20 November 2007
England versus Croatia: Preview
Tomorrow night, Wembley will see the completion of the Euro 2008 qualifying campaign with England needing only a draw against Croatia to advance to the main tournament.
Algebraically this is not the most onerous of tasks yet it is one that reeks of danger but not because of the the opposition nor the loss to injury of some of England’s best players, but because of the self-fulfilling prophecy of doom that is the albatross round the neck of English sport.
As has been said time and again on this site, expectation dictates achievement and the English team in forever wanting to show respect to the opposition for fear of riling them or tempting fate and in hoping that such reverence will ensure just the (minimum) result that they need in turn ensures that the best they can achieve will be that minimum result. So in all likelihood, at some point during the match a dynamic group table will show England as ‘out’ only to snatch a hard fought draw displaying the ‘grit, determination and character’ that we ’so love’ in our team.
In reality, the players should be thinking of nothing more than revenge for the 2-0 defeat in Zagreb; an attitude that would not only lead to victory, but to topping the group (as well as meting out said revenge).
Part of the problem in Zagreb was of course the implementation of a 352 formation - something only two managers in recent memory (Venables and Hoddle) managed to implement. They did so not only through tactical proficiency but with the respect of the players and by picking the best team ahead of the best players. None of which can be guaranteed under Steve McClaren.
The current thinking is that a 4141 will be used because of the injuries to Owen and Rooney (who is miraculously recovering from his head-tennis induced ankle injury) and a clear lack of trust in all other striking options behind Peter Crouch. This begs the question; why pick Defoe, Smith and Bent? Indeed what is the scenarios where any of these three would play? 1-0 down with 20 minutes to go? I smell sea bird again…
What is more, where is the logic in picking players if they are not next in line if injuries should occur? It makes a mockery of the selection of a squad and even more so of team selection.
Which brings us to the midfield and perhaps the real reason for a 4141 - the abrogation of responsibility. You ask any England fan, football fan, sport fan, tribal elder etc. and they will all say the same thing; Lampard and Gerrard… I do not even need to finish that sentence. The recent form of Lampard has, in the McLaren inference, dictated his selection. Take that assumption and apply it to the Lampard/Gerrard Conjecture with a logical dose of common (uncommon for England) team selection practices and you drop Gerrard for Lampard. With no faith in the strikers you yourself picked and the ‘courage’ to show them as much by not picking them and cake can be both had and eaten by implementing a 4141.
Sadly, the application of a 4141 which nominally has one holding midfielder and two advanced attacking midfielders with players of the ilk of Gerrard and Lampard in a scenario of ‘must draw’ and the outcome is painfully predicable; Gerrard and Lampard both drop deep in a show of ‘responsibility’ to ‘protect what we have’. In reality of course, both would be displaying a complete abrogation of duty; if these two were ever to concentrate only on attack, this match (and group) would be won at a canter. However both of these players - especially Gerrard - have a notion of team responsibility as ‘tracking back’ and ‘last ditch tackles’ so firmly entrenched in their minds that they will invariably fail to understand that true team responsibility is in the acceptance of their role, not in undermining the responsibility of others.
The template to success is a very simple one for England against Croatia; trust, responsibility and domination.
Robinson
Richards Campbell Lescott Bridge
Beckham Barry Lampard Cole
Crouch Defoe
It is a time for revenge.
[…] is as painfully predictable as playing for a draw gets you a loss (see this site’s preview).But what was the real reason for England’s failure? Let us assess some of the more common […]