ESTONIA 0: ENGLAND 3 A CRUCIAL THREE POINTS TO END THE SEASON.

 

The 9300 seater A. le Coq stadium in Tallinn, Estonia; home to FC Flora Tallinn and the Estonian National Team; hosted a crunch game in EURO2008 Group E Qualifying tonight.  . 

 

An un-watered; but reasonable; pitch would require better than average touch and passing from the attacking team.  A good crowd enjoyed the late evening warmth and England's traveling support was vocal. 

 

McClaren; in his first full International Season for England; played relatively safe with a 4 4 2 formation which saw only two changes from the draw against Brazil. 

 

Showing evidence of his managerial clumsiness in an interview before the game, "We've said to the players.  From the first whistle, front foot, let's get at 'em.  Like we did on Friday against Brazil." was the manager's blinkered and incorrect platitude for the English Press. 

 

The result was never really in question; England has far superior players and Estonia hasn't scored in six games; even though anything less than a win would have likely seen McClaren sacked. 

 

England's two changes were Brown in for Carragher at Right Back and Crouch to start. 

 

The change for Estonia was to move the midfielder; Klavan into the back four and start veteran Terehhov; this was enforced by the suspension of Piiroja. 

A 4 5 1 was typical of Goes; it's tough to break down and hard to play against. 

 

England began the brighter and more attacking; Estonia looking to stay strong at the back and stifle the midfield.  Bridge and Beckham provide England with some width and Peter Crouch linked the midfield and attack.  England was able to get decent balls in the box but couldn't find any decisive touches.  J

PREMIERSHIP TRANSFERS FOR THIS PAST WEEK

 

Aston Villa -clearing out

          Henderson to Bristol City

          Olejnik to Falkirk

 

Chelsea - buying for the now and the future, is Pizarro a replacement for Schevchenko?

          Philliskirk from Oldham

          Pizarro from Bayern Munich

 

Manchester United - bagging the holding England midfielder from arch rivals

          Hargreaves from Bayern Munich

 

A quiet week!

EURO 2008 QUALIFYING MATCHES part II

          Who's playing who and how it's going to pan out. 

 

The major surprises of Saturday's games were Bosnia-Herzegovina's victory over Turkey and Liechtenstein recording an away draw.  Denmark's remarkable comeback against Sweden can be nullified.  The inquiry will decide once they have the referee and delegate reports. 

After Saturday's results and the upcoming games on Wednesday things will be a whole lot clearer. 

 

Home team is listed first. 

 

Faroe Islands v Scotland

After a gallant display against the World Champions including a goal from R

DC UNITED TAKE ON LA GALAXY

 

The Home Depot Center in California hosted a typically hard fought contest Saturday, the black strip of the nation's capital clashing with the white of a struggling Galaxy.  Always an eagerly awaited fixture on the MLS calendar this game was a lively; well supported; contest

 

Frank Yallop opted for a typical 4 4 2 formation relying on the experience of Jones and Donovan, and the attacking ability of Jaqua; in what was a make up team.  Injuries and international duty depriving LA of several key players.  A fourth straight winless game is not something Yallop wanted. 

 

With Moreno and Emilio ably supported from deep by Gomez, DC coach Soehn opted for 4 3 1 2.  Simms likes to get forward down the right providing a foil for the sometime sparkling Fred.  Erpen anchors a solid defence. 

 

The half belonged; mostly; to LA.  An early chance fell to Donovan, who shot wide but it was indicative of the home team's ambition.  Much the better team, their passing and movement were good.  Chances were created but profligate finishing by Jaqua and; a particularly glaring miss by; Donovan late in the half meant the game remained goalless.  Perkins was tested but saw more shots go high or wide.  Veris was the best player in a makeshift LA back line. 

 

DC were not playing at their best but still managed to look the more dangerous in the final third, Gomez having the best opportunities.  Cannon's good saves and the post saved LA's blushes and ensured a first half clean sheet.  The midfield wasn't flowing for the away team, Fred not making a great contribution. 

 

The second half started with tactical changes paying dividends for the visitors.  Moreno dropped deeper which benefited both Fred and Emilio and with a number of crosses peppering the LA box, DC gained the ascendancy.  Bad misses by Fred, who put a header; inside the six yard box; wide; and Donovan; who couldn't shoot when presented with the opportunity just to the left of the penalty spot; typified the match. 

 

A lot of pretty good approach work from DC and some good counter-attacks from LA, but no end result.  Substitutes slotted in without having great impacts on the game with Findley; a replacement for LA's Quaranta; the best of them. 

 

Yallop has got to be the happier of the two coaches.  A makeshift team created chances; particularly in the first half; and a man of the match goalkeeping performance; from Cannon; gave them a clean sheet.  LA's roster is still wracked with injury, and is likely to remain so at high flying Dallas next week. 

 

Soehn will be disappointed with the tame finishing of his players but will take the positives of a fairly solid back four and a dominant midfield linking well with the attack into the next two home games against New York and Chicago. 

 

Salazar acquitted himself well, choosing to allow the game to flow. 

 

LA Galaxy:-

Cannon

Russell (Randolph 70)

Marshall

Veris

Harden

Quaranta (Findley 57)

Sturgis

Vagenas

Jones

Donovan

Jaqua

 

Subs Not Used:-

Cronin

Tudela

 

Booked:-

Randolph

 

Goals:-

 

 

DC United:-

Perkins

Simms

Erpen

Boswell

Namoff

Fred (Dyachenko 91)

Olsen (Casal 78)

Gros

Gomez

Emilio (Kpene 73)

Moreno

 

Subs Not Used:-

Nolly

Burch

Moose

deRoux

 

Booked:-

 

Goals:-

 

Att:-

21069

 

Referee:-

Ricardo Salazar

 

England v Brazil: the definitive match review.

 

Brazil played this game in nameless shirts; shouting out that they are a team first and foremost.  They dominated underneath Wembley's new arch for the first twenty five minutes.  A combination of adroit passing, and world-class first touches allowed Brazil to flummox and bamboozle a bewildered England.  Kaka provided the most potent threat.  Opening up England's back four like a can of cheap anchovies.  Not his best finish ever. 

 

Robinson's first touch can't have inspired confidence in his defence either.  He looked out of his depth as he came for and missed a cross from his left.  Floundering in rather than commanding his box. 

 

England's players found that going forward was tough.  A few hopeful balls through the channels didn't amount to much.  Strong tackling enabled England to remain in the game. 

 

Brazil showed flashes of just how good they can be.  German Bundesliga experience and a defensive minded coach in Dunga ensured that England had precious little attacking. 

 

A static England allowed onside Silva to loop the ball over the hapless Robinson.  The linesman flagged Love for offside.  Goal should've stood. 

 

As the half continued England gained some parity with Brazil.  They held onto the ball more, Beckham a threat, and Gerrard tigerish in front of the back four.  Brazil took their feet off the pedal. 

 

The Brazilians are best when they play to slow-quick-quick-slow rhythm.  A home team fairly devoid of ideas in the middle of the park and an ineffective left wing did struggle to get any meaningful balls in the box, Beckham's dink; that just missed Owen; an exception. 

 

Half time duly rolled around without either team conceding.  The German ref was pretty good.  You barely noticed him. 

 

 

The second half saw a more aggressive England performance but without any real opportunities created.  Brazil remained tough at he back but created less than in the first half.  Set pieces seem to be the best opportunity to score, for both teams.  That has been standard for England but never really Brazil. 

 

The substitutions started a little over an hour into the match.  England was the first team to utilize their six available subs with Downing and Dyer coming on for Cole and Smith.  Brazil followed with Edmilson for Mineiro. 

The England subs had the greater impact with Downing forcing a save from Helton with a long range shot. 

England's first goal at Wembley was going to be scored by a defender A free kick delivered with pace and accuracy from the right allowed a fully committed Terry to come in from the back post and hit the back of the net. 

 

Brazil applied more gas and more substitutes entered the fray.  Fresh legs energized the overall level of play but both defences remained reasonably stiff.  Beckham left to a warm ovation, securing his place against Estonia. 

Brazil's best chances fell to substitute Alves, the first went wide after a Wes Brown mistake, the second sailed over after a Ronaldinho corner.  Robinson was called into action more so than Helton.

 

Brazil fought hard for the equalizer whilst England sat back too much.  With the last attack of the game Deigo gets his head on the end of a Silva cross to head the ball past Robinson. 

 

The England team played better as the match wore on.  Beckham and Gerrard were excellent; light in attack strong in defence England will rue the lack of concentration in the dying seconds to concede the equalizer. 

 

Brazil started off well, should have scored but for an incorrect flag.  For periods in the game they were content to let England have the ball in front of them.  Kaka, Robinho and Ronaldinho weren't at their best.  Dunga talked about the uneven pitch but should be dissatisfied that a Naldo was beaten in the air for the goal. 

 

A draw seems to be a fair result. 

 

 

England:

Robinson

Carragher

King

Terry (Brown 72)

Shorey

Beckham (Jenas 77)

Gerrard

Lampard (Carrick 88)

Cole (Downing 62)

Smith (Dyer 62)

Owen (Crouch 83).

Subs Not Used:

Carson

Bridge

Neville

Bentley

Green

Defoe.

 

Goals:

Terry 68.

 

Brazil:

Helton

Daniel (Maicon 65)

Naldo

Juan

Gilberto

Ronaldinho

Mineiro (Edmilson 63)

Gilberto Silva

Kaka (Alves 71)

Robinho (Diego 74)

Vagner Love.

Subs Not Used:

Doni

Alex

Silva

Alex

Marcelo

Josue

Elano

Jo

 

Goals:

Diego 90.

 

Att:

88,745

 

Referee:

Markus Merk (Germany).