The Non-Existent Goalkeeper

Andrea Pirlo scored an innocuous free kick in the Euro 2008 qualifier against Georgia and it's one of the softest free kick I've seen conceded!

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Three And Easy For England

The Return Of Michael Owen

Euro 2008 Qualifier

England 3 - 0 Russia

Scorers:
ENG - Owen (7min, 31min), Ferdinand (84min);

He was the teenage prodigy that set the stage ablaze almost a decade ago in France. Michael Owen came to the scene as an 18 year old striker that possesses killer instinct, pace and tenacity. The goal that he scored against Argentina epitomised everything about him.

But sadly, his career went pear shaped and soon, he found himself spending more time in the physio room than on the pitch itself. Years and years of toil against his problematic hamstring and knee injury stagnated his career.

But last night, we saw Michael Owen, probably back to his best, and helping England brush aside a lacklustre Russian side. Although they're a totally different preposition from Israel, the Three Lions still managed to dispatched them at ease and the scoreline didn't really flatter.

It was a crucial Euro 2008 qualifying game and even though they were missing out with some key players such as Frank Lampard and Wayne Rooney, it was the return of the old hero that made the difference, giving them a boost in their bid to qualify.

While Guus Hiddink and his Russian team need to realise the danger to allow Owen given so much space round the penalty area and he duly punished them.

It took England only 7 minutes to break the Russian 'Iron Curtain' through a corner. Owen found himself with the ball, totally unmarked, before placing the ball in the far corner in off the post. It was predatory instinct at best while his finishing was a reminisce of the best of him.

The second goal came in the 31st minute as Russian's 3-5-2 tactic was severely exposed in this instance. Emile Heskey, earning his place in the starting XI after a decent performance against Israel over the weekends, made himself a nuisance just outside the Russian penalty area.

With his physical presence, the Russian defenders were struggling to keep track of him while at the same time, left Owen by himself again. Heskey headed the ball into the path of Owen and without second thoughts, he blasted a breathtaking half volley which was absolutely unstoppable.

Perhaps their time together at Liverpool in the early 2000 helped them looked like a match made in heaven. They understood each other well and Heskey, indeed, provided a perfect foil for Owen.

It rounded up a brilliant first half performance from England and the display was something I haven't seen for quite awhile from this English set up. There was good movement from players, understanding and team work while attacking at pace and intensity.

But England's flaws usually show when they take the lead and that is when they usually lose concentration and take their foot off the pedal. It was something that was seemingly brought down from the Sven regime and that you just got to wonder what the manager said to them in the half time team talk.

Russian started the second half all guns blazing and caught England on the back foot on a couple of occasions including one disputable penalty claim which I've seen them given. Paul Robinson was tested but never really trouble even though the Russian proudly proclaiming the England custodian as the weakest link.

But England put the game to bed in the 81st minute and it came from a highly unlikely source.

Gareth Barry's corner was cleared but Owen collected the loose ball and his pass found Rio Ferdinand who was lurking in the penalty area. Seemingly at a loss, he strode forward and blasted the ball towards the Russian goal.

Goalkeeper was unable to keep it out and it was all 3 points for England.

The win gave Steve McClaren some breathing space, finally, after intense pressure from the media to deliver. His gamble with Emile Heskey paid off as well, with the hulking striker linking up with Michael Owen well, bringing out the best of him.

But it is the day Michael Owen gave a shout to world football, saying 'I'm back'. His 40th goal for England means he moved into the hall of legendary England strikers and he is only the 4th. At the age of 27, without any more injury setbacks, he still has a long way to go and probably achieve something greater.

This could be the revival of Michael Owen. Interesting time ahead....

Stevie G To The Rescue

Scousers Shine In England Win

Euro 2008 Qualifiers

Andorra 0 - 3 England

Scorers:
ENG - Gerrard (54min, 76min), Nugent (90min);

Under intense media pressure and fan's booing, Steve McClaren's side managed to brush Andorra aside as vice captain, Steven Gerrard, provided the goals and ammunition. After a embarrassing and lackluster first half performance, England manage to find inspiration from the player who so often, take the game by the scruff of the neck as he scored two goals and set up another.



Up against a team of part timers, whose total wages might not even be enough to pay the least paid English player's weekly pay, managed to frustrate the hell out of them and even though they have totally no intention to attack England, they were able to limit England to some long range effort in the first half.

With the chorus of boos at half time, it's clear that the English fans were restless, disappointed and unhappy.

Same goes with the players. The longer it took to break down Andorra, they began to show dissent and frustration sets in. A few niggly fouls here and stray arms there made it a difficult match to watch. The Andorran player's antics are particularly sickening as they rolled around the floor whenever contact were made.

The focus was on England's lack of sharpness upfront and yet again, the strikers fail to impress again. Wayne Rooney, who hasn't scored since the summer of 2004, looked particularly disinterested and was substituted off for Jermaine Defoe, who in turn scored a 'controversial' goal.

Andy Johnson, meanwhile, looked out of sorts and out of place. Although he had a couple of chances to turn and shoot, he was largely a peripheral figure throughout and doesn't look like a solution to England's problem.

But the saving grace is that the midfield looks more solid perhaps due to the absence of Frank Lampard and Gerrard being moved into his favoured central midfield position.

('That's two!' says Gerrard)

Aaron Lennon drifted in and out of the game far too much whereas Stuart Downing is just out of his depth. Time and again, he put in crosses that only manages to hit the first man and provided no width at all. Ashley Cole's 'couldn't care less' attitude doesn't help either.

As England huffed and puffed, Steven Gerrard gave hope to the Three Lions with a brilliant finish. Rooney intelligently flicked the ball towards his fellow scouser as he smash home the much anticipated first goal of the game.

But England were not able to find the rhythm and continued to toil on in search of the second goal as they know that winning it 1-0 will not make the fans any happier.

But Gerrard once again played centre stage as he manages to play a nice one-two with Jermaine Defoe before slotting the ball past the Andorran keeper.

With the license to experiment and finally some breathing space made available, McClaren threw on Kieron Dyer and also, debutant, David Nugent from Preston North End.

Dyer in turn, was lively and his pace caused the Andorran some trouble. Nugent, meanwhile, didn't look out of place and he should've scored his debut goal earlier. Lennon's cut back met his boot but it flew just inches wide.

But the Preston forward showed his 'goal poaching' ability by turning a Jermaine Defoe's shot into the net as the ball trickles past the goalkeeper's arms. It should have been counted as Defoe's goal as it already crossed the line before Nugent's touch but perhaps, it just makes the win look better with the new kid on the block scoring.

Otherwise, not at all a convincing win for England but not much should be expected from them. It's important that at current stage, they should go on to win all their group matches without having to think of the performance as Israel and Russia continue to pile pressure on them.

'It's only Andorra', you say. But at least somebody manages to step up and made it happen.

Maybe 2.5 Million Is Worth It

It's like a nightmare that unfolds as time goes by. When it seemed to have hit rock bottom, it seemed that there's never a bottom to go by.

It just goes down and down.

4 games without a goal consecutively including matches against mighty Israel and Macedonia paints a dark portray of McClaren's reign. But that's beside the point.

Just imagine England NOT qualifying for Euro 2008.

Sounds like the wedding without the wedding cake. Or maybe to people like us who watches England because we're used to it, it's like the bride is missing.

Qualification in the group is not an exactly easy thing but it doesn't mean they should take the old cliche of 'there is no easy games at international level', so literally. Although Croatia and Russia proves to be formidable opponents for the Three Lions, but one would expect the likes of Lampard and Rooney to carry them through.

But it seemed that now, it's these players who are making a mess of things.

It doesn't surprise me to read about Wayne Rooney doing a 'Fergie' when he threw an almighty tantrum in the dressing room after the defeat....oh draw at Tel Aviv and not knowing that all the abuse he thrown at Bolton defender, Tal Ben Haim, could be heard.

It was over McClaren's comment on Rooney, for not delivering the goods. The burden of scoring goals lies on the very shoulder of Rooney. Bullish and well built he might be. But he might be too young to take over the mantle from previous masters like Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer.

And this boy's temperament is questionable. He'll crack under pressure and I think he didn't handle Ben Haim's 'vendetta' against him well at all.

But is McClaren right to pin point him?

He's half right. You have to look back 3 years prior before you see Rooney's name on the England score sheet. Yes, back in Euro 2004, which seemed like ages ago but it's true. And that sort of goal scoring record from a boy extolled to be the hope of England? Just embarrassing.

But why is McClaren only picking on the poor lad? Yes, his record is poor but is it really ONLY him who didn't show any effort at all?

That's something deplorable from the man himself. Is he really deluded, myopic or just like everyone, finding a scapegoat? I can't tell but it might just be a mix of everything.

Rooney, meanwhile, showed us that youths nowadays really have some problem when dealing with criticisms. I'm not to be discounted from that group of people as we grow up having everything nicely packed for us, placed in front of us and spoon fed to everything we need.

When we face trials and difficulties, we either wither and die or we avoid it totally. We aren't able to take the fact well and when things doesn't go our way, we whine and throw toys out of the pram.

It's being really harsh on Rooney's part as he was pin pointed out as the sole scapegoat for a soul-less performance and with temperament like him, it's easy to see why he exploded. But underneath perhaps is the key to the problems.

When going gets tough for McClaren, it's only going to be even tougher. Even reports claim the FA just needs 2.5 Million to sack the man and just by the look of things, the amount could be accounted for in perhaps even before England plays Andorra.

Transforming England into Middlesbore Mark 2 isn't the solution and fitting round pegs into square holes won't help. But when there are square pegs for the holes and he doesn't pick them, then he's to hold a certain responsibility.

Players too, should be ashame of themselves for all their big talks and small actions. Prior to every England game, you'll never fail to see a player coming out to rally the troops. The more you see it, the more you go 'ah, whatever'.

Talking is one thing. Doing it is another. Want to make the fans believe? Then SHOW it.

England Stumbles

Shit Happens, But This Doesn't Come Along Too Often....

Euro 2008 Qualifiers

Israel 0 - 0 England

You know some days, things just don't go your way. It's like everyone thinks you owe them a living, even a packet of yoghurt drink. Trust me, the following is really random but it does apply to what happened last night at Tel Aviv.

I took it out and without recapping it back properly, placed it into the fridge horizontally. 20 minutes into the first half, I went into the kitchen and aghast to see yoghurt drink all over my floor. So I had to take like 15 minutes to clean everything up, mop the floor and clean up the fridge. Mind you I don't do any of these stuff at home.

After 15 minutes, I was anxious to see whether there's anything that moves on the score board and to my disappointment, there wasn't. Sat down and watch the final few minutes before half time and I came to a conclusion that mopping the floor and cleaning the fridge is more entertaining.

No actually, I just felt that McClaren has a big clean up to do. Egos are overflowing like the yoghurt drink out of the uncapped bottle and if nothing is done to it, it's pretty easy to see the consequences of all these.


You know, the European Qualifiers is hanging by a thread, in England's case of course. It has a potential to become a catastrophe and it already seemed to have gone a little awry at this point of time.

Yet again, it was toothless and abject. Only a handful could go back to their homeland with pride while it seemed like a disaster not to go away from Israel with 3 points, you're probably wrong. Because you have over-estimated this bunch, like I've mentioned few days back.

The fortune they possess are something many could only dream off and their work rate on the field is on the contrary, much to be desired. Perhaps the chase for personal glory have eaten up their hunger for the honour of the team and country.


Big time charlies and egoistic players in the team who are untouchables, commanding the dressing room and cliques formed within the squad. Players vying for power while some couldn't be bothered.

Manager seeing all these, does absolutely nothing to stop the spilling of ego within the squad. In lieu, he made the players with power stronger and it was as if the team picks itself. Players could go out for a 90 minutes walk and stroll back into the dressing room as if nothing happens because he knows damn well, that he'll get selected in the next match anyway.

I doubt there's even a plan on the board for them to follow, or maybe it's just 'play however you want, just like what you do at your club'. All was at a mess and when things starts to get awry, it's always too late. Always a step slower.

And no matter how many goals this team will score past the might of Andorra, fans and critics will still remember the inadequacies of this team. If McClaren doesn't clean up the spilled egos, it might be a little too late. Top 2 places are a step out of reach for the Three Lions.

Smile, It's England Time

"Too good not to qualify" were from the mouth of former England captain, David Beckham. As England's credential will be severely tested this Saturday in Israel, England manager, Steve McClaren, will have a lot to ponder about.

That includes the starting line up for the game as it's going to be one hell of a ride there. The Israelian national team have only lost twice in their last 18 home games and with the English side looked all but convincing for the past few games (or actually years), Israel knows they stand a chance to send ripples across European football.

So now, with your football knowledge, guess the starting eleven that Steve McClaren will put out to face Israel. In fact, it's actually quite easy.

Robinson;

Carragher, Terry, Rio, P Neville;

Gerrard, Lampard, Hargreaves, Lennon;

Rooney, Defoe;

I pick this team not because it's the best but it's what McClaren is going to put out. It's fairly obvious the man who used to manage 'Boro doesn't like players from another midlands club, Aston Villa, and therefore, whether Gareth Barry is present or not, it doesn't really matter to him.

Without 'influencial' 'best right back in the world', Gary Neville, he will have to pick from either Luke Young or Jamie Carragher for that role. Back to his usual utility role for England, it's going to be Carra. We all know it. He'll be playing anywhere but centre back.

Defoe will play because there is no Crouch and no England managers know how to use Andy Johnson the proper way. If indeed, he starts, then he'll be shafted to the right flank again while Defoe, 22 caps and no goals speaks a lot. He just don't make the cut.


And they don't even have the Plan A to go for..