Whither England?
I drove down to Gville this morning with the 606 podcast ringing in my ears. As predicted, there were hysterical calls for Macca's head and a load of rubbish about the supposed inferiority of English footie. Steady on, lads! We were probably all disappointed by the performance the other night, but a little sanity and reflection is in order. Take a look at the other group tables and you'll notice that Portugal are also third of their group and Italy and Spain are fourth! The idea that England will struggle to qualify is pure rubbish. The toughest games are behind us and after away games against the mighty Andorra and Estonia we run into a string of home matches at the new Wembley against Israel, Russia, Estonia and Croatia. Surely there are enough points there for us to qualify. Your thoughts, gents?
posted by gatorbob @ 12:45 PM
4 Comments:
On the issue of the inferiority of English players, they seem to do well enough in European play for their clubs, eh? These players are all involved in the later stages of the Champions League and UEFA Cup and played on Saturday:
1. Robbo
2. Rio
3. JT
4. Carradona
5. Hargreaves
6. Lamps
7. Gerrard
8. Lennon
9. Roon
Only AJ and Phil Neville (both Everton) are not involved in these competitions.
So the question is why do they perform for their club teams and not England?
The news from the England camp this morning is not good. Apparently Roon stormed out of the dressing room on Saturday after a sweary outburst aimed at his teammates. Lamps came in for particular Scouse abuse for not laying the ball off in the first half when Roon was open in front of goal. Lamps looks as if he'll be dropped for Wednesday's match. And Roon?
I've thought about that too, Sir Trev, but I think it's more a matter of lack of motivation than lack skill. As you and Lauri rightly pointed out in relation to the mighty "Palisades Panthers" a group of decent players can still play shite if they aren't coached properly or don't have respect for the coach.
The problem as I see it is that the big clubs haven't employed English coaches for yonks, so that the best English players and being trained by the likes of Mourinho, Wenger, Ferguson, Benitez and Jol. Then, when the FA decide to go with an Englishman, it's always going to be someone like McClaren who's coached at Boro and hasn't actually won anything.
I would imagine that the dust-ups in the dressing room that we hear so much about these days have to do with the lack of respect that the best English players have for McClaren. The conversations probably go something like this:
McClaren - Lamps you need to tuck in on the right and support Stevie G. more.
Lamps - That's not what Jose would have me do.
McClaren - Roon, you need to control your temper.
Roon - F--k off, you w--ker; what have you ever won?
So, in the end, when Macca is finally sacked (tomorrow?), the FA will again face this question - do they go with a Sam Allardyce, Stuart Pearce or Steve Coppell type who has managed a lower tier Prem side and hasn't won anything or go abroad with a Lippi, Hiddink, or Hitzfeld who has a winnning track record.
The "X" factor is of course Alex Ferguson, who has won a ton and would obviously capture the respect of his squad from Day One. Could he be bribed to coach the Auld Enemy? I fear not, but I'd certainly like the question to be asked.
Latest news out of the England camp is that Lamps is out due to a broken wrist. This could be a blessing in disguise however, as Macca may finally be forced to play Gerrard in his preferred position at the center of midfield and it may also end the argument about Lamps and Gerrard playing together. Come on England!
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