Mails: Loftus-Cheek on the right track with Chelsea

Ian Watson

Keep your emails coming to theeditor@football365.com…

 

The Martin O’Neill plan
1. Convince your players that the ball is in fact a member of the opposition team and should be tackled with the same ferocity.

2. Take off your striker on 70 minutes and replace him with your fittest substitute striker, regardless of how the game is going and how it will work out tactically.

3. Bring on a defensive midfielder between 80 and 85 minutes, again regardless of how the game is actually going. If Glenn Whelan is on the bench, bring him on. If he started, leave him on. Always trust in The Glenn.

4. In injury time bring on a lesser known squad member – usually a Championship midfielder – to waste some time. Again, regardless of… You see the pattern here.

5. Pray that nothing happens to James McClean, Shane Duffy or Darren Randolph.

Jesus, that was not pretty. However, if at the start of this campaign you had offered me – and all rational Irish fans – a one-off game in Dublin against Denmark to qualify for the World Cup, I would have taken your hand off.

That said, it will not be pretty on Tuesday either. And despite our home form in big games being pretty poor this campaign – lost to Serbia, drew with Austria and Wales, one scored, two conceded – this team has proven time and time again that they can grind out results when needed. Therefore, I await the match with (slightly) more hope than optimism.

Just Martin, please play Meyler and Hoolahan.

Please.
John, Ennis

 

Strangest places to watch football
Now that the excitement of England’s 0-0 draw against Germany is dying down, I thought you might want to pad out another interminable international break mailbox with my contribution to the theme of football in unusual locations.

In 1995, myself and two mates were backpacking around Southern Africa when we found ourselves with a few days to kill in sunny Harare. Perusing the local newspaper we noticed a small ad in the classifieds, giving the location and time to join a coach to go and see Blackpool FC at an away league fixture that weekend. This was one of Zimbabwe’s top teams at the time (although a Google search now tells me that the sadly disbanded in 2000). We turned up at the address, a dusty industrial estate, and saw a nice smart minibus. We jumped on and started chatting with the guys already on board. They were extremely surprised to see us but really friendly, asking us loads about our trip and life in England. The beers and local spirits were already flowing and before long we were all way more drunk than usual for 10am on a Sunday.

All of a sudden this big, filthy, noisy old coach pulled up next to us belching out diesel fumes. It was full of absolute maniacs chanting, drumming and dancing in the aisles, and our new friends told us to get on it and then we’d all head off. Pretty terrified, we asked if we could just travel with them in the minibus. “No sorry guys, you can’t do that – we’re the players!”

So after accidentally getting drunk with the team, we had a two hour drive out the sticks, it was madness, drumming and singing the whole way (we were given tambourines and taught to chant god knows what in Shona), we were complete novelties of course and supplied with endless drinks and huge cigarettes rolled in newspaper. The journey back was even crazier, with the hot sun, day drinking and no food taking it’s toll on all.

It was the best day of watching football I’ve ever had. And the match? Can’t remember a thing.
James, Westcliff-on-Sea

 

RLC’s time is coming
As is often the case I’m forced to write in to address a grievance I have with a mail today. Firstly Chelsea definitely knew they had a ‘rough diamond’ in RLC. So we should have hung on to him this season to play in the squad? Like we did the previous 2 seasons where he was cautiously played and praised by Mourinho and Conte but was a defensive liability and therefore barely got minutes?

RLC was a pure box to box midfielder in the youth teams (he would literally carry the ball from penalty spot to penalty spot often finishing it off with a goal and assist). I remember thinking if this kid doesn’t make it no one will – it was like watching a huge powerful man against boys. He struggled initially with the intensity of senior matches and would often be subbed off around 60 minutes. His technique and attacking prowess was never in doubt but Mourinho publicly questioned his work rate after a pre season game – saying RLC preferred watching Mikel and Matic doing the defensive work. Even yesterday I thought he could have pressed Ozil et al a little better which is a small detail but be hugely important to a manager like Conte.

Conte seemed to agree with Mourinho and moved him to attacking midfield/second striker in the title winning season where he got limited time in cup competitions. But when you have Fabregas and Willian coming off the bench in a title push you won’t play unless you are good enough and frankly I understand Conte’s reluctance – RLC just didn’t have enough of a hassling harrying presence. If Tottenham had Hazard/Silva, would Dele really have developed so quickly? He wouldn’t have gotten the minutes that’s for sure, but he might’ve been a title winner.

The Chelsea thought process was to send him to a Frank de Boer ‘play the right way’ for solid minutes. If he continues to be successful with Bodgson bunging him up on the wing then it truly will be now or never time for his career at Chelsea. In my opinion the timing (most important thing for a young player) is right as he would offer more than Fabregas in a midfield with Kante and Bakayoko (because Bakayoko he is NOT). His range of passing while decent is a ways off Fab but he will create as much space with his surging runs. RLC has always been the great hope of the Chelsea academy system and he’s still on track.
Saaj (CFC)

 

Who would play managers in a movie?
After watching Johnny English Reborn today it would be a travesty if Rowan Atkinson didn’t ever play a role of Jose Mourinho on screen.
Gaz, CFC, Sidcup

 

Settle down
Just wanted to make sure Brian (loving international week) BRFC doesn’t get his hopes dashed too much next summer

How did Portugal scrape through qualifying? They had more points than England and won all but one of their games and had a goal difference of +28, pretty impossible not to qualify with that record! Same way they scrapped through the European championship I guess? Also England haven’t managed to beat them in a competitive match since 1966, with far better teams than you have now

Also, don’t forget Iceland will be there too
Chris

 

Making the most of what you’ve got
Great mail from Peter G and a wonderful response from Lewis about his training in the strawberry patch.

I have a similarly unusual football education. I grew up in a very small Devonshire village, with about 5 other boys roughly around my age and also interested in football. In the village was a small park, with two small, netless goals created out of metal piping from a local mechanic. The pitch was about the size of two regular penalty boxes, on a steep slope and with molehills in the middle of it. The grass was cut about twice a year and it became renowned for its bobble – hardly a slick Premier League quality surface, but it was fine for us.

One of the goals backed onto the garden of a very posh home with acres of garden, while the other backed onto a farmyard with odd pieces of machinery strewn among a thick bed of thorns. We regularly punted balls into the yard and popped them – I think our record was about 10 burst balls in one week. My mum still grumbles about it.

Anyway, we tended to play one of three games in this park. The main game was two-on-two, which encouraged close control and was often decided on accurate ground passes and an ability to finish regularly in one-on-one situations. the second was one-on-one-on-one, with three players each guarding a goal (one improvised goal on the park’s swings). You’d try to score in the other goals while also ensuring you didn’t conceed – for every goal let in, you lost one off your own total. It required quick wits and an ability to punish small mistakes.

The other game was Spot. At the end of the pitch that backed onto the posh house, part of the border fence was made up with their garage. We used the wall as a target and followed the basic rules of the American basketball game Horse. You had two touches to hit the wall, if you missed you took a letter- if you spelled out s-p-o-t, you were out. It helped improve improvisation in tough spots and helped with long passing accuracy.

While this age, I also used to dribble a small, soft football around my parents’ house. I had a goal in the front room made up of one edge of the door frame and the end of the radiator. I’d dribble through the conservatory around the dining room table, burst through into the living room and take a shot. I guess that helped dribbling in tight spaces and finishing.

So growing up, I never really played a regulation style of game at all. As an adult, I’ve played mostly friendly 5-a-side. Initially my tactical awareness was pretty shonky due to the unusual games I had grown up with, but my technique has always been decent enough. Over time, I’ve evolved from trying to be an all-action midfielder to a centre back who can do a bit of everything – I can dribble well and have good control in tight areas, given half a chance in and around the box I will back myself to score at least 50% of the time and I read the game well enough to cut out lots of chances, thanks to some help from an extremely intelligent centre back I used to play in tandem with. I think that my strongest attribute is probably my passing though. I pride myself on being able to win the ball back and turn over play quickly with an incisive forward pass to a midfielder or attacker.

I guess this weird blend of attributes makes me a Jack of most trades but a master of none. So as much as I’d like to picture myself as a progressive, ball playing defender with skill like a Ferdinand or a Stones.. I guess I’m more of a Gary Neville or a Branislav Ivanovic? Not especially blessed with natural talent, but I make the most of what I’ve got. I guess I’ll take that.
Tom, Devon, NUFC

 

Rule changes, including a ‘free dribble’
A bit late to the subject, but I could see three simple rule changes which could make a big difference.

Time keeping – Connect to the stadium clock and stop the clock for injuries and substitutions. This would remove two of the major sources of time wasting, and also allow us all to see/countdown the final 30 seconds of a game. A lot can happen in the final 30 seconds, and a lot more would happen if we all knew it was the final 30 seconds.

Yellow Cards become 10 minutes in the Sin Bin – A reckless challenge gets you 10 minutes, ref catches you diving…10 minutes, swear at the ref…10 mins to have a good hard think about your actions. At the moment, the Yellow Card is a relatively ineffective warning and the alternative of a Red Card can kill a game.

Free Kicks – Allow free kicks to be taken immediately without the ball being stopped and the player able to pass to himself, whilst enforcing the 10 yard exclusion zone. Let’s just say you are Ander Herrera busy fouling Eden Hazard. You foul him, he gets up and immediately “plays on”. You on the other hand have to retreat 10 yards, and if you fail to do so and try to stop him, you get a Yellow Card – see above. This will speed up play and reduce the efficacy of the tactical foul that we all hate.

Not as earth shattering as video replays, but surely worth trying.

Matthew (ITFC)

 

Your support is f***ing sh*t
So curious I noticed that William, Leicester mentioned that Ox and Wilshere are an embarrassment at the international tournament.

So if the youngsters go and also be an embarrassment, would you be asking them to go the next tournament? What if one day they start playing “boring” football too. Would you also discard them for the best big young thing then?

Your question can best be summed up by your own quote “We’ll know we’ll play terribly, so why bother watching?”

Simple. You watch BECAUSE ITS YOUR BLOODY TEAM representing YOUR country in the highest and most prestigious competition of the most popular sport in the world. Criticize the team when they play badly sure and decisions but when you go the “why bother watching” route, you more or less lose the moral ground.

I swear sometimes the way England fans act, I’m not surprised your national players are so discouraged and perform badly.

My country, we don’t have a team in the World Cup and we only enter small competitions but when they’re there we sure as hell cheer the hell out of them.
Yaru, Malaysia

 

Southgate’s selection policy
Gareth Southgate’s selection strategy needs to totally contradict itself when we get to the crunch point of picking the final squad.

Come then, he should not pick players that have been playing week in, week out for their clubs. He should pick players that played well but had a minor setback somewhere between February and early April. Four weeks’ break makes the difference – the body can heal up, the mind gets a rest, the enthusiasm probably returns, too.

For years, I think Wayne Rooney turned up at major tournaments like a beaching whale. So I’d go for the recently rested and any strikers that have just hit form. And Peter Crouch.
Tom Soper, Cheltenham