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As a West Ham fan I think he will be great for the England job.
The media portrayal of his teams as purely long ball merchants is ridiculous. If all you have seen of his teams play is the highlights on MOTD of Bolton v Man U then it might look that way, but in reality over a season it is nothing like that.
Yes he will want a big striker up top, and I imagine Andy Carroll will be the happiest man alive with this appointment, but there will be balls crossed in from wide just as much as there are long balls up, balls over the top, and playing through midfield. You would expect an Allardyce team to be able to score from open play against Iceland.
The "all he's ever done is fight relegation" thing was one thing that I was worried about when he was our manager in the Championship, but he got us back up at the first time of asking, and although the play off final isn't really counted as "winning something" I think it shows that he has got it in him to win things. The pressure was on him to get us promoted, teams would come to Upton Park and play defensively and for the draw, the reverse of his life as a PL manager, and then away from home we were immense that season and did enough to get promoted
I think big Sam will be the messiah of English football - seriously.
He will deal with the press the FA and the players. You don't have to win a single game in 90mins to win a major comp = Perfect fit organised and plays to the strengths. Can see a few big names being left out for a better balanced squad. 🙂
The English game is already 30 years behind this will only add to it
@ voodoo
How so? Football, as a game, hasn't really changed for decades. Of course, nutrition, training and recovery has improved, as has the technology involved in the game, but the fundamentals are still the same.
Where English football has fallen down is it doesn't know what it is any more: the top clubs, even down to the championship, are dominated by foreign managers players and English football has been stripped of any kind of style or identity.
Everyone knows how the Germans, Spanish, Brazilians, Italians etc play. Even the last several England managers don't know how England plays.
but in reality over a season it is nothing like that.
I watched his team over a season it really was like that
Long ball, hard to beat, direct football. Horrible from an entertainment point of view but effective in not getting relegated.
Long ball, hard to beat, direct football. Horrible from an entertainment point of view but effective in not getting relegated.
Portugal demonstrated this year that "effective" is all you need to win tournaments. I can't help but thinking that a little bit of a down-to-earth approach and a humble mentality could do the England team a world of good.
The game has changed from 20 years ago ,speed of the game ,build of the players ,...things that haven't changed is technique and ability of the average player is terrible in comparison to other countries players
Mikey ...depends if you want to win tournaments or change the mindset of how to play the game from an early age and nurture the kids to learn the game the complete way
Winning is not always success
The game has changed from 20 years ago ,speed of the game ,build of the players ,...things that haven't changed is technique and ability of the average player is terrible in comparison to other countries players
Yes, I'd agree about the speed, but then again English football is typically faster than most other countries, and therefore English players should be used to this.
I'm not sure I'd agree about technique, though: Yes, Spain dominated with highly technical football, but in recent years we've seen the intricate passing game being replaced by a more pragmatic, direct game that seems quite "English" in style.
It's no longer enough to play keep ball: Plenty of teams do well by letting the other team dominate possession, and respond by pressing a high line and being efficiently direct when you get the ball.
Allardice got the job done with the rescources he had. He didn't have £100m to spunk on a single player. West Ham played some good football under him.
As above Portugal are pretty limited, Greece won the Euros etc. No one players duller football than Jose's teams. We keep hearing about teams who have to be good enough to win the world cup but we have to get out of the group and then past a quarter final first.
Is long term success winning one tournament (Greece)or putting things in place long term for a change of mindset ....Mikey technique in general is poor in comparison to most European teams but with a few exceptions ....most can trap it further than I can pay it !
West Ham played some good football under him.
then improved when he left and were more entertaining as well
If i feared relegation I would hire Big sam
If i wanted to win the league he would not be amongst my shortlist nor I imagine many other clubs/chairpersons list
Whilst a few teams have won at the euros - its still the exception IMHO- i cannot think of any team winning the World cup just by being organised. Those that dominate are just superb in all areas and not just playing a system well.
Most of englands problems are
1. brilliant in qualifiers shit at tournaments
2. Great players no system
3. Pressure /expectation and outcome. Sterling is a good example - he was shit but how much pressure will he feel next time? Will he feel like the fans value him - I can see why they dont but it wont help him play any better
Sam will do ok for no 2 less sure about 1 and 3