McClaren......

[kemm1]

He chose to encourage direct football by placing Crouch on his own upfront.

He placed the inexperienced Carson in goals (who's never convinced me or most of us TBH) when he had the best keeper (agreed its only IMO) on the bench.

And, he chose Lescott in an England starting 11.

Yes, but the managerial position is still not the ROOT of English football problems. McLaren should made the inherent DEEP ROOTED problems worse.

[dww]

This shouldn't be the focus, the manager is not the root of English football problems

I think it has to be the temporary focus.

To be honest if you hear people like Wenger talk he seems to feel that we are moving in the right direction in terms of teams youth coaching producing better young players. Which means that really the remaining problem is in getting more kids playing on decent pitches with half decent coaching and an emphasis on improvement rather than winning. The responcibility for which has to be a combined government/schools/FA project. I'm not convinced that short term media attention is what is needed in this area and it is not a glamorous enough topic to be there as a long running campaign.

It has to be hoped that as the generation of youth coaches changes some of the systematic things like the FA badges etc. do lead to some level of improvement and that at the higher levels people who care like Trevor Brooking are allowed more sway and involve the right people in improving things.

[kemm1]

I think it has to be the temporary focus.

To be honest if you hear people like Wenger talk he seems to feel that we are moving in the right direction in terms of teams youth coaching producing better young players. Which means that really the remaining problem is in getting more kids playing on decent pitches with half decent coaching and an emphasis on improvement rather than winning. The responcibility for which has to be a combined government/schools/FA project. I'm not convinced that short term media attention is what is needed in this area and it is not a glamorous enough topic to be there as a long running campaign.

It has to be hoped that as the generation of youth coaches changes some of the systematic things like the FA badges etc. do lead to some level of improvement and that at the higher levels people who care like Trevor Brooking are allowed more sway and involve the right people in improving things.

I agree with most of that especially in relation to Trevor Brooking. As for Wenger, HE'S got his youth system sorted out and he has expanded the ARSEnal academy by de-facto to the north London community from a very young age............

Trevor Brooking has started many initiatives with youth football but we are still years off. Brooking also had to fight VERY HARD to get his concerns heard and taken seriously by the FA.

[dww]

He chose to encourage direct football by placing Crouch on his own upfront.

He placed the inexperienced Carson in goals (who's never convinced me or most of us TBH) when he had the best keeper (agreed its only IMO) on the bench.

And, he chose Lescott in an England starting 11.

To be fair in my opinion his biggest mistake was his childish insistance that he wanted to be atatcking and was playing a 4-3-3. The interviews with him and Gerrard shown before the match had me worried as they were so keen on showing this rather than giving enough respect to Croatia. Then we started and the two players either side of Coruch were far too wide to support him and far too far away from the CMs for us to build attacks - it pretty much epitomised the McClaren era.

The team sent out could easily have started 4-5-1 with one of Gerrard or Lampard tasked to get close to Crouch and we would have been able to keep it tighter in midfield and offer more in attack.

I'm not sure what he could have done with the defence to be honest - with the players out or unfit that he had he pretty much had to go with that back 4 and Carson/Robinson was a bit of a devil/deep blue sea quandry really.

[FatTony]

Yes, but the managerial position is still not the ROOT of English football problems. McLaren should made the inherent DEEP ROOTED problems worse.

I agree with that.

[Joey Jones]

That board meeting must've been funny...

"Right then chaps, we sacking him? Yep, Yep, Yep, Yep, Yep. Ok it’s unanimous then."

Yeah, the meeting didn't start until 8:30 and by 9:00 they'd released the details that he'd been sacked. And with a £2m pay off according to SSN, money well spent hey?

[Frank Leroux]

I got the distinct impression watching last night that the English camp (McLaren and players) were expecting/hoping for a Croatia looking for an easy, agreeable 0-0 or 1-1. After all, the Croats had qualified.

Bilic had different ideas though and his team started like a house on fire, the Carson boo-boo helped, of course. Croatia had the initiative from the off and England couldn't really regain it.

Good side Croatia, though - what odds to win the Tournament?

[FatTony]

To be fair in my opinion his biggest mistake was his childish insistance that he wanted to be atatcking and was playing a 4-3-3. The interviews with him and Gerrard shown before the match had me worried as they were so keen on showing this rather than giving enough respect to Croatia. Then we started and the two players either side of Coruch were far too wide to support him and far too far away from the CMs for us to build attacks - it pretty much epitomised the McClaren era.

The team sent out could easily have started 4-5-1 with one of Gerrard or Lampard tasked to get close to Crouch and we would have been able to keep it tighter in midfield and offer more in attack.

I'm not sure what he could have done with the defence to be honest - with the players out or unfit that he had he pretty much had to go with that back 4 and Carson/Robinson was a bit of a devil/deep blue sea quandry really.

I wasn't really referring to Robinson, I believe that James is the best keeper we have.

A striker alone up front with no support...we've seen that before, but you're right. There's also little movement and support for each other.

The most shocking aspect for me last night was one incident when Croatia had the ball on the halfway line, there was not a Englishman within 20 foot! This with a 5 man midfield and I think at the time we were still a goal down.

[Los Rojos]

Good side Croatia, though - what odds to win the Tournament?

They're a very good side to be fair but I don't think they'll win it - a bit like the Czechs in Euro 2004 perhaps.

[FatTony]

I got the distinct impression watching last night that the English camp (McLaren and players) were expecting/hoping for a Croatia looking for an easy, agreeable 0-0 or 1-1. After all, the Croats had qualified.

Bilic had different ideas though and his team started like a house on fire, the Carson boo-boo helped, of course. Croatia had the initiative from the off and England couldn't really regain it.

Good side Croatia, though - what odds to win the Tournament?

16/1

[dww]

I got the distinct impression watching last night that the English camp (McLaren and players) were expecting/hoping for a Croatia looking for an easy, agreeable 0-0 or 1-1. After all, the Croats had qualified.

Bilic had different ideas though and his team started like a house on fire, the Carson boo-boo helped, of course. Croatia had the initiative from the off and England couldn't really regain it.

Good side Croatia, though - what odds to win the Tournament?

To be honest even before he shot I was aghast at how much space we allowed Krankjar - it's not as if he is an unknown quantity and he is always coming off the wing to have a pop for Pompey. We looked so unprepared it was embarassing.

[FatTony]

A selection of headlines from the papers after England lost 3-2 to Croatia and failed to qualify for Euro 2008: I'll Get My Croat - Daily Mirror. Out You Cro - Daily Star. A Wally With A Brolly - Daily Mail.

[Neil Young]

To be fair in my opinion his biggest mistake was his childish insistance that he wanted to be atatcking and was playing a 4-3-3. The interviews with him and Gerrard shown before the match had me worried as they were so keen on showing this rather than giving enough respect to Croatia. Then we started and the two players either side of Coruch were far too wide to support him and far too far away from the CMs for us to build attacks - it pretty much epitomised the McClaren era.

The team sent out could easily have started 4-5-1 with one of Gerrard or Lampard tasked to get close to Crouch and we would have been able to keep it tighter in midfield and offer more in attack.

I'm not sure what he could have done with the defence to be honest - with the players out or unfit that he had he pretty much had to go with that back 4 and Carson/Robinson was a bit of a devil/deep blue sea quandry really.

That's what I always felt about him when I saw him at press conferences. He was like a kid in a sweet shop who couldn't quite believe his good luck.

I couldn't quite believe that he'd got the job either. It was obvious from the start he would be totally useless.

[Frank Leroux]

To be honest even before he shot I was aghast at how much space we allowed Krankjar - it's not as if he is an unknown quantity and he is always coming off the wing to have a pop for Pompey. We looked so unprepared it was embarassing.

...Yep, as soon as he got it with that space on his right side I said 'he's got a shot on him', and lo & behold....

[tomasjj]

This shouldn't be the focus, the manager is not the root of English football problems

Exactly.
He made it worse, but it is not up to the manager to sort this rut.
The FA will look for the quick fix though and sack the manager again and again without addressing the real crux of the problem - the lack of technical ability and coaching at younger levels.
There is too much emphasis on pace and power - I mean, young players will develop athleticism as they grow, rejecting youngsters down to lack of power is ridiculous...technical ability however, needs to be nurtured and coached from the start.