Post by Macmoish on Jun 15, 2010 6:37:45 GMT
Guardian
World Cup 2010: Franz Beckenbauer attacks England's 'kick and rush'• Former Germany captain says England have gone backwards
• Germans have advantage with Jabulani, says Carragher
Dominic Fifield in Rustenburg The Guardian, Tuesday 15 June
Franz Beckenbauer has launched a scathing attack on England's style of play and claimed Fabio Capello's side have "gone backwards into the bad old times of kick and rush".
Beckenbauer, one of the most decorated footballers of all time and captain of the triumphant West Germany team of 1974, claimed Capello had been rendered powerless by the paucity of English players featuring regularly in the higher echelons of the Premier League. The clubs' willingness to buy from abroad, he argued, has come back to haunt the national side.
"What I saw from the English in their 1-1 draw against the United States had very little to do with football," Beckenbauer wrote in a South African newspaper after watching England's draw on Saturday.
"It looked to me as if the English have gone backwards into the bad old times of kick and rush. I am not sure if the England coach Fabio Capello can still change much there. The English are being punished for the fact that there are very few English players in the Premier League clubs as they use better foreign players from all over the world."
Capello may agree with Beckenbauer's observation about the number of English players in the top flight, having previously complained that only around 38% of the talent in the Premier League is available to him. Yet, despite his team being at times careless with possession against the USA on Saturday, he would reject the suggestions of a return to a long-ball game.
Regardless, England's toils against the USA contrasted markedly with Germany's 4-0 dismissal of Australia some 24 hours later. That game was played at sea level in Durban, though England's players noted the Germans' success in taming the much criticised Adidas Jabulani ball, with the Bundesliga having adopted the World Cup ball, which had been launched last December, this year. The Premier League has a deal with Nike and could not follow suit, while the Football Association is contracted to Umbro for international fixtures, thereby preventing Capello's side experimenting with the new ball in the friendly with Egypt in March. England have been using it every day since they gathered in Austria for a pre-tournament training camp, barring the Wembley friendly against Mexico.
The Jabulani was, however, used in domestic leagues in Switzerland, Portugal, the United States, South Africa and the Netherlands last season, and in the French Cup and the Africa Cup of Nations. No complaints over its performance were received, with tests in sessions at Chelsea, Real Madrid and Milan also producing positive feedback.
"We supplied the national federations with the ball in February," said Thomas van Schaik, an Adidas spokesman. "Obviously, we stressed they needed to use it and we offered it to them for usage. The reason we chose February was because, following the launch in December, there had not been any internationals. That meant that the national teams would have the first opportunity to have access to the ball at the same time."
The fact that the Germans took them up on that offer may now be working in their favour. Joachim Löw's side were impressive against Australia, with Lukas Podolski, Miroslav Klose, Thomas Müller and Cacau all scoring. "It gives them an advantage, that is obvious," said the England defender Jamie Carragher when told that the Germans had experienced Jabulani in the Bundesliga. "The ball is very different. Every training session we always start by passing 30 or 40 yards to each other just for that reason alone. I am sure it has helped them and they played so well, so perhaps that is something to cling on to – that they might have been playing with the ball for a while.
"It is an advantage if you've been training with it, but it is a little bit inconsistent. Sometimes you really don't know what it is going to do when you are knocking ball to each other: sometimes it goes straight on, other times it just deviates at the last minute. The idea behind the ball was clearly to create more goals, and it does strange things to make it a more exciting tournament."
www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/jun/15/world-cup-franz-beckenbauer-england
INDEPENDENT
Beckenbauer: England have regressed under Capello
Former manager criticises 'kick and rush' tactics Carragher puts Germany's strong start down to familiarity with unpredictable new ball
By Ian Herbert and Sam Wallace in Bafokeng
Franz Beckenbauer has stored up potential for a stormy clash between England and Germany by declaring that Fabio Capello's side have headed "backwards into the bad old days of kick and rush" on the evidence of Saturday's opening match against the United States and he has also suggested that there is very little that can be done to improve things.
Beckenbauer, an ambassador for the German game, said that England's failings were a product of the Premier League being packed with too many foreign players. "The English are being punished for the fact that there are very few English players in the Premier League clubs as they use better foreign players from all over the world," he said.
From an individual who only this month praised Capello's firm style of management, Beckenbauer's comments in a South African newspaper are eyecatching – given that England's overall display against a disciplined United States side was by no means calamitous. But while Beckenbauer has pointed the finger at the Premier League's use of foreign players, his own nation's far more impressive start to the tournament comes after them having had the advantage over England of working with the tournament's unpredictable adidas Jabulani ball for the past four months in the Bundesliga.
The ball, which is acknowledged as the most unpredictable ever used in a World Cup tournament, was made available to coaches in February and used in US Major League Soccer as well as eight continental European leagues, including Germany's – though not the Premier League because of its contractual obligations to Nike.
Jamie Carragher said yesterday that the England players were aware of the Germans' greater familiarity with the ball, which he believed did offer Joachim Low's side a material advantage heading into the tournament. "I can see the headlines [but] it gives them an advantage," Carragher said. "That is obvious. The ball is very different. Every training session we do we always start by passing 30 or 40 yards to each other just for that reason alone. I am sure it has helped them. It is an advantage of course."
The ball, which both Clint Dempsey and Frank Lampard claim deviated before Robert Green fumbled it here on Saturday evening, could not be used by England in the two home friendlies since February because of the international deal with Umbro and use of it has been limited to the intensive World Cup warm-up period, including the friendly against Japan in Graz. With only two training sessions before the fixture with Egypt in March, Fabio Capello and his staff did not consider the use of it worthwhile at that stage.
Capello's staff were given the chance to learn more about the ball at a workshop run by adidas during the international coaches' conference at Sun City in February. "We underlined the requirement to get used to it because it is a different ball and a different technology," adidas spokesman, Thomas von Schaik, said yesterday. "We underlined this point. At the same time we also supplied all the federations with the balls. The reason we chose February was because following the launch in December there had not been any internationals. That meant that the national teams would have the first opportunity to have access to the ball at the same time."
England may play Germany in Bloemfontein on 26 June if they fail to win Group C and Germany top Group D and it will be Beckenbauer's comments which will offer most incentive to Capello and his side if they do. There is no history of bad blood between Capello and Beckenbaeur, though the German's dislike of the number of foreign players in the Premier League is an issue he has aired before. He said England's failure to qualify for Euro 2008 was because of the number of foreign players in the domestic league.
Wayne Rooney missed training yesterday with a knock to his ankle sustained against the US but it is no cause for concern ahead of Friday's match against Algeria in Cape Town.
Ashley Cole was also absent but only on the basis that he has regularly needed an extra day to recover from playing after breaking his ankle in February. Ledley King underwent a scan on his abductor muscle strained in the fourth minute of the US game. He is unlikely to play any further part in tournament.
www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/world-cup/beckenbauer-england-have-regressed-under-capello-2000580.html
World Cup 2010: Franz Beckenbauer attacks England's 'kick and rush'• Former Germany captain says England have gone backwards
• Germans have advantage with Jabulani, says Carragher
Dominic Fifield in Rustenburg The Guardian, Tuesday 15 June
Franz Beckenbauer has launched a scathing attack on England's style of play and claimed Fabio Capello's side have "gone backwards into the bad old times of kick and rush".
Beckenbauer, one of the most decorated footballers of all time and captain of the triumphant West Germany team of 1974, claimed Capello had been rendered powerless by the paucity of English players featuring regularly in the higher echelons of the Premier League. The clubs' willingness to buy from abroad, he argued, has come back to haunt the national side.
"What I saw from the English in their 1-1 draw against the United States had very little to do with football," Beckenbauer wrote in a South African newspaper after watching England's draw on Saturday.
"It looked to me as if the English have gone backwards into the bad old times of kick and rush. I am not sure if the England coach Fabio Capello can still change much there. The English are being punished for the fact that there are very few English players in the Premier League clubs as they use better foreign players from all over the world."
Capello may agree with Beckenbauer's observation about the number of English players in the top flight, having previously complained that only around 38% of the talent in the Premier League is available to him. Yet, despite his team being at times careless with possession against the USA on Saturday, he would reject the suggestions of a return to a long-ball game.
Regardless, England's toils against the USA contrasted markedly with Germany's 4-0 dismissal of Australia some 24 hours later. That game was played at sea level in Durban, though England's players noted the Germans' success in taming the much criticised Adidas Jabulani ball, with the Bundesliga having adopted the World Cup ball, which had been launched last December, this year. The Premier League has a deal with Nike and could not follow suit, while the Football Association is contracted to Umbro for international fixtures, thereby preventing Capello's side experimenting with the new ball in the friendly with Egypt in March. England have been using it every day since they gathered in Austria for a pre-tournament training camp, barring the Wembley friendly against Mexico.
The Jabulani was, however, used in domestic leagues in Switzerland, Portugal, the United States, South Africa and the Netherlands last season, and in the French Cup and the Africa Cup of Nations. No complaints over its performance were received, with tests in sessions at Chelsea, Real Madrid and Milan also producing positive feedback.
"We supplied the national federations with the ball in February," said Thomas van Schaik, an Adidas spokesman. "Obviously, we stressed they needed to use it and we offered it to them for usage. The reason we chose February was because, following the launch in December, there had not been any internationals. That meant that the national teams would have the first opportunity to have access to the ball at the same time."
The fact that the Germans took them up on that offer may now be working in their favour. Joachim Löw's side were impressive against Australia, with Lukas Podolski, Miroslav Klose, Thomas Müller and Cacau all scoring. "It gives them an advantage, that is obvious," said the England defender Jamie Carragher when told that the Germans had experienced Jabulani in the Bundesliga. "The ball is very different. Every training session we always start by passing 30 or 40 yards to each other just for that reason alone. I am sure it has helped them and they played so well, so perhaps that is something to cling on to – that they might have been playing with the ball for a while.
"It is an advantage if you've been training with it, but it is a little bit inconsistent. Sometimes you really don't know what it is going to do when you are knocking ball to each other: sometimes it goes straight on, other times it just deviates at the last minute. The idea behind the ball was clearly to create more goals, and it does strange things to make it a more exciting tournament."
www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/jun/15/world-cup-franz-beckenbauer-england
INDEPENDENT
Beckenbauer: England have regressed under Capello
Former manager criticises 'kick and rush' tactics Carragher puts Germany's strong start down to familiarity with unpredictable new ball
By Ian Herbert and Sam Wallace in Bafokeng
Franz Beckenbauer has stored up potential for a stormy clash between England and Germany by declaring that Fabio Capello's side have headed "backwards into the bad old days of kick and rush" on the evidence of Saturday's opening match against the United States and he has also suggested that there is very little that can be done to improve things.
Beckenbauer, an ambassador for the German game, said that England's failings were a product of the Premier League being packed with too many foreign players. "The English are being punished for the fact that there are very few English players in the Premier League clubs as they use better foreign players from all over the world," he said.
From an individual who only this month praised Capello's firm style of management, Beckenbauer's comments in a South African newspaper are eyecatching – given that England's overall display against a disciplined United States side was by no means calamitous. But while Beckenbauer has pointed the finger at the Premier League's use of foreign players, his own nation's far more impressive start to the tournament comes after them having had the advantage over England of working with the tournament's unpredictable adidas Jabulani ball for the past four months in the Bundesliga.
The ball, which is acknowledged as the most unpredictable ever used in a World Cup tournament, was made available to coaches in February and used in US Major League Soccer as well as eight continental European leagues, including Germany's – though not the Premier League because of its contractual obligations to Nike.
Jamie Carragher said yesterday that the England players were aware of the Germans' greater familiarity with the ball, which he believed did offer Joachim Low's side a material advantage heading into the tournament. "I can see the headlines [but] it gives them an advantage," Carragher said. "That is obvious. The ball is very different. Every training session we do we always start by passing 30 or 40 yards to each other just for that reason alone. I am sure it has helped them. It is an advantage of course."
The ball, which both Clint Dempsey and Frank Lampard claim deviated before Robert Green fumbled it here on Saturday evening, could not be used by England in the two home friendlies since February because of the international deal with Umbro and use of it has been limited to the intensive World Cup warm-up period, including the friendly against Japan in Graz. With only two training sessions before the fixture with Egypt in March, Fabio Capello and his staff did not consider the use of it worthwhile at that stage.
Capello's staff were given the chance to learn more about the ball at a workshop run by adidas during the international coaches' conference at Sun City in February. "We underlined the requirement to get used to it because it is a different ball and a different technology," adidas spokesman, Thomas von Schaik, said yesterday. "We underlined this point. At the same time we also supplied all the federations with the balls. The reason we chose February was because following the launch in December there had not been any internationals. That meant that the national teams would have the first opportunity to have access to the ball at the same time."
England may play Germany in Bloemfontein on 26 June if they fail to win Group C and Germany top Group D and it will be Beckenbauer's comments which will offer most incentive to Capello and his side if they do. There is no history of bad blood between Capello and Beckenbaeur, though the German's dislike of the number of foreign players in the Premier League is an issue he has aired before. He said England's failure to qualify for Euro 2008 was because of the number of foreign players in the domestic league.
Wayne Rooney missed training yesterday with a knock to his ankle sustained against the US but it is no cause for concern ahead of Friday's match against Algeria in Cape Town.
Ashley Cole was also absent but only on the basis that he has regularly needed an extra day to recover from playing after breaking his ankle in February. Ledley King underwent a scan on his abductor muscle strained in the fourth minute of the US game. He is unlikely to play any further part in tournament.
www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/world-cup/beckenbauer-england-have-regressed-under-capello-2000580.html