Germany's counter attacking approach wins the day

Unsurprisingly, the stats don't paint a different picture of England's humiliating 4-1 loss to Germany. But Germany's tactic of hitting on the counter does come through quite strongly - and supported by their display in the quarters against Argentina. Against England, the Germans gave up possession to the tune of 44.8% to England's 55.2%, which is quite considerable in the modern game. However, they took the honours in the territorial advantage at 52.6% to England's 47.4%. And the individual stats back Germany's stronger attacking performance with Ozil and Schweinsteiger way ahead of England's triumvirate of Gerrard, Barry and Lampard on key passes and forward half passes. It highlights that focussing on possession football only gets you so far: it's what you do with it that counts.

It’s all relative: Frank Lampard stood out in a poor midfield

There was much criticism of England’s lack of creativity against USA. While Steven Gerrard’s performance was universally acclaimed, Frank Lampard received a mixed reaction. But it’s interesting when you look at the stats. Lampard recorded more passes (55) than Steven Gerrard (53), Wayne Rooney (33) or USA’s standout player Landon Donovan (39), and at a higher completion rate of 87.3%. Breaking this down further points to Lampard being a lot more involved in the game than his “creative” peers. Lampard had 4 key passes compared to Gerrard’s 1 and Rooney’s 2; and he was much busier in the final third with 19 passes at a completion rate of 84.2% than Gerrard with 16 passes at 81.25%. The Lampard-Gerrard axis in the middle of the park was highlighted once again as not working for England. But there wasn’t much of a supporting contribution from the flanks with Aaron Lennon, James Milner and Shaun Wright-Phillips combining for 0 successful crosses, 1 attempt on goal, 2 key passes, and 24 passes in the final third.

Darren Bent's game is more than just goals this season

It's not just goals this season's Darren Bent gets you: Bent is just much more involved in the game. Against Hull, he provided link up play all across the pitch for Sunderland; compare this to Spurs' game away at Hull last season and Bent's passing is hardly in evidence. If Capello is also looking for link up play in Rooney's partner, can Bent provide this as well as a goal threat?


by Guardian Chalkboards

Does James Milner offer England another option in centre midfield?

As things stand, there are unlikely to be many arguments against James Milner being included in the squad for South Africa based on his performances for Aston Villa and England. In Wednesday night’s game against Egypt, he came on in the second half to replace Steven Gerrard, and had the initial shot that led to Wright-Phillips’s goal. But does he offer something else for England? Villa originally signed Milner as winger, but in recent months he has moved inside to play in the midfield three in Villa’s 4-3-3. This has enabled Milner to influence the game much more as well as increase his goal scoring threat. Early in the season against Chelsea, Milner plays as a classic wide player and hugs the touchline (see below Chalkboard). But in the recent home game against Manchester United, Milner plays in the midfield role and is much more active across the pitch, but also picks up the ball deep inside his own half (see below Chalkboard). As witnessed in Sunday’s Carling Cup Final, Milner can take advantage of the ball carrying skills he learned as a winger to take the ball out of defence and into the opposing half.


by Guardian Chalkboards

Nobody would argue that Milner has been one of the form players in the Premier League this season. But does he offer more than wing play for England? If we look at the current occupiers of the central midfield roles for England – Frank Lampard and Gareth Barry – they play slightly different roles with Barry playing more of a holding role and Lampard getting more advanced. Both Barry and Lampard playing similar roles for their clubs – Manchester City and Chelsea respectively. In the Chelsea vs. Manchester City game at the weekend, Barry plays further back and arguably does most of his work in the City half; Lampard roams across both axes of the pitch, but gets into the box frequently as well as puts a number of crosses in from both flanks (see below Chalkboard).


 by Guardian Chalkboards

Milner’s type of play would seem better suited to Lampard’s type of role. But two things to point out. As can be seen in a losing Chelsea performance against Manchester City, Lampard is still an important influence on a game through his heavy involvement, willingness to get advanced and ability to create chances. Secondly, England play more of a 4-2-3-1 system with Lampard part of a sitting axes in front of the back four, albeit more advanced than Barry. In this type of system, Milner might be better suited to play wide right or left as part of the three: in a sense, that is why Steven Gerrard is out on the left side of midfield as that is a much more attacking role than centre midfield. Based on his performances this season for Villa, Milner’s inclusion in the squad for the World Cup appears to be a pretty good prospect; his adaptability across the midfield is an added bonus for England, but in Cappello’s current system, Milner will probably be more effective as a winger.