England vs Sweeden 15/11/11

Venue: Wembley  Date: Tuesday 15 November  Kick-off: 20:00 GMT  Coverage: ITV, BBC Sport Website, BBC Radio 5 live

After an impressive victory over Spain last weekend, everybody is wondering if England can keep up their good form when they meet Swede at Wembley tonight. England have not beaten Sweden in twelve matches since 1968, but manager Fabio Capello will be hoping that this can soon change.

He, however, is mindful that Sweden will still provide another stern test and said the following: ‘It is a little country with a small population but it’s always difficult to beat Sweden.’

Capello added that ‘They are really good and play in a very organised way. Everybody knows what they need to do in every moment of the game.’

The England squad is going to be very different tonight, and the question is will England still play defensively? With less to fear from Sweden than Spain, the real test may come from striking the right balance between continuing their solidity while offering a more attacking threat.

Injured Danny Welbeck and Phil Jagielka are out, which means Daniel Sturridge may be handed his first full debut. John Terry is expected to return to captain and Cahill, Zamora and Walker will all play.

 

England’s Tactics http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thefootballtacticsblog/2011/11/the_case_for_capellos_defence.html

England beat Spain 1-0

Frank Lampard scored the only goal as England beat reigning World Cup and European champions Spain.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wearing the captain’s armband, Lampard led his side to a thrilling victory with a simple 49th minute head in after Darren Bent had struck the woodwork.

The world champions dominated possession throughout but were unable to finish their superiority. There were very little chances until David Villa’s volley was frustratingly blocked by the post late on. Substitute Cesc Fabregas also wasted a chance by firing wide from ten yards out shortly after

England’s team was missing key players such as John Terry and Wayne Rooney so Fabio Capello took a large risk in selecting some younger players. He announced that he is “very happy because we have found some youngsters who can play with the seniors” and this was certainly true  - they played brilliantly.

In particular, central defender Phil Jagielka and Man of the Match Scott Parker proved to be tireless in never letting the Spanish through. They halted the creative midfield of Silva, Xavi and Iniesta as well as exploiting good offensive plays. It seems amazing that the Spaniards were unable to trouble Joe Hart, even with 65% of possession.

That is certainly one key area England will need to work on if they plan to perform in the Euro 2012; retaining possession. However, the attacking style adopted seemed very impressive and I am sure that everybody will settle for a win.

England’s next match is against Sweden on Tuesday and it has been revealed that John Terry will return to the starting line up as well as Cahill, Sturridge, Zamora and Walker. I hope I can look forward to celebrating another England win.

 

England vs Spain 12/11/2011

This afternoon, England are facing a Spanish side unbeaten in their Euro 2012 Qualifiers and I can only see this ending in misery. The last time we beat them was back in 2003 after England just closed in with the penalties. However, things were different then, as the likes of David Villa, Iniesta and all others were only just developing their skills. Today, the Spanish side is so strong that two of the Barclay’s Premier League’s most influential players can only just make the bench; Juan Mata and Fernando Torres. This is not just a shocking fact, but also rather humiliating!

We all know about the racism allegations and other troubles associated with the England team currently, but Fabio Capello and John Terry have assured us that these will not affect the performance. England are likely to adopt a 4-2-3-1 formation with the hope that pace down the wings will be too much for the Spanish defence. The only way that this can be done is if Sturridge and Walcott can unleash onto the passes they are given. Another point of interest is that Manchester United Defender Phil Jones has been pushed up into midfield in hope that his attacking play can open up the field. Capello will hope that he can cope here while also attending defensive duties.

In 2009 England had a comprehensive 2-0 defeat against the Spaniards. Manager Fabio Capello said that ‘We’ll beat them next time’ and I hope that he can keep to his words. I believe that it would almost be a miracle if we can scrape a win against the reigning world champions, but I await in awe for 5.15PM – kickoff.