euro 2012 Match 16 - Sweden vs. England

[HSoft]

Congratulations UK, awesome game, awesome goals, that was one of best games so far :)

England != UK

[DeemanXu]

A hard fought win for us 3 Lions.

Why do we make it so hard for ourselves ? We can't keep the ball at all. We show a distinct lack of invention up front; Sweden are a team full of tall players, and time, and time again we knocked searching passes up front that got picked off continually be their defence. Until Walcott came on for, in my opinion, a very woeful Milner, we lacked energy, guile, and speed. Hodgson got that substitution spot-on; he should've played right from the off to give us that extra width and dimension on the wing.

The defence did not pull it's weight tonight. Worryingly, and against a ageing Ibrahamivich, Terry was exposed. Although he did make a couple of telling contributions it showed to me that maybe it's a tournament too far for him. I know Cahill went home injured, and we seem to have no further players to cover such positions, but maybe it's time for Terry to hang up his international boots. I believe Baines could've done a better job tonight.

Gerrard put in a gargantuan shift in midfield, closely followed by Parker. Ashley Young had a bit of a shocker. Chamberlain would've been a better bet from the off, with Young coming on as a sub.

Carroll menaced, harried, and his header from what no doubt will be the best cross of the tournament from Gerrard was sublime, powerful, and world class. He may get a subs appearance come Ukraine game, but he should be useful if introduced 65 mins into the match, if it's not going our way.

what worries me is that as a team we look rigid. We look afraid to take chances. We look disorganised at the back at times, and in typical English fashion we needlessly sit back when in the lead, and invite the opposition into our final third. The last time i remember us not doing this is when we beat Germany 5-1 in Munich. On our day, we can be World beaters - sadly though, this isn't often enough.

Roy, two banks of four might've worked 50 years ago, but it doesn't cut it today. You need to take the shackles off of our players. Let them play as they do for Club. Young, and, Wellbeck switch positions ( along with Rooney ) for Manchester United, and for the most part it reaped dividends for the Manchester club - they finished second on Goal difference.

Let them play, and drop the 4-4-2 4-4-1-1 etc. Go 4-3-3. Give the opposition something to think about. Give them the fear factor. We're no Spain, no, but, no team likes to be harried, rushed, put under pressure. Time to stop with the negative tactics, and play with some fire, with some guile, with the roar of the three lions we so proudly wear upon our chests.

Cometh the man, cometh the hour, Roy ;)

[Noir Angel]

Roy, two banks of four might've worked 50 years ago, but it doesn't cut it today. You need to take the shackles off of our players. Let them play as they do for Club. Young, and, Wellbeck switch positions ( along with Rooney ) for Manchester United, and for the most part it reaped dividends for the Manchester club - they finished second on Goal difference.

It worked reasonably well against france, hell Greece won it in 2004 in similar fashion but playing defensively against a team you should safely beat doesn't work. And we just seem to lack the discipline to do it well for 90 mins.

[DeemanXu]

I concur. It did work reasonably well against France. France hardly set the world on fire at the beginning of tournaments, like we do. That first game was more like a warm-up.

Greece played like that 8 years ago, and stopped teams from playing. They were disciplined though, and we weren't: there's the difference.

I fear against better teams than Sweden, we will be exposed easily, and picked off; just like in South Africa.

[Rappy Veteran]

Sweden had the win in their hands and gave it away with two cheap goals, couldn't believe it only if they had Larsson.

yeah, I don't like how Hodgson plays but it gets results I suppose

[scaramonga]

Condolences Sweden.

[Singh400]

Funny how everyone changes their tune when things turn out better than expected. It's ****ing pathetic the way everyone sit around criticise England, and then when they do better than expected everyone is like "Oh, I knew that was going to happen - I had faith in them all along!". Get some ****ing balls and stand by what you say.

[The Teej]

I disagree with everyone saying they should have put Walcott on first - I think keeping him on and letting England change the pace of their game with a fresh and speedy player like Walcott further into the game was a true tacticians move, and it paid off in spades. Second goal direct result of Walcott having the confidence to just take a chance and bang it in, third goal direct result of Walcott having the confidence to not take **** from the defence, keeping hold of the ball, and making that crucial cross which netted us our winning goal.

While Walcott is an amazing player, would he have done that if he came on first? Possibly, but he might have gotten bogged down by the England play from the rest of the team to make him not as effective by the second half. Roy was right to have the Gerrard/Carroll combo right off the bat and he was right to hold Walcott off until the second half to rejuvenate England when the going got tough.

I'll be first to admit I scoffed when Roy was put in charge of the England team, but he's done something a recent England team has never done - beat Sweeden. So fair play (Y) Well done Roy, well done England :D

[Rappy Veteran]

[qdave]

^Poor Zlatan. :D Most enjoyable match this this tournament :)