Japan vs England – Final Liveblog before South Africa

And look here for my Japan related preview…
http://japan.worldcupblog.org/world-cup-2010/lions-and-samurai-japan-v-england-preview.html

At least that game has put to bed any ridiculous ideas of Darren bent making the squad.

Didn’t expect much from the game, not too many players with much to gain from it. Most would just be looking to avoid any late silly injuries.

Not sure Huddlestone did enough to oust Carrick, although Carrick has been doing that job himself.

Fabio: I know my 23 players, yes, I know. As for today – I’m happy for the second half. In midfield we played better, faster and found space. In the first half we were too slow and it was easy for Japan to defend. It was an interesting game for me. I saw a lot of players who didn’t play before and learnt more about them.” On Joe Cole: “Wait and see. He is a very intelligent player and can play in different positions. On Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard starting together in midfield: “They’ve never played together in the centre under me, but they played well. They are good players, fast, with good quality and good going forward.

Look at this ^^ http://www.mixin.com/users/worldcup_england

Not a very convincing effort from England, but it wasn’t too much a disappointing game, seeing that we may have sorted a few things about our squad out. In the past two friendlies we have really learned who has what it takes to play competitively in South Africa. A few of those players include:
Rooney – Has a dry spell of goals currently, but with the right partner is able to lead England to victory

Crouch – His scoring statistics are impressive, he has the ability to score against the weaker teams, and opens up alot of play for Rooney

Gerrard – In his new role he looks to be an improvement to the squad, and coming off of a solid Premier League finish, he seems to be in good form for the World Cup

Lennon – His lightning speed seems to trouble defenders, and he shines above most other wingers in the team

G.Johnson – Has been brilliant for England, gets better every single time he plays and he offers quite alot in an attacking perspective

Hart – My number one goalie to be honest, has been on form for Birmingham, and for the two halves he’s played for England, he has played spectacularly, especially in todays fixture

A couple of questions still need to be sorted out by Capello, such as in the first game, who should fill the role of Barry? Or should we play in another formation to make up for that loss? Who should be Rooney’s partner? And who should take the penalties!!
Lampard normally puts them in, but he has been missing recently JUST in time for the World Cup. One against Portsmouth, and one in todays fixture. Who would be your five penalty takers? Mine are as follows:
-Lampard (I’ll have my fingers crossed)
-Rooney (Does well with them for Man U)
-Milner (Another regular for AV)
-Barry (Seems confident, ability proves it)
-Walcott (Scored for U21, confident and good placement)

The 7 to miss out…
Matthew Upson
Michael Dawson
Scott Parker
Tom Huddlestone
Shaun Wright-Phillips
Michael Carrick
Darren Bent
…maybe

My 7 to miss out:
-Matthew Upson
-Scott Parker
-Stephen Warnock
-Michael Carrick
-Emile Heskey
-Shaun Wright-Phillips
-Michael Dawson

The last one actually is tricky
I’d go with either Michael Dawson, Darren Bent, or Adam Johnson to cut

Ah yes, I forgot all about Warnock…he will miss out and Matthew Upson will be going…maybe…

After this showing, it is unlikely that we’ll make it to the 1/4 finals. We have no ball winner in midfield so teams can play in front of us all they want.

Our intensity is severely lacking, and I know everyone will say it’s only a warm-up game, but these players are simply not good enough to switch on and off like tap water. We give the ball away too much and cannot get it back.

We’ll be played off the park by Brazil, Argentina, and Spain and the like unless we can shut down the better teams.

Remember last year’s United Barcelona UCL Final. Thats’ what we’re in for people unless Capello can get these guys motivated.

What are the chances of Barry being fit enough to play?

We do miss Owen Hargreaves it has to be said…

I think the loss of Hargreaves will prove to be part of England’s downfall. He was a ball winner who ran for the whole 90 minutes and never let the opponent’s midfield settle. I’m surprised that Capello didn’t give Parker a run out to see if he could fill that role, but he must feel confident that Milner, if necessary, can do the job. I’m not so sure myself.

Lets start to think constructively and try and see how we can help our national team ENGLAND – I’m sure the team in Capello’s head is clear to him – most probably, the team shapes he used in the qualifiers with a goalkeeper and striking partnership change.

As Capello said, the most important thing to further our chances is to play like a premiership team. Can I suggest that supporters in the ground create a premiership-like atmosphere. What I mean is player focused chants + anthems… BUT no brass bands so what I mean is NO BRASS BANDS or hooters and the like – to clarify again, NO BRASS BANDS. I was at the last world cup and I think generating a festival atmosphere in the ground encourages english players to slow down and slow down some more. We will never play like the spanish or brazilian, do A few tricks like we’re in a street carnival, and have a little dance in between each pass. We will never inevitably score like the brazilians. We need to force the ball into the net with pace, power and aggression. Its difficult for the FA or Capello to ask for changes in the crowd (as opposed to the team) so lets try changing things from bottom up.

Pass and move at a 100mph (about 60% of the time), until we’re tired and then ask to get subbed off. Its our best strategy.

I think the loss of Hargreaves will prove to be part of England’s downfall. He was a ball winner who ran for the whole 90 minutes and never let the opponent’s midfield settle.