英格蘭球星蘭帕德、傑拉德公開表示，要想在本屆賽事中打出好成績，英格蘭隊必須加快進攻節奏，讓對手的後防選手得不到喘息的餘地。

　　原文：http://sports.yahoo.com/sow/news?slug=afp-fblwc2006gpbengtactics&prov=afp&type=lgns

　　We must rev it up, say Lampard and Gerrard

　　by Martin Parry

　　June 18, 2006

　　BUHLERTAL (AFP) - England must up the tempo and play faster football to bamboozle the opposition if they want to go all the way at the World Cup, top players Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard say.

　　Sven-Goran Eriksson's side have already qualified for the last 16 but have a tricky game against Sweden on Tuesday to determine who tops Group B.

　　England were criticised in their matches against Paraguay and Trinidad and Tobago for being lethargic and playing too many long balls instead of keeping it simple and building the breaks.

　　Rampaging midfielder Lampard admits that the team must improve if they are to have a realistic chance of lifting the trophy for the first time in 40 years.

　　"The team can improve and it needs to improve," he said Sunday at their training base in southern Germany.

　　"I think maybe we can play a slightly higher tempo with the ball.

　　"One of the problems with Trinidad was that they were very organised and were prepared to sit back. If you don't move the ball quick enough against teams like that then it is very hard to break them down.

　　"Our English game is about moving the ball fast and playing with the extra speed that we play with in our home league so maybe we can do that a bit more in our upcoming games."

　　Combine a faster-paced approach with the passion in the England squad and the convincing results will come, he insisted.

　　"The right way to play in my eyes, and we have that passion, is when we have the ball to move it quickly.

　　"We are very hard to defend against and when the other side have the ball we need to put them under pressure which we can do better than anyone else in the world."

　　Lampard is forging a better understanding in midfield with Gerrard after a sticky start to their partnership and the Liverpool captain shares similar sentiments on how England need to play if they want success.

　　"We're happy with the position we are in the group with six points but we do understand that we need to start playing better, and quickly," he said.

　　"We need to start playing one-and-two touch football and move the ball a lot quicker. If you are just plodding along and the passing is slow, they just get back into position and get a lot of men behind the ball."

　　Gerrard and Lampard are both on yellow cards and Eriksson has hinted that he may rest one of them against Sweden, which could open the door to Michael Carrick, Jamie Carragher, Owen Hargreaves or Stewart Downing.

　　Neither man wants to sit out the match, but whatever happens they are convinced that when the going gets tough the team will deliver.

　　"We have a lot of good players in the squad who can perform on the big stage and we won't disappoint," said Gerrard.

　　Lampard added that there was no way England will take their foot off the gas against Sweden, insisting it will be all systems go for a win despite knowing by then who they could play in the round of 16.

　　Their opponents will be either Germany or Ecuador, who will play just hours before England on Tuesday to decide who wins Group A.

　　"In top-level football, there's no way you go into a game looking to get a negative result. It wouldn't be good," said Lampard.

　　"At this level it's impossible to play like that. You'd be letting your fans down, everyone watching the game. It is not professional to do that."

　　作者-趙海軍

責編：佟杉杉