England vs Moldova - Live on ITV 1
England travel to Moldova on Friday night, with a new coach and a new founded optimism ahead of the World Cup in 2014.
England travel to Moldova on Friday night, with a new coach and a new founded optimism ahead of the World Cup in 2014. During Euro 2012, we showed we were no slouches with a credible draw coming against France and wins against Sweden and Ukraine, but it was Italy who were our undoing. The problem many people will again say is that it is the ball that is beating England and the fact we do not see enough of it during games. Travelling to Eastern Europe is going to be quite an opener to kick start Englands world cup campaign and they will need to realise that they have to adapt to different styles. Grinding out 1-0 victories may not be beautiful to watch, but it is very effective. The loss of Andy Carroll will give Hodgson more of a headache than the loss of Rooney as Carroll would have been perfect to ruffle up some of the feathers in the Moldovan back line with depth again proving to be Englands achilles heel. There are no doubts England will enter the game as favourites, with bookmakers probably taking thousands of pounds of bets, but the ability on paper goes out the window once that whistle sounds. If Holland found it tricky with their brand of total football, maybe direct and ugly football is the route to a 3 point victory tonight. England travel to Moldova on Friday night, with a new coach and a new founded optimism ahead of the World Cup in 2014. The question on the minority of England fans mouths will be where is the youth for a game like this? It is not a secret that Moldova do not play like Spain, so tonight would therefore pose the perfect opportunity to blood some youth and take the game to Moldova. Roy Hodgson has always been a straight up sort of manager, one who probably writes his team sheet on a napkin when taking his wife out for a meal, but he, like all other recent managers, seems afraid of letting the youth run wild. Remember World Cup 2006, Theo Walcott gets a surprise call up which excites England fans, and is left on the bench without kicking a ball. Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers was heard this week speaking about Raheem Sterling and how acclaiming young players to be superstars can ruin them, but leaving it too late, can also ruin them. Sat at home tonight, like any ordinary England fan, will be players such as Stephen Caulker and Jack Rodwell. They must be scratching their heads wondering what they have to do to break into an average international side, and believe you me; theyre not the only ones wondering this. Removing the old guard, the remainder of what was deemed the golden generation will be a bold move, but this could be what brings about the success that this country is crying out for. Taking everything into account, it remains to be seen whether Hodgson has the bit between his teeth to take the much needed risks to elevate an underperforming side into World Cup challengers, or whether he will stick to his trusty old guard.