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A Central Void To Fill?
10th Oct 2006
I hate to sound like a broken record but the England performance and punditry examining it continue to show a profound ignorance and lack of real insight into how to correct it. If Rooney and co play the same but hit the net a few times v Croatia no doubt the problems will be perceived to have gone away. Yet they will remain and have remained implaccable it seems for years bar the Hoddle 352 when he created a raft of new ones.
Honestly vague concepts like tempo, passing etc. seem to ignore the obvious dynamics of the team as currently contrived. The discussion of Wayne Rooney never remotely considers how he fits a team or whether his achievements really do make him the 'Best' player - well maybe but others routinely out score him and out create him. There is no causal analysis for me.
Whilst I may sound like I am lecturing I am aware I may be wrong but at least my methodology is correct: locate problems: what in team exacerbates the problems: are the problems part of a necessary trade off i.e. pace or size: would any solution remove the problem without creating more problems: what players playing make solution impossible?: what players available could remove a problem or facillitate a solution?
I am over simplifying here but the essential problem with England's new same as it ever was 442 formation is that its 1 up 1 back central midfield means one player has to cover an area 50 by 70 meters - half the pitch and more. It also happens that whoever plays what is currently the "Frank Lampard" role is expected to be an extra man in the box. That anyone including the mega fit Frank struggles to fulfill this role goes without saying. Paul Scholes as talented a player with the ball as there has been was also anonymous for 4 years in this system.
The whole formation does not make sense from back to front as it stretches the play and does not use players best suited to the demands it makes. I would argue the demands are impossible on some players or that the wrong players are being used.
England defend very deep as this suits Terry and Rio Ferdinand because 1 is slow and the other makes poor decisions. Also allows them to leave someone in the "holding" role to cover nearly as much ground as his attacking buddy. The implication here is that we have to play further up the pitch and that means King and Brown say over Rio and JT. You have to suit the team we play not not be a better player in a better system.
OK with a deep lying defence and wide players the two midfielders roles are massive. Indeed when Hargreaves is the deeper midfielder in a 2 the other player has to be the principal passer, attacking threat and help play the ball out. Is it any wonder we end up making lots of long slow momentum killing passes. In the end we do not have fitter players than Lampard or Hargreaves and if they cannot consistently do it I would bet no one can.
No offence to Rooney and Crouch but neither can hold the ball up for long. Neither is that great at taking and holding the ball in traffic. Rooney is patently better in and around the box where his ability to beat a man and create space makes him dangerous. Crouch is obviously good at finishing against rubbish teams but offers nothing. If we must play 442 playing Rooney with a physical or pace threat makes sense, on the physical side only Kevin Davies appeals. Andy Johnson is pacy but plays up front on his own. It is not a great choice but maybe Rooney off the bench and a 451 makes some more sense than we currently play. Or if Rooney must play with a partner, ala Saha, then that means Davies or Johnson as no one has pace and power like Saha but they have 1 component at least - Defoe and Crouch have neither.
For a brief period till the opposition realised that he was England's only threat Joe Cole flourished in the world cup. At least if he came back his angle of running leaving inside and outside options open would be potent with someone requiring more marking than Beckham on the right. Downing is almost Jenas without the ability to be a nothing player in the centre as well. If Cole is absent pace needs to be added to force the opposition back and hence SWP has to play v Croatia - regardless of if Gerrard was suspended.
Assuming England stick to 442 they must push up at the back and compress the field to give the middle 2 a half chance. Against teams playing 433 we should consider matching them in midfield at least defensively so when we get the ball we can come out as a team. At present the team does not create enough or retain possesion as it is too far spread and the central midfielders have over half the pitch each to cover.
At present England set up like the old Liverpool which is fine if you have Dalglish off Rush and the opposition have learned nothing in the last 25 years - and we do not have Rush's pace. If England were a team in the Champions' League they would be playing to nick a goal and win 1-0 over 2 legs. If they are in a world cup this only makes sense if we are playing for penalties or to nick a goal - not to be advised given England's record from 12 yards.
The fact that every pundit and manager commenting would continue the 442 and would continue it with Terry and Rooney who do not suit it in its current form is frustrating. Added to that the dearth of ideas from the manager and his coach is frightening. This has been happening in various forms since English sides re-entered Europe and we have seemingly learned nothing.
The conclusion is this: pick a system: stick to it: pick players and tactics that suit that system: don't let 1 injury change the system. It has been a frustrating 15 years watching English teams make the same mistakes over and over again. What is more depressing is no one seems to learn from those mistakes. Indeed even people one imagines know more like a Jose Mourinho is currently trying my other bete noir the 4 central midfielder 442 another England variation that never worked.
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