N. Herts Wolf
12-10-2005, 10:14
The current spin from the England camp is that, in the qualifying campaign, "lesser" sides always play a negative game against us and are difficult to break down. As a consequence, we havehad to grind out results and have not looked too impressive. However, we have now qualified and, when "better" teams come and attack us in the World Cup proper, we'll give them a good pasting.
This is, of course, an argument that we are very familiar with at Wolves and, of course, we often bemoan our lack of creativity when faced with such defensive tactics.
The difference is that we are not in possession of the best players in the country whereas Sven is. Now he might argue that the likes of Austria putting 10 men behind the ball is a bit harder to break down than Burnley for instance. Nevertheless, if his claim that we can win the World Cup is to be taken as anything other than empty boasting, he has to improve our performances significantly against lesser and better teams alike.
It is naive to suggest that the likes of Brazil, Germany and France will simply play an attacking game and allow us space to 'express ourselves.' Even if they do, if they score first, we have shown a marked lack of ability to come back against quality teams before, and Sven has displayed a marked lack of ability to change the tactics when plan A is failing.
I hope I'm wrong and Sven is right, but at the moment I can only foresee another frustrating quarter-final exit.
This is, of course, an argument that we are very familiar with at Wolves and, of course, we often bemoan our lack of creativity when faced with such defensive tactics.
The difference is that we are not in possession of the best players in the country whereas Sven is. Now he might argue that the likes of Austria putting 10 men behind the ball is a bit harder to break down than Burnley for instance. Nevertheless, if his claim that we can win the World Cup is to be taken as anything other than empty boasting, he has to improve our performances significantly against lesser and better teams alike.
It is naive to suggest that the likes of Brazil, Germany and France will simply play an attacking game and allow us space to 'express ourselves.' Even if they do, if they score first, we have shown a marked lack of ability to come back against quality teams before, and Sven has displayed a marked lack of ability to change the tactics when plan A is failing.
I hope I'm wrong and Sven is right, but at the moment I can only foresee another frustrating quarter-final exit.
