England’s first-half performance against Sweden yesterday was their best 45 minutes for as long as I can remember. But, as so often happens in football, it was a game of two halves.
During the second half, England’s defense fell apart — especially for Sweden’s comical second goal. But the biggest problem for me is their right wing. Historically, the weakest spot in an England team has always been the left side, but with Ashley and Joe Cole, England finally have their answer.
Watching yesterday’s match, most of the pressure from England came down the left wing or through the middle. The right, other than crosses floated in by Beckham, was practically non-existent.
The answer is Aaron Lennon, who has the speed to attack down the right flank and give England width. Sven needs to find a way to get Lennon in the starting line-up, otherwise England will probably go home after the second round (or, more likely, the quarter finals — especially if they meet the Netherlands, as I predict).
The problem for Sven is where to put Beckham. Thoughts?
The bench
The only hope is for Michael Beckham to get crocked and be out for the remaining games….
“Michael” Beckham had one of his poorer performances in an England shirt. He wasted many dead-ball situations and created little on his side of the pitch. If he plays like this against Ecuador, the place for him will be on the bench after a substitution.
The bigger problem is that now is not the best time for formation experiments and unless Sven gets bold like he did against T&T and switch to a 3-5-2, we’re going to see more of the same.
Whoops. I hope this crow tastes good.
Yes, a fantastic free kick from Beckham today, but he still was invisible for most of the match.
The biggest applause, in the pub where I was watching the match, was when Beckham was subbed and Aaron Lennon was brought on (of course, except for the England goal).
But that was a masterful free kick, wasn’t it?
Cheers,
The Gaffer
Got lucky is all I can say. And I switched off the telly!