გარისკა კარსონი რომ აირჩია
ფეზე თამაში არანაირად არშ ეიძლება
PLAYING FOR A DRAW
While a 2-0 or three-goal win for England on Wednesday would see them top Group E, and therefore aid their seeding for next summer's championship, a point is all McClaren's men need to progress.
So what about the psychology of approaching a match when a draw is all you require?
"Being positive is the key," Lineker tells BBC Sport. "The one thing we are not very good at is setting our stall out for a draw. We are not Italians.
We must play our normal, progressive, pressing game
Gary Lineker
Our culture is to play to win. If you play for a draw you are likely to get beat
Graham Taylor
"We must play our normal pressing game. We have got to try and rattle them and not start messing about to just try and make sure we get the draw we require to get through."
It's an approach that is greeted with wholehearted agreement across our experts.
Graham Taylor says: "Our culture is to play to win. If you play for a draw you are likely to get beat," while BBC Sport's football expert Mark Lawrenson adds: "You have to occupy their defenders. If you allow them to come on to you, Croatia will punish you."
Gary Mabbutt, who set up Lineker's crucial equaliser in the qualifying draw with Poland in 1991, says: "There's no doubt you have to be secure defensively, but if you don't set the tempo to the game it could well be disastrous."
But, ex-international Trevor Francis warns, do not let the occasion or the Wembley crowd prompt any "silliness": "First and foremost we have to make sure we are solid at the back and in midfield so that we get that all-important point."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/i...als/7102407.stm'If Robinson doesn't play, McClaren has killed his career'
Goalkeeping experts give Louise Taylor their reaction to the England coach's shock decision
Wednesday November 21, 2007
The Guardian
As statements go, Steve McClaren's decision to drop Paul Robinson and offer Scott Carson his first competitive start in an England shirt appears uncharacteristically bold. It also carries far-reaching consequences. "If Robinson is not playing, England's manager is really killing Paul's [international] career," claimed Neville Southall, the former Everton and Wales goalkeeper last night.
"Steve McClaren is effectively sticking two fingers up at Paul and saying he does not trust him in a big game. Paul will be devastated and his relationship with McClaren will also be finished. McClaren will have totally lost him. Paul will interpret being dropped as the England manager saying: 'I don't trust you; you've done nothing for me.'"
Article continues
Southall suspects that England's head coach has been unduly influenced by media criticism of the Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper. "There's an element of Paul being made the scapegoat for England's problems and mistakes in other areas here," he said. "I don't think he has done too badly overall in recent internationals and I can't see any logic in sticking with him all through the qualifying campaign and then dropping him for the last, effectively sudden-death, game.
"I think Steve McClaren might be bowing to media pressure, to outside forces, but Paul doesn't deserve that. Yes, he's made mistakes but all goalkeepers make mistakes and there are times when, just as players have to keep faith with their managers, managers have to show faith in players. This is one of those occasions. It's a big gamble, though, because, if Scott Carson makes a bad mistake and England lose, the media will blame McClaren for throwing him into such a big game. He'll be crucified."
Not that Southall is necessarily anticipating such a scenario. "Scott Carson is going to be a top, top keeper and he won't let anyone down," he said. "I certainly would not want to be seen as criticising Scott because he's a really competent keeper. It's just that I don't think leaving Paul out is the right way to treat him.
"It's a brave decision but it can also be seen as a poor decision. There are not too many top-class English goalkeepers around and I don't know that Steve McClaren can really afford to discard Paul like this."
http://football.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/0,,2214493,00.html "He hit it," wrote Sir Alex Ferguson of one particularly vicious Alan Shearer finish against Poland in 1996, "as if he wanted to kill it."
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ინგლისური ფეხბურთის ფანკლუბი, Only We Play With Heart
