Whole team shows inconsistency and I think we will be fortunate to get past the group stages.
Whilst its a given that the team 'eases off' for the pre tournament friendlies, last night against Honduras (many, many places below England in the world ranking) we looked like Weir's Sheffield United. At the back there was clueless lack of structure and communication, in midfield a propensity to lose possession and not move forward, out wide powder puff wankery and up front a spoon-booted rotating shower of bell-ends.
Cahill and Jags don't seem to have any understanding as to who is doing what. Johnson is a fucking liability. Baines - possibly the only person who puts in a shift can't put in a decent, driven cross any more. Gerrard receives the ball from this lot and his only real outlet is a predictable diagonal, forty yard thump to the opposite wing ... his co-conspirator in the middle is Henderson who seems to be playing hos own game, on his own. And he's not very good at it.
I don't get 4-2-3-1. I don't see what it gives our method of play. It's ace if you have 4 attacking midfielders like Spain or Barca, who can do a lot of work of the ball and run the opposition ragged and draw players out to allow a runner. But England haven't got any of that. Lallana plays like he's out on a piss up and is too lightweight (Honduras muscled him out too many times). Rooney is a spent force now and will never, ever be that tornado of a young blood we saw eight years ago. Man Utd and Ferguson have wrung the poor ugly fucker dry, by playing him in any other position that where he used to be good, namely up front battling his way into two or three goals. Sturridge is about 75% of the player we need and he is at max-chat. The goal against Peru will never be repeated. Welbeck - please! He is possibly as good as Chris Porter, and will never be any better. He faffs about, never penetrates any defence with any measure of danger and again, is far too lightweight. Compared with Lambert - possibly the only hope we have of goals - he is piss weak. Lambert at least knows what it is about being the lone striker although at Southampton he had a world of options feeding his scoring ability. I struggle to think where he is going to be fed from in the England side. Wilshere? Not really. He is into picking the ball up, breezing past a player and then losing it. I don't really see him as Gerrard or Lampard's natural suggessor either. The only two bright sparks we have are Barkley and Sterling, two players who kinda play in the same position. Both are fast, but both are young and inexperienced. And both have the ability to be swept up and placed in the pockets of an organised defence.
It all looks pretty shit, really
pommpey
