Old Habits Die Hard

I have been staring at an empty word document for over two hours as I try to gather all my thoughts related to the Euro 2012 quarter final match between England and Italy. So, here goes nothing… 

Prior to the tournament, I had my reservations, worries and doubts about Roy Hodgson and his preferred football model having suffered the full effects of Roy’s ‘realism’ during a 6 month stint at Liverpool Football Club where he dragged the Reds into the relegation places. 

Throughout the group stage of Euro 2012 I began to see the advantages of hiring Roy as England successfully grinded out results against France & Ukraine while also managing to end the Swedish Hoodoo as the Three Lions beat Ibrahimovich’s boys 3-2 in a thrilling encounter. The result was unthinkable with England topping Group D ahead of France with 7 points. Only Germany earned more points than England during the group stages. Impressive stuff indeed. 

Here is a link to my analysis of England’s best game of the Group stages versus Sweden which shows the many positives offered by Roy Hodgson’s approach: 

http://thefeedreview.blogspot.com/2012/06/hodgsons-england-my-humble-pie.html

As a reward for topping their group, England must now face the mighty Azzuri who England have beaten only once in official football throughout their history. Daunting task awaits! 

Prandelli’s Italy has been a joy to watch for all the tacticians out there as the young coach toyed with different formations, line-ups and player roles as per the opposition strengths and weaknesses. This has helped create an aura of unpredictability around the Azzuri. England’s tactics, on the other hand, were very predictable with the 4-4-1-1 formation a common factor in all of England’s Euro 2012 games accompanied by two deep banks of four shielding Joe Hart’s goal. Therefore, the game was always going to be about how well Prandelli can alter his tactics to trouble the English and obtain the all-important win. 

The Azzuri began the game with a 4-1-3-2 formation which Prandelli trusted during the Euro 2012 qualifying phase. This was also the same formation deployed against Ireland in Italy’s sole win in the group stages. Prandelli relied on the width provided by his two attacking full backs Abate and Balzaretti to stretch the play while Andrea Pirlo was given full license to dictate the play from a deep lying position. The compact diamond shaped midfield included Machisio, De Rossi and the advanced Montolivo ensured that England was out-numbered in center midfield. If England were to have any chance of winning the game then success on their wings became crucial. 

The game featured the most enthralling first half of the whole tournament with both teams creating goal bound chance within the first 10 minutes first through a superb long-range effort by Italy’s De Rossi followed by a break from England’s right hand side which resulted in a wonder save by Gianluigi Buffon from a Glen Johnson snapped shot. The first half continued to be an open affair with England dominating the opening exchanges before Italy took control from the 20th minute onwards. Still, chances were created on both ends and England fans must have felt a sense of satisfaction for the attacking intent showed during the opening 45 minutes. 

All positivity however vanished with the start of the second half. Hodgson’s fear antics taking over as England dropped deeper and deeper with every passing minute. England’s attacking intent evaporated into thin air after the introduction of Andy Carroll and Theo Walcott in place of the tireless Danny Welbeck and the disappointing Milner. 

Smelling blood, Prandelli responded by replacing the tiring De Rossi with AC Milan’s Nocerino. The young tactician then ordered the front three of the midfield diamond (Nocerino, Marchisio & Montolivo) to form a very compact unit thus choking out England’s center midfielders Scott Parker and Steven Gerrard. Pirlo, on the other hand, was given full license to dominate the play through a free role. 

What seemed to be an aggressive move by England turned into a nightmare as hoof-ball tactics were deployed. To make matters worse, Rooney was asked to drop even further to chase the inspired Andrea Pirlo. As expected, long balls from Joe Hart to Andy Carroll became a common factor for England’s ‘attack’ and as predicted England’s number 9 dominated in the air as he flicked one ball after the other – the problem though was the total lack of support from England’s deep midfield (Rooney included). 

The game turned worse for the Three Lions (more like three pussy cats) as fatigue took over the England players with Steven Gerrard requiring thigh massage during every stoppage. Italy created one goal bound opportunity after the other with Lady Luck fully embracing the England White as Joe Hart and co removed one dangerous opportunity after the other. 

The match had over-time written all over it as England successfully kept the Azzuri at bay to score the first 0-0 score line of the tournament thus far. 

The tiring Italy continued to push forward with limited success while England continued to look like playing with a player (or two) sent-off. 

England seemed determined to take the game into penalties! A brief lesson in history is of importance at this point: 

- England have NEVER won a penalty shootout in a World Cup tournament 

- England have won just one penalty shootout in their entire European Championship history 

- England were eliminated after a penalty shootout in 5 out of their last 10 international tournaments (Italia 90, Euro 96, France 98, Euro 2004, Germany 2006) 

- England were facing perennial penalty champions Italy 

Still, Roy decided to take the game into penalties; Lady Luck’s patience with Hodgson and his troops waned soon thereafter and the inevitable happened. England once again lose on penalties with the awful Ashley Young rocketing his shot into the cross bar while Ashley Cole couldn’t even afford to look at Buffon’s goal before firing a very weak penalty. Italy got what they fully deserved. 

There is no shame losing to the Azzuri but the matter in which Hodgson managed the game was disgraceful. Now, now, I know what you’re saying! I am an avid Liverpool fan so I have my beef with Roy but let’s look at numbers now shall we: 

- Joe Hart completed more passes (45) than any other England player in the game against Italy. 

- England goalkeeper Joe Hart had 85 touches vs Italy, more than any other goalkeeper in the history of the Euros. 

- Joe Hart made more saves than any other goalkeeper at Euro 2012. A total of 19 saves. (optastats) 

- Most common pass pattern by England: Joe Hart to Andy Carroll! 18 times. 

But wait, here’s more: 

- Andrea Pirlo had 155 touches against England, the second most a player ever had in a European Championship game. 

- England made only 15 passes in 15 minutes in the 2nd period of extra-time. 

- England completed a total of 364 passes throughout the 120 minutes compared to Italy’s 837. 

- England had 9 shots on goal compared to Italy’s 36. 

Not convinced yet that Roy had a hand in this? (taken from fourfourtwo.com)

Take a look at how Steven Gerrard fared against Andrea Pirlo in Extra time. Yes that’s right, Steven Gerrard who has 3 assists in 3 games during the group stages actually gave ONE correct pass for 30 minutes of extra time. 

The fact that Pirlo was allowed this much room is criminal – this after all is not a young unknown talent that Roy didn’t know about. This is the same Andrea Pirlo who lead Italy to the World Cup Triumph in 2006. Andrea Pirlo completed 131 passes compared to 67 completed by Steven Gerrard and Scott Parker together (taken from bbc.com). 

I am not trying to take anything away from the imperious Pirlo but a better tactician should have been able to identify this threat and deal with it accordingly. 

My biggest worry is that England are already a long way behind the likes of Spain, Germany and Italy; all who have endorsed attacking football in their recent tournaments. England on the other hand decided to use tactics pre Alf Ramsey. 

When Hodgson was appointed, I had my worries and God I hate that I was proven right. Roy must change and adapt to the talents England possess. I do not expect England to win every trophy they compete in but I do expect England to play football.

EURO 2012 - Dutch Misery

What a Euro 2012 it has been so far, we have witnessed the decimation of Holland’s latest golden generation, the breaking of two eternal looking records as England finally beat Sweden in an official football match which was followed by Spain finally defeating France in official international football as well. This tournament is also yet to witness any 0-0 score line and has been a major improvement on the international championships we have witnessed over the past decade.

If anything, Euro 2012 seems like a final cry from the current European Championships format to maintain the current structure instead of moving to the proposed 24 team format starting from 2016.

Over my next few blog posts I will be reviewing the main talking points that we have seen so far at Euro 2012.

Let’s begin.

Holland: 

We were always going to start with the Netherlands now weren’t we! 

I have read a lot of articles blaming the demise of the Dutch on the oversized egos of players such as Sneijder, Van Persie, Van Der Vaart, Van Bommel etc but make no mistake about it, the blame falls at the feet of non-other than Bert Van Marwijk whose squad selection looked very exciting to me at first as it included upcoming talents such as Kevin Strootman and the lively Luciano Narsingh. The squad was also balanced as it contained a good blend of older heads that featured for Holland during their successful run to the World Cup final in 2010.

But, even at first glance, you could notice a huge gap in quality when it comes to that Dutch defense and thus the need to maintain possession and control over football matches becomes crucial for Holland to succeed.

Fast forward to Holland’s first game against Denmark who, with all due respect, are the weakest team in a group of death which included the likes of Germany and Portugal.

Van Marwijk’s first team selection surprised many as he once again decided to start with 34 year old captain and son-in-law Mark Van Bommel but the main talking points was the inclusion of Van Persie ahead of the record breaking Klaas Jan Huntelaar who scored 12 games during the Netherlands’ successful Euro 2012 qualifying campaign. Now before you bring up Van Persie’s successful season at Arsenal, I believe they both should have started with Huntelaar in the central striker role while RVP would start out from the left before cutting inside to support Holland’s attack.

To raise more eye brows, Van Marwijk decided to start with Wesley Sneijder and Ibrahim Afellay who both had forgettable seasons at their respective clubs. Rafael Van Der Vaart was dropped.

And finally came the selection of the inexperienced Jetro Willems who regardless how highly rated he might be, must never be thrown into the deep end especially when we consider the lack of quality in the supporting defenders Joris Mathijsen, Ron Vlaar etc. Again, before you start highlighting the lack of Dutch talent at Left Back, I would like to mention the name of AC Milan’s Urby Emanuelson who had a very decent season for his club and has the versatility to play in more than position. Van Marwijk decided that Emanuelson was not even good enough for the squad all together.

So, where were we? Ah yes, Holland’s first game against Denmark.

The Dutch started the game brightly and dominated possession for long periods of the game although they failed to create enough goal scoring opportunities. Denmark, on the other hand, made full use of a fast counterattack compounded by very feeble defending from Holland’s back four to score the only goal of the game.

It could be fair to say that Netherlands did not deserve to lose against the Danes but they never came to close to winning either. One game down and Holland already face immediate elimination as they prepare to face top contenders Germany knowing that at least a draw is necessary.

In comes the second game, Van Marwijk sticks to his selection process with the exception of a single change as Mathijsen replaced the internationally poor Ron Vlaar. The Germans being Germans identified the weakness on Holland’s left side providing Jetro Willems a nightmare of a match as Muller, Ozil and Schweinsteiger took turns in tormenting the poor 18 year old. Germany also took the game out of Holland’s hands completely by dominating possession for long periods of the match with the Dutch reverting to counter attacking football for much of the first half. The German dominance paid off as the ruthless Mario Gomez netted 2 goals in quick succession. Facing elimination, Van Marwijk was forced to ring the changes bringing on Huntelaar for the invisible Ibrahim Afellay and Rafael Van der Vaart for the inept Van Bommel and if we’re being honest not much changed anyway. Germany continued to impose their will and eventually the 2-1 score line was very flattering to the Dutch who lacked the passion and the belief to turn things around.

Playing Van der Vaart in a deep center midfield role was never going to work against Khedira and Schweinsteiger as once again Van Marwijk brings forth another questionable decision. Why not use your full squad? Why not select adequate replacements? If you do not believe in Strootman why take him to begin with? Why start with a clearly unfit duo in Sneijder & Afellay? Why not give Narsingh a chance?

Ah yes, I can hear rumbles of ‘But he needed to win the game and naturally he needed an attacking presence in Midfield like Van der Vaart!’

Let me remind you of one famous Champions League final between AC Milan and Liverpool Football Club. Liverpool was 3-0 down at half time and in order to turn the game around, Benitez introduced a defensive midfielder in Didi Hamann as the foundation for an attacking team, he solidified the defense to build a stable attack. Van Marwijk did the exact opposite thus surrendering the midfield to the mighty Germans.

The third game against Portugal was no more than academic with Van Marwijk starting with the same eleven that finished the game against the Germans. The Dutch started brightly and scored early on with a long range drive from Rafael van der Vaart. The Dutch mood turned sour soon though as Ronaldo produced one of his better performances in a Portugal jersey and equalized before half-time. Once again, the morale of this Holland side slumped with a lack of mental strength and leadership evident. Portugal grew into the game with every passing minute and eventually got the three points they deserved.

The Netherlands was eliminated without gaining a single point, scoring only two goals from outside the box, zero goals from inside the penalty area. Holland’s golden generation which included Arjen Robben, Robin van Persie, Wesley Sneijder seem to be heading into their twilight zone fast while the upcoming talent were deprived of an opportunity to gain valuable experience throughout this tournament. The Dutch will always produce exciting attacking talent and make no mistake about it, younger blood will be introduced starting with the FIFA World Cup 2014 qualifiers in September with the likes of Strootman, Narsingh, Ola John and Leroy Fer playing a key role but what worries me is the lack of talent coming through on the defensive side.

Finally, I wanted to highlight Bert Van Marwijk’s criminal man management of the poor Jetro Willems throughout Euro 2012. Not only was the youngster thrown to the wolves from the first game, he received no defensive support what so ever from Afellay and was finally substituted as fallen figure against Portugal. This kind of man management can turn a rising star into a distant memory.

One thing is for certain, it is back to the drawing board for the KNVB and some very tough decisions must be made very soon.

Hodgson’s England & My Humble Pie

Heading into Euro 2012, I had a very bleak outlook on the future of the Three Lions under the tutelage of Roy Hodgson who was appointed by The FA ahead of fan and media favorite Harry Redknapp. Hodgson is an honest man with a lot of experience in international tournaments having lead the likes of Switzerland to the world cup in 1994 but what Hodgson lacks is the swagger of modern football as his tactical focus is based on a very rigid two banks of four who are happy to sit deep, protect their keeper and allow possession to the opposition.

And as an avid Liverpool fan, Roy Hodgson was the epitome of the anti-Liverpool manager historically due to his cautious tactics, bizarre interviews and most of all he was hired by the two cancers Hicks & Gillett.

In club football, Hodgson’s tactics lead to enhancing the fortunes of the smaller clubs with due respect as he is idolized amongst the fans of Fulham and most recently West Bromwich Albion. But for the Fulhams, Malmos and WBAs you have the Blackburn, Inter Milan and Liverpool. Hodgson averaged 43% of the available points which to clubs like Fulham again with respect would be happy with while fans of Liverpool and a star-studded Blackburn Rovers simply dreaded. With regards to knock-out football, Roy led his mean to trophies in Scandinavia while also taking both Inter Milan and Fulham to the UEFA Cup Winners Cup final and The Europa League finals respectively.

Now, where were we, oh yeah back to the Euros!

Hodgson’s squad selection, while controversial, actually made a lot of sense. He had to deal with the Rio Ferdinand issue, the Wayne Rooney suspension but Roy presented a pleasing squad with emphasis on youth with the likes of Oxlade-Chamberlain making the final cut.

What’s more impressive were the recruitment of his backroom staff with his trusted right hand man at Fulham Ray Lewington and the very inspired acquisition of Gary Neville who seems a very important figure in England training. The results on the training pitch were evident as an aura of calmness and relaxation surrounded the England camp which is a stark contrast of the energy that surrounded England in the not so distant tournaments.

On the pitch, England’s two friendlies against Norway and Switzerland revealed Hodgson’s cautious tactics with slight improvement in the second half vs Switzerland at Wembley.

Fast forward to the first game at Euro 2012 against a France side that have been doing some rebuilding of their own, very steadily since the debacle in South Africa. Laurent Blanc lead his Le Bleu to a staggering 21 unbeaten run before the tournament dispatching Fabio Capello’s England at Wembley in 2011.

During that first game, the famous two banks of four were apparent throughout the 90 minutes with England choking out any space that France required for their creative players to make an impact. England’s full backs were asked to stay back and avoid any forays into offensive territories thus restricting Ribery and Nasri to casual attempts of dribble and cross while mostly simply passing the ball back to Cabaye, Alou Diarra and the retreating Benzema. England’s defensive tactics surely worked and you have to hand it to Hodgson, he realized that a compact side was necessary against a superior France side and England obtained the one point they yearned for and fully deserved.

Hodgson’s tactics though successful, caused more concern regarding England’s attacking intent specially that the team sat far too deep for long periods of the game, the two attacking figures of Ashley Cole and Glen Johnson were invisible while James Milner played more of a defensive winger role than an attacking one.

England had to face their bogey team next. England have never beaten Sweden in official football and have only scored their first friendly victory over the Swedes last year since 1968. This was going to be no easy feat for the English.

Rumors spread before the game that Roy has decided to start with the dominant Andy Carroll in place of Oxlade-Chamberlain with Ashley Young moving to the left wing side. Could this be a sign of a more attacking England? I certainly hoped so.

Playing the aerially imposing Carroll makes a lot of sense considering what Shevchenko achieved against Mellberg and co using his heading abilities during Sweden’s opening game vs co-hosts the Ukraine. England started brightly; Ashley Cole and Glen Johnson were given license to move forward with Steven Gerrard and the tireless Scott Parker shielding the England defense with a much disciplined display. England’s attacking intent was there for all to see through a dominant first half where the Three Lions dominated possession and restricting Sweden to a few counter attacks.

The theory regarding Sweden’s weakness to headers became once again a proven fact with big Andy Carroll powering in a text book header from inside the penalty area. With that goal, England finish the first half with a 1-0 lead.

Whatever Sweden coach, Erik Hamren, said to his players at half time seemed to have worked as Ibrahimovich and co pushed forward and equalized within 3 minutes from the restart before taking the lead a few minutes later.

Hodgson to his credit took a gamble by taking off the inept James Milner and bringing on Theo Waclott. This decision would prove to be a masterstroke. After Walcott’s introduction the game changed completely with England’s rigid system disintegrating as Young and Walcott pushed on from the wings with England’s full backs pushing even further. The England pressure succeeded in breaking down the Sweden defense through a fierce shot from outside the box by the inspired substitute Theo Walcott.

Theo did not stop there though, producing his best performance in an England shirt since his hat trick away to Croatia. His pace continued to trouble the Sweden left side of defense and through an incisive breakaway Walcott dribbled into the Swedish penalty box before laying the perfect pass to the very impressive Danny Welbeck to back heel it magically beyond the goal line.

This England side showed the same level of calmness even when they went a goal down and the team has a lovely vibe of confidence around them. There were no over-the-top celebrations after the final whistle; to this England side, breaking the Swedish curse was just another result.

Roy started the game with attacking intent and adapted when England fell behind. Nobody could and should ask for more.

Roy’s next task will now be expectations management and deciding who to drop to accommodate the returning Wayne Rooney.

I expected a series of low scoring England games with a bore feel to them – Roy has proved me wrong. I expected England to score no more than 1 goal per game and again Roy has proven me wrong.

I will gladly have my humble pie now. Oh God it has never felt this good to be so wrong.

The Jazeera Generation

This is a post I wrote after the Champions League semifinal second leg between Real Madrid & Bayern Munich in response to the extremely biased commentary on the Jazeera network. This is also in response to the one dimensional comments posted across social media portals on Real Madrid & Barcelona performances.

To the Jazeera Generation:

I will present a few breaking news to you on this lovely morning:

1- Football is an ancient sport, it did not actually start in 2003 (when Jazeera started broadcasting the Spanish League)

2- The fact that your beloved Jazeera isnt drooling over a player such as Alaba does not mean the man can't play football

3- The fact that your beloved Jazeera isnt worshiping a team or showing their glorious history on repeat does not make the club small. Exhibit A: Bayern Munich

4- Football commentary is not poetry and looking for the next rhyme; football commentary is not worshiping players like Messi and Ronaldo; football commentary is not declaring in the middle of a Champions League Semi Final 'I have no Idea how this team or that team deserve to reach the final'. What football commentary should be is tactical analysis, highlighting gaps within a team or player performance. Team/player worshiping is not commentary

5- Believe it or not but there are in fact more than 2 teams in world football as demonstrated by Bayern and Chelsea over the last 2 days

Oh, and finally, Santa doesn't exist...

UEFA EURO 2012 Day 1 Review

What a brilliant start to Euro 2012 yesterday.

You gotta hand it to those Greeks, they never know when they're out although I have to say that Poland regressed massively in the second half. They lacked the movement and endeavor showed in the first half and their main players Kuba and Lewandowski faded completely after minute 65. They might live to regret that as Greece was there for the taking.

The second game was a huge step up with both Russia and the Czech Republic showing much higher technical skills in the first 30 minutes. After a good start by the Czechs where they threatened from crosses from the right hand side the Russians took control and the lack of a solid defensive presence in the Republic midfield quickly showed. Things only got worse for the Republic defensively as they had no answer for the quick incisive movement of Dzagoev & the reborn Arshavin while both Russia fullbacks were impressive. All in all it was an almost perfect performance from a very well drilled team who know exactly how they want to play football. Russia will be even stronger in the next game offensively with Pavlyuchenko set to start ahead of Kerzhakov.

Support the Lebanese National Team!

Now, for the Lebanon 'supporters'.

To dream is always a positive thing but expecting miracles is simply insane. Lebanon was handed a very tough group containing 2 Asian powerhouses in Iran and South Korea as well as an improving nation who play football correctly in the shape of Uzbekistan plus a Qatar side that are spending heavily to be ready for the World Cup in 2022.

So to expect that Lebanon will stroll through the group to go on and lift the world cup in Brazil is a wee bit of a tall order now isnt it??

Rome was not built in a day. Believe it or not, even the greatest clubs and national teams that people drool about now went through rough patches where their right back made a mistake which cost them a match or a place in a tournament. These things happen but these things are all part of the progress.

If we were told one year ago that Lebanon would beat Kuwait & the UAE to a place in Asia's Final Qualifying round to the World Cup we would all take that offer on the spot. Guess what? We have made it while playing some good football as well and we have beaten the mighty Korea at home and the improving Kuwait away.

We are supposed to support them not ride on the player's backs and attack them for mistakes. With proper support, our Lebanon will become a force in this part of the world making this stage of qualifying a habit instead of a one-off.

Get behind the team!

UEFA EURO 2012 Group Stage Predictions

Good day all.

Welcome to my blog.

Allow me to start with my prediction for the group stages of the UEFA Euro 2012.

Here is how I see the Euros unfolding:

Group A:
Very tough to predict as all teams are almost equal. Poland will be buoyed by their partisan crowd and will be supported by a very talented Dortmund contingent which I think should be enough for them to sneak through. Also, historically, the Euros have always featured at least one host nation in the quarter final stages and I do expect the Poles to grab that spot. I expect Russia to qualify out of Group A although as I said, both qualifying spots are wide open.

Group B:
Ah the Group of Death and this certainly looks like one of the deadliest Group of the Death in international football history. I see Germany winning the group with Holland second although that Dutch defense really worries me. Van Der Wiel aside, all the Dutch defenders would struggle to walk into the starting 11 of the top clubs in Europe and this might give a chance for Portugal to just sneak through. The Danes are also pretty solid so expect a lot of heart stopping action. This group is surely not for the fainthearted.

Group C:
I will start by saying one thing - beware the Irish! Ireland always enjoy themselves on the big stage & they play with no fear. Spain should top this group but if Italy start off slowly like they usually do then they might struggle to go through. The new match fixing scandal will damage the Azzuri, please do not compare this to 2006 or 1982, in both cases the whole Italy squad was being investigated which created a siege mentality, this time around the squad players with the lesser clubs (with due respect) are being haunted. Now, back to the Irish, Ireland will qualify if they beat Croatia which is surely easier said than done.

Group D:
This group will be decided by the mood of one player namely Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Allow me to elaborate, lets start off with the one nation guaranteed to make it through and that is France. France will make it far in this tournament, they have a very sound coach, a young vibrant team who were allowed to build slowly and away from the media since their 2010 debacle. The French are my dark horses for Euro 2012. Oh yeah, back to Zlatan; if Zlatan decides to give a crap then Sweden will qualify from this group along with France. This Sweden team is solid all around and has a good vibe to them.

England you say?

Oh, someone is asking about England I hear? Let me brief you about Roy Hodgson. The British media darling averages 42% from the total available points through his 30 year competition history which means England should grab 4 points in the group stages. I do not expect a positive result vs France, England have never beaten Sweden in non-friendly international football and if Zlatan is in the mood I expect Sweden to beat England but England can just grab 3 points vs Ukraine. England would need 5 points to qualify, I do not see that happening. Andy Carroll is crucial for England, if he is let loose and with his current form he will have a major impact and he just might help England rack up enough points before Wayne Rooney can kick a ball vs Ukraine. Oh, almost forgot, for those of you looking to watch some goals I advise you to avoid the England games.