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Tom H

Listed below are comments made by Tom H between Thursday, 28th May 2009 and Sunday, 15th November 2009.

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Mixed fortunes for England duo 10:10pm on 15 Nov 2009 England's performance was poor because:

1. They didn't play as a team. Not surprising give that selection of players had never played together before the night. Expecting them to play well against Brazil was a bit laughable. It takes a number of games for players to learn to implement their Manager's preferred tactics and work together as, for example, a strike or central defensive partnership. Club teams know only too well that the best teams are founded on partnerships in Attack, Defence and Midfield. Chopping and changing rarely works. Just ask Rafa Benitez...

2. They can't pass!!! It was like watching England of 5 years ago! I lost count of the number of times decent spells of England possession came to an abrupt end as the ball was poked limply towards a yellow shirt or passed back to Foster so he could hoof it back to Brazil. These footballers are paid millions of Pounds a year and either they are completely useless or they don't care enough to give 100% concentration for 90 minutes. Thankfully, the Capello's first choice players have become much better at keeping possession, so last night was hopefully an aberation.

3. The second-string players are just not experienced enough at the highest level to be up to the task. Only when you stick one or two into a predominantly first-choice team selection is there enough experience on the pitch to cover for them and they can then play with abandon (to an extent), knowing there are top-class players supporting them. Last night proved that players like Jenas, Lescott and Bridge are merely the last resort and cannot be relied upon to pull their weight at International level.

4. It was a friendly. Yes, England always perform poorly in friendlies. The media, players, and Managers don't care enough about winning at all costs to turn a friendly into a meaningful encounter. While many fans might scoff and say they'd give their all in an England shirt, it's just not been the case for England over the last 20 years. Friendly games are seen as a chance to experiment, not as a building block to instil a winning mentality in the first choice England Team. Yet, people forget that friendly matches are used to determine FIFA Rankings.

5. The tactics were poor. Why did we not attack Brazil down the flanks? SWP showed that he has excellent dribbling (even if he can't pass the ball). His second half dribble was superb. Why didn't he do that everytime he got the chance? Why didn't Milner do it down the left flank? Brazil were facing an England Team with no guts and no imagination!
Mixed fortunes for England duo 9:23pm on 14 Nov 2009 Here we go. The Brazil worship starts. It's so easy and so predictable because, frankly, they're Brazil and they have won the World Cup 5 times.

But which manager will be more concerned after that performance? As Phil says, the result was utterly predictable. The England B Team against what could almost be described as Brazil's World Cup Team. And don't forget, it was played in strength-sapping heat. Things will be very different in the damp, cool South African Winter in 2010.

I feel fairly comfident that a full-strength England Team will worry the Brazilians. Bent won't be there. In my opinion neither should Milner unless Beckham, Walcott and Lennon can't make it!
Ferguson faces huge task in Europe 7:07pm on 14 Sep 2009 The problem with Phil's point of view is that it is so predictable because in England we have this crazy lack of pride in our own teams and implausibly certain belief in the overwhelming talents of foreign teams.

Any statistical analysis of the CL should show that England's Premiership produces a consistently higher quality of teams. This is a recent phenomenon, but it is there! Please stop denigrating our teams and the individual players performing in them.

Any genuine neutral would admit that Barcelona shouldn't have been in the CL Final last year. Chelsea are critised for being too old, but their record is superb. Any genuine neutral would have been surprised at how poorly Manchester United played in the Final. Real Madrid have some wonderful players but they don't have a team yet.

The reality is that nobody has a clue which team will win the CL. It could be Barcelona, but I'm willing to bet they lose plenty of games in La Liga this year and some of those games will be against far less talented teams than Barca will face in the CL.
Faldo - a true sporting great 10:07am on 13 Jun 2009 This is very long-overdue and richly-deserved award of an Honour to a man who became a household name by being a superb sportsman and much-loved character over a 30 year career at the top of one of the biggest sports in the world.

For too long we have been frustrated by an era where unheard of sportsmen and woman receive Honours for for obtaining 1 or 2 medals at the Olympic Games in minor sports; an era where flash-in-the-pan media celebrities are Knighted to satisfy the lowest common denominator appeal in the general public; or servants to political parties are thanked for their contributions to party funds; while those who truly deserve recognition for a lifetime of achievement are overlooked. It is therefore so nice to see Nick Faldo receiving a Knighthood.
Brilliant Barcelona outclass Man Utd 11:22am on 28 May 2009 Alex Ferguson regularly gets his tactics wrong.

How else can you explain playing Rooney down the left when he's played his best games for club and country down the middle?

Why play Ronaldo as a striker, yet boast in the media about how many goals he scores despite being a winger?

Why play with only three midfielders against a team with the best midfield in Europe?

Why have a transfer policy which concentrates on bringing in luxury fringe players rather than a top striker and central midfielder?

Why doesn't Ferguson resign like he nearly did 4 or 5 years ago?
Brilliant Barcelona outclass Man Utd 11:10am on 28 May 2009 Yes, Barcelona played well last night but they weren't brilliant. It's typical of British Sports Writers to hype up the winners and denigrate the losers. And typical of dumb sports fans to go along with it.

The fact is that although Barca did dominate possession, it was only by a very slight margin of 52% to 48%. So, despite what almost everyone on here is saying, Barca did not have the ball from start to finish. The stats for shots, accurate passing and successful tackles are also similar between the teams. The ball spent most of the time in midfield. Nobody lay seige to their opponent's goal.

And why is everyone forgetting that for the first 10 minutes United were quite definitely on top, running through Barca at will?! Had United converted one of those chances, their tails would have been up and Barca heads would have fallen. Instead, Barca scored a rather lucky goal (given United's normally good defence) against the run of play and went on to comfortably win because they had the baton of confidence. That's football. Just remember how United played before and after half time in that 5-2 win over Tottenham!

The fact that United did not go on to lose by many goals like Real Madrid against Barca or Tottenham against United earlier this season is a plus. And realistically the late goal was unexpected. Let's face it -shorty Messi heading in, unmarked, from a deep Puyol cross. That's a bit of a shocking defensive mistake, not an attacking masterclass.

Yes, Barca deserved to win, but it could have been very different - and a much better game - if United had converted one of their many early chances.

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