John Barnes Take On England

[DGMO]

Possible Romario, but haven't seen a thread devoted to this interview conducted by Henry Winter.

 

Barnes Urges Starry-Eyed England To Play As One

 

By : Henry Winter, 13/06/2006

 

John Barnes believes that England will never win the World Cup again unless they learn from Brazil that the team is the real star, and that leading lights such as Steven Gerrard must "sacrifice" themselves for the tactical cause. The illustrious former England international also argues that England must abandon their high-tempo approach in summer tournaments.

 

"If the World Cup was in October I would fancy England every time," Barnes said yesterday. "If we can play at our tempo for 90 minutes, even Brazil would find it hard to cope. In October we can. In the summer we can't. Sven-Goran Eriksson said heat would not be a factor in Germany as we were 30 per cent fitter than at the last World Cup. Now we are saying: 'It's hot!' We knew it would be hot, so let's prepare.

 

"In the friendlies building up to the World Cup, England should practise a much slower tempo, keeping the ball. We shouldn't get the ball forward quicker, we shouldn't let Lampard or Gerrard go steaming forward at every opportunity because their energy levels deplete.

 

"Everyone says: 'England should win the World Cup.' England should not win the World Cup because of the heat, the tempo, and because other countries have players equally as good who play a better style of football. Brazil have the edge over everyone because, regardless of whether you are Ronaldo or Ronaldinho, the most important thing is Brazil, and the way the team functions.

 

"English players should be sacrificing themselves for the team. Sven's not doing that. He's saying 'Go out and play' to his midfield and they are all attacking midfielders for their clubs. Phil Scolari and Guus Hiddink wouldn't stand for that.

 

"Brazil, Argentina and Portugal have a DNA, a way of playing - the team comes first. England say we are going to win because of Beckham's qualities, rather than the way the team functions. But are Beckham's free-kicks better than Juninho's for Brazil? No. Is Beckham's delivery better than Juan Riquelme's for Argentina? Maybe. But Riquelme and Juninho play in a way that suits the team.

 

"Beckham has great qualities, fine, but playing long balls over the top is not a pattern of play. When Beckham gives three balls to Owen, everyone goes: 'Look at that delivery!' But what's he doing the rest of the time? Put together the total of Beckham's crosses and through balls, and Lampard's runs forward, and it's five minutes. In England we focus so much on individuals - Lampard, Beckham, Gerrard, and Joe Cole - that we don't have a way of playing. We expect those individuals to win the game for us. England's four in midfield are excellent but they don't complement each other. Scolari or Hiddink would look at the way the team plays, and if that means not having [one of the stars]... they would change it.

 

"Sven has to give them guidance about what he wants from a team perspective. When England played Paraguay, you could see with the midfielders' shooting - Gerrard's volley, Lampard's volley - that each was thinking: 'I am going to stamp my authority on this game by scoring a spectacular goal. I am The One'. Three of the attempts should have been played simple.

 

"Gerrard can do everything but Eriksson should say: 'You have to play like Claude Makelele, get the ball, don't spray 50-yard balls, don't burst forward as you do for Liverpool, but play for the team pattern, play one touch and allow Lampard, Beckham and Joe Cole to do this creative thing.' Gerrard could be the continuity man as Graham Taylor calls it. Michael Carrick could do it.

 

"The problem in England is that we pay superstar status to people like Gerrard, Lampard and Beckham. We have too many players of a certain stature in the team, who demand they do more than be continuity players. In Italy, when Gianfranco Zola and Diego Maradona were at Napoli, both were No 10s and you wouldn't play them together. In England we'd put them in together. We cannot have every superstar.

 

"For me, Brazil's most important players are Ze Roberto and Emerson or Gilberto Silva, who allow the others to do what they do. They have to be respected, rather than us saying: 'Owen Hargreaves and Michael Carrick are not the important ones. The important ones are Beckham, Owen and Gerrard.'

 

"Les Taylor was our continuity man at Watford. At Liverpool we had Ronnie Whelan. If Ronnie played one-on-one against Gerrard, with Gerrard's energy, strength, fitness and ability to hit 30 yards, he's not as good but it is about fitting people into a jigsaw.

 

"Players have a responsibility to the team. We focus too much on our great individuals, and that empowers them to feel: 'I am the one to take the game by the scruff of the neck.' Now we expect Wayne Rooney when he is back to do something special. Rooney will give you something else, but how fit is he? Maybe if he comes in now it will get him match fit for the knock-out rounds, which will be hard games. It's a difficult decision.

 

"Eriksson is a good coach, and England were in disarray when he came in. But to take the step beyond the quarter-finals, what philosophy does he have to change things tactically, with substitutions? That's where coaches really earn their money. That's where Sven has fallen down. To go that step further, you need an inspirational coach."

 

Portugal's coach, Scolari, impresses Barnes. "Portugal play a slower tempo, which gives the whole team the opportunity to get up the field and they have three or four in the box when the cross comes in. With England, Gerrard or one of the midfielders gets the ball in front of the back four, hits the ball up to Peter Crouch 60 yards away and we can't get up to support him.

 

"England have a problem when the ball is played up to Crouch because of these South American or continental defenders. The best player I have seen mark Crouch is Ricardo Carvalho for Chelsea. They are cute, get in front of you, nudge you, push you, and they go down when you push them. How many free-kicks did Crouch give away which weren't free-kicks? The referee is pressured to give them. When playing against small defenders who go down rather than show how strong they are, hitting the ball up to Crouch is not the answer.

 

"England fans wouldn't stand for England keeping the ball for 30, 40 passes against Paraguay. But we were 1-0 up against Paraguay, and being overrun in midfield, so it was a good sub by Sven to bring on another midfielder. Those people talking about putting Theo Walcott on are ridiculous. Why go gung-ho? The charge of the Light Brigade is fine if you are 1-0 down and have to win it. Then put on Walcott.

 

"Paraguay didn't hurt England but Brazil would have done with the same amount of possession. Brazil showed that last time against England with 10 men [winning the 2002 quarter-final]. And Brazil are better now. They now have Kaka, Robinho, and Ronaldinho is better than 2002." And, unlike England, Brazil boast an enduring DNA.

 

The Telegraph

[johngibo YPC]

Agree with some points. England don;t seem to have a game plan at all. Its just a case of 'lets send X1 good players out and hopr for the best"

[ChrisC]

Happened when Figo was dropped for the good of the team in Euro 2004.

 

from above article : How many feckin times could the centre-backs have carried the ball 15-25 yards further up the pitch and just gave it to fat b******s or gerrard to lace up the pitch? Really fecked me off first half, not even an attempt to play the ball on the floor or make T&T work for the ball.

Edited June 16, 2006 by chrisc

[Guest Scot]

Great article that

[magneto]

England have become worse and worse over the years which doesn't compute with the individual players becoming better and better. Suspect this has to do with McLaren stamping his tactical genius on the team more often than not.

[Rimbeux]

All the issues are explained in that, completely right, especially the inter-competative midfield, and the way we encourage this, and then throw barbs at say Mourinho as Samuel did in the Times this week for making his array of talent play as a team.

 

If they all must play, then it must be for the team, or at least one has to go.