Engand Germany

[lake district canary 4,830]

Watched with interest in an England match for the first time in ages. Switched on just after the match had started and thought we looked good - until I realised the men in the classic looking strip were Germany and England were the naff looking team dressed in what looked like blue onesies. Once that was sorted, I was more interested in how Germany played than England, mainly to get some possibe clues about what we are aiming for at Norwich - the controlled passing and the lightning accurate attacks that I hope we are going to get at Norwich on a more regular basis. It was a little like recent Norwich matches - Germany looked controlled and should have scored and could have ended up getting beaten. Just wondered if anyone else had viewed the match with Norwich in mind and what they thought?  

[Hoola Han Solo 448]

I think we’re a million miles away from playing like Germany to be fair.

[GJP 79]

Quite a decent game for a nil nil friendly.

Eye catching performance from Loftus-Cheek but his ability has been clear for some time. Will be on the plane to Russia.

Good display from Pickford too.

[Capt. Pants 5,008]

I enjoyed watching England on the counter attack. I thought Germany were dull, very slow build up allowing England to get men behind the ball. Seen that before somewhere.

[SwindonCanary 457]

I had Norwich in mind when England kept passing the ball and not getting anywhere near goal !   

[hogesar 10,762]

Loftus Cheek has ability. Quite liked Stones and Maguire who are both excellent on the ball but done their job defensively too.

I dont like or rate Livermore but understand why hes in the side.

[GJP 79]

I would prefer to see only one of the two deeper midfielders be of the stodgy type. Any two of Henderson/Dier/Livermore is too much stodge.

I think one if them can be replaced by someone who offers more on the ball. So you could have a midfield 3 of Dier, RLC and Dele.

[curious yellow 184]

How on earth did Cork get an international call up.

[GJP 79]

Because he''s good at football.

[nutty nigel 7,902]

However good was Pickford last night?

On that showing better than Joe Hart for me.

[Capt. Pants 5,008]

[quote user="nutty nigel"]However good was Pickford last night?

On that showing better than Joe Hart for me.

[/quote]Agree with that and did well for the U21s too.

[TIL 1010 5,246]

I enjoyed that performance from England above several i have seen in recent times. I saw somebody yesterday was being sarcastic on social media before the game saying words to the effect that you would get a game for England by just turning up at Wembley to play against the World champions. Pickford,Trippier and Loftus Cheek showed tremendous potemtial and Maguire looked competent. However i think Abraham maybe should have chosen Nigeria as i do not think he will win many caps for England.

[Samwam27 606]

Joe Hart''s been wobbly for quite some time, and having poor season now. Time for a change.

With Pickford, Heaton, Forster, even Pope playing great at Burnley, I think we have better keepers than Hart, Picckford should be given a chance, but at least great prospects coming through!

[king canary 8,754]

Did you also watch the Scottish national team when Neil took over for clues?

[westcoastcanary 173]

[quote user="king canary"]Did you also watch the Scottish national team when Neil took over for clues?[/quote] I hope nobody watched Denmark versus the RofI last night and thought "If only we could play like the RofI" [:''(]

[wcorkcanary 4,784]

Agreed . ROI Were dreadful, 1st comment at half time from the pundits was"have to get Hoolahan on the pitch" ...they didn''t and it stayed nil nil mostly thanks to the GK.

[king canary 8,754]

Yep Ireland were god awful- a couple of times they won the ball back and just hoofed it straight to the Danish keeper.

[paddycanary 579]

True, Ireland were fairly brutal last night but solid enough defensively away from home. Denmark had three good chances, one of which should definitely have been put away. Looks like Martin O''Neill wanted to make sure they didn''t concede in the first leg and make sure they were well in the tie coming back to Dublin. No away goal could yet prove very costly. We might see David Meyler, Wes (more likely off the bench after 65mins) and Shane Long starting the second leg; fresh legs, give Denmark something different to think about and perhaps try to actually score a goal!

Was pondering while watching the game how Shane Duffy might look in yellow and green, particularly if Timm Klose hands in his cards. He''s a no-nonsense, body on the line, kick it into Row Z merchant, dominant in the air, a decent leader & organiser, a threat from set-pieces and has become very important in this Irish team. Doing the business with Brighton at the moment in the top tier but maybe in a year or two. We''d be a step down at the moment sadly.

[westcoastcanary 173]

So England are the only one of the five "home" nations to qualify. Southgate gets a lot of flack from the traditionalists among English fans and media, but he''s shown guts with his selections and insistence on a different style of play, both now beginning to bear fruit. A nice parallel with what Webber/Farke are doing for us. The future looks full of interest in both cases. McDinosaurs out!  

[Rogue Baboon 0]

England may have qualified. That’s nothing to celebrate though, anything less is humiliation and utter failure. The qualifying groups are so uncompetitive now, only 1 or 2 actually have more than 1 ‘top’ team in.

As for style of play and bold decisions, Southgate is about as dull as it gets. The squad was picked based on the players that didn’t fancy it - even Drinkwater was called up (and declined) and he has barely kicked a ball all season. Perhaps it’s good that so many players pulled out as we were forced to play younger players.

As for the World Cup, I expect nothing different. We will struggle, may scrape through the group, but get knocked out at the first sign of a half decent team

[GJP 79]

Qualifying for the World Cup is to be celebrated.

But yeah the group and respectable results in friendlies count for nothing if you don''t deliver something decent in the tournament.

Players like Hart and Cahill have come up short in the last couple of tournaments. Do they get yet another chance ahead of players with a future?

[Jim Smith 2,610]

I''m not sure how much of it is luck and how much is judgment but I do think Southgate may have stumbled across a formation that suits the players we have. The back 3 looks good (very impressed by Gomez), we have fast, athletic wing backs and if you slot Kane, Sterling and Ali alongside Rashford as a front 4 that looks very handy. Just need to find more of a playmaker to sit alongside Dier.

[westcoastcanary 173]

Rather than Southgate stumbling on a system that suits the players, what I see are a group of (mostly younger) players who seem to understand what Southgate is asking them to do, in marked contrast to previous generations to whom e.g. Capello''s and Hodgson''s appeared largely incomprehensible.

[westcoastcanary 173]

Oops! "instructions"

[king canary 8,754]

I do think the system makes sense for us, both in the kind of games we''ll be playing and the kind of players we have.

Looking at our squad I see...

A decent selection of options at center back.

Pacey fullbacks who are really more suited to going forward than defending.

One excellent lone striker.

Some decent pace further up the pitch.

Slim pickings in central midfield.

So the 3-4-3 type formation really makes use of all of that while also covering a bit for the lack of central playmaking ability.

I also like it as it is pretty flexible depending on your opponent.

So if we are playing the sort of team that might sit deep and ask us to break them down, we can fit Walker, Rose, Ali, Sterling, Rashford and Kane all into the team by dropping Ali in next to Dier.

Up against someone like Germany or Brazil though you can take on of those out (probably either Rashford or Sterling) for a more solid option next to Dier, move Ali a bit further up the pitch and ask Walker and Rose to be a bit more careful about bombing on all the time. This still keeps a good amount of pace in the team however that means we can try and hit teams that dominate possession on the counter attack.

[westcoastcanary 173]

@king canary

[Y] Exactly. Couldn''t put it better myself [;)][:D]

[Rock The Boat 1,332]

I watched most of the Germany game but only ten minutes at the end of the first half against Brazil and then gave up.

It is dull, boring football. Yes, you need some structure but it''s being taken to such a degree that it is squeezing all the joy and excitement out of a game.

This over-structuring is now coming to Norwich and the result is the same, dull and boring to watch. If this emphasis on form over substance (ie, skill) continues, then it will end up killing the game as a spectacle.