World Cup – England

i only manage to watch the last 20 minutes of englands game against japan. lacklustre was all i can say. the 4-2-3-1 formation doesnt really work. after switching to 4-4-2 they had more bite.

they were losing 0-1 to japan. they were struggling to stamp control in midfield. gerard is not making any headway. lampard made some forays but they have not clicked upfront.

england only won because of two own-goals. however its being scored, i suppose doesnt matter. importantly they won. the goals came of crosses from both flanks. therefore if there is to be something to take away from this game, it will be that england will have good flankers – whether its the full back or midfielders.

four of spurs players will be represented in the england setup. ledley king deserve it however im not sure how he can play all games. so i suspect that he is covering for rio and terry.

i actually feel that lennon was chosen over theo walcott rather than the comparison in papers which were walcott and wright phillips. both lennon and walcott are basically kick and run. they have pace. whereas wright phillips have better flair. lennon would be an asset against high defensive or countering attacking full backs teams. wright phillips would be use more for holding and waiting for full backs to overlap especially against low defense.

defoe is in the squad but i dont think he has the ability to be in the first eleven unless something happens to rooney. defoe, to me, is not maximised or rather he is not making himself highly efficient. he cant trap the ball at times and does too much when a quick one two would have been better.

crouch will be a good fold for rooney. crouch, although lanky, can trap the ball and hold it. importantly, desperate measures will mean a long pun with crouch heading back for rooney or lennon to chase. im salivating at the thought. he will good for knock downs as well, if the glory of heroship doesnt get the better of him. the knock downs will be for lampard and gerrard.