England v Uruguay
England seemed a little lucky to win this.
The primary difference, it seemed to me, was that England is good at getting into space, but Uruguay was better at closing it off in defense, and substantially better at playing through close defense. Overall the English were perhaps more skilled individual players but they remain vulnerable to teams that have better use of space and finer ball control. Uruguay were simply more sophisticated tactically.
Other thoughts:
The primary difference, it seemed to me, was that England is good at getting into space, but Uruguay was better at closing it off in defense, and substantially better at playing through close defense. Overall the English were perhaps more skilled individual players but they remain vulnerable to teams that have better use of space and finer ball control. Uruguay were simply more sophisticated tactically.
Other thoughts:
- Rooney may be unsightly, but he is a hell of a player
- Was Sven Goran Eriksson maing a deliberate visual joke by subbing Crouch and Wright-Philips in unison?
- Gerrard had one nice lay off and otherwise must have thought it was a league game, judging by his repeated thumping of the ball into Row ZZ
- Whatever Mourinho has done to Joe Cole, it's working
- Rio Ferdinand needs to spend less time working on the fractals and a little more on defending
<< Home