Roy Crouchson - Taking England to Poland & Ukraine 2012

[crouchaldinho]

World Cup 2014 - Final group standings:

Group A:

| Pos   | Inf   | Team     |       | Pld   | Won   | Drn   | Lst   | For   | Ag    | G.D.  | Pts   | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 1st   | Q     | Brazil   |       | 3     | 3     | 0     | 0     | 8     | 0     | +8    | 9     | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 2nd   | Q     | Kuwait   |       | 3     | 1     | 1     | 1     | 4     | 5     | -1    | 4     | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 3rd   |       | Slovenia |       | 3     | 1     | 1     | 1     | 3     | 4     | -1    | 4     | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 4th   |       | Egypt    |       | 3     | 0     | 0     | 3     | 1     | 7     | -6    | 0     | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 

Group B:

| Pos   | Inf   | Team    |       | Pld   | Won   | Drn   | Lst   | For   | Ag    | G.D.  | Pts   | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 1st   | Q     | Russia  |       | 3     | 2     | 1     | 0     | 3     | 0     | +3    | 7     | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
[b]| 2nd   | Q     | England |       | 3     | 1     | 1     | 1     | 4     | 3     | +1    | 4     | [/b]
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 3rd   |       | Mali    |       | 3     | 1     | 0     | 2     | 6     | 5     | +1    | 3     | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 4th   |       | Japan   |       | 3     | 1     | 0     | 2     | 3     | 8     | -5    | 3     | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 

Group C:

| Pos   | Inf   | Team        |       | Pld   | Won   | Drn   | Lst   | For   | Ag    | G.D.  | Pts   | 
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 1st   | Q     | Italy       |       | 3     | 3     | 0     | 0     | 6     | 1     | +5    | 9     | 
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 2nd   | Q     | Greece      |       | 3     | 1     | 1     | 1     | 8     | 4     | +4    | 4     | 
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 3rd   |       | Chile       |       | 3     | 1     | 1     | 1     | 5     | 5     | 0     | 4     | 
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 4th   |       | South Korea |       | 3     | 0     | 0     | 3     | 3     | 12    | -9    | 0     | 
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 

Group D:

| Pos   | Inf   | Team        |       | Pld   | Won   | Drn   | Lst   | For   | Ag    | G.D.  | Pts   | 
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 1st   | Q     | Netherlands |       | 3     | 2     | 1     | 0     | 5     | 2     | +3    | 7     | 
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 2nd   | Q     | Portugal    |       | 3     | 2     | 0     | 1     | 11    | 2     | +9    | 6     | 
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 3rd   |       | Mexico      |       | 3     | 0     | 2     | 1     | 1     | 7     | -6    | 2     | 
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 4th   |       | Australia   |       | 3     | 0     | 1     | 2     | 1     | 7     | -6    | 1     | 
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 

Group E:

| Pos   | Inf   | Team        |       | Pld   | Won   | Drn   | Lst   | For   | Ag    | G.D.  | Pts   | 
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 1st   | Q     | Wales       |       | 3     | 2     | 1     | 0     | 2     | 0     | +2    | 7     | 
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 2nd   | Q     | Ivory Coast |       | 3     | 2     | 0     | 1     | 7     | 1     | +6    | 6     | 
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 3rd   |       | Uruguay     |       | 3     | 1     | 1     | 1     | 4     | 2     | +2    | 4     | 
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 4th   |       | North Korea |       | 3     | 0     | 0     | 3     | 0     | 10    | -10   | 0     | 
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 

Group F:

| Pos   | Inf   | Team     |       | Pld   | Won   | Drn   | Lst   | For   | Ag    | G.D.  | Pts   | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 1st   | Q     | Germany  |       | 3     | 3     | 0     | 0     | 6     | 0     | +6    | 9     | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 2nd   | Q     | Jamaica  |       | 3     | 1     | 1     | 1     | 1     | 2     | -1    | 4     | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 3rd   |       | Slovakia |       | 3     | 1     | 0     | 2     | 3     | 4     | -1    | 3     | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 4th   |       | Algeria  |       | 3     | 0     | 1     | 2     | 1     | 5     | -4    | 1     | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 

Group G:

| Pos   | Inf   | Team       |       | Pld   | Won   | Drn   | Lst   | For   | Ag    | G.D.  | Pts   | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 1st   | Q     | Spain      |       | 3     | 2     | 1     | 0     | 3     | 1     | +2    | 7     | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 2nd   | Q     | Colombia   |       | 3     | 1     | 2     | 0     | 3     | 2     | +1    | 5     | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 3rd   |       | Croatia    |       | 3     | 1     | 1     | 1     | 6     | 4     | +2    | 4     | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 4th   |       | Costa Rica |       | 3     | 0     | 0     | 3     | 0     | 5     | -5    | 0     | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 

Group H:

| Pos   | Inf   | Team          |       | Pld   | Won   | Drn   | Lst   | For   | Ag    | G.D.  | Pts   | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 1st   | Q     | Sweden        |       | 3     | 2     | 0     | 1     | 7     | 7     | 0     | 6     | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 2nd   | Q     | Argentina     |       | 3     | 1     | 2     | 0     | 8     | 5     | +3    | 5     | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 3rd   |       | Morocco       |       | 3     | 1     | 1     | 1     | 8     | 7     | +1    | 4     | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 4th   |       | United States |       | 3     | 0     | 1     | 2     | 3     | 7     | -4    | 1     | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 

[crouchaldinho]

Wales come through the group stages with two 1-0 wins and a 0-0 draw against Uruguay!

Guess who scored both goals for them? Gareth Bale!

[DodgeeD]

Oooh, the press would not be happy with a group stage performance like that....

Still, if you want to be the best, you've got to beat the best even if that means taking on Brazil in their own backyard!

[crouchaldinho]

FIFA World Cup Brazil 2014, Second Round - England 1 Brazil 2

Match Stats

Formation & Ratings

A terrible performance. Brazil were just too good for us.

Darren Bent did start up front with Rooney but he was appalling. Danny Welbeck came off the bench to make me look like a fool as he scored to pull us back into the game. We succeeded in making it a slightly tense final five minutes for Brazil but other than that we just weren't good enough.

I know it's Brazil and I know they are the hosts but we were still rubbish. I didn't expect us to win particularly but I did want the team to fight and to make it a close thing.

2-1 to Brazil flatters us. We created hardly anything and Brazil might have scored more.

Very disappointing. We brought this upon ourselves by finishing second in the group. Russia, who finished first in our group, played Kuwait in the second round, for goodness sake! It could have been us!

Anyway, that's it. We're out. One win, one draw and two defeats is all we have to show for ourselves this tournament.

Will I keep my job? After this disappointing showing from the Three Lions?

[DodgeeD]

Wales, Kuwait and Jamaica all through! A bit of a power shift in the up and coming nations?

[crouchaldinho]

Oooh, the press would not be happy with a group stage performance like that....

Can you imagine the reaction after the first game?

I wonder what the reaction would be to this tournament overall? I mean, would the Euro 2012 trophy buy me some more time in charge? Or would the press just assume that I'd lost it.

I think the press would be putting the pressure on Crouchson now, especially over the recent erratic Lampard and Bent decisions.

Will be interesting to see if the FA let me keep my job.

[crouchaldinho]

FIFA World Cup Brazil 2014, Second Round Results:

Many of the usual suspects through to the Quarters.

Wales through thanks to two goals from Steve Morison!

[crouchaldinho]

FIFA World Cup Brazil 2014, Quarter-final Results:

Giants of international football in the shape of Brazil and Germany are obvious names for the semi-finals. Then there is Portugal, which isn't a big surprise. But how about Wales in the final four of the World Cup?

Gareth Bale and Steve Morison scored the goals as they put Sweden out!

[Reedy_1988]

If you stay are you going to revamp your team? How's people like Gibbs, Smalling, Barkley, Delph, Redmond etc.. any good players performing in the U21's?

[crouchaldinho]

FIFA World Cup Brazil 2014, Semi-final Results:

Brave Wales are knocked out on penalties after holding Portugal to a 0-0 draw at the Maracana.

Brazil into the final to play Portugal.

[crouchaldinho]

If you stay are you going to revamp your team? How's people like Gibbs, Smalling, Barkley, Delph, Redmond etc.. any good players performing in the U21's?

Yes, I'll talk about it more soon, but I'm going to be doing a total revamp. I'll be focusing on bringing through a new cycle of players in time for World Cup 2018.

If I get to stay on, I've already decided that anyone above a certain age will be dropped with a view to bringing in youngsters now so that I can develop a team to peak in four years time.

[crouchaldinho]

FIFA World Cup Brazil 2014, Third Place Playoff Result:

Wales finish their shaming of England by finishing third in the World Cup after beating Germany on penalties! Sam Vokes scored a brace in the 2-2 draw before penalties decided the game in the favour of Wales.

[crouchaldinho]

FIFA World Cup Brazil 2014, Final Result:

Brazil, who knocked us out in the second round, end up lifting the trophy on home soil.

[crouchaldinho]

World Cup Best XI:

Not one single Englishman anywhere near this team.

Gareth Bale of Wales is on the bench.

[deltablue]

Thats a shame, but it happens occasionally.

[crouchaldinho]

FA to Keep Faith in Roy Crouchson!

So, I've kept my job, thank goodness. Time to implement my next plan.

I've decided to try to build a national side for the next World Cup. I will be evaluating my entire national pool and making some big decisions straight away.

Ultimately, there are players that will be too old to feature in four years time. In addition, there are young players who have some promise and I cannot afford to leave them out at this stage because they may well be possible starters by the time we get to World Cup 2018.

So what happens next is a ruthless cutting of players with a view to planning for the future. Immediately, any players over the age of 28-years-old will be evaluated. These players will be 32-years-old or older by the time of the next World Cup. If they are special players, I may make allowances, but ultimately most players above this age will be dropped from the England team.

I am ultimately going to pick 23 players who I see as being my team for the 2018 World Cup. I will pick these players but also keep an eye on players who don't form a part of this list just in case. After Euro 2016, assuming we qualify, I will need to make another evaluation of the players to make sure that we are going to be on the right track. However, I want the side generally to stay together for the most part for the next four years so that they can gel together and form a really solid team unit.

We'll see how it goes. I'm going to have to take some risks with certain players and I'm also aware that the team is going to rely heavily upon Wayne Rooney until another special player of that quality emerges for us. It could be a tough bedding in period but hopefully we're going to be doing good work for the future here.

[deltablue]

Had a feeling you'd be able to stay, thankfully FA's take into account being beaten by a big side these days.

[crouchaldinho]

Euro 2016 Qualification - Group Draw:

We find ourselves in Group A.

Top two teams qualify this time around as the competition expands to 24 teams. France are hosting the tournament in 2016.

[crouchaldinho]

Had a feeling you'd be able to stay, thankfully FA's take into account being beaten by a big side these days.

Thank goodness for that. Although I feel that if the same thing were to happen again, I would be less likely to keep my job next time around!

[Reedy_1988]

Other than Turkey that should be a fairly simple group..

[crouchaldinho]

CROUCHSON NAMES NEW ENGLAND CAPTAIN!

Wayne Rooney receives the armband from Steven Gerrard. The star of the England team will now lead his country forward as Crouchson plans for the future.

Rooney might seem like an unlikely captain but he has such a determined personality and is a top player who will lead by example, so I've picked him to be my new captain.

The vice-captain will be Ryan Shawcross. The defender has been solid for me. He's reached the right kind of age to be the backup captain. He has got a big money move away from Stoke City in the summer and is now a Liverpool player after they spent £24m to bring him to Anfield!

[crouchaldinho]

Other than Turkey that should be a fairly simple group..

Yes, you would think so. Turkey would be the main challengers. Seeing as we only need to finish 2nd to qualify and not outright win the group, I will feel more confident with experimenting with youngsters now and then during qualification.

[crouchaldinho]

CROUCHSON TO TURN TO YOUNGER PLAYERS!

Among the players to be dropped are: Steven Gerrard (former captain), Ashley Cole (former vice-captain), Peter Crouch, Glen Johnson, Joleon Lescott, Michael Carrick, Darren Bent, Leighton Baines and Rob Green.

The future will include the likes of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Phil Jones, Jack Wilshere, Jack Rodwell, Danny Welbeck, Chris Smalling and Tom Cleverley.

Let's see how a new look England side will get on as we take on the Euro 2016 qualifiers.

[crouchaldinho]

Euro Qualifiers, Group A - England 2 Albania 0

Match Stats

Formation & Ratings

A first look at Roy Crouchson's new look England!

With Wayne Rooney out, I gave Andy Carroll a chance up front alongside Danny Welbeck.

A dominant display but we really could have done with a bit more of a clinical nature in the final third.

Carroll was poor and he has done nothing to suggest that he should be a firm part of my plans for the future.

One bit of good news was the performance of Oxlade-Chamberlain. He seems to be finally maturing and will be a definite asset in the future for England.

[crouchaldinho]

Euro Qualifiers, Group A - San Marino 0 England 3

Match Stats

Formation & Ratings

Wayne Rooney returned to the team and his first match as captain was one to remember but for all of the wrong reasons. Rooney did us no favours by getting sent off against San Marino! San Marino for goodness sake! Have I made the wrong decision giving him the captaincy?

Despite going down to 10 men, we had little problem seeing off the minnows of San Marino, as you'd expect.

You can't tell much from these sort of games against very much inferior opposition but one bonus today was the performance of Tom Cleverley. He is a good technical player and along with Wilshere represents our best creative and technical player aside from Wayne Rooney. Today, I put him out on the left but more and more I'm thinking of 4-4-1-1 and the possibility of Cleverley or Wilshere in an advanced midfield position (AM) and Rooney as a lone striker.

[crouchaldinho]

International Friendly, 2014 - England 0 South Korea 0

Match Stats

Formation & Ratings

A real yawn fest of a friendly match at Wembley.

We huffed and puffed but South Korea held firm. A disappointing result and it worries me greatly.

We didn't create enough great chances but we also didn't get our shots in on target. I'm starting to worry more and more about England's lack of a top class goalscorer. Rooney can score goals, of course, but I prefer him in a creative role.

This match made me think more and more about a more to 4-4-1-1 with Rooney as lone striker.

[crouchaldinho]

International Friendly, 2014 - England 1 Bosnia & Herzegovina 1

Match Stats

Formation & Ratings

Another underwhelming performance at Wembley. I suppose at least we are getting these poor performances out of the way in friendly matches rather than in the important qualifiers.

What did I learn today? Well, Sturridge isn't much of a better option than Welbeck up front for a start.

I think I'll be looking at employing a lone striker formation. We just don't have quality options up front and actually the likes of Wilshere, Cleverley, Rodwell and Huddlestone give us some decent options in the middle of the park.

[crouchaldinho]

Euro Qualifiers, Group A - Turkey 0 England 0

Match Stats

Formation & Ratings

For some reason, the images didn't load for this match and so I accidentally missed it out above. It should have occurred between the Albania and San Marino games.

Finally, I went with the switch to 4-4-1-1. I went with Wilshere in the centre of the park with Cleverley playing behind Wayne Rooney.

It was a fairly even game really and a draw was a fair result. I guess we should be pretty pleased with the draw away from home against the strongest side in our group.

[noikeee]

Not the greatest World Cup but it's ok to be knocked out by Brazil and it was already unrealistic enough to have taken England to a trophy.

A little remark, I know it takes some work to fix the screenies by cropping etc but at the moment they're unreadable. :\

[crouchaldinho]

Euro 2016 Qualifying Group A - End of 2014 Group Standings:

This is what things look like at the end of 2014 after three games played. As expected, Turkey are going to be our main threat in this group.

[crouchaldinho]

Not the greatest World Cup but it's ok to be knocked out by Brazil and it was already unrealistic enough to have taken England to a trophy.

A little remark, I know it takes some work to fix the screenies by cropping etc but at the moment they're unreadable. :\

Are they unreadable for you if you click on them and view image?

I've never understood what happened to the images since the forum changes. I've asked people a few times about the smallness of the images but nobody has ever suggested a way to make them come out at a decent size.

I'm pretty clueless about this kind of thing and so if you have some advice I'd like to hear it as it would be good to have some good size images in the thread. You mention cropping them? What size do they need to be and how would I do this?

Would using Steam screenshots be better than taking screenshots using FM's Alt-F9 option?

[cerud]

Getting knocked out by Brazil is not too bad as they were always going to be a difficult national side to play. Your matches since then are, as you have said, underwhelming. Maybe the rise of younger players has hurt squad harmony?

[crouchaldinho]

England Results for 2014:

The end of another year with Roy Crouchson in charge of England.

The first proper wobbles from Crouchson as England were not particularly successful this year. 2015 will have to be a lot better for Crouchson to keep his job!

[crouchaldinho]

Getting knocked out by Brazil is not too bad as they were always going to be a difficult national side to play. Your matches since then are, as you have said, underwhelming. Maybe the rise of younger players has hurt squad harmony?

Yes, I definitely think this is a factor. I think we'll have a bedding in period whilst all of the new players come in and gel with the rest of the squad.

Hopefully, we can stay on track and qualify for Euro 2016. As long as we get to the tournament, that's fine by me. I'm really gearing up to try to have the most successful World Cup in 2018 that we can, so this means taking a bit of a hit right now whilst some of these players bed in and also improve in the next few years.

[deltablue]

Good draw in Turkey, the rest of the group should be fine.

[Nobby_McDonald]

One for Nobby - Stoke City were FA Cup winners in the season just finished!

Awesome.

[Nobby_McDonald]

Wales got further than you and Jamaica and Kuwait as far as you.

[acidmonkey]

Good luck rebuilding for the future,

[JojoVillaHursty]

would playing Chamberlain behind Rooney work maybe?

[crouchaldinho]

Good draw in Turkey, the rest of the group should be fine.

Hope so!

Wales got further than you and Jamaica and Kuwait as far as you.

I know! :o

Good luck rebuilding for the future,

Cheers.

would playing Chamberlain behind Rooney work maybe?

Would prefer him out wide. I'd be looking for a more creative midfield type to play behind the front man.

[TheGreatTraveler]

Not a good WC, but good start to Qualifiers. You sure you want Rooney as captain?

[SnakeXe]

Would prefer him out wide. I'd be looking for a more creative midfield type to play behind the front man.

Might be an interesting alternative to vary up your attacking strategy, Rooney dropping off the front and Oxlade-Chamberlain running from deep.

[crouchaldinho]

Might be an interesting alternative to vary up your attacking strategy, Rooney dropping off the front and Oxlade-Chamberlain running from deep.

I guess it is an option. JojoVillaHursty is right that it is a possibility.

However, I'm really looking for a creative and technical type to sit in the hole rather than more of an inside forward type player for this position. But we'll see as I'll definitely be experimenting!

[Reedy_1988]

I always thought Jonjo Shelvey look quite alright on this years game, worth a look at to see how he's progressed?

[crouchaldinho]

I always thought Jonjo Shelvey look quite alright on this years game, worth a look at to see how he's progressed?

I've played a little ahead and yes he will feature at some point.

He has been a bit of a late bloomer. He just wasn't getting games until he secured a move to Villa. Since then, things are getting better for him.

[acidmonkey]

Connor whickham improved massivly in my game and was a leading england player is he any good?

as did Albrighton and Ross Barkley

[crouchaldinho]

Connor whickham improved massivly in my game and was a leading england player is he any good?

as did Albrighton and Ross Barkley

Wickham and Barkley are still fairly young and could have a chance to improve and make the squad in the future. Right now, they're not good enough.

Albrighton isn't really good enough to be in contention.

[crouchaldinho]

Who is nervous about tonight then? I am!

On topic, I have plenty of updates to make to this thread but I haven't been able to get on Photobucket at all today. I've just got on now to get access to my images but I'm about to do my real life pre-match preparations (i.e. beers in the fridge, dinner on etc.)!

So tomorrow, we'll continue with Roy Crouchson's career as we move into 2015.

[TP17]

I don't get nervous so much pre-game, it'll be in-game when we inevitably do something to make things a lot tougher than they could be

I have enjoyed keeping up with this thread, you're at around the same stage I am in my England save just a little ahead and it's interesting to make comparisons to how things have differed. Looking forward to reading more.

[cerud]

Watching the match now...kinda lack lustre so far...