| A-League to stand for Attack A-League chiefs are considering a series of radical moves to give teams an incentive to play more attacking football. foxsports.com.au |
David Pleat's tactical look at England v Montenegro The midfield and full-backs were at a tactical loss when confronted by a bank of five midfielders shielding their back fourMontenegro, short of top quality, were honest brokers – destroyers not creators – but England's highly paid players lacked the skill and tactical acumen to penetrate their red wall.Montenegro opted to play 4-5-1, leaving a bank of five midfielders shielding their back four, and England required a fast tempo but started too slowly. Unopposed, Gareth Barry and Steven Gerrard picked up possession in safe territory but found themselves confronted by a protective shield.Frustrated, Wayne Rooney increasingly came towards play to get involved. True, there was little room behind the deep-lying Montenegro backline but, even so, neither he nor Peter Crouch sought space beyond it.Gerrard was also needed further forward and both England full-backs should have been racing upfield to support their wingers. When confronted by immovable opponents sitting safely you must try to drag their players away from the central defensive positions.England were slightly more positive in the second half and Gerrard was a bit further advanced. Montenegro grew in confidence when gaining possession during isolated raids and this ploy helped England by opening the midfield up a little. Gerrard supplied Rooney with a good chance scorned but the visitors were still posing questions we could not answer.Crouch, who needed a diagonal or two and Rooney to be closer, required service from more advanced positions. It was not provided. We needed to overload going forward and hit the byline but, instead, stuttered in front of confident opponents whose goalkeeper was forced to make only two fine saves. There was also no sign of Fabio Capello switching his wingers to attack their full-backs on the outside from different angles on a night when Adam Johnson merely flickered.Capello's substitutions were meek. They did not affect the team's shape.Shades of South Africa. A more drastic change round was needed. Barry could have sat deeper, releasing a newly liberated Gerrard (see graphic) and allowing Rooney to play on the shoulder of the No3. Instead it was slow, lacking dynamism, craft and subtlety. Rooney's demise continues, Glen Johnson looks short and Barry, when not playing one touch, appears laboured.Euro 2012EnglandMontenegroDavid Pleatguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
French Football Results Results Wednesday from the last 16 of the French League Cup (home team listed first): rssfeeds.usatoday.com |
U.S. in 2011 Women’s World Cup, but Knows It Has Work to Do The United States defeated Italy to win a home-and-home playoff series and qualify for a spot in the Women’s World Cup. feeds.nytimes.com |
Tioté will be a star, says Drogba • 'Newcastle fans have seen only half of Tioté's potential so far'• Chelsea draw makes amends for Bolton defeat, says AmeobiCheik Tioté has been tipped to emerge as one of the Premier League's biggest names. The Newcastle United holding midfielder, signed from FC Twente for £3.5m in the summer, is widely regarded as an inspired signing but his Ivory Coast team-mate Didier Drogba believes Tioté's best is yet to come."I think Cheik is going to go on and be one of the strongest players in this league," said the Chelsea centre-forward, whose side were thwarted by Tioté as they drew 1-1 at St James' Park on Sunday. "I have to say that physically he is a bit stronger than me. Newcastle well and truly have a star player on their hands in Cheik."I think their supporters have only seen half of his potential so far. You have only seen half the player but the more Cheik plays at Premier League level the better he will become."Tioté was not a regular at FC Twente last season, then managed by Steve McClaren, but 24-year-old was certainly missed when suspension cost him his place during Newcastle's last away outing, at Bolton Wanderers, where they lost 5-1.His team-mate Shola Ameobi regards the draw against Chelsea as a form of redemption in the wake of that humiliation at the hands of Owen Coyle's team."We needed a big performance from everyone against Chelsea," said Ameobi, who captained Chris Hughton's side in the injured Kevin Nolan's absence. "We had to be at our best, we had to dig in at times and I thought we were brilliant at doing that."This team has the right attitude and it does the right thing after a setback. We've got some great characters in the dressing room who want to do well, want to win and want to succeed. It's great to have done well against Chelsea because, again, we've shown we can hold our own against the best teams in the division."We had to take the pain of Bolton. You can't just forget about something like that and brush it under the carpet like it didn't happen. It hurt and it wasn't until Tuesday afternoon that we closed that game down as a team."The striker, who has impressed since being recalled to play alongside Andy Carroll in the wake of Hughton's reversion to 4-4-2, offered an explanation for Newcastle's erratic form which invariably sees them shine against the division's leading lights before slipping up against less celebrated opponents."It is a little annoying our best performances keep coming against the best teams and then we drop points against the others," said Ameobi. "When we play the top teams, I think we're naturally a bit more cautious. We have a good shape and we limit them to a few chances. We are a lot more solid and we don't let them play."We have to take that into every single game. When we are playing a team we feel we should be beating, we've been a little bit too gung ho and left ourselves open at the back. It's about getting that balance right. We are still finding our feet back in the Premier League and we're not quite there yet."Newcastle UnitedDidier DrogbaLouise Taylorguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |