Roy Hodgson stated after England’s defeat in the Euro 2012 Quarter Final that, as a nation, we have a fascination with penalty shoot-outs. It is some sort of sick fascination if you ask me. It is never a comfortable experience.
I’ve never heard of Spain or Germany talk so much in the lead up to a knock out game about facing a penalty shoot-out as if the event was an inevitability, so why should we? During all press conferences leading up to the match, the focus of the discussion revolved around the penalty shoot-out. The BBC pundits were unanimous in their belief that the game would be won by England by way of a penalty shoot-out. They were obviously proved wrong, but even so their penalty prediction was correct. This raises the question, should we even be talking about this scenario? Shouldn’t we try and win the game in 90 minutes or give a damn good account of ourselves at least? I say this because when have we ever been good at penalties, surely the focus should be on making sure we don’t find ourselves in that excruciating position ever again. Losing a match is never a nice experience, ask any professional or fan, but losing in a penalty shoot-out seems to ramp the pain up to an unbearable level. Surely the mentality needs to shift from both sides of the camp, the people reporting the news and players making it?
There is a valid argument to say that Spain and Germany don’t have to worry about that scenario as much because they currently possess superior teams compared to this batch of England players and that they would more than likely have enough guile and craft to win in regulation time. What I would say is that the Greek team of 2004 are a perfect example of what can be achieved with a little belief. We didn’t believe in the quarter-final in Kiev and got what we deserved. Until England find that cockiness, that little bit of flair and are not so fixated on penalties, we will always be also-rans.
After another major tournament defeat, the propaganda began in earnest. We were told to be proud of our national football teams efforts. To a certain degree, I concur. Expectation levels were low and a quarter final appearance was on par with what we had witnessed from the team over the last couple of years. Defensively we can boast a tight back five and with the exception of possibly Gary Cahill, we were functioning at full strength. Scott Parker and Steven Gerrard provided an effective shield to repel attacks at an earlier stage; the latter always looked to spring an attack until his legs went in the second half in Kiev. However, a conventional midfield is normally formed of 3 or 4 players, in Spain’s case 6. Unfortunately James Milner and Ashley Young went missing for the vast majority of the tournament, leaving us light-weight in a crucial part of the pitch. With an off-colour Wayne Rooney and two inexperienced comrades filling his boots for half the tournament, our attacking options were blunt.
This lack of chances created, especially in the final game, could be levelled at the poor quality of ball retention; this in itself is a topic that needs to be scrutinized in detail once the dust settles. By the time Andy Carroll entered the action in the second half, our time with the ball reduced even further. Carroll did his job well as a target man, but from the balls he won easily in the air, it was soon back in the possession of the Italians, who without penetrating much, kept the ball until that opening became available. It’s disconcerting to think what may have happened if the Italians had a more potent attack.