Deluded McClaren insists: The facts prove we looked good against Israel

14 April 2012

Steve McClaren has resorted to desperate measures by insisting his faltering England team performed well against Israel on Saturday.

The under-fire coach has faced calls for his dismissal in the wake of a goalless draw that leaves his side struggling to qualify for next year's European Championship finals.

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Maths dunce? McClaren's assessment of England's goal chances differed from official statistics

But McClaren on Monday responded with claims that will stagger England fans and bemuse the statisticians who collect data on the national team.

Official UEFA statistics for the match recorded that England managed only five shots on target in Tel Aviv, with three efforts going wide and Jamie Carragher's header bouncing harmlessly off the top of Israel's crossbar.

However, on a day when an injury to Frank Lampard left McClaren sweating on his team selection for Wednesday's encounter with Andorra here, the coach staggeringly revealed: "Someone who has watched a lot of international football said to me that was as good a performance as they have seen over the weekend.

"The amount of chances we created were 17 efforts on goal, nine on target. Any other day, if we go away in international games and we have that amount of shots on target, then we'll end up winning more than we lose or even draw.

"That was the only disappointment for me when I look at the bigger picture; that we didn't score that goal which would have won us the game.

"We created opportunities that we should do better on. I'm not doubting we should do better. I know that, they [the players] know that, you [the media] do and the fans do.

"I have to deal in reality not perception. The reality is we had more possession. The reality is we had 17 chances. The reality is we had nine shots on target. But we did not convert them.

"You can criticise the fact we didn't convert them, but you can't criticise the attitude and performance. The players wanted to win that game.

"At the end of the day we had 17 efforts on goal — 17. And I can't count how many situations we had that we failed to make the best of. And nine of them on target. That was our only failure.

"I believe that if you get that kind of performance and have 17 efforts on goal you're going to win games."

McClaren has to select a side who can beat Andorra on Wednesday night but it has been complicated, or perhaps simplified, by an accident that occurred in training on Monday.

Lampard had to go to hospital for a scan on his injured wrist after being struck by a vicious shot from Wayne Rooney and, while it is thought there is nothing broken, he is considered a major doubt for the game.

McClaren is wrestling with a number of options ahead of the game. If Lampard misses out, he could simply deploy either Stewart Downing or Kieron Dyer on the left, move Steven Gerrard into central midfield and push Aaron Lennon on to the right flank.

He has also thought about switching to 4-3-3 with Dyer and Lennon up front alongside Wayne Rooney, although that would mean starting without a goalscorer at a time when England seem incapable of scoring goals.

All he can be fairly certain of, at this stage, is a change of full backs. Ashley Cole for Jamie Carragher and Micah Richards for Phil Neville.

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