Well, that was pretty interesting. I know there are many of you out there that don't give a shit, but I just needed to get this of my chest and frankly sitting here, at "home", in Atlanta, on my own with only the dog to kick, I really need to vent a bit. I'm cutting a lonely figure, in my England shirt, sat on the couch (decided not to go to the pub today) in 90 degree heat with no-one on the street interested in the game.
I'm not sure how those of you that don't care about England have managed to do that, but in a way I'm envious. I wish I could do the same. The older I get the more that I realize that the heartbreak is inevitable, and perhaps you have done the same and just given up. I keep thinking that I can take a passive, indifferent point of view, but when it actually comes down to it I really can't seem to do that. I do GET the idea of not wanting to cheer on Rooney, Terry etc., but....well, I guess I haven't made it to the same place as some of you, yet. On to the game. Frankly the score is a little odd. I really think that the Germans (perhaps because of their youth) are in fact, vulnerable. That may sound strange given the outcome, but they don't look the self-assured, unbreakable teams of the past. On the other hand England look EXACTLY what they are, which is a bunch of less than talented individuals. Gareth Barry is just NOT an international quality player in my eyes, and players like Terry, Upson, Lampard, Heskey and Milner are simply good Premiership players who are all too slow and all nowhere near good enough to compete at the very highest level. Terry can hide it a little in as much as he can play with his heart on his sleeve and physically push a few people around, but him against the best in world? No contest. Obviously the first goal was juvenile and unforgiveable, and I thought that on the second and third goals James could have done better. As for Lampard's goal it's odd (again), because much less will be made of it that should be (since the score ended up the way that it did) but games can turn on such decisions and this one certainly did. The two goals that Germany scored in the second half seemed to be tactical errors by England. It's almost as if we had thrown caution to the wind in last ditch effort to get an equalizer when there was still 20 minutes left. Capello may have some explaining to do, or perhaps it was just horrible execution on the pitch, as Barry was certainly at fault for the third when he lost it on the edge of their box and the fourth when Ozil (who was VERY quiet) out ran him (it was Barry, wasn't it?). As for Terry's and Upson's shortcomings (which are many), it doesn't exactly help when the midfield is almost totally absent defensively in front of them. It may be that Steven Gerrard's England career is about to come to a conclusion and it's a travesty that because of Lampard he has played out of position for England for so long. Glen Johnson is not particularly good but had a decent tournament I thought, Ashley Cole the same. Heskey is fine as long as you want him to do NO more than hold the ball up. Defoe looked lively without ever really threatening the goal. Teams with players like England have, CAN overcome the odds IF someone like Rooney does a few special things. Obviously Rooney did NOTHING in the four games he played and he looked injured, tired and frustrated. Frankly, he plays with better players on a weekly basis than he does when he gets together with England. Maybe is not really that good. Maybe the Premiership isn't really that good. The one saving grace (THANK GOD) is that we didn't lose to the US, and they have been knocked out. The number of totally asinine conversations that I have had to put up with in the last few weeks has been pushing me to the edge. The country here can now go back to normal, i.e. not giving a shit about the most beautiful game in the world. I don't know, all highly predictable really and I feel better for writing this. Adrian Dingle Atlanta Whites _______________________________________________ the Leeds List is an unmoderated mailing list and the list administrators accept no liability for the personal views and opinions of contributors. Leedslist mailing list [email protected] http://list.zetnet.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/leedslist and the hardest time in a sailor's day is to watch the sun as it sails away
