World Cup Contrast
There’s no football on TV. Yes, I know that MLS is currently playing, but coming down from the World Cup high, MLS feels like empty calories in my football diet. I’ll give it another week before I’m desperate enough to care.
Allyson and I were watching a replay of last season’s Arsenal/Liverpool match at Anfield, and the contrast between the speed and energy of that match as compared with the generally defensive tactics of this year’s World Cup were astounding. The game was played about two speeds faster. People were making runs without the ball. The teams were always pushing for a counterattack. Passes were quick, short, and direct.
There is a lesson for Steve McClaren if he’s paying attention. The reason England lost was because they played a much different game than we see every week in the Premiership. The only players on the pitch who seemed to understand that intensity were Aaron Lennon, Steven Gerrard, Wayne Rooney, John Terry, and Owen Hargreaves(1). The reason why the Premiership is arguably the finest league in the world at the same time that English chronically underachieves on the International stage has very little to do with foreign players. It has more to do with a system that slows down players used to a rapid and—one might say—aggressive pace.
McClaren has to play to the strengths of his squad instead of trying to invent tactics for a squad he doesn’t have the way that Sven did. Play the aggressive 4-4-2 that the players and fans are comfortable with. Encourage pace and energy instead of favoring a cautious approach designed to “outlast” opponents. It’s time to stop reacting to the tactics of other teams and start creating something that other managers have to react to. I want to see Italy, Argentina, and Brazil struggling to keep pace with an English juggernaut that just won’t slow down. Then, regardless of the tournament results, English football will really have arrived.