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England Vs Spain - Matchday Talk


Ambitious

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Thought England defended very well, not much to be proud of though, sitting 10 men behind the ball and packing the middle is no way to play football, lets see how far that gets us in the major competitions.

Parker being the best player on the pitch must be one of the stupid things i've ever read. Spains 60th string central midfielder would have more footballing abilitiy than Scott Parker. Then again, the thickest football fans see a player running around, making a few blocks and tackles and think he's brilliant, just like Savage when he played for us.

Can be proud that we won despite most of the country writing us off (even me with a 1-3 prediction on Twitter). Capello got it tactically spot on, we were playing the best team in the world, had we gone out and played Bris Vegas tactics 2-3-5 we would of got battered. I doubt we would play that way throughout a major competition, we just did what we had to tonight to win.

It's nice to know that we can play like that if needed in the Euro's next year.

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EKR, that's the only way a team like us can beat Spain.

We won't play like that every game in the Euros, because not every team is Spain. If we can work out how to beat anybody, which I think we have done, then we have a pretty good chance of doing OK.

I don't think we'll do well in the Euros though. We needed to get thrashed tonight by Spain, by the rules of superstition.

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was it just me or did Wellbeck remind anyone else of Theo on a bad day.

I know Wellbeck is a lot more tallented than Theo, but at international level he looked as effective as Theo at championship level (again on a bad day not when he is having a good day)

he hardly won a header or controlled the ball when it got to him. When he did run with the ball it stuck in his feet on the edge of the box and he played a shocker of a pass.

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was it just me or did Wellbeck remind anyone else of Theo on a bad day.

I know Wellbeck is a lot more tallented than Theo, but at international level he looked as effective as Theo at championship level (again on a bad day not when he is having a good day)

he hardly won a header or controlled the ball when it got to him. When he did run with the ball it stuck in his feet on the edge of the box and he played a shocker of a pass.

Yes, Wellbeck is rubbish.

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England 1-0 Spain..

We're gonna win the Euros!!!

Then we'll play the first decent team along the way (like Germany) and just crumble to another disappointng loss..

I'm quite impressed with our FA though, getting us geared up against quality opposition like Spain.. So many times in recent years we've gone into tournos off the back of easy wins against the likes of Slovakia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica and Japan.. And then struggled competitively.. You'd never think in the last 12 years of major tournaments we've only won 7 matches..

Getting us friendlies against top opposition will really test us and give us a decent chance of finding out our best team..

Hope we don't go the same way as the Argies after beating spain (4-0!!).. They went on to a disappointing Copa America and are winless in the World Cup Qualifiers!

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good performance tonight, defended really well and were only caught once at the back really. After we scored we looked more confident and kept the ball well, and started creating a little bit more. People who are complaining we defended, well the only way to beat spain is to defend and hope to catch them at a set piece or on the break, the only other team to beat spain for a while was switzerland in the world cup group stage, they did what we did and won 1-0. You can't outplay spain and anyone who tries it are well beaten. Capello spot on tonight tactically as well.

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good performance tonight, defended really well and were only caught once at the back really. After we scored we looked more confident and kept the ball well, and started creating a little bit more. People who are complaining we defended, well the only way to beat spain is to defend and hope to catch them at a set piece or on the break, the only other team to beat spain for a while was switzerland in the world cup group stage, they did what we did and won 1-0. You can't outplay spain and anyone who tries it are well beaten. Capello spot on tonight tactically as well.

Argentina beat them 4-0 a few months ago and completely outplayed them playing a passing game... It can be done, but we don't possess technically gifted players like Messi, Aguerro, Higuian and Tevez..

Mexico (1-1) and Chile (3-2) also ran them very close with technical passing, so it can be done.. Spain aren't invincible, although in a competitive match you won't find a more complete team..

We can only play one way, and unfortunately, it will never be good enough to overcome a giant in a competitive match..

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Don't agree Welbeck's rubbish. He's not an old-fashioned centre-forward, and to expect him to hold up aimless long balls is just not realistic as it's not his game.

If he'd played just off Darren Bent you'd have seen far more of him. But I don't get why we took off Bent and played him as a lone striker.

We should only bring Welbeck or Sturridge on if we're going to play the ball along the ground.

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Argentina beat them 4-0 a few months ago and completely outplayed them playing a passing game... It can be done, but we don't possess technically gifted players like Messi, Aguerro, Higuian and Tevez..

Mexico (1-1) and Chile (3-2) also ran them very close with technical passing, so it can be done.. Spain aren't invincible, although in a competitive match you won't find a more complete team..

We can only play one way, and unfortunately, it will never be good enough to overcome a giant in a competitive match..

my bad bris, but only 1 of your 3 examples actually won and argentina are in possession of the best player in the world. Spain aren't invincible no, but it's difficult to outplay them, did argentina just run riot or hit them on the break? Also when does the south american world cup qualifying start?

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One player does not a good football team make, you should know that YR. Argentina's defence is absolutely woeful and they rarely seem to get 11 players pulling in the same direction - and then there's the national set up which has the stability of the North Sea in February.

If Argentina can do it, many teams can - in friendlies. Spain don't seem to have bad days in competition.

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my bad bris, but only 1 of your 3 examples actually won and argentina are in possession of the best player in the world. Spain aren't invincible no, but it's difficult to outplay them, did argentina just run riot or hit them on the break? Also when does the south american world cup qualifying start?

It already started mate.. Argentina have suprisingly made a shocking start, lost 1-0 away at Venezuela then drew at home to the weakest team in the tournament Bolivia 1-1.. Uruguay on the other hand are class, they'd give Spain a good game.. Last night they dumped Chile 4-0 and had drawn away at Paraguay..

That Argentina game was one sided yes, Spain had a bad day at the office and Messi cut them to ribbons at times.. I don't know why, but Pique just isn't the same without Puyol (Puyol was injured for this match).. He doesn't look that comfortable when partnered with someone else.

Colombia are another team on the rise, they're looking bigger and stronger every year mixed in with some flair they'll be a top team soon.

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One player does not a good football team make, you should know that YR. Argentina's defence is absolutely woeful and they rarely seem to get 11 players pulling in the same direction - and then there's the national set up which has the stability of the North Sea in February.

If Argentina can do it, many teams can - in friendlies. Spain don't seem to have bad days in competition.

Argentina are so top heavy it's scary.. How a team can have such good attacking players (Pastore, Lavezzi, Messi, Aguero, Maxi Rodriguez, Alvarez, Higuain, Tevez, Di Maria) but no central defenders nor fullbacks (an ageing Zanetti doesn't count)..

They get it all wrong tactically too, they can afford to play Messi in midfield to pull the strings but choose not to.. Meaning they're wasting a perfectly capable striker on the bench and playing someone weak like Gago in the centre..

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Germany's utter annihilation of Argentina in the World Cup was one of the highlights of the tournament for me (there weren't many!). As good as they are up top, they're woeful at the back, and as pointed out above, tactically clueless.

They'll give anyone a game, but they don't have the consistency necessary to go all the way though a tournament like the World Cup and win it because sooner or later, they'll come across someone like Germany, ultra-organised, tactically flawless, and a good team unit, who'll just sit there and pick them off, and pick them off easily.

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Argentina are so top heavy it's scary.. How a team can have such good attacking players (Pastore, Lavezzi, Messi, Aguero, Maxi Rodriguez, Alvarez, Higuain, Tevez, Di Maria) but no central defenders nor fullbacks (an ageing Zanetti doesn't count)..

They get it all wrong tactically too, they can afford to play Messi in midfield to pull the strings but choose not to.. Meaning they're wasting a perfectly capable striker on the bench and playing someone weak like Gago in the centre..

There are a number of reasons why Argentina struggle with defenders. There are so many theories behind it - one being culture, I've read. Being a defender in South America holds no real prestige and everyone wants to be the next Pele or Maradona. It doesn't affect Brazil so much, as being a country of 192 million, you can probably still find 2 reasonable centre backs. Brazil's had some good centre halves, but they're never renowned for it. Argentina, with a population of 40 million and various other countries being smaller too don't appear to have the same luxury. Chile's bizarre 3-1-4-2 formation seems to show it's a continental problem. Don't know how much truth there is in that, and it doesn't fully explain why they can't find any decent full backs.

Then there's the national coaches. Because of the pressures of the job, you'll never get anyone with any sense to do it. Their latest "inspired" appointment doesn't exactly seem to be making much of an impact, although he is limited by the players he has. But some player combinations just won't work, just like Gerard and Lampard has never worked for England.

I agree with StaffsRam, Argentina aren't winning anything any time soon, and South American football is struggling at the moment. Uruguay seem to be a bit of a shining beacon, but even Brazil seem to be getting overtaken vastly by our continent's best Spain, with no end in sight judging by the quality in their youth sides.

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After seeing a few nob heads missing from the England side I decided to give it a watch. Was very good IMO.

England were deserved winners and were extremely patient.

But being a friendly I thought both teams could go away pleased with the run out. Thought the Spanish side were a bit shy. They always treat friendlies exactly like friendlies. They always seem to lack sharpness.

Sergio Busquets is a joke. As always his pathetic diving and feigning injury is predictable and boring. He should be ashamed.

I hope England don't get too carried away on this result though. They have a lot of positives they can take away tonight. Not least of which is the "reserve" players that wouldn't usually get a game being far more disciplined than the regulars.

I just hope not to hear "if we can beat Spain we can beat anyone".

Take one game at a time and the World Cup will take care of itself. You'd hope they'd take away the disciplined professional performances and conjure them again, rather than sit back and admire what they did.

Get fed up of the "Parker love". But he was brilliant. Exactly the sort of tenacious player Spain would rather not face.

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