I'll just leave this here...
Preview: England vs Ghana
England are on a high after destroying Wales in Cardiff at the weekend. At 2-0, the scoreline could have been more, with the 4-3-3 formation that Fabio Capello deployed working perfectly. Particularly impressive were players like Scott Parker, Jack Wilshere and Ashley Young, with the seamless England system looking fluid and slick. This was nevertheless helped by an insipid Wales performance, with star man Gareth Bale out and key players Aaron Ramsey and Craig Bellamy handled well by the England fullbacks and Scott Parker respectively.
Ghana are also full of confidence after a 3-0 away win against the Congo. Goals from Dominic Adiyiah, Prince Tagoe and Sulley Muntari sealed a convincing win for the Black Stars, who sit joint top of Group I in the African Cup of Nations qualifying. With a strong squad filled with young and ambitious players, Ghana possess particular squad depth in defence and midfield. Their attack, whilst thin on quality past the first teamers, nevertheless possesses a superb striker on a hot streak in Asamoah Gyan and the rising talent of Marseille’s Andre Ayew.
Thanks to the changeable nature of these international friendlies, it is hard to predict who will be picked, and who left out. Nevertheless, an educated guess would be for more or less the strongest available squads for each team.
Numbers don't necessarily mirror those to be used in the match. Solid lines represent attacking movement, dotted lines defensive movement.
If the lineups are as I predict, England will proceed with the successful 4-3-3 system, with Jack Wilshere moving over to the right hand of midfield and Gareth Barry slotting in on the left. It remains to be seen whether Scott Parker will start due to him carrying a slight niggle, but if he does it will most likely be in the defensive holding position he did so well in at the weekend. With a more functional partner than Frank Lampard alongside him, there will be much more of an onus on Wilshere to create: this situation is exacerbated by Wayne Rooney’s replacement most likely being James Milner. On Saturday, Rooney played a deep, playmaking role, giving England plenty of routes of attack with Lampard and Wilshere also taking turns to dictate play.
This is a potential problem with England, one that was highlighted all too well by Aaron Ramsey’s struggles as his team’s only creative outlet. Marked out of the game by Parker, Ramsey couldn’t provide the killer ball needed with any consistency, and Wales had no other players capable of taking up the mantle. This problem is made all the more glaring when you look at Ghana’s likely midfield three. Kwadwo Asamoah and Anthony Annan are energetic, hard working workhorses, as well as Sulley Muntari, who is more likely to be deployed in an attacking role. With Asamoah likely to be deployed slightly ahead of Annan, he is likely to be given the role of tracking Wilshere’s runs, with Annan offering a second line of defence. This will put some onus on Gareth Barry to get forward: instead of Annan and Asamoah both focusing on Wilshere, one will have to track Barry’s runs or let him go free. With a one on one situation, Asamoah will need to have an exceptionally good game to stop Arsenal’s starlet influencing the game at all.
James Milner’s defensive solidity may also be an asset on England’s left. With Andre Ayew likely to be deployed on Ghana’s right, he will be useful in tracking the dangerman’s outside to in runs. On top of that, John Paintsil (suck it Joss), Ghana’s right back, is handy at getting forward, so to have England’s best defender and a disciplined winger on the same flank as both of them is a boon Capello surely won’t pass up. On the England right it is a different story; with Glen Johnson up against the a winger who is still to be decided, though Dominic Adiyiah is the most likely candidate, and most likely Stewart Downing up against either the substandard David Addy or the out of position Samuel Inkoom. As a result, expect the majority of England’s attacks to come down this side.
In both flanks, however, the emphasis will be on getting the fullbacks into play. Both Johnson and Baines like getting forward, and the use of Downing and Milner as inverted wingers would both allow this and also take some of the playmaking burden off Wilshere. As for the rest of the team, the overlapping runs of the fullbacks and wingers should provide ample crosses for Andy Carroll to work with, and his hold-up skills will be useful for bringing Wilshere into play with his cutting runs from deep. At the back, Jagielka’s pace should complement the ball-playing capability of Gary Cahill.
For Ghana, their gameplan will probably centre around outmuscling England in midfield and releasing their dangerman on the counter. Muntari will likely act as a playmaker, with driving runs from deep before feeding Ayew or Gyan, whose all round game will come in handy to allow him to adapt to the situation. Expect Adiyiah or similar to stay wide, provide width, and test Johnson, whilst Ayew will look to come inside to offer a direct goal threat and avoid Baines.
Preview: England vs Ghana
England are on a high after destroying Wales in Cardiff at the weekend. At 2-0, the scoreline could have been more, with the 4-3-3 formation that Fabio Capello deployed working perfectly. Particularly impressive were players like Scott Parker, Jack Wilshere and Ashley Young, with the seamless England system looking fluid and slick. This was nevertheless helped by an insipid Wales performance, with star man Gareth Bale out and key players Aaron Ramsey and Craig Bellamy handled well by the England fullbacks and Scott Parker respectively.
Ghana are also full of confidence after a 3-0 away win against the Congo. Goals from Dominic Adiyiah, Prince Tagoe and Sulley Muntari sealed a convincing win for the Black Stars, who sit joint top of Group I in the African Cup of Nations qualifying. With a strong squad filled with young and ambitious players, Ghana possess particular squad depth in defence and midfield. Their attack, whilst thin on quality past the first teamers, nevertheless possesses a superb striker on a hot streak in Asamoah Gyan and the rising talent of Marseille’s Andre Ayew.
Thanks to the changeable nature of these international friendlies, it is hard to predict who will be picked, and who left out. Nevertheless, an educated guess would be for more or less the strongest available squads for each team.
Numbers don't necessarily mirror those to be used in the match. Solid lines represent attacking movement, dotted lines defensive movement.
England predicted lineup:
Ghana predicted lineup:
- Joe Hart
- Glen Johnson
- Leighton Baines
- Phil Jagielka
- Gary Cahill
- Scott Parker
- Gareth Barry
- Jack Wilshere
- James Milner
- Stewart Downing
- Andy Carroll
Ghana predicted lineup:
- Richard Kingson
- John Paintsil
- Jonathan Mensah
- John Mensah
- David Addy
- Anthony Annan
- Kwadwo Asamoah
- Sulley Muntari
- Dominic Adiyiah
- Andre Ayew
- Asamoah Gyan
If the lineups are as I predict, England will proceed with the successful 4-3-3 system, with Jack Wilshere moving over to the right hand of midfield and Gareth Barry slotting in on the left. It remains to be seen whether Scott Parker will start due to him carrying a slight niggle, but if he does it will most likely be in the defensive holding position he did so well in at the weekend. With a more functional partner than Frank Lampard alongside him, there will be much more of an onus on Wilshere to create: this situation is exacerbated by Wayne Rooney’s replacement most likely being James Milner. On Saturday, Rooney played a deep, playmaking role, giving England plenty of routes of attack with Lampard and Wilshere also taking turns to dictate play.
This is a potential problem with England, one that was highlighted all too well by Aaron Ramsey’s struggles as his team’s only creative outlet. Marked out of the game by Parker, Ramsey couldn’t provide the killer ball needed with any consistency, and Wales had no other players capable of taking up the mantle. This problem is made all the more glaring when you look at Ghana’s likely midfield three. Kwadwo Asamoah and Anthony Annan are energetic, hard working workhorses, as well as Sulley Muntari, who is more likely to be deployed in an attacking role. With Asamoah likely to be deployed slightly ahead of Annan, he is likely to be given the role of tracking Wilshere’s runs, with Annan offering a second line of defence. This will put some onus on Gareth Barry to get forward: instead of Annan and Asamoah both focusing on Wilshere, one will have to track Barry’s runs or let him go free. With a one on one situation, Asamoah will need to have an exceptionally good game to stop Arsenal’s starlet influencing the game at all.
James Milner’s defensive solidity may also be an asset on England’s left. With Andre Ayew likely to be deployed on Ghana’s right, he will be useful in tracking the dangerman’s outside to in runs. On top of that, John Paintsil (suck it Joss), Ghana’s right back, is handy at getting forward, so to have England’s best defender and a disciplined winger on the same flank as both of them is a boon Capello surely won’t pass up. On the England right it is a different story; with Glen Johnson up against the a winger who is still to be decided, though Dominic Adiyiah is the most likely candidate, and most likely Stewart Downing up against either the substandard David Addy or the out of position Samuel Inkoom. As a result, expect the majority of England’s attacks to come down this side.
In both flanks, however, the emphasis will be on getting the fullbacks into play. Both Johnson and Baines like getting forward, and the use of Downing and Milner as inverted wingers would both allow this and also take some of the playmaking burden off Wilshere. As for the rest of the team, the overlapping runs of the fullbacks and wingers should provide ample crosses for Andy Carroll to work with, and his hold-up skills will be useful for bringing Wilshere into play with his cutting runs from deep. At the back, Jagielka’s pace should complement the ball-playing capability of Gary Cahill.
For Ghana, their gameplan will probably centre around outmuscling England in midfield and releasing their dangerman on the counter. Muntari will likely act as a playmaker, with driving runs from deep before feeding Ayew or Gyan, whose all round game will come in handy to allow him to adapt to the situation. Expect Adiyiah or similar to stay wide, provide width, and test Johnson, whilst Ayew will look to come inside to offer a direct goal threat and avoid Baines.
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