Being right never felt so wrong

In one blog I questioned whether Remains project fear was toxic enough to turn people to brexit and in this one I structured concerns about 433 and Raheem Sterling. What a bitter sweet week.

Hodgson has finally gone, probably learning nothing along the way, but will England finally accept reality? Our players aren’t individually good enough and our managers tactically inept.

Watching Giaccherini play his part in a team focussed Italy reminded me why I’ve struggled to enjoy England games. We don’t care for winning tournaments.
That’s not to say the players don’t want to win it, I’m sure they do, but their application is consistently limited by the FA and their horrific choice of managers.

Despite a sturdy Euro 2016, Italians recognise there are few players coming through and the quality of Italian football has stumbled. They have as many world beaters as we do.
We also share another troubling problem, strong central players limiting our capability out wide.
Italy found a solution; they employed a manager who rated his players accurately and didn’t need a Neymar or Griezmann.

For England, the problems are obvious. Sterling is not yet good enough, either on or off the ball. Sturridge can’t play in an isolated position. Taking one defensive midfielder limited us tactically. And we had no idea how to use width, either in 433 or by playing narrow with full backs.
Defensively, and pointed out by Lee Dixon against Iceland, the detailing/application was inefficient.
Hodgson really is to blame for this one. And Conte should be admired.

Initially happy enough with the England team I hoped Roy would play narrow and put to bed the myth that selfish central players play wide naturally. But no, our obsession with 433 resulted in a flat approach in attack with a hugely inefficient formation.
Italy’s second goal against Spain is a shining example of what England need. We may want great players doing great things but those times are at the moment behind us. There are no Scholes, Beckham’s, Shearer’s, Gazza’s etc who make a good team stronger. Therefore first and foremost we need a team.

Individually, England aren’t good enough and neither are Italy. But why is Giaccherini in a quarter final, whereas Townsend and title winning Albrighton, Drinkwater stuck at home?
The answer is management, from both the FA and Hodgson.
Would Marc Albrighton get a friendly if he was worth £20million+ with 1.3 million twitter followers? What about Noble?

Why are we still shunning tactics for favourites? I think it’s time we accepted the fans vision of success is very different from the FA’s.

The next England manager must be someone who considers Albrighton an option, who recognises the value of Drinkwater next to Dier and who isn’t concerned about dropping a player without the mental capacity for his tactic. Sometimes the star isn’t a star performer.

They don’t need to be English; they just need to know how to win and why their tactic works.
And we England fans deserve it.