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