Posted Mar 23rd 2007, 11:34pm

Tactics Not Personnel Causing Years Of Hurt

I can't believe that no-one has mentioned that it's England's game plans over the last few decades that is troubling our chances of success and not the players.

Forget the Lampard/Gerrard saga, or the £5million-a-year, (£13698.63 a day, £590 an hour) of Sven-Goran Eriksson... Sort the tactics out.

Don't give the ball away at any cost, utilise the playmaker in the side, namely Steven Gerrard - playing him in the centre of midfield may be the key there (!) - don't dwell on the ball in important areas (in crossing positions, get the ball in early; in the middle of the park, make sure the opposition is pushed back towards their own box, etc.) and make sure you get enough bodies into the box when the pressure is on, to maximise efforts at goal.

First things first; you need to play like you
a) want to win the game, and
b) show you CAN win the game.
Confidence goes a long way when shown in the right way, and England have many guises in which they display a lack of it.

When the ball is punted long up field, especially when Peter Crouch is in the side, then England look one-dimensional. Yes, it is ok to be able to mix tactics up a little, but the aerial ability of Crouch is unfortunately not enough to frighten the Italy's, Holland's and France's of this world. Even Germany, who are always well organised, whether or not the personnel is good enough is a different story; imagine England with a side/squad criticised by the home press reaching a Word Cup Final?

That is the expectation level, and why? Germany have won three World Cups and a couple of European Championships, we have won one captured the old Jules Rimet on one occasion. So all this talk of “we invented the game…blah blah,” is a load of rubbish. Why are we so loyal? And DON’T bring WWI or WWII into sport, it doesn’t wash. They were criticising their squad because they were concerned about the future, and everybody knows that the Germans are an economical, efficient nation. So how did they reach a World Cup Final with an unfancied side? Because their tactics were right. They maximised their chances of beating the poor sides, including an 8-0 defeat of Saudi Arabia, and all this after an England side under Eriksson, had destroyed them 1-5 in Munich! They took note of that result, we got carried away!

It maybe fine to utilise a height advantage in at set-pieces but surely when you are 60+ yards from goal, playing 'route one' is not the answer. And even if the long-ball is deployed, the support for the 'second-ball' following Crouch winning the header is not satisfactory.

Another thing about playing up front in international football is that you have to take your chances, but also it is vitally important that you can get into the positions to make the goalkeeper work. Without Paul Scholes in the squad, England doesn’t have the men to help out the attack, inside the penalty area, coming late in attacks and capitalising on free space.

So, this leads me to another thing, DON'T play 4-5-1 or any variation which leaves one man up front, even if this does mean we can accommodate both Lampard and Gerrard. We can be strong enough in the middle of the pitch, and in my opinion, I would drop the Chelsea man to play Owen Hargreaves with the Liverpool captain.

To play one up top, you need a good attacking midfielder who links the play well, as well as two very functional and centrally supportive wide players. This will never happen while Ashley Cole gets picked for the national side, as he needs a left-midfielder in front of him who can sit in when he the Chelsea man gets forward.

Another reason I wouldn’t pick Joe Cole, never mind Stewart Downing! Granted there aren’t many choices on the left flank, but I would choose Gareth Barry, as I feel he is comfortable right up that side of the pitch and could play at centre-half at a push. Balance is the key, and there are always teams that can carry players and still be successful. He can chip in with goals, is very experienced at top level football and possesses a very good football brain. Martin O’Neill’s influence at Aston Villa can only being having a good effect on the 26-year-old and he is the right age now to be able to bring an extra dimension and most importantly, balance and versatility to the setup.

At the back, England are blessed with some fantastic potential, and in Micah Richards, one of the most impressive youngsters in recent years. But the pressure on the back four to cope with the pressing from the opposition, once they have discovered that England are just a reputation, and one that has not been built on following the 1966 World Cup victory, and the 1990 Italia ’90, Euro ’96 experiences.
If Israel perform a coup de grace on Steve McClaren’s boys, then who will come into the squad, Lazarus!?

Maybe England will stutter to a win and the fromer Middlesbrough boss will keep his position, which I don’t doubt, even if Tel Aviv proves a tough and impossible destination.

But overall, the future does still look a little dull for the Three Lions to roar significantly; they may not even reach Austria and Switzerland next summer…..unless the ski slopes are maintained for the WAG’s. Tut tut tut! Don’t get me started on them….