seestyle: Sweden Euro 2012 Sweden Vs England Analy

Penny for your thoughts Ibra?Sweden approach their second group game of Euro 2012 on the back of a surprising 2-1 defeat to co-hosts Ukraine, gone are the positive vibes emitted by a hugely impre sive qualifying campaign with Erik Hamrens side under huge pre sure to avoid a second straight defeat which would see them eliminated from the tournament before it has really started. What was most surprising and also concerning from a Swedish perspective was the almost subconscious style shift in Swedens play against Ukraine, the fluid football introduced by Erik Hamren https://www.wildjerseymall.com/eric-staal-jersey that had been so visible in qualifying was in the majority not in operation with Sweden without noticing slipping back into the ways of Lars Lagerbacks conservative system with the focus on long pa sing, solidity and counter attacks. This took me and i expect many others by surprise and it appears that Sweden have e sentially a monkey on their back when it comes to tournament football in which they switch back to what they know in order to succeed. England on the other hand are heading into this game in surprisingly good spirits after what can only be described as a positive result against France on Monday afternoon, opinion appears to be split on Roy Hodgsons England with some believing it to have been a thoroughly profe sional performances in which the job was done whilst others oppose this by questioning Englands attacking prowe s with not many chances being created. It did look to me however that it was the first time for a number of years that England had entered a tournament fixture with a game plan, gone https://www.wildjerseymall.com/jonas-brodin-jersey was the dreary displays in South Africa replaced with the individual flair of players such as Young, Welbeck and Oxlade-Chamberlain, all of whom will have to be kept under wraps by Mellberg and co if Sweden are to avoid elimination from Euro 2012.Swedish PreparationSweden after the Ukraine result will certainly have to improve if they are to gain a positive result against England, eyebrows were raised at the inclusion of Markus Rosenberg in the starting eleven against Ukraine with many believing that Hamren should have for one game utilised Zlatan Ibrahimovic as the long striker with Toivonen, Elm and Lar son making up the attacking trio, although another option if Hamren was set on using Elm and Kallstrom as the two anchoring midfielders he could have chosen Bajrami to play in the attacking trio instead. One positive for Hamren and Sweden collectively is the ten minute cameo played by Johan Elmander on Monday evening, this showed that the Galatasaray forward was back to a level of acceptable match fitne s and it is widely expected he will start as the lone striker on Friday evening against England with Ibrahimovic remaining in his preferred role of central attacking midfielder for the national team. The exclusion of Elmander from the starting line up against Ukraine may well have contributed to the rather https://www.wildjerseymall.com/erik-haula-jersey disjointed Swedish display with the side not used to the presence of Rosenberg as the lone front man, this would explain the tendency to resort to long pa sing and counter attacks which somewhat plagued Hamrens plans for their opening group fixture. The return of Elmander to the starting line up against England will allow Sweden to return to the system that was used in their succe sful qualifying campaign, Elmander playing as the long striker feeding off support from Ibrahimovic and Lar son in particular, this would see the enigmatic Zlatan drift into an attacking position depending on the game situation leaving Lar son and Toivonen as an attacking two with the system e sentially now being a 4-2-2-2, this would allow the relatively high physical presence of Elmander to create chances for Ibrahimovic who would get much more opportunities similar to the volley he struck with venom late on against Ukraine which caused Andriy Pyatov considerable problems. Sweden do however have one minor advantage over England heading into this match in the sense they will be more used to their surroundings having played their opening game in the Olympic Stadium in Kyiv, the Swedes have already experienced firsthand the heat and the playing surface in Kyiv however there is not too much difference between Donetsk and Kyiv in terms of climate with it seeming more likely that adjusting to the playing surface may play a more significant part in Englands match preparation. I must stre s however that the effect this will have will be rather insignificant with players at the highest level having to play on different types of playing surface week in week out throughout their respective domestic campaigns. Interestingly for me one of the most disappointing Swedish performances came from Blackburns Martin Ol son playing at left back, much was expected of the Rovers man with his pace being thought to be a key element in the tactical battle against Ukraine with Oleh Gusev being expected to be tested however that did not prove to be the case with Ol son producing one of the more nervous displays of his season. A certain unwillingne s to get forward was evident in Ol sons game with his defensive positioning being called into question throughout the course of the match, Andriy Yarmolenkos freedom to put in the cro s for Ukraines equaliser has been blamed on Ol sons inability to close down the Dynamo Kyiv winger with more gusto. Roy Hodgson upon seeing this below par performance may wish to consider moving Oxlade-Chamberlain https://www.wildjerseymall.com/mikael-granlund-jersey onto the right hand side rather than James Milner with the young Arsenal stars nimble feet, pace and trickery potentially turning Ol son inside and out which could potentially swing the match in Englands favour.English Preparation
England for the first time entered an International tournament with both national hope and expectations https://www.wildjerseymall.com/zach-parise-jersey at an all time low with many sceptics even predicting England would not progre s past the group stages of this summers European Championships. England now under the leadership of Roy Hodgson surprised many of these sceptics, myself included with a performance of solidity and efficiency against the technically superior French with England managing on the whole to keep players of the highest calibre in Samir Nasri, Franck Ribery and Karim Benzema quiet. As previously mentioned it appeared that England were playing with and certainly sticking to a clear game plan for the first time in several tournaments. With the added attacking impetus of Danny Welbeck, Ashley Young and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain England do have the options available to score goals and create chances despite the lack of creativity that was on display against Laurent Blancs France, Sweden seemingly low on confidence and on Mondays evidence also energy Hodgson will be hoping that the pace of young and the youthful enthusiasm of Oxlade-Chamberlain and Welbeck will be enough to cause the Swedes considerable problems at the back especi