by cmonurz »
27 Jun 2010 21:02
boycey
The "golden" generation have had their chances.
I dont know the answer but then again I'm not paid 5 million pounds to work it out.
The answer is not to slash and burn 'the golden generation' but to play them in a formation that suits their style, plays to their strengths. In the positions they play for their clubs would be a start.
Show me an England team in a 4-4-1-1, with Gerrard behind Rooney, Lampard the attacking midfielder of four, with Barry the linchpin, and two genuine wingers either side of him, and I'll show you a team that can win major games, or at the very least compete and look like Premier League footballers. Or perhaps more importantly, show me a team with a fluid formation that can adapt to their opponents style or the game situation.
It's the sheer stubborn-mindedness of Capello as to what works and what doesn't that has got to me. Persisting with Gerrard on the left when he is a brilliant central, attacking midfielder (irrespective of his performances in that position in qualifying); giving Crouch barely any game time when he has a very good scoring record, and persisting with Heskey because he can get in the way a bit; leaving Darren Bent at home so he could include both Heskey and Crouch (essentially the same player) in the squad; taking 320 centre-backs but no reserve right-back; opening with a keeper who has had a wretched 2009-10 season for his club; expecting Lampard to have an impact without the freedom to bomb forward; leaving a genuine winger at home in Ashley Young so he could include an unfit Joe Cole; picking Jamie Carragher at all; I could go on, the list is endless. We have been absolutely appalling in South Africa.