:Seen several threads on here about how England should play controlled football, keeping hold of the ball.
That they should play at a slow pace and therefore conserve their energy in the Brazil heat.

Watching the USA Portugal game an the Portugal equaliser, it struck me how many goals in this World Cup have come from crosses played into the box at pace.

And how many goals have come about through quick breaks forward from defence, rather than a slow build-up (a la Spain style).

England shouldn't play in the trendy way. Just in the way that suits the players wer have at any set time.


I also think England (and Britain as a whole) have little confidence in themselves and that reflects on the football teams when they experience setbacks in a game..

One thing you can say about the States is that Americans have a great belief in themselves and so many have that winning mentality.
USA's record in the World Cup really isn't at all bad, considering that really they are relatively limited ability-wise compared to many other nations.

Nothing wrong with crosses if you get someone wide and behind the defence to do the crossing. If you are reduced to hitting long balls from the half way line where the opposition defence can easily get in position and defend them then you are just giving possession away. England have had a tendency to do this for years, especially late in games. They get stretched and leave little in midfield as players go forward and look for lucky knock-ons.

Other teams are maybe reduced to this in the dying minutes of a game they are losing, England run out of ideas long before that and you can rely on Beckham or Gerrard or whoever their next playmaker is to be punting long balls half the field and hoping for lucky breaks from about the hour mark in games they are losing.

No top level international side plays this way and none have for many years. They either play short passing and possession football (Spain), or look to break at pace (Netherlands). The British game seems to be all about playing at pace (which makes them predictable as they don't vary tempo) and making the most direct pass and looking for the quick fix all the time.