We are all former students at Lakenheath High School and other public schools in East Anglia. We were in school in the 70s and 80s and drank deeply from the well of British culture of those decades - the pints, the telly, and of course the footie!
The irritating reality of having to make an honest living is getting in the way of my footie watching today, so unfortunately I won't be able to follow today's friendly at Wembley live. However, I thought I'd post a thread for those of you who will have the chance. I'm told that there will be a replay tonight on FSC so I'll be looking forward to that. Come on, England!
posted by The Blue Devil @ 12:50 PM
We are all former students at Lakenheath High School and other public schools in East Anglia. We were in school in the 70s and 80s and drank deeply from the well of British culture of those decades - the pints, the telly, and of course the footie!
26 Comments:
My work day is over and I'm settling in to enjoy today's match. It's coming up at 8 pm on FSC.
I don't see any other comments here and I avoided the score earlier on, so perhaps my comments on the match will spark some discussion.
The teams are coming out the tunnel on what looks like a dreary, rainy night in London. Fabio has promised some new faces in the starting XI. We'll soon see.
Bloody Hell! Experimental isn't the word. Here's the England line-up:
Foster, Jagielka, Gibbs, Gerrard, Rio, Lescott, Walcott, Henderson, Barry, Milner, Carroll.
I'm not liking that at all. It's looks to be two defensive mids in Barry and Sunderland's Henderson protecting a rather makeshift backfour. All the pressure is going to be on new boy Andy Carroll up front.
Kick-off time on FSC. Interestingly it's Carroll knocking it to Gerrard, indicating that the Scousesox skipper will probably bomb forward in support.
Early free kick for England earned by Carroll. Gerrard lining one up. Fizzed on goal but the keeper was behind it.
Another free kick now, this time earned by Gerrard. Stevie knocks it early to Milner but it comes to nothing. Bright start from the lads.
Philippe Mexes goes in hard on Gerrard and he's got to be careful now.
The French are knocking it about a bit more confidently at the 7 minute mark.
Nice version of Pigbag's immortal "Papa's Got a Brand New Pigbag" there from the brass band.
Foster with a really dodgy touch there from Malouda shot. That could have easily squirmed through his arms. Not a good sign.
Woof! Gourcuff hits a great shot that's parried nervously away by Foster. England really under the cosh now and looking quite second rate.
It's fairly obvious that there's a gap in talent on display tonight. You've got French players like Nasri, Benzema, Mexes and Gourcuff who all have Champions League experience lining up against the likes of Jagielka, Henderson, Lescott and Carroll who, erm, don't.
GOAL! Well, that was coming. Karim Benzema scores easily after a move that cut the feeble England defense apart. To add insult to injury, Foster was beaten at his near post. Bugger.
0-1 France
A big roar goes up whenever Andy Carroll gets the ball. You can tell that the Wembley faithful are right behind the boy.
Some boos going up in the crowd now. They're not happy with what they've seen in this first quarter of the match. France are taking England to the cleaners.
Decent chance there after a good knock-down by Andy Carroll to Milner. Quick shot smothered by the keeper.
Benzema was clean through on goal again and sliced badly looking for the near post again.
Another great knock-down by Carroll, this time to an on-running Gerrard who blasted over.
Carroll barging his way through there and trying to lay off to Walcott.
Half time and the boo boys are letting the England side know precisely what they think of it.
I usually resist the stereotypical assessment of silky smooth Continental tacticians against the Neanderthals of England, but it really has been like that.
Second half starting up then with Micah Richards on for Rio.
GOAL: Valbuena knocks in a second on a running volley. Dear oh dear.
Full-time: England 1 France 2.
Well, that wasn't pretty, was it? Probably the worst England performance I've seen in years. The only consolation was having a chat with the Gooner during the second half. The ever prolific Crouchie popped in a consolation goal late on to make the score-line flattering but England were outclassed tonight if truth be told.
There was a complete gulf in class between the English and the French.
What's worrying is that Capello is not building for the future with these experiments. I don't think that Foster, Lescott, Barry, Bothroyd, Warnock or Henderson have any business being in an England shirt. Decent or adequate in their league maybe, but none of them give me confidence that they'll shine at any higher level than what they can achieve at their clubs.
I'm not entirely convinced that Carroll has the quality to achieve bigger thing either. But I am pretty confident that what he does well makes England a poorer team because it encourages long balls that international defenders don't find difficult to deal with.
Last night you saw the same style that has kept England from advancing beyond the quarterfinals in major competitions, except with lower quality players. Capello surrounded proven internationals like Gerrard and Walcott and Ferdinand and Milner with make-weights, rather than fill in the side with members of the under-21s like Rodwell, Rose, Welbeck, Albrighton, Cleverboy, etc. He included Gibbs which is the right idea, just the wrong player because Kieron has just returned to playing for Arsenal and has spent little of his time on the bench, much less the field.
England should be using these friendlies to rebuild England and propel them into the post-Beckham period.
This approach, just entirely retrograde and awful.
HOPELESS!!!
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