You just can't be past the defender in any meaningfull way. Anyways, Bradley was definitely on and being fouled in the box. Edu was on and it should have been a goal no question.
Bradley and Torres are having a tough time playing it through the midfield. Seems like the sides are mostly cancelling each other out. We really need someone to run at the defense to break them down.
I'd say somewhere between major and minor. Serbia is more talented than you might expect. They have a lot of talent at the back with Vidic and Ivanovic.
Wow, Germany just had their chance to tie it up. Poor penalty from Podolski, the keeper read it the whole way and he didn't exactly put it in the corner of the net.
I really feel for Germany here. Soft reds really suck.
And actually its hard to say how this will help us. If we finish 1st in our group we could actually end up playing Germany. Not that I expect that to happen, but there is a lot of soccer to be played.
I want Gooch to start with DeMerit. England is going to play either Heskey or Crouch with Rooney and either way we need someone to win the balls in the air.
I would start Altidore and Donovan up front for a couple of reasons. First, we can keep Dempsey on the wing where he is more effective. It also gets Holden on the field in place of a 2nd true forward. This will give us an extra man in the center of midfield with Donovan tracking back (I'd have him take whatever center mid England plays deepest), leaving less space for Gerrard to cut into (assuming he starts on the left as he was in WC qualifying) and hopefully forcing Rooney to come deep for the ball. If Rooney tracks back we can play a higher defensive line as Heskey/Crouch are not fast enough to be a big threat over the top, further compressing space in the middle.
Our offense will have to come on the counter with the wings exploiting space left by Glen Johnson and Ashley Cole. I would give Donovan a free role when we're on offense, he could overload a wing or play in the middle which is where he was for a good part of the Aus game anyways.
I really really want Edu over Clark. He's better on the ball and Clark has seemed pretty ineffective as of late. When we win the ball we need to counterattack at speed and I think Edu gives us a better chance of doing that while still providing steel to the midfield (though Torres actually defended well in the friendlies). I wouldn't mind seeing Torres against Algeria/Slovenia as well as potentially in the 2nd half of the England game if we need more offense.
Putting Findley on the field means Holden is off, which is a terrible switch given that both Donovan and Dempsey can play the 2nd forward role just fine. In fact, Donovan was often popping up in the middle of the field against Australia instead of staying on the right wing where he was in name. I would put him behind Altidore with Holden on the right. Dempsey would be fine as a 2nd forward too as he showed in the Confed Cup last year.
@ PurpleStuff
Walcott is not a good winger. Lennon is nearly as fast but with a far better end product. I agree that playing 5 mid-fielders isn't a bad idea, though. If England plays Gerrard and Lampard in the middle they will seriously lack steel in the middle and we'll be able to keep possession easily. I suspect they'll play Gerrard on the left though with Carrick in the middle with Lampard.
England playing long ball still scares me. Crouch knocking it down for Rooney and Lampard in the box is going to get them a goal or two.
Recent Comments
You just can't be past the defender in any meaningfull way. Anyways, Bradley was definitely on and being fouled in the box. Edu was on and it should have been a goal no question.
We just got robbed like whoa. Should've been the winner there.
GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLL
GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLL
Skeptical about our subs. But it looks like we've had a fire lit under our asses.
We're going to need to pour forward and keep it tight at the back. Basically we need to play a perfect 2nd half and get a little lucky.
This is bad. Very, very bad.
Just did his "hit the weight room" run. Drew a foul and a yellow, nice.
Bradley and Torres are having a tough time playing it through the midfield. Seems like the sides are mostly cancelling each other out. We really need someone to run at the defense to break them down.
That was bad. Slovenia loves to defend and play on the counter. We just let them play their game.
The Germans are done. I'm still shaking my head at the ref. That was horrible.
Thanks, good to know.
Where did you see the lineups? I'm happy if we see Torres.
I really don't know why we play Findley though. Ugh.
I'd say somewhere between major and minor. Serbia is more talented than you might expect. They have a lot of talent at the back with Vidic and Ivanovic.
And yes the Swiss over Spain was much bigger.
at 10am.
Wow, Germany just had their chance to tie it up. Poor penalty from Podolski, the keeper read it the whole way and he didn't exactly put it in the corner of the net.
I really feel for Germany here. Soft reds really suck.
And actually its hard to say how this will help us. If we finish 1st in our group we could actually end up playing Germany. Not that I expect that to happen, but there is a lot of soccer to be played.
I want Gooch to start with DeMerit. England is going to play either Heskey or Crouch with Rooney and either way we need someone to win the balls in the air.
I would start Altidore and Donovan up front for a couple of reasons. First, we can keep Dempsey on the wing where he is more effective. It also gets Holden on the field in place of a 2nd true forward. This will give us an extra man in the center of midfield with Donovan tracking back (I'd have him take whatever center mid England plays deepest), leaving less space for Gerrard to cut into (assuming he starts on the left as he was in WC qualifying) and hopefully forcing Rooney to come deep for the ball. If Rooney tracks back we can play a higher defensive line as Heskey/Crouch are not fast enough to be a big threat over the top, further compressing space in the middle.
Our offense will have to come on the counter with the wings exploiting space left by Glen Johnson and Ashley Cole. I would give Donovan a free role when we're on offense, he could overload a wing or play in the middle which is where he was for a good part of the Aus game anyways.
I really really want Edu over Clark. He's better on the ball and Clark has seemed pretty ineffective as of late. When we win the ball we need to counterattack at speed and I think Edu gives us a better chance of doing that while still providing steel to the midfield (though Torres actually defended well in the friendlies). I wouldn't mind seeing Torres against Algeria/Slovenia as well as potentially in the 2nd half of the England game if we need more offense.
Putting Findley on the field means Holden is off, which is a terrible switch given that both Donovan and Dempsey can play the 2nd forward role just fine. In fact, Donovan was often popping up in the middle of the field against Australia instead of staying on the right wing where he was in name. I would put him behind Altidore with Holden on the right. Dempsey would be fine as a 2nd forward too as he showed in the Confed Cup last year.
@ PurpleStuff
Walcott is not a good winger. Lennon is nearly as fast but with a far better end product. I agree that playing 5 mid-fielders isn't a bad idea, though. If England plays Gerrard and Lampard in the middle they will seriously lack steel in the middle and we'll be able to keep possession easily. I suspect they'll play Gerrard on the left though with Carrick in the middle with Lampard.
England playing long ball still scares me. Crouch knocking it down for Rooney and Lampard in the box is going to get them a goal or two.