In their first match against a European powerhouse since Portugal knocked them out of the 2006 FIFA World Cup (Andorra doesn’t count), the England national team, yet again, continued their descent into footballing irrelevance, falling 0-1 to Spain in a friendly match on a cold evening at Old Trafford.
It's hard to put all the blame on coach Steve McLaren. This is the team he inherited, and the problems existed long before he got there. England have long played boring soccer, but, in major tournaments, were usually given easy draws to get them through the group stages, and met by bad luck in the knockout rounds. These situations have deluded the England team, and its fans, into thinking that they are better than they are.
Still, McLaren has done little to prove his growing gang of doubters - he was booed off the pitch tonight - that he is up to the task. His choice of formation today, a 4-5-1 with giant striker Peter Crouch as the lone forward, indicates that he possibly doesn't understand his team's strengths and weaknesses.
In order to make a 4-5-1 work, you need a fast midfield that knows how to use the space created by the lone striker drawing two defenders. While Kieron Dyer, and Shaun Wright-Phillips have the pace, they lacked the skill to get behind the Spain defense, and were easily muscled off the ball. Frank Lampard was penciled in on the left, but kept pinching in to the center. I thought Steven Gerrard, who wore the captain's armband in place of John Terry, did well in central midfield, but he was substituted at halftime. Crouch didn’t help his cause by repeatedly fouling his opponents, but still, his work rate was exemplary and he made himself be seen. Michael Carrick also acquitted himself, winning balls and patrolling the defensive midfield with class and composure.
England’s best opportunities came in the opening minutes of each half, forcing a few good saves out of goalkeeper Iker Casillas before giving up and settling into a predictable style of play that resembled Dean Smith's Four Corners offense at North Carolina than representatives of the country that codified the sport of soccer. This left Spain's experienced defenders with little to do but step into the passing lanes and get the ball to Xavi, who effectively dictated the pace of the game as a holding midfielder.
Article comments
1 - frank
When a top player is been axed it's no surprise to see results like this, it is going to be more worse, better realise if not pay for it.
2 - Christopher Rose
The England football team's performance last night was pretty shocking.
They seemed to prefer aimless long balls forward to keeping the football on the ground and passing it. They were also showing far too much respect to Spain, standing off the man with the football, in stark contrast to the Spanish, whose immediate challenging of the England team as soon as they got the ball was noticeably panicking the English players.
The whole Lampard/Gerard issue is totally out of control. You can't pick a football team of good players and then decide how to play. You have to set up your systems, formations and tactics and then pick the best men for each position.
It's blatantly obvious that we can't play both Gerard and Lampard at the same time when starting a game. Gerard is currently the man in better form and should start matches, with Lampard coming on to replace him at some point in the second half.
Hopefully, with a full team's worth of absentees (for one skimpy reason or another) from this match, the full squad will remember how to play the fast attacking football that epitomises the English game at its best. If not, it'll probably be four more years of hurt...
3 - Dave Lifton
Why bring Lampard in at all, Christopher? He had a horrible World Cup and I can't even recall a game against a world-class opponent where he has shown his club-level form.
4 - Christopher Rose
I think he can do a job for us in short bursts, like in the second half when Gerard gets tired or when we simply need to try and get a result. He has a great shot from distance but clearly needs a well-defined role to feel comfortable.
5 - alessandro nicolo
why go with one striker given the lack of finesse in the middle? why not play to England's strenghts? i agree 5 midfielders is not their thing.
6 - Christopher Rose
I think England should nearly always play 4-4-2. Despite having some great natural players in the English game, I'm not sure they're smart enough or technically skilled enough yet to play fancy formations like 4-5-1 or 3-2-3-2 or the legendary diamond. 4-3-3 seems a bit of a stretch for them too...
7 - Dave Lifton
If they had traditional English wingers, who can get to the touchline and send in a cross - they can succeed in any formation. But as long as they keep playing through the center, they will continue to make it easy for defenses.
8 - alessandro nicolo
doesn't aaron lennon give them some movement off the flanks?
9 - alessandro nicolo
Just watched large portions of the game. Credit must be given to Spain. They were simply more skillful. The English were predictable for the Spanish defense and the English defense had a hard time keeping up with Spanish artistry - as Mr. Rose pointed out.