England vs Denmark Recap and Player Ratings 2-1

It was a tale of the two halves as the old saying goes. Denmark looked the better side in the first half and England was certainly the better in the second half. England found a way to win with Ashley Young bagging the winner who certainly will get more plaudits for his performance tonight. Ashley Young was certainly the man who made the Three Lions take control of the game. The very moment the Aston Villa winger got on the pitch he made an impact with Fabio Capello's formation change from a 4-4-2 to a 4-2-3-1.

The first half was without a doubt the same old England we have all dreaded watching and disappointments were all over the field including the young Jack Wilshere who was hyped up so much in the buildup to this match. Wilshere really struggled with being the holding midfielder next to Frank Lampard as its obvious Wilshere is more comfortable when he is allowed to roam which is how his club manager Arsene Wenger uses him. Denmark showed quality from the beginning especially with the young Ajax midfielder Christian Eriksen who was spectacular all night long.

The first goal was by the Danes with Eriksen delivering a beautiful ball to Daniel Agger who put it away with a spectacular header. Two minutes later England was able to draw level with Arsenal winger Theo Walcott influencing proceedings, he showed a great dribbling display and put in a nice ball across the 6 yard box and Darren Bent was there to bury it.

The rest of the half was dominated by Danish Dynamite who really threatened and were very unlucky to not be leading at the break. The backline for England looked shaky throughout the second half as the partnership of Michael Dawson and John Terry looked lost. Wayne Rooney played in a support striker role throughout the 45 minutes he was on the pitch and he did well to link with the midfield at times but he will not win anymore plaudits with tonight's performance.

The second half brought several changes including a formation change that brought new energy to England who really responded and put Denmark on the back foot in the second half. The backline finally calmed down as well with Gary Cahill and Leighton Baines getting playing time to try and make a mark. Jack Wilshere, Frank Lampard, and Wayne Rooney were all pulled off by Fabio Capello at halftime probably because of club agreements. However, those 3 were definitely sub par to say the least.

The stats say Denmark had more possession than England with a 51% to 49% advantage. And there could be many people criticizing England's performance but overall you have to be happy with England's performance. Since this is a team that needed a win even if it was an ugly one. The night belongs to Ashley Young and it will be very difficult for Capello to keep him out of the lineup. I will go over the other things I saw in my coaching rating.

Player Ratings

Joe Hart 6

Nothing he could really do about the goal he gave up. He looked sharp for the most part and secured the win for England with some splendid saves.

Glen Johnson 5

Would've been a worse rating but because he played a significant part in Ashley Young's deciding goal he got back up to a sub par rating after a disappointing first half full of give aways.

Michael Dawson 4.5

Tough day at the office for Dawson he just looked slow and was caught out of position on several occasions he was beat on the Danish goal so maybe this is a generous rating.

John Terry 5

Not good, but not bad from "Mr. Chelsea" he had trouble early dealing with the Danish attack but was able to put out the fires when needed. And he won the battle of egos with Nicklas Bendtner especially in the second half where Bendtner was largely ineffective.

Ashley Cole 5

Sub par all around from Cole, tough night having to go against Christian Eriksen but he was good enough to get the job done and I think he's the only England player who's position is locked up for 2012.

Theo Walcott 6

Was the best England player in the first half without a doubt. The tactical change to switch sides with Milner definitely didn't help him and he was lost at times but his individual effort to setup the Darren Bent goal was crucial.

Jack Wilshere 4.5

Largely unimpressive for the Arsenal phenom. He seemed to have trouble playing as a holding midfielder so Fabio Capello will have to find other ways to use him.

Frank Lampard 4.5

Nothing spectacular for the man who captained England tonight. He had an absolutely beautiful goal that was waved off due to offsides. He along with Wilshere was part of the central midfield that was completely outplayed by the Danes.

James Milner 5

His service was spotty which was supposed to be a strong point in his game and that definitely needs to change if he is to feature for England in the future.

Wayne Rooney 4.5

Played as a support player where its more difficult to score and he should've scored when he had an open goal but he showed a lack of confidence by not burying it quickly. He was decent linking with the midfield but the critics will continue to blast him for not scoring goals.

Darren Bent 6.5

His second touch of the game was his equalizing goal. The Aston Villa striker showed good skill whenever he could and he definitely deserves more call ups down the road.

Substitutes

Ashley Young (Man of the Match) 7

He was supposed to be the impact substitute and he sure made the "impact" getting involved in every meaningful attack and scoring the winning goal. If I were manager he would've started and Fabio will need to start him with that performance.

Gareth Barry 5

Nothing spectacular from the Man City ace. He was part of the midfield that played well in the second half nothing to criticize completely but we all know Barry is a defensive midfielder to begin with.

Scott Parker 5

Never been a Scott Parker fan to say the least but he was decent. He linked well with Gareth Barry and did what Capello asked of him but I doubt he will feature in future matches for the Three Lions.

Gary Cahill 5

I called for him to start for the Lions but he found himself on the bench. I thought he linked with Terry better than Dawson did and he did well to extinguish the threat known as Nicklas Bendtner.

Stewart Downing N/A

A cameo performance.

Leighton Baines N/A

A cameo performance for the Everton ace.

Coaching Rating 6

Early on I had serious questions about Fabio Capello's tactical moves especially starting Wilshere in a 4-4-2 when his club manager has said repeatedly that he works better in a more free roaming formation. I also didn't like the switching of flanks between Milner and Walcott when it was clear that Theo was getting the better of the Danish left back. Capello improved his rating in the second half with the formation change to a 4-2-3-1 and the addition of Ashley Young. Capello will be happy with the performance especially from Young and the fact that his boys found a way to win.

England vs Denmark Preview

No US National team, no problem we have the constant drama of the Three Lions who are playing tomorrow against the Danish Dynamite. Due to the rigors of the Premier League many of the old faces will not be there including captain, Steven Gerrard. Stevie G picked up a knock over the weekend though many question if he is even slightly hurt. Peter Crouch and Rio Ferdinand are the other main faces that are out with injuries.

The game will be played in Copenhagen, and the Danes always seem to have a great team especially with Arsenal striker Nicklas Bendtner leading the Denmark attack. The Danes are no slouch to say the least especially in Denmark where they gave the USA B team a blasting. It will be interesting to see how the much criticized Fabio Capello will deal with all the pressure from the Premier League managers about keeping their players away from injury.

England will be looking to recover from the horrible performance in their last friendly where the Three Lions were blown off the pitch in a 2-1 loss to France. That match created the fear all over England that the Three Lions haven't learned from their mistakes they made in South Africa last summer. A strong performance is needed, that much is certain. The last 2 results for England have been ugly to say the least. And the fact that England isn't topping their group in qualifying is just unacceptable especially when a nation like Montenegro is ahead of you.

Now to the game, whether you like it or not the 4-4-2 will most likely be the featured formation for England especially with all the stars that are injured. Frank Lampard will look to make his return to the England Lineup and the media is really hyping up 19 year old Arsenal phenom Jack Wilshere who will probably partner Lamps in midfield. For strikers, Wayne Rooney will look to be the key for England but there's been question to who will partner him.

At the back it will probably be the usual suspects including John Terry and Ashley Cole. It will be interesting to see how the defense plays after they were just completely outplayed by the French a couple months ago. They are going up against a formidable challenge in Nicklas Bendtner and Don Fabio will be looking for new options at center back as a new partnership will need to be made before Euro 2012.

In goal, the Man City ace Joe Hart will once again start with Fulham phenom David Stockdale backing him up. Joe Hart will definitely need to be solid in order for England to get a result. I think there's no doubt barring any horrible errors that Joe Hart will be the England number 1 when Euro 2012 gets here.

Lineup Predictions

Capello's Projected Lineup

-Hart-

Johnson- Lescott - Terry - Cole

Walcott - Lampard- Wilshere - Milner

-Bent - Rooney (C)

Here you have a traditional 4-4-2 with two different kinds of wingers, a flyer and a stop and crosser. Walcott being the flyer and Milner being the stop and crosser. Milner will definitely need to have his crossing abilities up to snuff to be effective in this match and Walcott will need to find space in order to be effective in the attack. Rooney has been reported to being the captain however I wouldn't rule out Lamps getting the arm band. Also the problem I have with this formation is the starting of Joleon Lescott who is a Fabio Capello favorite and is in my opinion the most overrated player in England at the moment.

My lineup

-Hart-

Johnson- Cahill - Terry- Cole

Walcott- Lampard- Wilshere- Young

-Defoe- Rooney (C)

My lineup has a few changes compared to Cabbage Man Capello's especially my use of the wingers. I prefer the use of 2 flyers on the flanks with strikers like Rooney and Defoe who can run onto through balls. The ability of Wilshere and his through balls will also be the X factor as to whether or not England will get the win. In the defense I prefer Gary Cahill over the overrated Joleon Lescott.

Prediction 1-1 draw Goal Scorers: England: Lampard, Denmark: Bendtner

Typical friendly match, not a pretty match to watch and the English media will be looking to pour out more scathing criticisms of Fabio Capello after this performance. Frank Lampard will score a long range goal in this match making noise to try and get himself back into the pecking order of the central midfield. Overall, lots of unanswered questions will be left unanswered after this match.

Why ESPN should hire Richard Keys and Andy Gray

If you haven't heard the news I'm here to bring you it as well as give you my opinion on the matter moving forward. So if you haven't heard here's the latest, Sky Sports News just let go their 2 most respected pundits of the beautiful game, Richard Keys and Andy Gray for sexist comments off camera about a female assistant referee before the Liverpool vs Wolverhampton match last weekend. The comments were picked up by a microphone and I'm sure if you are that eager to hear them you can go on to YouTube and find it but I won't waste my time talking much about the comments.

Andy Gray and Richard Keys are without a doubt my favorite pundits, I admire their knowledge of the game and I try to absorb as much as I can whenever I get to listen to them. And in my opinion I believe they shouldn't have been fired because of the fact the comments were off air. Now, I don't condone sexism and I'm making no excuse for Keys or Gray as this incident was wrong but the people who leaked the comments were just as wrong because surveillance is an issue that is destroying the free world. Now that's all I want to say about those comments feel free to argue against me but I'm not here to talk about that.

I'm here to talk about what should be done for the future. More specifically ESPN, yes that's right the World Wide leader in sports. Now if you have been watching ESPN at all for the past 2-3 years you've noticed how much ESPN has invested in soccer and that they have finally figured out that world soccer is a big money thing and they must find a way to get a piece of the pie. Sky Sports News is without a doubt one of their competitors world wide and now that they have sacked 2 of their best pundits, ESPN should be looking to pounce.

I watched during the World Cup Finals last June how great Richard Keys and Andy Gray were for Fox Soccer Channel and this just shows how Keys and Gray love the job and are willing to go to anybody who's willing to supply them with this pundit job. With all the pundits on ESPN, not many are soccer pundits, you can probably even count them on one hand. Now there's a good chance Keys and Gray may not even be interested but ESPN definitely should make a run at them because they have an opportunity they may never get again to expand their soccer coverage to a whole new level. Keys has said that he is very fond of his mate Andy Gray and I read between the lines and thought wow there's a good chance Gray and Keys will go to a certain network in a package deal, and what ever network steps up to the plate has a great chance to improve their quality of coverage.

Now there is a very good possibility that Keys and Gray are not interested in working in the American market full time and they may only be interested in either retirement or continuing to work but with another British network like BBC for example. However, Gray and Keys did work with Fox Soccer Channel last summer and their former Sky Sports coworkers Ian Darke and Martin Tyler have become staples with ESPN. Especially with Ian Darke who is now working full time with ESPN as a broadcaster. ESPN should make a similar run at Keys and Gray. Keys obviously would be great as a pre game or halftime show host or even hosting a weekly all soccer show that ESPN hasn't featured on any of their family of networks. Gray could work as a color commentator or he could work with Keys with a weekly show type of role.

Another good possibility is that ESPN may not even be interested with pundits who have been involved in sexism as viewers might look down at the network for that. I still say its worth it in the end because getting quality world wide respected soccer pundits will always be priceless.

2011 Copa Centroamericana Preview

Concacaf football is back with all it's bizarre drama including diving as well as terrible refereeing, with that being said I still don't know what I would do without it. The tournament will be held in Panama City, Panama, with all matches being played at the Estadio Rommel Fernandez. I'm going to give the best team by team breakdown with my predictions at the end. Please comment if you would like to add to my analysis. With the an odd number of teams there is one group of 4 teams and the other one with just 3. The top 5 teams from this tournament will qualify for the 2011 Gold Cup.

Group A

Belize
Considered a minnow throughout the region, Belize's football passion will be the driving force behind there campaign to bring Gold Cup football to this tiny nation. As for Belize's roster, it's pretty unknown for the most part with most of the players coming from Belize's league. Luckily they don't have to play the Central American giants Costa Rica and Honduras in the group stage so they definitely have a chance to qualify for the Gold Cup. The Jaguars will still have the label of "dark horse" as I'm not sure they have the quality to get results.

El Salvador
Los Cuscatlecos are back again and will be one of the tournament favorites as they always seem to be. Unlike qualifying though they won't have the homefield advantage that Estadio Cuscatlan to help them out. Their counterattacking style will have to carry the day especially with the tough match against host Panama. There are 2 MLS players on the roster with former San Jose Earthquake Arturo Alvarez as well as Chicago Fire defender Deris Umanzor. Arturo Alvarez as well as former Chivas USA Osael Romero will have to carry the attacking load with the young strikers that have been included on their roster. Osael Romero needs to return to the form we saw from him back in World Cup Qualifying as he has been lack luster as of late. Overall, the Cuscatlecos have what it takes to win the tournament and I wouldn't be surprised to see them win, as they seem to always have the quality to punish teams.

Nicaragua
For many, Nicaragua was considered a minnow in CONCACAF, that was until they shocked everyone by beating Guatemala in 2009 to qualify for the 2009 Gold Cup. There they put on a poor showing but there's no doubt there a team to watch. They have shown they can play spoiler and I remember from the Gold Cup how they played very defensive minded and you can expect the same this time around. The one question I have for this team is whether they can find the attacking malice to put the ball in the back of the net. Overall, they Nicaragua may be able to pull of an upset but I just don't see them getting 3 points in any of their matches. They may be able to get 3 draws and maybe qualify for the Gold Cup with any luck, but I just don't see it.

Panama
The defending champion is also the host nation and Panama will be one of the tournament favorites and for good reason they have proven they are a quality CONCACAF nation by being a 2009 Gold Cup Quarterfinalist where they were eliminated by the USA. In 2009 they won this tournament and with them being the host nation they have a very good chance of repeating as champions. At Panama's disposal are 2 very talented strikers, Blas Perez and Roberto Brown. Blas Perez scored against the USA in the quarterfinal of the 2009 Gold Cup. With 2 very good strikers Panama should be able to win this group with 9 points. They will also have the blessing of having 32,000 fans on their side for every match they play.

Group B

Costa Rica
The Ticos are back with a new coach, Ricardo La Volpe the former Mexican manager from the 2006 World Cup. La Volpe is a very good manager and I think he will really help the Costa Ricans this cycle. Costa Rica is a Central American giant and they will be looking to win another title. La Volpe's roster doesn't include the sexy names like Twente's Bryan Ruiz and Alvaro Saborio but the future of Los Ticos will be definitely be on display. New York Red Bulls defender Roy Miller will be the anchor at the back and his play will be vital if Costa Rica is to win this tournament. Without Navas in goal, I question whether Costa Rica has a reliable goalkeeper. Overall, Costa Rica's tournament fate will probably be decided in their opening match when they play Honduras, and they definitely have the quality to win this tournament but it will be interesting how this young team works together.

Honduras
Los Catrachos are back once again after their Cinderella run through World Cup Qualifying. Their showing at the World Cup was plagued by injuries as they were knocked out in the first round. The question for this tournament is whether or not the Honduras' young players can provide enough of a splash to win. I do like the two strikers for Honduras with the speedy Georgie Welcome and veteran Walter Martinez. And with Noel Valladares in goal for Honduras they will definitely have a good combination of veteran and young talent. The question is whether or not they will have the midfield power to get results without the services of Wilson Palacios and Amado Guevara. One player to keep an eye on is Leeds United's Ramon Nunez who will be looking to provide some quality to that midfield. Overall, the Catrachos definitely have the power to make a run but a possible matchup against host Panama in the semifinals looks very difficult.

Guatemala
After failing to qualify for the 2009 Gold Cup, Guatemala is going to try and make a run in this tournament to try and bring themselves back to CONCACAF relevance. Unfortunately, they are on the tough 3 team group with 2 of the Central America's best teams. It's safe to say that Guatemala's hope will rest on the back of Carlos Ruiz aka El Pescadito the little fish. Carlos Ruiz is also known as the biggest diver in all of CONCACAF and it's safe to say he would not be welcome on this blog, but there's no doubting his goal scoring prowess. Guatemala's team is mostly filled with Guatemalan league players with the exception of Ruiz. Guatemala is definitely a scrappy team and with El Pescadito with the squad you never know what can happen but the odds are definitely against them with those two giants in their group.

Predictions
Group A
1. Panama
2. El Salvador
3. Nicaragua
4. Belize
Group B
1. Costa Rica
2. Honduras
3. Guatemala

5th Place Game
Nicaragua vs Guatemala
Winner: Guatemala, In the rematch of 2009's 5th place game this time Guatemala with Ruiz will find a way to win and get themselves back into the Gold Cup and CONCACAF relevancy.

Semifinals
Costa Rica vs El Salvador
Winner: Costa Rica, This will be a very tight game especially with the youth on the field but the Ticos will find a way to win with their quality.

Panama vs Honduras
Winner: Panama, The goal scoring prowess of Perez will be too much for the Honduras defense, and the home crowd will be a big factor in this match.

Final
Panama vs Costa Rica

Champion: Panama, Panama wins to become repeat champions. The home crowd will be a big factor like I continue to say. And Blas Perez will be the tournament's leading scorer.