For those who don't know, the World Cup is not all there is to international football. No, each continent has their own tournament amongst their nations, and foremost among those, as one might imagine, is the Euro. The Euro happens once every four years, just like the World Cup. Qualifying began yesterday, and here are my notes on England's 4-0 route of Bulgaria.
In Wembley Stadium on Friday, Fabio Capello showed all of his critics what he can really do as a manager. For the most part, the 4-0 thrashing of Bulgaria was quite impressive, but a couple of things are still worrying me.
First, lets look at the positives in this extremely impressive victory:
1. Rooney: playing well, still might not be himself. It really got a lot harder to not be a fan of Wayne Rooney after his performances recently, especially for the English national team. Roo knows that he isn't in scoring form, so he's been selflessly setting up teammates for goal after goal.
Defoe (pictured above) came out, as he should have, today to thank his strike partner for his hat-trick success yesterday, saying that he couldn't have done it without Roo. We'll get to how good Defoe was later, but the point is important. Rooney set up Defoe perfectly several times, with balls flipped over hapless Bulgarian defenders, clinically weighted through balls, and clever play all over the field.
Roo has also done a great job dropping back into the midfield to help distribute play to the attacking players. This was always one of his major strengths as a striker, and he seems to have gotten at least that part of his game all the way back.
As for his drive, how could you say it isn't there? Roo will always give everything he has, chase down any defender that comes within ten feet of him, blow defenders to the ground when he's on the ball. He's just a tryer, and for that reason I've never understood his mixed reception by English fans. With that said, it seemed like the Wembley faithful were very much behind their star man, so that's good.
2. Wide players: creative, fast, hard-working.
A problem for the English national team in the world cup was a lack of any players out wide. Somehow, there was simply no width to the English attack, and Aaron Lennon and others like him weren't able to get it done for the Three Lions. This was a cause for major concern, as delivery from out wide is key for a side that has players like Crouch at their disposal.
But, yesterday, the guns were out on display. James Milner, in particular, was an absolute work horse. Chasing down every ball, providing a great creative touch, and bringing a lot of width to play, Milner looked exceptional at Wembley.
Walcott is still struggling to play the right ball consistently, but he looked promising, particularly with his lethal speed.
Coming in at the 73rd minute, Manchester City's Adam Johnson was the high point of Capello's strategy in this match. Johnson was quick, thoughtful, and full of explosive energy. His goal cemented the win for England and was a low, driven ball at the near post. A perfect winger goal for what was a perfect day for the wingers of the Three Lions.
3. Jermain Defoe: Oh yeah, he's really good. As promised, let's look at Jermain Defoe, without question the man of the match in this game and his three goals. Defoe proved today why he is, was, and always has been a top class striker. He is the only English striker with the giddyup to get in behind defenders and he showed that skill quite well in the match. It helps when Rooney, who has great vision, is feeding you the ball with every run you make.
Defoe is also a top class finisher, and showed this skill quite well as well. If Defoe had a bad run of form last season, then he is certainly in the twilight of his career this season. His presence alongside Rooney makes England an almost definite shoe-in to qualify for Euro 2012.
4. Other notes: Gerrard seems to be struggling a bit, giving the ball away quite a lot. However, he looks more and more comfortable in central midfield and gets better and better every time I see him in his new niche.
Central defenders: two new faces. Jagielka and Michael Dawson are two of the up and coming stars in English football, and both of whom were starting on friday. Unfortunately, Dawson suffered a ligament injury in this game and will be out for six to eight weeks.
Ashley Cole: answering for his mistakes. Ashley Cole was a notable absentee in terms of form in South Africa a few months back, but he's clearly back in top form for his country and club. His speed, defensive abilities, and passing skills were on display and he proved how vital he is to the Three Lions attack with his brutal overlapping runs coming out of right fullback.
Joe Hart is a beast. It seems that all of the goalkeeping questions have been answered for England with Joe Hart. His reaction time, size, skill with his feet, and jumping ability all are top class. He will probably be England's number one for quite a while.
Now for the bad things. There aren't many, but they are worth mentioning.
1. Glen Johnson doesn't really know how to play football. Johnson is arguably one of the best athletes in the world. His stamina, strength, and speed are all there. But something about Johnson has always been a little off, and it doesn't seem to be getting any better.
Some of the balls he plays are absolutely head-scratching. His clearances are never consistently safe. He doesn't seem to be on the same page with the rest of the players around him. His defensive abilities have always been suspect. These are the main critiques of Johnson, and they're as old as his career, but that's because he doesn't seem to be getting any better.
2. Still questions in the back. In defense for England, there were numerous miscommunications that could have cost goals, and it's been that way for a while now. These guys just don't seem to be on the same page half the time.
And the speed in defense just isn't there. This has always been a problem for England, and they've always combatted it by keeping a razor thin offside trap, but they need to be careful when they play sprightly, quick teams like Germany or Holland.
3. Gareth Barry is a sissy.
Barry is a secure, strong player to have in the center of the field. But my complaint of him will always be the same: he's a pansy who has no quality in the final third. Barry's only strategy in the final third is to seek contact and take a dive. He did it at least three in this game that I could see. He has no offensive lethality whatsoever, and just should stop taking the ball into the danger area.
All in all, it was an impressive display from the Three Lions in their debut Euro game, and I am optimistic for the future of English football.
Other news from Euro qualifying: France loses 1-0 to Belarus, Klaas Jan-Huntelaar gets a hat trick for Holland, Spain, Germany, and Italy win, Scotland ties Lithuania.
Thanks for reading!
