Saturday, December 15, 2007
So some random stuff now, leading up to another weekend of English football, most notably highlighted by Grand Slam Sunday, or just... Make-or-break for the Big Four. It's on Sunday,
yeah... Those big matches, so I'm like
kinda bored now, probably going to watch some football later, but now, it's just blogging I guess. This whole day's just been playing Team Fortress 2, very fun game, multi-player class-based. Here's the
wiki of it, if you
wanna find out more.
I also looked at some video from the 1960s predicting the future, more apparently 1999, on the possibilities of technology then, or now, or... Whatever. It accurately predicted online shopping, emailing and online banking, and plasma televisions! The concepts were correct, it was just the applications that was not as accurate. But it all case, if it was an authentic video, its pretty good.
These holidays are real boring, I need something to do, other than being stuck half the time on the
comp... Now lastly, just a little football, about Fabio Capello and England... Here are some stuffs he needs to get right, and a little comparing along the way with his predecessors.:
- Pick The Right Players. Capello needs to be able to know which players are on fire with their respective clubs, in the build up to important games, or tournaments for that matter. Steve McClaren attempted to rectify that problem Sven Goran-Eriksson put in place, but failed, as he constantly played off-form players. Players such as Ashley Young or Gabriel Agbonlahor, both from Aston Villa, had great spells of form last season, but failed to catch the eye of McClaren, so too David James, also overlooked for the ever blunder-prone Paul Robinson. Capello will need to identify players that are on-form when he attends Premier League games, should he, and not just be a hollow presence in the ground.
- Perfect The Right Strategy. Capello needs to find out a formation he and his players are comfortable with and ultimately very familiar with. McClaren did not perfect his 4-4-2 formation at the start of the Euro 2008 qualifying campaign, and in a desperate attempt to impress, he switched to a 3-5-2, the rest is history. Eriksson too just had a 4-4-2 but did not know how to effectively use his players.
- Utilize Friendly Internationals. Capello needs to utilize friendlies to the maximum, to blood, maybe young talent, say, some players from Stuart Pearce's U-21 squad, like Agbonlahor, James Milner, Steven Taylor, or fringe players like Nolan, Joey Barton, Jermaine Defoe, Theo Walcott. McClaren only used friendlies to field his full-team to try out different strategies, which was not suppose to have happened, as strategies and tactics should have been finalised centuries ago. Eriksson did try to field fringe players, to his credit. Capello can also try to field a team of full internationals and fringe or young players, to give the latter a chance to prove themselves. This in turn, doesn't make friendlies in English football look useless.
- Have A Plan B And C. Capello needs at least two back-up plans, and may I highlight, he should have much more. A defensive plan, strategy, tactic, whatever you call it, must be in hand, say, to change to a 4-5-1 or 5-4-1 when defending a lead against Brazil in the World Cup quarter-finals in the final few minutes. Or, say, a 4-3-3 or 3-3-4 when trying to get back into the game after going 2-0 down to, say, Germany. McClaren never had a back-up plan, just a stupid looking 3-5-2 that didn't really work. Eriksson only had his 4-4-2, no back-up plan, and when trying to force a match, would just chiong everyone of the 4-man midfield upfield. Capello needs to develop various strategies and formations he and his personnel knows well, and knows how to play it.
- Substitute Right. Capello needs to know who to bring on and when, probably have in mind Barry or Hargreaves to come on to try to defend a lead, or Frank Lampard or Nolan to come on to try to turn the tide of the game and thread that all-important pass. Or, lets say, throw on Dean Ashton or Walcott to try to win a game with little chances. The only time McClaren got his substitutions right was in his last game, against Croatia, where he brought on David Beckham and Defoe, that significantly turned the tide of the game, however, he lost it when he didn't bring on Hargreaves when he was level. Eriksson never used his substitutes right, and should have used Walcott in one of the World Cup matches.
- Have The Right Mentality At Every Game. Capello will have to introduce the right mentality to his players in every game, whether it is a friendly against Singapore, or the World Cup semis against Argentina. He'll have to fuse a winning mentality into his players for every game, and not to take any team, whatever the stature, lightly. That way, he'll get the best out of his players, and get the results that he wants and ultimately deserves, which counts as a win.
So some things that Capello needs to get right, hopefully he'll manage to do it better than his predecessors. Grand Slam Sunday is on soon. Hope I'll be as happy as I am now excited.
Bye~!
my thoughts at 5:26 pm