Tennis, Anyone?

BBC SPORTS

Quarter Final Misery

England fought valiantly but were ultimately dumped out of the competition by the better team. Roy stuck to a rigid 4-4-2 attempting to soak up pressure from the Azzurri and hit them on the break however England were out-numbered in midfield and anonymous in attack.

The Italians, and specifically Andrea Pirlo, passed the ball well, with the latter dictating the game. After the first 20-25 minutes there was little ebb and flow to the game; Italy instead camped in England's half spraying passes around waiting for an opening, of which Balotelli had plenty. Playing the offside trap well he got in behind England's defence multiple times but tame shots or heroic blocking from John Terry and Glen Johnson  thwarted the infamous 'Super' Mario.

England looked like scoring first, with a good spell of pressure in the first 15 or 20 minutes, coming close with a flicked shot from Johnson in the 6 yard area, only to be beaten to safety by the experienced Gianluigi Buffon, and again with a diving header from Rooney that went wide.

This was the most England saw of the game. The two central midfielders, Parker and Gerrard, worked tirelessly chasing down balls trying to gain possession, and I believe this is where the game was lost. To be good at international level a team must be comfortable in possession and be able to keep the ball. England could not. The Italians enjoyed almost 70% possession, with Pirlo making more than 3 times the amount of passes of Ashley Cole, England's best passer of the game. England did well to hold on for 120 minutes against a confident and somewhat surprising Italy side. This is not how it should be, we should be more attacking. Ashley Young was largely anonymous with Milner not having the pace to truly trouble Italy down the wing. In fact, one of England's largest attacking outlets was wing back Johnson, who made various runs in to and around the box, supplying crosses and shots.

I personally believe the tactics were wrong, and outdated. I personally believe England would have done better to play an unfamiliar 4-3-3 formation that dropped back to 4-5-1 when defending. This would have swamped the midfield with another man, allowing one player to sit on Andrea Pirlo all night and preventing the Italy star from dictating the play. Without their pass-master, Italy would have looked a largely ordinary opponent.

The player choice was incorrect also in my eyes. Yes, Rooney scored against the Ukraine, but I am a firm believer of the motto 'don't fix what isn't broken'. I would have stuck with the same squad that fought back against Sweden against Ukraine, using Rooney as an impact sub if necessary. I think throwing him back in to the fold straight after unexpectedly good results against France and Sweden sent out a message that Rooney was, and is, bigger than the squad. No player is bigger than the squad.

In my 4-3-3, I would have played the same keeper and defence, with a midfield of Gerrard, Jones, Parker. Jones could have been swapped for Milner (who excelled in this role at previous club Aston Villa) as the game went on to gain a little more attacking intent. Jones has performed well in the central defensive role for club and country, and there's no reason why he would not have done a job preventing Pirlo from getting the ball.

My attacking three would have consisted of Walcott, Welbeck and Oxlade-Chamberlain. Walcott had a massive influence against Sweden, and his pace would have troubled the Italian defence. Welbeck has put in a lot of work in his games, and even against Italy he was tracking back to cover midfield, which meant we were essentially playing a 4-5-1 or a 4-6-0 at times, meaning there was no outlet when we did eventually win the ball. 'The Ox' has shone through in the recent weeks and months, both at club and international level. He would have been somewhat of an unknown, and again his pace, attacking intent and confidence could have caused problems. He could have been subbed for Young later in the game if he tired.

Rooney could have been used as an impact sub. Apart from scoring against Ukraine he did little else in that game, and certainly not enough to guarantee a place in the starting XI. Andy Carroll, after coming on in the second half, did well to win almost every aerial ball aimed towards him, but there was little outlet when he did this and few chances were created.

In terms of penalties, you can't blame anybody. You have to be incredibly brave to take a penalty at such a stage. What I would say is it is a little disappointing that Young actually missed the target - the most important thing to get right when taking a penalty. Even so, he is not at fault for England getting knocked out.

Throughout the tournament, certain players such as Young and Rooney have been largely anonymous, but on the flip-side some have excelled under the pressure. Welbeck has surely cemented his place in the squad for the World Cup 2014 qualifiers along with Scott Parker. Glen Johnson also has been a silver lining of Euro 2012 with his return to form under the cloud of many, including me, calling for Micah Richards to be England's first choice right back. Joe Hart has excelled this whole season, and shown the world how he is knocking on the door of goalkeeping greats. He is already one of the very best 'keepers in the world at only 25. Steven Gerrard gave everything for his country and John Terry was fantastic as well, even under the cloud of an impending court case. I'd probably name Terry my England player of the tournament for his pure heroics. He is happy to put everything on the line for England every time he's on the pitch with brave blocks and crucial clearances.

I don't portion any blame on the players or the management. It was difficult for Roy to be thrown in to the fold so late before a major tournament to manage a squad that has not looked like winning a tournament in some years. I would like to see, however, some more daring from the England boss. I'd like to see experiments with 4-3-3, after all, if we're going to get knocked out in the Quarters, we may as well go all out and try and score some goals for it!

With all said and done, let's turn our attention to Wimbledon, come on Murray!

The Impossible Job

So Stuart 'Psycho' Pearce is the interim manager of the England national side. He himself has said he doesn't want the job on a full time basis, for now anyway. He is in charge during Euro 2012 but then a successor to Fabio Capello will be announced.

Many have suggested Harry Redknapp to take the reigns of the England national squad after a very impressive spell at Tottenham Hotspur, where he claimed a top four finish last season and has almost clinched one this season too. He would be mad to leave the Tottenham job currently, where they are close to being real top of the table challengers for the title, albeit on much lesser resources than Manchester United and even more so Manchester City. He knows this. This is why he has been diplomatic in saying it would be an honour to manage the squad at some point, yet he is fully committed to the Tottenham job at the moment.

Other names have been banded about, including ex England manager Glenn Hoddle, sacked after controversial comments in an interview where he expressed his religious beliefs that he believed disabled people are suffering for misdemeanors in previous lives. It was not due to poor England performance, and I believe his comments did not deserve a sacking. Alan Shearer, the iconic England, Newcastle and Blackburn striker has spoken of his support for Hoddle, and claimed there is no reason for Hoddle not to be given a chance.

Roy Hodgson has been suggested too, however there has been less coverage of this. Hodgson would be more likely to leave his current club, a bottom half Premier League outfit, West Bromwich Albion, however to the younger generation not much is known of him past his impressive run to the UEFA Cup Final with Fulham. He has previously taken Switzerland to the 1994 World Cup and Euro 1996 (Their first major tournament qualifications since the 1960's) and taken Finland to their highest ever FIFA ranking of 33rd in the world. He has domestic honours too, having improved a faltering Inter Milan team, and guided Blackburn Rovers to a 6th placed Premier League finish with qualification for Europe after a dismal season prior to his employment at Ewood Park. He was even previously offered the England job before Sven Goran-Eriksson was hired as he had already signed to manage Copenhagen, although he is most remembered currently for his failure at Liverpool.

I personally, although I cannot see it happening, would like to see something different. I agree England need an English manager, but I think one of the main reasons we always seem to fail on the big stage is that there's too much pressure and it's all too serious. I know of one manager who would not only give England a different way to play but would also liven up the squad and get rid of some of the suffocating pressure, however he is not as experienced as the men I have mentioned, with only domestic clubs managed, and little top flight experience, although his Blackpool picked up a good haul of points in the first half of their 2010-11 season in the Premier League, although it ultimately ended in their relegation. They achieved these points through an entertaining emphasis on attacking play; almost always with three attackers in a 4-3-3 system, with the aim of 'We'll score more than you'. While effective for a while, they were soon found out and the lack of quality and depth in their squad meant they suffered. With the England squad, you would imagine it could be more effective.

The man I am talking about of course, is Ian Holloway.

I don't suppose he will be chosen, or barely considered for the role for his lack of experience, but I honestly believe a man like him could achieve success with the England squad by alleviating the pressure, putting the emphasis on attacking play (unlike in Fabio Capello's reign where it was almost a chore to sit through an England game for boring defensive displays) and putting the control back in an Englishman's hands.

We will see who is chosen, but I for one would love to see Holloway chosen.