England Squad vs Holland

[peekay]

Scott Parker being captain reminds of Liverpool under Bodge where the media was taking decisions for us.

Joe Cole on high wages

All LFC needed was man management unlike the complex tactical stuff that Rafa presented and we would fire away

And you know he is the media's man as there was not a single criticism of Scott Parker's performance in the media. He flew into a few tackles - thats enough. He is like a midfield version of Shay Given. Good player but makes the simple things look spectacular.

[dww]

Scott Parker being captain reminds of Liverpool under Bodge where the media was taking decisions for us.

Joe Cole on high wages

All LFC needed was man management unlike the complex tactical stuff that Rafa presented and we would fire away

And you know he is the media's man as there was not a single criticism of Scott Parker's performance in the media. He flew into a few tackles - thats enough. He is like a midfield version of Shay Given. Good player but makes the simple things look spectacular.

I like the given comparison, although I think the comment is a bit harsh on both. Parker is good with another positionally aware player alongside him, not a big strength of the England squad. Without that he struggles against technically adept opposition.

To be honest England captain always struck me as largely ceremonial so choices being influenced by the media seems not unreasonable to me.

[Exiled_red]

I always get the impression that the media want the England captain to be a Southerner or preferably from London.

[peekay]

I like the given comparison, although I think the comment is a bit harsh on both. Parker is good with another positionally aware player alongside him, not a big strength of the England squad. Without that he struggles against technically adept opposition.

To be honest England captain always struck me as largely ceremonial so choices being influenced by the media seems not unreasonable to me.

I did not mean to be overly harsh on both. In fact I believe Parker and Given are very very good PL players and performers. Parker owned our midfield a couple of times.

However as you rightly pointed out for a DM he lacks positional sense and sometimes does not want to do the simple things. This can be exploited by technically adept and pacy teams. Look at Robben's goal yesterday. With Didi and Mascher one of them would have stayed back and provided cover when the fullbacks and centre backs bomb forward. With Parker he wants to be involved and chases the ball.