Mon 26 Jun 06
Post-Ecuador Auguries
- While remaining a justifiably bitter critic of his penalty kicking, on this blog I have recognized Becks’ unwavering magic with free kicks. Yesterday he saved us and I am duly grateful.
- And thanks as well to Ashley Cole for saving England in the clinch. A pleasure to see him shine outside the shadow of the Highbury Professor.
- We need more Aaron Lennon and sooner in the next game. While his footwork is impressive, his bursts of speed on the pitch are stunning, plain and simple. Opponents facing him will know how a P-51 Mustang pilot felt the first time he encountered an Me-262 jet fighter.
- Stewart Downing, the Accidental Tourist continues to give me hope. Clearly, all I have to do is consistently play unremarkable football and I too can get an all-expense paid trip to Germany.
- While Ecuador made the round of sixteen, their hopes for Oscar glory will go unsated. I doubt even James Lipton could work up a proper bootlick for this gang of telegraphing whingers.
As for Sven, here it is: I DARE him to play Theo Walcott against Portugal. My patience is exhausted with what increasingly appears to be Eriksson’s pathetic attempt to flip the bird to the FA by engaging in a ludicrous global spectacle of video dating. England is suffering from a lack of striking power through injury and managerial incompetence. This cannot hold.
After Ecuador there is no hope of scraping through by extracting pedestrian one-point wins. Either the kid wows us or makes a right shambles of it, but Rooney needs a real strike partner either upfront or from a close-by midfield feed. Clear the air, Sven.
Paul Canniff
I had hoped to see Rooney and Walcott up front in the second half against Ecuador. Did Sven really want to go to a penalty shoot? As I believe one of the commentors said, Ecuador’s first string keeper probably would have had Beckham’s goal.
Picking Crouch has severely limited England’s options. Would he have been on the WC squad from his time in Southampton? He pops a few playing in front of Gerrard, Luis Garcia, Xabi Alonso and friends and he’s national team material. Forget about Defoe and AJ, what about the other EPL top goal scorers - Bent, Harewood and Beattie - they could have provided some options here.
Play even Joe Cole up front with Rooney. Something. Gawd.