MX23RW : Saturday, February 8 10:03:36| >> :600:140399:140399:

Ashley Cole: Our tactics worked

Cole defends England shape
© PA Photos
Ashley Cole believes that England got their tactics right for the Three Lions' 1-1 draw with France yesterday.

England and Chelsea defender Ashley Cole believes that manager Roy Hodgson deployed the right tactics for the Three Lions' draw against France.

The opening Group D clash ended with a goal apiece between England and France yesterday, with the Three Lions' lack of possession-play being targeted as a slight criticism of the national side.

"If you look through the Premier League, the English players seem to be renowned for working hard for each other, always getting behind each other and I think it worked," Cole told BBC Radio Five Live.

"We tried to block the middle off to let them go wide, because we know they like to do one-twos, and I think it worked. A lot of people speak about having possession, but as a player you understand that you don't win games by just holding the ball. You have to put it in the back of the net.

"We knew their game plan was to try one-twos and we knew they would keep the ball a lot, but we stayed resilient and got a result."

England's next group clash is against Sweden, who lost 2-1 to Ukraine last night.

ID:30584: cacheID:30584:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:2109:
Written by
Danielle Joynson
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Patrice Evra and Stewart Downing
Read Next:
Evra frustrated by England's style of play
>
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool23175156213556
2Arsenal24148249222750
3Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest24145540271347
4Chelsea24127547311643
5Manchester CityMan City24125748351341
6Newcastle UnitedNewcastle24125742291341
7Bournemouth24117641281340
8Aston Villa2410773437-337
9Fulham249963632436
10Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton2481063538-334
11Brentford2494114242031
12Crystal Palace247982830-230
13Manchester UnitedMan Utd2485112834-629
14Tottenham HotspurSpurs24831348371127
15West Ham UnitedWest Ham2476112946-1727
16Everton236892328-526
17Wolverhampton WanderersWolves2454153452-1819
18Leicester CityLeicester2445152553-2817
19Ipswich TownIpswich2437142249-2716
20Southampton2423191854-369


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!