King Crimson wrote:SheffieldSaddler wrote:King Crimson wrote:SheffieldSaddler wrote:My opinion is that England are a different team under Capello
His record in qualifiers speaks for itself, but against high quality opposition I think we're still found wanting. Against Spain (2-0 defeat) we looked short of quality, and against Holland (2-2 draw) we made errors and were helped by Dutch substitutions that significantly weakened their side. I know these were friendlies, so it's perhaps too early to judge. But it's a truism worth repeating that in order to win the World Cup, you're going to have to beat some of the very best teams in the world. Not sure we're good enough - yet.
I am sure you will agree against Spain England did not field there best 11.
We had no Green, Ferdinand/Upson, Lampard, Gerrard or Rooney. All of those 5 would be part of a first 11 now would they not?
So we had practically 1/2 of the current squad out! Against European Champions, would you not think that would make a BIG difference?
Against Holland, yes we made errors, but the Dutch made 2 half time changes nothing drastic.
Capello realised what was wrong and corrected it.
Spain also had several decent players missing. England had half their starting eleven out, but not half their squad. Serious question: do you think England are better than Spain at full strength? I'm not convinced.
The Dutch also made two further substitutions in the second half - one before we equalised (54 minutes) and one later on (78 minutes). They looked far, far worse as a result of their changes, whereas we looked much better. Credit to Capello for changing the side with the subs we made, but Holland looked rubbish second half.
We didnt have our full strength squad out against Spain at all, the starting team went as follows
James
Johnson Jagielka Terry Cole
Wright- phillips Carrick Barry Downing
Heskey Agbonglahor
Subs
D. Beckham M. Upson F. Lampard W. Bridge P. Crouch C. Cole J. Milner R. Green J. Hart A. Young
& the players out injured were : R. Ferdinand S. Gerrard L. Young W. Rooney
the team that started in spain id say IMO is alot weaker than the one that started last nite.
Oh and just too add the starting Spanish side was....
Casillas
Ramos Albiol Pique Capdevila
Iniesta Senna Alonso Xavi
Torres Villa
The best team in the world IMO rite there.