England 6-0 fat win over the minnows Iberian little principality squad has been saluted with the usual excessive triumphalism by pundits and j! ournalists. Fabio Capello, the England manager, following the victory over Andorra last night, however described his team performance with a satisfied albeit cautious manner '' We started very strongly, we pressed and created two chances before Rooney's first goal that came after four minutes'' (Above by Matt Dunham/AP) he said after the game with the usual approach.
Pressing Game
"Always when you play against a team that is not strong you have to play quickly, press and win back the ball. We did this'', the England coach continued "We started not so well against Andorra in our last match (where) we didn't score before half-time," he went on. Wayne Rooney made sure that this did not happen last night when he got the game going with an early header from Glen Johnson's cross, to ensure there would be no repeat of that uncertain clash in the away qualifier earlier in Barcelona when it was goalless at half! time.
Early! Chances
Capello was referring to a really imposing England's opening display as in fact in the first three minutes of play Rooney had himself two chances to score - the first when he went to meet a low deep pass by Steven Gerrard, passed his marker with a fluid first touch, move that brought him in the box where rather than an early shoot he decided to control the ball with another touch before placing it then softly over the bar. Immediately after Steven Gerrard had himself a chance out one of his trademark runs only to miss to get past the last hurdle once inside the penalty box.
Dress rehearsal
The second was a dress rehearsal of the goal that came only a minute later - Glen Johnson (man of the match) landed on a dead ball just inside Andorra's last third and promptly put it diagonally towards Rooney on the far end of the box edge - only for a defender to deflect it on the path of Theo Walcott ! on the right side of the box. The Arsenal's winger prompt cross however caught the Manchester United's striker positioned ahead of the ball in his run - Rooney however managed remarkably with an acrobatic backwards curving jump - the resulting header only to hit the crossbar and then cleared by a defender amid the striker's despair.
Team spirit
'Don Fabio's analysis continued with "But step by step we have moved on and improved."We created a group and a different style on the pitch. After every game we improved." "We have created a group. This is important, the spirit of the group. We always play to win," the England coach went on. "You have to win another game to be sure of going to South Africa ."
Different team
The Andorra win now means that England have maintained their full straight win record in their Group with a almost secure lead! and with only three matches left to play against the immediat! e follow ers Croatia (home), Ukraine (away) and Belarus (home). England looks now different squad from the loose team it was when Capello was put in charge at the beginning of last year.
Predictable Game
England's game however started to show much predictability soon after as a tidy Andorra squad kept their composure and distances albeit all inside their own half which was were ultimately the all the game was played giving absolutely no work to do for the valid Green in goal. With Andorra not coming out of his half Ashley Cole played the all half as left wing often overlapping or making one - twos with Steven Gerrard. It was in this period between the first and second goal that worrying signs of predictability appeared mainly in Andorra's last third where a fine passer of the ball would have been better suited.
Finding the new Bullard
Unfortunat! ely being Bullard off form due his knee injury the reality is that English football is short of such as inspired passers. Last night we watched at a long web of lateral passes ending almost inevitability with a lifted cross on the flanks or on the box. What a pundit saw as a 'Leaf' of Spain's own game was an utter nonsense as there are simply no players around suitable for that sort of deadly game which last night would have been clearly suitable to apply against such a closed opponent.
Last third
If we analyze the type of passing used yesterday in midfield by England we see that Frank Lampard was the one who made the more dangerous of them as he always looked for the killer pass in space or behind the opponents reaches without lifting it. David Beckham, his occasional midfield holding partner, on the contrary had perhaps the most of the passes and with a great rate of completion but mostly lifted.
Need of chance
However his style of passing or let's say crossing as the purpose has now enlarged in finding either a team-mate head on the box or on the flanks as he duly did with Gerrard, Cole, Walcott, Johnson or Young often in the second half. The reality of all those crossing was that nothing has come out of them.
Beckham's outwards crosses
In particular now Beckham in a central position find himself in making an outward cross in the same manner he was doing an inward cross into the box; the obvious difference is that whilst in the box cross there are many chances to get on it even off a short clearance from the opposition's central defenders or even by wide players, with the outward cross the matter is complicated by the obvious difficulty to head down the high cross before an opponent closes in. Well last night given the almost amateurish quality of the opposing team that was not a problem but it will be as ! the type of adversary will change.
Midfield experiment
So in conclusion the Beckham midfield experiment may well continue in the future given the high potential of the man even though it has been sometime disappointing yesterday when it came to corner balls and free kicks albeit the England's fifth goal and Germaine Defoe's second (another positive note) came off one of the AC Milan' player free kicks. The match was David Beckham's 100th start for England and Capello's praise was not delayed "If Beckham is here, it is because he is one of the best English players at the moment " and ''He always plays well as a substitute and this time he played well in the first XI." he commented.
Johnson factor
The period of predictable play ended temporarily as Frank Lampard added the second thanks again to Glen Jo! hnson who set up Theo Walcott who resisted a penalty foul and ! from the byline pulled back a floor ball on which the Chelsea's star slotted it in with ease. Rooney then added another by landing with easy and unmarked to finish another Glen Johnson (man-of-the-match for his assists in four of the six goals) well weighted cross from the flank making him reaching Geoff Hurst's 24 goals for England. Capello then took him off at half-time as Germaine Defoe came off the bench.
One touch passing
At the beginning of the second half we assisted to another period of predictable play with Ashley Young laying left wide in place of Steven Gerrard and now being the object of David Beckham and Frank Lampard long crosses. England second half again lacked that narrow one touch passing display that naturally Brazil, Spain, Argentina and Italy use to unlock midfield and defenses. Capello and Baldini early comments last year were exactly about this lack of ball control and of short passing sk! ill which was the early object of their early training and reconstruction works last year.
Ashley Young's inconsistencies
Ashley Young example is a clear demonstration that at the moment he is not even satisfying the perennial left foot wing problems England had for decades now. Eight times out of ten he prefers the inwards pass or cross from the left touchline flank with his good foot and which has however honestly created dangerous small box situation and near missed either by Joleon Lescott and John Terry. When he then decided jump the opponent and go pointing the byline he did that always with the control of his right foot making his run somehow slow and his crossing a bit obvious.
Crouch's form
Peter Crouch added another goal to complete the scoring. However it was more a blunder from the Andorra defense than his merit. The Port! smouth striker was in two many circumstances at odds with cro! sses and missed out twice, the first awkwardly trying an easy header and the second going clumsily on an easy converging ball by showing a poor timing and acrobatic form.
England's shortcomings
In conclusion it is out of doubt the England squad has a great potential and power of play given the many real talents it is made of - Rooney, Gerrard, Lampard, Beckham in primis. However it is the rigid attitude to the long and lifted ball that it is simple not applicable effectively anytime the match has to be played overseas. The initial period of awkward display in Kazakhstan as it was for some periods last night is a sign that the team still find it hard to impose the play itself from the beginning due to those lack of first touch prerogatives.
Poor finishing
Then there is the overall lack of finishing skill excluding Rooney and Lampard obviously. The! match exposed routinely Cole, Johnson, Young and even Walcott and Gerrard amongst the culprits of bad finishing and leaving out the central defenders. Now that the South Africa qualification has been mostly achieved with an almost military organization by Capello's Italian management England football needs perhaps to reconsider these persistent and penalizing shortcoming of its game.
Almost there
At the World Cup Finals next year it will be all down to skill and nerves. Fabio Capello himself may be untested in a big tournament where choices have to be made under extreme pressure but also England has to be back at least at theirs 2002 and 2004 Ericsson's levels and quality of play (Very unfortunate were those late exits) to be able to exploit Capello's order and no - nonsense logic football. At last the long wait may be over however in terms of passion and ! organization it is as if it has never abandoned these shores. !
Football 'bailado'
Teams as Brazil Spain, Italy, Argentina are far better suited for month long tournaments where speed of play and power of play leave space to quality and vision of play; It leaves ground to the sort of 'Football bailado' played by Brazil in the 70s. England's football however may not be able to express that style given the actual general attitude towards the game and the resistance to introduce in the academies and the grassroots upbringing those criteria of football may hamper those new talent creation efforts.
World Football Report - From the Publishers of 1st Interactive Journal. Established 1992
