RuneTrack Forums
It is currently Tue Mar 11, 2025 5:45 am

All times are UTC [ DST ]




Reply to topic  [ 1 post ] 
Author Message
PostPosted: Tue May 16, 2017 3:57 am 
Offline

Joined: Fri Mar 10, 2017 2:27 am
Posts: 2975
It shouldnt come as a disappointment anymore for England supporters. They are used to this. Losing. It isnt underachieving when the team isnt good enough. This is as good as it gets. Whenever Englands Brazilian journey comes to an end (they havent been eliminated, yet) the diehard support and those responsible for overseeing English football will hold on to the positive moments. Flashes of ability and promise are what constitute hope. "They werent that bad" is excused as progress. The play of the likes of Sturridge and Sterling, and the futures of Barkley and Shaw will be used as evidence brighter days ahead. Yawn. Weve heard this before. Weve done this song and dance. The days of a semi-final shoot-out loss in Italia 90 are long gone. Lets not go back to 1966. The failures have piled on, one less painful than the next. Success would be a surprise. Losses to more intelligent and superior football nations are the expectation. The English should be immune from the feeling of devastation or outrage. From a Golden Generation not good enough, to the likes of Rooney, Lampard and Gerrard who have failed to capture the imagination. Its a vicious cycle of mediocrity. A 2-1 loss to Uruguay is just the latest chapter. England was poor. Nothing new. The how it happened is what drives home the obvious. Too weak in too many areas and lacking true top talent to break down their competition. Out-managed. Out-witted. Out-classed. Uruguay only completed a pathetic 64 per cent of passes. The South Americans struggled in build up and were content to sit back. It was an astute page out of Italys book from Englands opening match; sit-back and force England to break you down. Dont get beat for speed. And counter-attack. Thats what Uruguay did, and credit for executing. They got stuck in and remained organized. Forget basic statistics telling you England dominated possession with Uruguay on the back-foot. It was calculated. It worked to perfection. A basic approach against a basic team. Simple. The game winning goal incredibly came directly from the Uruguayan goalkeeper Fernando Muslera. A ball put on the ground and a long ball played out. Simple to defend, right? Apparently not. Edinson Cavani dropped deep all match to expose long-in-the-tooth Steven Gerrard sitting on top of the England backline. For what the England captain has in experience, he lacks in legs because of the kilometers accumulated. Cavanis aerial challenge of Gerrard forced a wayward header backwards from the England midfielder. Luis Suarez, as proper poachers do, tucked in behind the backline looking for an advantage. He gambled and he won, as Gary Cahill got caught. Suarez was clinical in finish and again showed his special talent. A game breaker and match winner, something England doesnt have. Likewise on Suarez opener, he exposed Englands backline. The Uruguayan number nine did well to create the needed space on the far post behind Phil Jagielka. The ball played to Suarez by Cavani was all-world. But it was two Uruguayan players on six England defenders. Nobody put pressure on the ball. And to leave Suarez lurking on the far post wasnt good enough. Not to mention is was a missed tackle by Gerrard in the midfield, leading to the attack. Two England centre-backs and two mistakes leading to goals conceded. Cahill and Jagielka are experienced at the position, at least at the club level. They are the best in the country at the position and they were exposed. The best England has at an all-important position and not good enough. Its the same story at the other end of the field. Not good enough. Wayne Rooney and Daniel Sturridge are more than fine players. They are very good. But they are not at the same levels of other top forwards in this tournament, let alone not the top forwards on their own club teams. Therein is the difference. The likes of Rooney and Sturridge require real substance around them to be at their best, and thats fine. They are better the complimentary piece rather than the focus at this level. When played appropriately, they can shine. In this England team, their play often times is representative of the whole. These are the best England has and they are not good enough. The midfield, a make-shift, comprised of decent parts with no direction on how its supposed to work. Jordan Henderson had a fine season on a good attacking Liverpool team. Yet something suggests he has the makings of becoming the next Sinclair, Wright-Phillips, Mills, or Parker – take your pick of the long list of players youll ask, "Did he really play for England?" Is he really the best England really has? The rest of the midfield is all over the place. The left-side exposed defensively and the movement in attack not creative or consistent. Passing the ball around without purpose wont break down a back line. Its no surprise this area of the field is stagnant and lacks influence. And the manager, oh the manager. Roy Hodgson saw fit to keep Englands double-pivot of Gerrard and Henderson on the field in a game begging for attacking players to breakdown the Uruguayan defensive wall. Comically, two holding players were preferable to keeping on Sterling or Welbeck, or even throwing on a Rickie Lambert until after England went down. The options at Hodgson arent flattering. But neither were the tactics. The very least Hodgson could have done was shuffle the deck. Bring off a defensive midfielder or ineffective wing-back in preference of another attacking player. Change the shape. Instead, the end result of a cautious approach was not good enough. Some will suggest Ashley Cole and Jermain Defoe should have been in the England set-up. Leighton Baines has struggled and another forward option off the bench could have proved decisive. Arguments can be made but how much of a difference they would have made most likely would have been negligible. It made more sense to include Michael Carrick in the squad as a holding midfielder able to provide distribution. But then again, this is a country deeming Paul Scholes not a proper fit to be an England regular over the course of his career. The best England had, but not good enough? Theres a pattern here. Selection issues are nothing new. But no matter who dons the England kit, are they ever good enough? There have been phenomenal performances over the course of the first week of the World Cup, both by individuals and team. Honest assessment would tell the standard of football played by the true top football nations is a step beyond England. Its all very disturbing considering important players for the likes of Chile and Colombia (etc…) are buried in the League Championship, or in some cases not deemed good enough for even that. This should trouble the English to the core. But it wont. Overrating their own talent has become a past-time and feeds the beast. Criticism and finding scapegoats has become a past time. In reality, these are the best players they have. And they are not good enough. The Premier League is the most entertaining league in the world and the most popular. It is not the best. Englands best players are not even the top talent in their own domestic league. Taking a look in the mirror doesnt always cast a pretty reflection. But the look in the mirror is necessary. Acceptance is needed. This was a day England will never have a better context to beat a Uruguay team as such on a stage made for a statement performance. The weather was an ideal 14 degrees Celsius for the hardened English. The opponent was missing two of their preferred back-four. The star player was not 100 per cent. And Uruguays confidence was shaky coming off a shock 3-1 loss. England didnt let it slip away. They were incapable of seizing the moment. It is possible England can still advance from the group stage, even though a team losing their first two games at a World Cup has never done so. Italy must beat Costa Rica then Uruguay, and England will need a comprehensive victory over the Ticos to have superior goal differential. But really, would that constitute success? Squeaking by would be as good as it gets for a team not good enough. Jabrill Peppers Elite Jersey . Expensive. The NFL fined Tomlin $100,000 on Wednesday for interfering with Baltimores Jacoby Jones on a kickoff return in the third quarter of a 22-20 loss to the Ravens on Thanksgiving night. DeShone Kizer Black Jersey . While coach Doc Rivers high-fived fans and pumped his fist at the crowd, Blake Griffin and Chris Paul quietly congratulated each other. http://www.authenticbrownsnflfansmall.c ... ersey.aspx. Numbers Game looks into the Canadiens securing the services of Thomas Vanek in a trade with the New York Islanders. The Canadiens Get: LW Thomas Vanek and a conditional fifth-round pick. Myles Garrett Brown Jersey .com) - The Miami Heat stopped a four-game losing streak last time out and thats the same length slide their opponents Wednesday night, the Denver Nuggets, will try to halt when the two teams meet at the Pepsi Center. Myles Garrett Pink Jersey . Minutes before the final whistle of Sporting Kansas Citys 3-0 victory over a shorthanded Montreal Impact squad on Saturday afternoon, Saputo tweeted: "Our fans deserve better.MONTREAL - With its third season in MLS almost concluded, the Montreal Impact unveiled its plans for the future on Thursday, making a number of important announcements in order to consolidate the clubs structure, both on the technical and administrative levels. The Impact recruited three new members to its management team: Marc Bourassa, Chief Revenue Officer; Hugues Léger, Chief Marketing Officer, and André Côté, Chief Strategic Officer. "We decided to add experience and depth to our administration," said Impact President Joey Saputo. "These are three new positions in vital areas within the company. They will all be mandated to help grow the club, through transparency and accessibility." Marc Bourassa was Vice-President of Sales and Marketing at Sun Media and Le Journal de Montréal, as well as Director General of Advertising with La Presse. Hugues Leger worked recently at Brad as a Vice-President. He has also worked internationally as a Brand Manager and Director of Development for Inbev (brewing company) and Imperial Tobacco. Finally, Andre Cote has contributed to the success of the Cirque du Soleil at all levels for nearly 20 years, including as Vice-President of Marketing and Communications. The club also announced new roles for Richard Legendre and Nick De Santis. Legendre will become the new Executive Vice-President of Soccer Operations and Stade Saputo. He will oversee soccer operations, the construction of the new training centre, the launch of the new USL team and the administrative management of the technical department. He will also be the club representative at the Fédération de Soccer du Québec, the Canadian Soccer Association and the US Soccer Federation. De Santis has been appointed as the Director of International Business Development. He will be responsible for establishing and maintaining contacts, while forging partnerships with clubs targeted around the world. In this new structure, Frank Klopas will remain head coach and Director of Player Personnel in MLS, while Matt Jordan will remain as Technical Director and Philippe Eullaffroy will retain his rolle as Director of the Academy.dddddddddddd "Due to the growth and success of the Academy, we want to establish a more coherent philosophy at all levels and a better defined identity," said Joey Saputo. "We want to offer better guidance to our young players, becoming the leader of Quebec soccer here and around the world." Finally, the club will implement various technical partnerships with amateur clubs across the province to help them progress, but also to better track the best young local talent. "Today, we are making a firm commitment to continue our growth, both on the field and off of it," concluded Joey Saputo. "We will continue to build this club in order to bring it to the highest level." Also announced Thursday was that the Impact are finalizing a project to create a new training centre, close to Stade Saputo on Notre-Dame Street, in the old historic building of the Caserne Letourneux. The objective is to accommodate four fields, two natural and two synthetic, with the centre operational in 2015. Through a unique partnership with the Mercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuve borough, the Academy and the first team will be installed permanently in this location. Synthetic fields will also be available to local soccer organizations. The purchase offer for the building has been accepted and discussions are advanced to finalize the agreement protocol with the borough. The investment for the building, upgrading and redesign of the fields will be fully supported by the Montreal Impact. The Impact will also add a second professional team in Quebec with the creation of a new team in USL Pro called FC Montreal for the 2015 season. The new team will be composed predominantly of young Quebec players from our U18 and U23 teams."It is a major change in our structure and the development of soccer in Quebec," added Joey Saputo. "This new team will serve as the final step and transition for our young players before joining MLS. We believe that it is the best way to prepare them for the top league in North American soccer." The agreement with USL Pro will be finalized in the coming weeks. Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Jerseys From China Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Cheap Jerseys ' ' '


Top
 Profile  
 
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Reply to topic  [ 1 post ] 

All times are UTC [ DST ]


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 13 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot post attachments in this forum

Search for:
Jump to:  
Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Group