Is Beckenbauer right about England?

[CheeseRolls]

Playing two little quick wingers against a team prepared to sit deep and deploy "Two banks of Four" can get ugly, as the formation limits players freedom to move into space. I predict England will look a lot more fluid with Barry sitting in front of the back four. He is after all one of the best short passers in the game and should allow Gerrard, Lampard and Rooney to play more pass and move. England may however have to sacrifice Heskey along with the two wingers.

So Germany blew away Australia, big deal. There is a long way to go in this tournament yet and one good result against a make-weight side, is not going to decide anything.

 

[severnside gull]

conversely they could listen to one of the worlds greatest football legends and take on board what he has to say.

I think that in part is what I suggested but also that the intent (to undermine England) could be used to inspire them

 

[Marshy]

I really hope we get Germany to be honest, knocking them out would give me immense pleasure

 

[glasfryn]

Has Capello made a difference or do we still play basic old fashioned footy?
Personally, I can't believe that we still start games at this level using the subtle tactic of a big lump up front and centre backs slower than a tortoise.

So glad to see that at least at the Albion, Gus seems to be moving in the right direction. Pity England can't do the same.

World Cup 2010: Germany's Franz Beckenbauer berates Fabio Capello's England - Telegraph

Dear Mr Franz Beckenbauer,
you were sir a great player they called you " the kaiser" and you were the best defender of your time I might actually say you were better than our hero Mr Bobby Moore and I have nothing but respect for you and when you criticize our national set-up I know we must be doing something right otherwise you would say nothing.
so please SHUT THE f*** UP AND MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS
thankyou

 

[Questions]

They had a Kraut journalist on Five Live this morning who said that no one in Germany even bothers listening to what he says as he talks so much bollox.

 

[nwgull]

Brave of him to make such a comment based on one England game against the USA who are regarded as a well organised and decent team. I don't see how the foreigners in the premier league should affect us, it improves the standard of our domestic game and it's not as if Capello was struggling to find 23 English premier league players.

Germany did look class the other night, although maybe it's worth reserving judgement until they've played against a better side.

 

[DerbyGull]

Let the football do the talking. After all results speak louder than words. Germany 4-0 Aus; Eng 1-1 USA.

Oh dear.

 

[Easy 10]

Right, enough of this - (and I'm not afraid to gleefully cut and paste this again if this issue crops up again): To maybe some people's surprise, Germany, like England, is these days a highly multicultural society. And, as it is in England, that gets reflected in the various family backgrounds of its national football team.

So if anyone is dumb enough to finger-wag about the level of - very much for want of a better term - ethnic "purity" in the German football team then, then unless you're a hypocritical humbug, you're also saying that the England football shouldn't be "stuffed full" of people with, say, any trace of Jamaican family background either. So no that presumably would mean no Ashley Cole, Emile Heskey, David James, Aaron Lennon etc etc ad infinitum. Utter, utter drivel of course. Unless you vote BNP.

And that's without even getting into the, erm shall we say, historically-complex issue of east German borders with Poland, which can leave someone like Klose to be born in what had traditionally been a culturally German city into a German family background but a city which (for obvious reasons) now lies in Poland.

So let's leave the fabulously-gifted and German as the Brandenburg Gate Gelsenkirchen-born Mesut Ozil - third generation German-born - alone eh? "I was born here, I've always felt at home here...I've received praise from Turkish Germans for my decision to play for Germany", as the young star classily said recently.

(oh and yeah, you totally got us on Cacau. Oh and sort-of on Podolski - after all he's only lived in Germany since he was two...maybe we can have him if you Englanders can have Hargreaves)

"born in what had traditionally been a culturally German city into a German family background but a city which now lies in Poland"

Just face it. Germany are now the NEW Republic or Ireland.

 

[ROSM]

I was actually frustrated at some of the pretty little triangles we were playing on saturday night and felt we at times were too keen to hold onto the ball than 'take a risk' and attack them.

When England do the 'keep ball' we do look like two 5th formers on a first date. Lot's of fiddly fumbling outside the box but little likelihood of meaningful penetration.

 

[Electrik Blue]

two people missing from the England Squad, David Beckham and Bobby Zamora. Becks is very much needed and Bobby should have been Given a chance. IMHO

 

[Scoffers]

Utter codswallop from Beckenbauer, who pre-tournament was actually waxing lyrical about Capello and England, naming us as one of his favourites to win the thing. England are no more "kick and rush" than any other team in the tournament. Of course there's going to be a long ball played forward at times, just like every other team, but to blithely label England as "kick and rush" long-ball merchants as if thats our entire tactic is ridiculous. Most of the time our best attacking impetus against the States came from moving it through the midfield and finding overlapping fullbacks, there was plenty of passing and movement. At no point did we resort to just lumping it.

He's correct right insofar as there IS a shallow pool of english talent in the Premier League due to the number of foreigners. But this is a bit rich coming from a bloke who's national team is currently stuffed with Turks and Poles.

I wonder how the word "codswallop" translates in German!

I think we pitched in with some long ball stuff because we thought it would help us beat the USA, and it could have worked, but for a goalkeeping howler.

I'd like to think that Capello is able to command the troops to change their style of play to best fit the oppo. For instance, if we try a purely passing game against Argentina or Brazil, we'll get trounced.

 

[WhingForPresident]

two people missing from the England Squad, David Beckham and Bobby Zamora. Becks is very much needed and Bobby should have been Given a chance. IMHO

Don't be ridiculous..

 

[alan partridge]

Utter codswallop from Beckenbauer, who pre-tournament was actually waxing lyrical about Capello and England, naming us as one of his favourites to win the thing. England are no more "kick and rush" than any other team in the tournament. Of course there's going to be a long ball played forward at times, just like every other team, but to blithely label England as "kick and rush" long-ball merchants as if thats our entire tactic is ridiculous. Most of the time our best attacking impetus against the States came from moving it through the midfield and finding overlapping fullbacks, there was plenty of passing and movement. At no point did we resort to just lumping it.

I agree with this.

I'm begining to wonder if I really know NOTHING about football. I watched Saturday's game and whilst I was frustrated with the result and didn't think we were amazing, I was PLEASED that we were able to string a few passes together. Nothing makes me more frustrated than when England just lump the ball about and lose possession easily. I didn't think we did that on Saturday.

Am I blind?

 

[tube train]

Of course hes right.

best example, he was going mad at green for rolling the ball to the full backs and trying to build from the back.. instead he was telling him to lanuch it long....

to USA it must have felt like a win

 

[nwgull]

I agree with this.

I'm begining to wonder if I really know NOTHING about football. I watched Saturday's game and whilst I was frustrated with the result and didn't think we were amazing, I was PLEASED that we were able to string a few passes together. Nothing makes me more frustrated than when England just lump the ball about and lose possession easily. I didn't think we did that on Saturday.

Am I blind?

I agree, but people have got used to us putting 3+ goals past our opponents during the past 18 months. I think the manner of the equaliser and the fact that we didn't add to our 3rd minute goal has affected people's judgement on what was an ok performance.

 

[Gwylan]

I wonder how the word "codswallop" translates in German!

Quatsch


I don't think he's talking total quatsch though, Capello is hampered by the lack of choice for various positions, that part is true enough, but I didn't think we did hit too many long balls against the US - and we did, Heskey generally won the header, I reckon Der Kaiser was looking around for something provocative to say and hit upon that old standby "England are useless"

 

[folkestonesgull]

1-1 against USA is fine for the start of the world cup - I wonder if people are whinging as much about the Paraguay result in Italy, given that USA are just 6 places behind us in the world rankings yet paraguay are 26 places behind Italy.

We will win our next 2 games and win the group on goal difference.

I did however get frustrated in the second half by the poor passing of Gerrard and Lampard in Midfield, Shaun Wright Phillips cutting inside EVERY TIME and Heskey being Heskey...It would be criminal if we don't start Joe Cole in left midfield next 2 games.

James
Johnson
Terry
Upson
Cole
Barry
Gerrard
Lampard
Cole
Rooney
Defoe or lennon (can't decide between 4132 and 41221

for me

 

[Spiros]

Why is it that when we pass it a long way forward it's 'kick and rush' or 'hit and hope' and yet when the Germans play a long ball forward - like for their second goal against the Aussies - it's always described as a 'precision pass' or 'pinpoint delivery'?

 

[pasty]

James
Johnson
Terry
Upson
Cole
Barry
Gerrard
Lampard
Cole
Rooney
Defoe or lennon (can't decide between 4132 and 41221

for me

I prefer Dawson to Upson in that, and would play Lennon instead of Defoe with Gerrard tucking in behind Rooney. Play 4-1-4-1 with Barry sitting behind the midfield when we don't have the ball, and Gerrard going in behind Rooney when we do 4-4-1-1.

 

[folkestonesgull]

I prefer Dawson to Upson in that, and would play Lennon instead of Defoe with Gerrard tucking in behind Rooney. Play 4-1-4-1 with Barry sitting behind the midfield when we don't have the ball, and Gerrard going in behind Rooney when we do 4-4-1-1.

sounds good, I prefer Dawson as a player however think a slightly quicker left footed centreback adds more to the team on paper.