1981/82 - England v Hungary (1982 WC Qualifier - 18.11.81)

Commentary by John Motson

[@garrycrawford8548]

Classic match and classic Motty

[@elshadjafar2437]

Have a nice daay. Touched the like button. Many thanks.. Country Azerbaijan

[@jontalbot1]

How much better England are now.

[@gunternetzer9621]

How England could have done with a flukey goal like Mariner's against Poland in 1973.

[@sphughes01]

Relief, relief, relief. England finally qualified for a World Cup after years of trying. Only qualified in 1966 as hosts, then in 1970 as holders so in effect it was 20 years since England qualified from a group unlike the Scots who had done it twice in the 1970s. If England had not qualified in 1982 it would have been a major setback as Northern Ireland managed it as well as Scotland. You have to take into account too that English clubs were dominating in European competition as well so to fail to qualify from a pretty ordinary group would have been poor. Of course if the 'suits' at the FA had appointed Cloughie as manager when they had the chance it may well have been so different at the World Cup in Spain.

[@gunternetzer9621]

England only qualified for the finals because there was 24 finalists and Clough was never the answer to England's problems.

[@kailashpatel1706]

@@gunternetzer9621 Let's have a row, you don't think he would have used existing players better or brought different players in, tried a more fluid formation, rebuilt the defensive line...?...They would have done no different in Spain?..

[@gunternetzer9621]

@@kailashpatel1706 I am sure he would have tried a lot of things, but my problem with Clough is that I don't think his man management methods would have worked on established international players ('yung man take your hands out of your pockets when you're talking to me') and I think the pressure of the job would have made his drinking worse. He often said and did things because he was p£$%^d which we now know.

[@kailashpatel1706]

@@gunternetzer9621 Right, his record was impressive...I think with his coaching staff plus Taylor he would rebuilt a defensive line (though he would still not have had Kevin Beattie whose career ended in 1980), focused on strong wing play and utilised certain players far better than Greenwood (Mariner/Ray Kennedy), out would have gone players like Phil Neal and brought in men like Regis, Statham, Cowans,Morley/Devonshire and integrated them into a proper set up not tried ad hoc.. Yet even a decent Manager like Jack Charlton would have taken the 1982 team to the semis where a chance to get to the last four was wasted, Spain were already out, played Brooking from the start behind Keegan with Francis on top not the right, someone like Terry Mcdermott on the right midfield slot, Anderson instead of Mills..if it was not working move Brooking out to the right and play Hoddle in the centre with Woodcock played off Francis..

[@gunternetzer9621]

@@kailashpatel1706 Clough would have managed England to the British Championship but the overriding problem was that England went out of the 1982 finals because English attacks did not know how to penetrate a deep, well organised foreign defence with a good sweeper and goalkeeper who could cope with high crosses. The players needed qualities that were not naturally inherent in the way the game was played in England at the time. The easy ball, played to an un-marked player is the way that many English teams built up their attacks towards goal. But invariably the final pass into the penalty area was a high one. At top level the final penetrating pass into the penalty area has to go into feet. Clough would have had to have dealt with that problem too. What Greenwood needed was the type of attacking players he produced at West Ham like Peters and Hurst and the tragedy for him was the clubs did not produce them for him. In the 1982 World Cup when he needed deputies for Keegan and Brooking, they were not there. Hoddle was not worth bothering with as played as though his job was to wait until someone else gave him the ball, when he would do his stuff. I really recommend you read - 'Soccer Coaching: The European Way', Published in 1980. It really opened my eyes. The chapters by Greenwood and Dave Sexton are very good but Lajos Baroti, Hennes Weisweiler and Rinus Michels really make you understand what was required from international players then and why it wasn't just English managers who had a problem with Hoddle. They wouldn't have picked him much either.