Rooney played but Lennon shone
Posted by DavidM in Aaron Lennon, England, Wayne Rooney, World Cup | 16 June 2006
Another game where the England team put the fans through the mill before getting the result. We played better than against Paraguay and looked solid in defence and okay in midfield but we squandered chances and still didn't look convincing.
Full credit to Trinidad & Tobago for recognising and countering our all too transparent game plan - hit it to the tall gangly bloke to nod down to the small nippy bloke who can score. Their game plan meant Crouch's only option was to go straight for goal when the ball came to him and much as I'm warming to him, finishing isn't his strong point.
It took far too long for England to realise this. Why do we keep pumping long hopeful balls into the box rather than pass and move forwards, building a strong attack? Why can Benitez and Mourinho recognise that Lampard and Gerrard have excellent ball skills yet Sven seems to think their talent lies in hitting it 40 yards?
Then the game changed. Not as the Evening Standard would have you believe though. The ES claimed Rooney led England to victory and changed everything. He didn't. It was great to see him on and getting match practice and he played okay. He did give the others a lift and was something for T&T to worry about but he wasn't the deciding factor.
For me, Lennon was the key. He went wide on the right (something Beckham failed to do for much of the game), ran at and beat the defender almost every time and caused T&T real problems. I was impressed by him in the warm up games and the promise was delivered last night. Amongst the other solid but uninspiring players he sparkled.
When England play well we are a great team, but our game play is too predictable and we take too long to adapt our play to beat our opponents' tactics. If Ecuador/Germany take a similar approach to T&T, but with their added threat on our goal, we'll struggle to get beyond the next round. We need to be more dynamic, vary play and make use of the incredible skills we have within the squad.
