Eriksson, England and Ecuador

Firstly, I’d like to start with a definition (taken from www.dictionary.com):

Tactics
1. (used with a sing. verb) The military science that deals with securing objectives set by strategy, especially the technique of deploying and directing troops, ships, and aircraft in effective maneuvers against an enemy: Tactics is a required course at all military academies.
2. (used with a pl. verb) Maneuvers used against an enemy: Guerrilla tactics were employed during most of the war.
3. (used with a sing. or pl. verb) A procedure or set of maneuvers engaged in to achieve an end, an aim, or a goal.

Now I particularly like number 3. It has the word goal in it, it fits quite nicely with what I want to talk about. The aim is to win the World Cup, and the goal is, well, the goal! Or at least the scoring of goals. Preferably more than the opposition!

Now I just wish I could get hold of Sven’s definition of tactics as it is vastly different from mine. I really don’t understand where he’s coming from. I’ve managed not to vent my spleen on here before now but given that we are now safely out of the group stages and into the last 16 (with a match against Ecuador on Sunday) I feel it’s time to share my thoughts.

Against Paraguay we looked great for 45 minutes. We got the (flukey) goal that we needed and we just about held on. Against Trinidad and Tobago we were made to look amateurish. We scraped through the game with a couple of goal-line clearances and a couple of goals. And this is where I start to have a big problem with Sven. We’re at 0-0 with Owen and Crouch up front. Owen didn’t look overly lively (lack of match fitness I guess) and Crouch looked like he couldn’t hit a barn door from 3 feet with the number of good chances he missed. So what is Sven’s approach? Leave on the man with the confidence problem (Crouch) and put on Rooney in place of Owen. Which is odd when it seems that everyone else who was watching the game knows that Rooney and Crouch play the same role. I also get frustrated with the fact that Gerrard was left on the pitch. But of course everyone knows he’s a hero because he scored a goal right? Wrong. Dead wrong. It took him the best part of 65 minutes of the game before he could pass to an England player with any kind of confidence. I know he scores wonder goals, but I’m afraid if all he is going to do is score 1 goal and give the ball away then I’d rather have someone on who does more for the team. By the end of the match we had 2 good players on the pitch in the form of Lennon and Terry. Everyone else might as well have come home there and then. And Lennon’s reward for looking like a man-of-the-match candidate? A place as an unused sub against Sweden.

Last night against Sweden was more of the same. Admittedly Sven’s plan was thrown into disarray by the loss of Owen (and that fall to me looks like it’s a bad one - as he fell you can see his knee under staring and then something seems to “pop” which doesn’t look good - a speedy recovery to you Michael) but then Sven seemed to display the same lack of ideas that he has for the past 12 months. Crouch was brought on even though he had a yellow card (his reason for being on the bench) but why not use Walcott? We didn’t need to win last night so what is there to lose? And if Sven doesn’t intend on playing Walcott at all in the tournament then why all the hysteria around picking him? It just doesn’t make sense. Rio limps off to be replaced by Sol Campbell who looked ok. And then Gerrard comes on for Rooney. I’m sorry but if Sven thinks that we can win the World Cup playing 4-5-1 then he’s a bigger fool than even I’ve given him credit for! Do you see Brazil or Argentina playing 4-5-1? Not on your life.

And can someone please tell me what the fascination with Owen Hargreaves is? He never looks good on the ball and he always looks like giving away a free-kick when he’s chasing back for the ball. He’s another one who’s quite good at giving the ball away too. Scarily frequently. In fact as my wife said last night, “perhaps he’s building international relations by ensuring the Swedes get to have a go”. Beautifully put. And for the second goal he couldn’t have been more of a spectator if someone had brought him an armchair and a can of lager. He just stood and watched from a massive 6 feet away as the goal went in. Genius, pure Genius Owen. Keep it up son, you’ve got a fine career as a pundit ahead of you with watching skills like that!

So where does this leave us? Well at the moment Robinson looks shaky in goal. He didn’t seem to want to come for any crosses last night which then makes him look vulnerable when a shot comes in. The back 4 looked ok but not good enough to keep a clean sheet against the likes of Brazil and Argentina. Midfield is lacking something (Lennon I think). Beckham had a quiet game last night but that’s because Joe Cole was looking so fantastic and a lot of the play was down the England left. Up front. Well Rooney looks very hungry for game-time. Look at his reaction when he was taken off last night. I doubt we’ll see Owen again in this World Cup (maybe Newcastle should now sue the FA for sending back a star player with an injury - oh hang on, we’re not as petty as Man United are we - Ferguson et al take note!!). So that leaves Crouch up front. Oh joy. Another performance last night where quite frankly he couldn’t of kicked my arse.

Do I think we’ll progress past Ecuador? Yes I do, providing we put in a solid performance. Nothing too flashy, just something solid. Beyond that? Well who knows. I think that as the draw now stands we have to beat (potentially) Brazil in the Semis and (probably) Argentina or Germany in the final. But to be the best you have to beat the best. And for life after Sven? Well I have to say that it must be a great feeling for Mclaren knowing that he can take a team to a UEFA Cup Final and watch them get humiliated, see the team finish 14th in the league, and yet still be considered to be the best man for the job. I sense dark times ahead…