McLaren destroys England
It may seem harsh to rest the blame squarely on McLaren's shoulders as the England players are largely to be blamed as well.
Leaving out David Beckham for a start was a very unwise move. With Wright-Phillips and Richards on the right, it was easy for Croatia to defend them as they both couldn't cross well and only relied on their pace.
Sure, Robinson should be dropped, but the experience of James would have been better suited for England's biggest game. Carson is a good keeper on his day but his inexperience showed by misjudging Kranjcar's shot. It could have happened to any keeper, but surely James' experience would have been better suited for this occasion. Plus, he has been keeping clean sheets for Portsmouth.
Having said that, England were missing Ashley Cole, Ferdinand, Terry, Rooney, Owen and Neville. The experience of these players would have aided England's cause. Lescott looked uncertain the whole night. Croatia were always attacking Bridge. England resorted to long balls to Crouch due to the lack of attacking options.
McLaren has come out and said he would not resign. He would be sacked. Surely. Perhaps, hiring Wenger as a part-time manager would be a better option. Giving the reigns to Alan Shearer? At this point, anyone is better than McLaren.
England has to produce more flair players if they are to compete with the world's best as they lack the discipline of Italy and Germany. So far the only flair players they have are Joe Cole and the injury-prone Rooney. Brazil, Argentina and France have an abundance of flair talent. Ronaldinho, Kaka, Messi, Riquelme, Henry and Ribery to name a few. Even if they are injured, players like Diego, Robinho, Tevez, Aguero, Malouda and Nasri are capable of stepping up. For England, two Tottenham reserve strikers were their only option of the bench minus David Beckham. They needed another Beckham (England's 2-2 draw with Greece) to grab the game by the scruff of its neck but no one stepped up. England can't forever rely on Beckham and Rooney.
Lampard was anonymous throughout the game apart from the penalty. Gerrard has trying to force the situation too much. Often misplacing passes. Only Joe Cole looked like someone capable of creating something. He ran himself to the ground and had to be substituted. Campbell covered up for Lescott and Bridge's incompetence more then he should have.
England is a mess. They need a good manager to steer the ship. Hopefully, not qualifying would be an eye opener to the state of English football. Hopefully, the English would realise that the English Premierleague's high standard does not translate to a world class English team.
England player ratings:
Carson 5 Howler from first shot of the game.
Richards 5
Campbell 7 Played well.
Lescott 5
Bridge 3 Weak link. Constantly exploited.
Wright-Phillips 5
Gerrard 5
Barry 5
Lampard 4 Missing in Action.
Joe Cole 7 England's only lively player.
Crouch 6 Good goal.
Beckham 6 Assist.
Defoe 3 Only contribution was diving to win the penalty.
Bent 5 Too little too late.
Leaving out David Beckham for a start was a very unwise move. With Wright-Phillips and Richards on the right, it was easy for Croatia to defend them as they both couldn't cross well and only relied on their pace.
Sure, Robinson should be dropped, but the experience of James would have been better suited for England's biggest game. Carson is a good keeper on his day but his inexperience showed by misjudging Kranjcar's shot. It could have happened to any keeper, but surely James' experience would have been better suited for this occasion. Plus, he has been keeping clean sheets for Portsmouth.
Having said that, England were missing Ashley Cole, Ferdinand, Terry, Rooney, Owen and Neville. The experience of these players would have aided England's cause. Lescott looked uncertain the whole night. Croatia were always attacking Bridge. England resorted to long balls to Crouch due to the lack of attacking options.
McLaren has come out and said he would not resign. He would be sacked. Surely. Perhaps, hiring Wenger as a part-time manager would be a better option. Giving the reigns to Alan Shearer? At this point, anyone is better than McLaren.
England has to produce more flair players if they are to compete with the world's best as they lack the discipline of Italy and Germany. So far the only flair players they have are Joe Cole and the injury-prone Rooney. Brazil, Argentina and France have an abundance of flair talent. Ronaldinho, Kaka, Messi, Riquelme, Henry and Ribery to name a few. Even if they are injured, players like Diego, Robinho, Tevez, Aguero, Malouda and Nasri are capable of stepping up. For England, two Tottenham reserve strikers were their only option of the bench minus David Beckham. They needed another Beckham (England's 2-2 draw with Greece) to grab the game by the scruff of its neck but no one stepped up. England can't forever rely on Beckham and Rooney.
Lampard was anonymous throughout the game apart from the penalty. Gerrard has trying to force the situation too much. Often misplacing passes. Only Joe Cole looked like someone capable of creating something. He ran himself to the ground and had to be substituted. Campbell covered up for Lescott and Bridge's incompetence more then he should have.
England is a mess. They need a good manager to steer the ship. Hopefully, not qualifying would be an eye opener to the state of English football. Hopefully, the English would realise that the English Premierleague's high standard does not translate to a world class English team.
England player ratings:
Carson 5 Howler from first shot of the game.
Richards 5
Campbell 7 Played well.
Lescott 5
Bridge 3 Weak link. Constantly exploited.
Wright-Phillips 5
Gerrard 5
Barry 5
Lampard 4 Missing in Action.
Joe Cole 7 England's only lively player.
Crouch 6 Good goal.
Beckham 6 Assist.
Defoe 3 Only contribution was diving to win the penalty.
Bent 5 Too little too late.
Lawrence scored @ 9:52 AM
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