...ASHLEY YOUNG!!! Second most number of assists in the Prem last year and he doesn't even make the squad. He's not one dimensional like Downing and surely deserves a chance.

PHIL MCNULTY-"I RESPECT,THATS RESPECT AND ADMIRE DAVID BECKHAMS TACTICAL DISCIPLINE"AND I THINK I KNOW SOMETHING ABOUT FOOTBALL.

Phil,is that your idea of a sick joke,i really desire to understand.

Again, we have all the whingers on here pointing the finger at Lampard, even though we won and Andorra didn't get a shot on goal all game. Lampard had a decent game compared to most on the pitch last night. His game was as good if not better than Barry's for example. His all round passing and linking was very good on the night and he was the closest player to scoring for England in the first half. Rooney again is taking less stick but apart from a good pass to assist a goal for J.Cole he was absolutely rubbish! His shooting was wayward and he lost the ball more times than anybody on the park. I thought the team had better balance last night without Gerrard in the team. We had better shape and kept the ball better and in all fairness we looked good throughout the pitch until the ball got into the final third and the final ball wasn't good enough for the majority of the game. That means the central midfield position was more than organised and marshalled well between Lampard and Barry and lets give them some credit for stopping Andorra mounting any form of decent counter attacks. When a team places 10 men behind the ball no matter how good they are as a team it is very difficult to break down. Quality is needed when this happens and between Rooney and J.Cole it was Cole who showed the quality on the night. Stop blaming Lampard for everything and get behind the team. The amount of stick he gets is unwarranted most of the time and he normally isn't half as bad as others on the pitch. Last night Downing and Defoe were arguably England's worst but shouldn't be singled out anyway. England won, we got 3 points, a clean sheet and a tough trip to Croatia on Wednesday. Ferdinand should be back to bolster the defence and the only advice I can give Capello is to play Heskey up front to muscle himself among their defence so that J.Cole, Rooney or even Lampard can get onto loose balls and show some quality. If he plays Defoe again the ball will be in our half more than it should which means Rooney will roam, Lampard will be unable to get forward and J.Cole will be lucky to see the ball at all. We need a big, strong player in attack to cause some trouble for Croatia's defence or our team will be run ragged like it was last time.

You're right, no matter how bad England were, or ever will be, we as a nation should always be more ashamed of Coldplay. They are a scourge on mankind.....

Coldplay,the Dvaid Beckham of football,only with more depth.

Phil,

As mentioned by others, such as Sealey_OT_legend and KingofReds, I am continually disappointed and disheartened by the overly negative reaction of fans, fuelled by the media. This article is another example of this!

The overriding tone of the whole article is negative and seems determined to undermine confidence. The tone is always there, in the build up to games, during and after and only serves to increase the pressure on the team. These are world cup qualifiers, there's enough pressure as it is, regardless of who the opposition is.

I'm not disagreeing that there were aspects of the performance, which were disappointing, but as long as the media keeps producing articles, with almost threatening language, (even the title included 'must raise game'), then we will continue to get ridiculous responses from fans and commentators alike, that 2-0 isn't good enough. We won. We have 3 points. Croatia is a completely different game. I'm sure Capello will have a different game plan so let's let him do his job, and we'll do ours, i.e. get behind the team.

I think it's got to the stage where Phil can simply copy + paste his post-England match blogs, change a couple of names around (i.e. the scorer if we're lucky enough to see a goal, or the latest overpaid cretin to underperform) and have the whole thing published within five minutes.

It is so boring and so painfully predictable. England can't beat a bunch of part-timers; Rooney isn't the player he was in 2004; Lampard can't perform in an England shirt; Downing is utterly useless; England need a quality right-back; Beckham will start in the next game, despite being 207 years old and capable only of providing from set-pieces; England must perform in Zagreb; a Scottish tennis player is more interesting to watch than our own national football team.

The whole thing is like a horrible, endless nightmare that we have to suffer over and over and over again. Each time we think we've woken up and moved on - oh look, Heskey's back in the squad! Each time a new manager comes and promises a bright new era for English football, oh how wonderful - Beckham's back on the right wing! I mean, what the hell is going on? I'm actually seriously asking myself why I bother to support the national team anymore and I think a lot of you should too. Don't tell me I should have pride, because I feel absolutely no pride watching that bunch of losers toil against some of the worst teams in the world - on an increasingly regular basis.

I am sick of hearing the same media stories, the same selection-based "dilemmas", the same excuses and the same promises time and time again. Enough is enough.

It was obvious that the two short strikers were getting no joy - Crouch should have been on the pitch, or at least in the squad.
He has never let England (or Liverpool) down - Just look at his goals per game ratio and compare it to those playing last night.
How can he be dropped?

Whittingham,thats why we needed martin O`Neil.He would have used his 5 firnedlies to rid england of their mouldy Beckham-leaden past,introduced the Youngs,the Agbonlahoors,the Walcotts and freed up Gerrard to lead us into a new era.What we have with capello is like some awful crusted Sven wholl just pick the old famous names,line them up and be so self-important he believes his stature as a coach will suddenyl make them play in the way they havent over he past 7 years.

I think a lot of people are over confident with the England team.

Any moderately talented , fit and organised team can frustrate a better team.

If you do not get an early goal , they get more motivated and it gets harder.

I feel that the system Benitez used for Liverpool last season would be ideal for the players we have at present.

4 2 3 1

JAMES
BROWN RIO TERRY COLE A
HARGREAVES BARRY
GERRARD ROONEY COLE J
OWEN

Would make us defensively stronger but release the front 4 to concentrate more on their creativity.

So here's the thing! England needed something different in their attack instead of trying to dribble through the middle. What about Peter Crouch? He is such a handful with his height and touch.

Sir Phil Mcnulty:"im a big admirer of david Beckhams tactical discipline on a football pitch,dont you know."

No,its still as cringeworthy as when i first read it.AM i imagining it or did he REALLY write that,we must be told.

Still can't understand the idea of playing Downing, who I believe is good, with no target man 9this happened previously as well). Then replace him at half time whilst putting on Heskey...surely they should be on at the same time.

Joe Cole didn't play 'left', he plays through the middle, ideally with the smaller forwards IMO i.e the first half set up. So play him in Rooney's position, as he just doesn't do it. I hear a lot that Rooney works hard and runs around a lot, well if we just need a runner then why not ask Paula Radcliffe to play.

Similarly Walcott is out of position for some of the set ups so either...
Walcott, Cole, Rooney and Defoe play forward (1 dimensional) or Bentley, Cole, Heskey, Downing play and try width with through play as well. Maybe Cole as midfielder but not v Croatia.

The whole thing baffles me...

"I feel that the system Benitez used for Liverpool last season would be ideal for the players we have at present.

4 2 3 1

JAMES
BROWN RIO TERRY COLE A
HARGREAVES BARRY
GERRARD ROONEY COLE J
OWEN" from Callyismagic

Quite like this set up but still worried that without a proper target and a threat of width the opposition can just fill the central defense to stop the through the middle play. Rooney is using up a position that would allow slotting someone wide.

Gareth Barry and Lampard are just not good enough for internationals.At the moment they would be better with owen and heskey up front as Rooney is failing to live up to all the hype for club and country.

Fabio should have a look at the england cricket team. PLayers like hick and ramprakash have destroyed teams on the county circuits for years, but have been tried at international level and failed, so theyre no longer picked.
Lampard is a fantastic player for Chelsea but for some reason, he does not perform for england. Thus he should no longer be considered for selection

"Whittingham,thats why we needed martin O`Neil.He would have used his 5 firnedlies to rid england of their mouldy Beckham-leaden past,introduced the Youngs,the Agbonlahoors,the Walcotts and freed up Gerrard to lead us into a new era"

Would he really have done that though? I'm not so sure. When Capello arrived, he was touted as this no nonsense, uncompromising manager who wouldn't put up with big egos or pick a player who was not performing. But it seems that after just a short time in the job, he's already showing many of the downfalls that led to past managers being sacked. Negative tactics, unadventurous selections, inability to openly criticise the players...

I am not saying this is Capello's fault. I think it's just something that happens to managers when they take the England job and start hanging around with the FA too much. Makes you wonder exactly who makes the telling decisions, and who is really in control of the team. It seems that it doesn't matter who you put in charge of the team; you could select the world's greatest, most decorated manager and I would be willing to bet that he would end up looking just like Sven, McLaren and all the others who have failed (relatively speaking) before them.

We all know the problems and that the solutions are so blindingly clear. All of us except the people who really matter, it seems.

Capello's only option given the tools he has to work with is to shut the shop against the Croats and play for a nil nil with the hope of a counter attack break.

#72 you say Capello shows:
"inability to openly criticise the players"

I'm not sure what guide books on management you have read but rule 1 of any kind of management is never, ever, ever humiliate your team members.

Plus - Capello doesn't seem to have a problem bawling out star names as witnessed last night.

whittingham,thats precisely why O`Neil was overlooked originally after Sven by the FA,because he wanted to shake it up ala Clough and they wouldnt let him.Capellos only remark on wanting the job was that how he "couldnt understand" how such "stars" couldnt perform in an england shirt.He though he and only he would be able to pick svens line-up and make them play,there was no hint of revolution and why would there be from a 62 year old dinosaur in football-terms italian tinkerman?All hes done so far is retread Svens footmarks and then thrown in the odd Walcott and expected it to work but it wont.His carcass is the same as Svens,what we needed was a completely new vision and philosophy which O`Neil would have given us.He,like MOurinho,would have engineered a real "club" atmposphere amongst his young set which couldnt be further from the way Capello is going about getting "respect" from his old timers ala Madrid.Hes the wrong man at the worng time,weve fouled it up yet again.

I don't believe any of the not up too international standard remarks about a lot of the players. Andorra can not be compared to the week in week out games v opposition teams in the PL that these players are up against.

As Frank once said "if you can make it there..."

Alot has been said about when was X, Y or Z last good game for England.

My question is, when did Joe Cole last have a bad game for England?

He has been our best, and most consistant player for a long time. Without a doubt should be starting ahead of Downing

Infact, if everyone had the passion for their country that Joe Cole seems to have, then I don't think we would be complaining about anything at all.

With regards the result against Andora. We won, so who cares how we played. They are a team that puts 11 players behind the ball, and see a result as not losing by double figures.

Croatia will actually come out and play against England; which will give us more space etc. But lets remember, Croatia are not some also ran team. They are ranked higher than us in the world, which means they are better than us; Beating them should be seen as a result; not an expectation!

It is almost impossible to make English play as they do for thier Club.You all know the reason.
Every single players is looking for money,dont includ kids like Welcot who wants to prove themselves first and then think about wages.
Lamps is definitely looking for money,if you pay him alot he will work hard to be the best as he does with Chelsea,same as others big name players in England.
I dont think they will even listen to the Manager,it is just hard to manager this team of greedy individuals,they admit it or not but it is a fact which everyone is aware of.
What I want to tell you all england fans,dont blame the Manager,he i doind what any other Manager would do to make this work but if the players themselves doesnt want to listen what can he do.
When you have someone is doesnt care it is hard to tell him to obay something because he will not if he doesnt want to and there is not pressure if he will not play anymore,he just doesnt give a damn.
Lamps or Rooney can not do this to their clubs,they will be jobless the next day..including other players as well.
As long as there is no that kind of worry in Greedy English players there wont be any listening to the Manager and obaying his orders.
As Rooney and Cole did last night.
No Manager in this world can Manager England.

O'Neill that tactical mastermind... give me a break. He is not fit to polish Fabio's boots. He has done nothing at Villa except achieve a bit of stability, his purchases have been average, Young aside. His team is mediocre and plays predictably. He can man manage and motivate OK but this England team needs more than that to succeed.

The problem is not the manager people, it's far to easy to blame him. It's the players.

I thought last night was as expected anyway and acceptable given the circumstances

no Jorgen,its about understanding englands persdonality and playing to our strengths.O` Neil would have given as an edge no other nation posesses and enabled us to punch above our weight in the way he made Celtic do.He would have made us more than the sum of our parts which could have got us somewhere.Under the likes of Capello who doesnt and can never understand our personality we will always underperform.

Re 77

I agree Cole should start but the idea of 'ahead of Downing' is sticking with the previous formula of him on the left. He should be playing more central, all of his play last night was from the centre to centre right position.

Drop Rooney.

The only think I think worth taking from this game, which is a non-event because Andorra are such a waste of time, is that Capello has common sense - he saw the long ball reversion and knew he had to bring on heskey - you would never see mcclaren bring on a striker who currently plays for wigan, and he dropped the awful downing for joe cole, who for me is one of england's most regular performers - clearly fabio wanted some width so he started downing to run down the left rather than cole who will cut inside, but that didn't work and he brought on someone who is a very consistent player for england - the first time I ever agreed with mcclaren was after he'd already ballsed up so much we were 2-0 down

And I have to disagree with Phil, who has no time for the 'anti-Frank Lampard brigade' - you admit he was anonymous last night? so that was an unusual occurence, right? because it seems to me every single england game for the past few years he has been anonymous - i seem to remember 'he went missing' against the czechs, and i'm struggling to find a 'recent' performance where he's been useful - it seems everybody on here agrees - yes he banged in the goals at euro 2004 and the 2006 qualification campaign (tap-ins and flukey deflections or not) - but since that world cup where has he been? nowhere, that's over 2 years of poor performance - so I'd like to know why Phil insists we should keep him in the first team - simply because of his record? because he plays well for chelsea? the fact is chelsea are built around him, england aren't and are unlikely to be set up that way - especially when Gerrard consistently outperforms him for england, even if he isn't looking great he's still dragging the team along and rescuing points and getting plaudits for his efforts, just as he does with a liverpool side that often struggle

lampard will have his chance with barry on wednesday, and if he doesn't 'reappear' then I don't know how you can justify Frank on the field, you can't blame it on Gerrard this time - when Gerrard and Barry were put there when Lamps got injured, they played some great stuff - Lampard has had two years to impress and he hasn't, I don't understand why he's still picked (ok I do, but surely england form is worth something these days) - put simply he doesn't play like he used to, he doesn't get forward, he doesn't try his heart out - maybe he's just not the old frank lampard any more, so please give me a reason why we should play a man that is almost constantly labelled 'anonymous' by the pundits, but also still regarded as an england regular by the very same pundits!

England need a reality check. They're never going to lose to Andorra, so they should treat it as one of two things:

1) An opportunity to practice things that they want to do in a bigger game; or
2) A chance to go out and enjoy themselves, try new things and generally be adventurous.

The opposition was not right for #1, so that only leaves one option.

It's time for England to lighten up. They care too much what the fans or the press say. All they should care about is what they DO.

I think there are a lot of fair comments, both good and bad here. England do have problems, yes, but things are improving and you can see the direction Capello is wanting to take us in. It's all very well suggesting who should or should not be in the side, who should play where etc, but the reality is, there is no perfect answer that will suddenly make us overnight world-beaters. The fact of the matter is that there are some areas of the pitch where we don't have the quality of players available to us, and i'm especially talking about up front. Yes, you could play Owen, bring in Crouch, draft in Agbonlahor or Ashton etc, but there's no Shearer-Sheringham out there, no Torres-Villa, so any success will come from organisation and getting the best out of the players he can see something in. You can see from his rants at Joe Cole and Rooney that he does know what's needed to do this, so give it time.

The other thing that's worth noting, and that i feel is interesting is the level of discussion and fear when talking about qualification. We would've expected it before, unfairly i believe and in reality many top nations, not just us get into trouble at this stage. Just look at France's result last night. Spain also only beat Bosnia by a goal, and they're the toast of European football! It's not easy, so just enjoy the excitement. Even if we lose in Croatia, we get another go at them, and even then we should get a playoff spot so that's another opportunity. Don't panic!

Floplegend

On what basis do you say O'Neill would have:
"given as an edge no other nation posesses and enabled us to punch above our weight"

How exactly would he have done this? With who? What players, using what techniques? What part of his track record suggests he is better equipped to do this than Capello, the most successful manager on the planet?

Please don't tell me a couple of Scottish titles with those perennial underdogs Celtic? It might be raining but April 1st is a few months off yet mate.
PS he isn't English either.

I personally believe that this England side lacks any creative players in the middle of the park or the wings! Long are the days when good crossers of the ball are sufficient, continental teams are now aware of that and by closing the space, you don't have the time to put in a decent cross! If you look at the premier league and the top teams in specific, there are always creative players who can break the deadlock such as Ronaldo and Scholes in Man Utd, Deco and Ballack nowadays in Chelsea, Fabregas and Nasri in Arsenal, Alonso and Keane in Liverpool. Now Lampard and Gerrard can be amongst the goals, but the issue is how are we going to create the opportunities in the first place and on a regular basis! When teams put 10 players behind the ball, you need creativity in the side and not just someone who will run to the byline and cross it. I don't think Lampard or Gerrard are the most creative players, they may have drive, score the goals, arrive at the right time in the box, but creativity I think is lacking! Other international teams struggle in that department, but if you look around there is always that creative genious in the side, Italy: Totti, France: Now NONE used to be Zidane, Spain: Everyone, Germany: Ballack, England: ?????

Another thing to note that apart from rio and ashley, our defenders are not comfortable on the ball and you get the feeling that they want to get rid of it as soon as possible. There are has to be the confidence to play the ball out from defence comfortably or we go back to the long ball.

"I'm not sure what guide books on management you have read but rule 1 of any kind of management is never, ever, ever humiliate your team members."

It's got nothing to do with humiliation. A good manager in my eyes is someone who motivates, gets the best out of their staff, pushes them to maintain that level and is not afraid to give them a rollicking when they're not up to scratch.

A bit of humiliation can actually do some good from time to time. You would have thought that the crushing disappointment of failing to qualify for Euro 2008 would have really kicked the players into shape, but apart from a few apologetic interviews and a lot of rhetoric, what evidence have we seen on the pitch to suggest that the experience had any effect on them at all?

I'd really like to know, because I'm genuinely struggling to see how the team that beat Andorra 2-0 last night was any better than the team that laboured to a 3-0 victory a year ago.

As for Capello dropping star names - putting Beckham on the bench does not show any kind of strength at all. If he wants to prove how tough a manager he is, he has to drop Beckham and similarly obsolete from the squad completely, and slam the door shut.

in the same way he did at celtic jurgen.He posesses a clough-like personality that inspires players to want to play for him and yes,though some may not like it,a direct and physical approach which suits our play.We are never going to out ITaly Italy nor out Brazil Brazil.We have to maximise our own strengths and O`Neil has just about the right mix as a manager to get the best out of our type of players and men.Mourinho would have been similar but capello is not.There is an argument that capello would have been the right sort of man back in 2001 instead of Sven but we need different things brought to the table now,a new vision,a new philosophy and no more fri ggin Beckham!

*similarly obsolete players :)

Gawd that was awful, but did we expect anything else?
As England fans we have to realise that years of foreign imports have ruined England's selection pool, and we are no longer, if indeed we ever were, a force in world footy.
Those of you who pay Sky's exhorbitant fees and moan about not beating the likes of Andorra 8-0 should take some responsibility for the paucity of talent currently available.
Exactly how many of England's current squad would make a World Eleven? Rooney? - not a chance, peaked at 18. Glad we sold him when we did.
Gerrard? - may have done two or three years ago, not now.
Joe Cole? - might get on the subs bench if there were a lot of players out with injuries.
Nobody else is worth a mention. Remember, in the last FIFA rankings we slipped to a lowly 15th, a mere one place ahead of the jocks! There's every chance they'll be in front of us by the end of the World Cup qualifiers.
I'm off to watch the Belgian GP, a sport where an Englishman IS actually world class!

"He posesses a clough-like personality that inspires players to want to play for him and yes,though some may not like it,a direct and physical approach which suits our play"

But that's the point - would he be allowed to demonstrate that personality and use that physical style of play if he were the England manager? Or would he be forced by some higher power to pick certain players (you know which players I'm talking about) and be obliged to make a system to accommodate them?

whittingham

i don't think there's a higher power saying which players to pick these days - in the old days the FA dominated managers, more recently they have crumbled to media outrage if they didn't pick the biggest english names out there - mcClaren was a weakling - somehow I don't see Capello being quite the same or listening to anyone he doesn't want to

"somehow I don't see Capello being quite the same or listening to anyone he doesn't want to"

I agree with you, that's the reputation he had before he became England manager and that's what we'd really like to be seeing. But I ask again, what have we seen to suggest that he's turning words into actions? He's hardly swept through the team with a broom (the difference between his team and McLaren's is...?) and short of barking at a few players - which you would ABSOLUTELY expect ANY manager to do if a player isn't doing his job - what's he got that, say, Sven didn't have?

Well, you don't have to answer that because it's all in the past. I just feel that the national team manager is under so much pressure, so much expectation and so many invisible constraints (i.e. influences that we don't hear about) that they are never able (allowed?) to stamp their true personality on the squad. I think we could have a League 2-standard manager in charge of the team and you wouldn't notice much difference in the players' performance.

Downing is definitely not good enough for England. At international level he is found out as being a one trick pony but even his crossing seems to go out the window most of the time, he clearly the doesn't have the mental game to reproduce club form at international level.
Heartening to see Capello ringing the changes and not putting up with poor discipline and performances. Hopefully this will result in him bringing in Young and Agbonlahor who are both deserving of a place in the squad.
I don't really understand why you wouldn't start with 3 at the back against Andorra (one CB and two FB's, say TERRY, COLE and JOHNSON) when they won't be testing your defence anyway. You then have a lot more scope for playing more creative attacking players.

*yawn* who cares about crosses? are we not missing the point that rooney is at his best running from 40 yards out to the edge of the box? hes not an aerial threat, nor is defoe or, particularly, owen. Also, anyone who can't see that this result bears no relevance to croatia is clearly blind...spending 90 minutes battling against a solid line and trying to find goals is a completely different ball game to playing a proper match. this result is a job well done, and zagreb will be an indicator of how good england are.

Last nights game was very difficult. Playing against a well organised, stubborn team who plays with all 11 men in the box is not easy. England done quite well to break them down as they did, they just lacked the quality on the final ball.

Walcott showed glimpses of things to come, good pace and creativity, but still lacked composure when he got himself into space. Downing was poor, no real drive at the defense, was unwilling to beat his man and his delivery was shocking.
Lampard looked for the little chip ball far to often, worked a couple of times but he seemed unwilling to mix it up. Barry was poor, lacks real pace and didnt show much composure, even with all the pace he was allowed.
Rooney and Defoes performances cant be judged, it was 11 v 2 in the box and they never got supply to do anything. Rooney easily gets frustrated and goes ball hunting, maybe needs to be more selfish, but his reverse pass was delightful.

People talk about formations and playing players there, well if your on 150,000 a week and your coach tells you to play a position, you overcome and adapt. However, i do agree that either lamps or gerrard need to be given a free role to roam in between a holding midfielder and a front pair.
Carrick and Hargreaves are massive loses for England, they really play the holding role superbly for united and i think once fit, will play a role in Capellos game plan.

Starting line up for Croatia:

James

Brown - Rio - Terry - Cole

Beckham - Barry - Cole

Lampard

Heskey - Rooney

Rooney naturally always seems to peel to the left, so i think this will help joe cole to cut inside alittle more. Lampard needs to be given freedom to express himself, shoot from 40 yards, but then be able to use the width Cole and Beckham will provide. This isnt the best England squad by far, but the formation suits them and its one alot of teams are playing with these days. The defense is strong enough to cope with alot, and if barry can play a holding role, it should only take 1 goal to beat croatia.

COME ON ENGLAND!!!! lets win in zagreb!!!
We do have a good team so lets support them and win!!!! stop booing them if you're and english person because thats not right. not many other countries' fans would do that so lets not do it ourselves. does anyone know who the lineup will probably be? i think walcott did pretty well but i think joe cole should change with downing. and come on rooney and the other strikers!! get some goals!! come on england!!!!

"Heartening to see Capello ringing the changes and not putting up with poor discipline and performances."

How exactly? Just because he brought off Downing and Defoe at half-time instead of waiting until the 70th minute, as we've grown accustomed to? Why didn't he just drop them from the starting eleven in the first place?

I don't have setanta and could only listen via radio which only suggested from the commentators voices that England did ok through the first half.

The second half had a bit more to it but overall we did win but are going to be seriously tested against the croats.

Give it 5 years and we'll see better players come from our own national football centre!!