http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Gerard-c14664 Houllier has gone on to insist that England have a specific action plan which they have always followed, which sees the team deploy a towering striker up front.
The former Aston Villa and http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Liverpool-c39809 manager has spent his fair share of time, managing teams in the Premier League and based on his experiences, he seems to feel that the English teams tend to use a powerful target man up front.
When talking about his observations, Houllier is quoted to have said: "It is in their DNA and culture"
"When they have a big tall guy, they put him up front. In http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/France-c2899, when we have this kind of player, we put him in central defence.”
He feels that playing a physical and challenging game is what the country does
"Besides, there is a tradition of long and direct play in England. A tradition of fighting and physical challenge, but also a tradition of 4-4-2.”
"The idea is to associate two different registers: a big guy who can offer deepness and also play with his back towards the goal and be able to keep the ball, not to mention deviating the ball with his head to his team-mates and play the second balls.”
England went on to deploy these tactics for all of their group games, with Andy Carroll and http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Danny-Welbeck-c10233 initially playing as their target men.
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Wayne-Rooney-c36736 also went on to be deployed in this position in the last game and scored the match winner for the team.
The way England approach games is very traditional. They don’t overplay, they don’t go on and pass the ball a lot. What they intend to do, is use the flanks or drop a long ball over the top, for the striker to connect with.
On paper this doesn’t seem like a plan that would work out, but with http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/England-c749 finishing the group on top, they have gone on to surprise just about everyone.
It seems like Roy Hodgson might just know what he is doing and should he continue to help the team move forward, they could go much further than anyone expects, with a chance of even ending the competition as European Champions.
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