Recent Comments
Re: “USA Gets the Battle Fever On, Beats Algeria To Advance to Knockout Stages”
After that display they will not be afraid of anybody. Think of the positivity that you would feel if you had pulled a get out of jail card like that. They are organised, can retain the ball ,can pass well and have an attacking threat and a winning mentality. It will be a physical match with Ghana and they did win the under 20 World Cup two years ago but they do not score that many. They got to the final of the African Cup of Nations but won most of the games one nil but lost the final to Egypt . I should know I lost money on that one. I just hope that for all teams that have to rely on sheer hard work and dedication rather than other worldly talent the Americians lads but in another quality performance and advance again.
Re: “Italy Out of World Cup: "Farewell, Cannavaro, Your Career Has Been Terminated."”
These were the same BBC bods who were jumping through hoops after that awful display against Slovenia. Still what do you expect hey ! Italians have only themselves to blame. Did not start to play until the second half. They scored and were back in the game but what the hell went on for that 3rd goal. What was the keeper doing, flapping around. If he stands up it its him in the face. He dosen't ! It goes in .
Still they look laboured in qualifying and did not impress in the first two games. A lack of pace in the back four, Buffons injury and a miss firing frontline have all come back to bite them on the ass ! With the shackles off they looked like a team that could have gone far but that old Italian conservatism has done for the Champions this time
Re: “The World Cup's Unbuttoning Its Shirt”
That all Americian queen must have gone in at half time, threw away the party dress, dragged her must tatty old skool Nike Air 85 from out of the back of the cupboard ,clamboured into a suitablly retro hoodie and decided to break down some heavy beats in the second half. Probarly Ultramagnetic MC's . Great 2nd half could have been a whole lot better but for some dire decisions by the ref. Still another 3 weeks of this . Brilliant. Great article. Expect a music based one and then a film based one..................
Re: “USA 1, England 1: Let the Press Massacre Begin”
Almost as predictable as the horrible overeaction of the English press is the very failure of the team to deliver. I feel that with the rather strange selection of the team yesterday that Capello for the last time decided to put his trust in a team that yet to learn to think for itself on the actual field of play.
Without getting all chalkboard on everyones asses , playing two attacking midfielders in the same team leaves a huge gap in the middle of the field as these men push forward. The defence when they have the ball then have to go long to seek out a teammate. Inevitably the play breaks down and they come under pressure again. This will then lead to the piecemeal broken up play that was witnessed last night.
However credit must go to the Americian players for the application and sheer hard work they applied to the English last night. It is not an easy gig to hussle and harry for 90 minutes and for that they must be applauded.
Capello must now justify his six million bucks a year appointment by making some hard decisions. Number one. Get rid of the keeper and bring back David James. The UK bookmakers already believe that this is certain to happen and they don't drive Mercedes Benz for nothing. Two, drop either Lampard or Gerrard and play a defensive midfielder to plug the gap in the middle of the park. Three, have a serious re-think about playing the big man upfront option. The way that the ball was not dropping to Rooney last night was indicitive of a plan that was failing. Rooney is Englands one true world class player and he needs to be brought into the game. End of.
Just a word of encouragement, did'nt the Italians draw 1-1 with the US in their first game of the last WC ? They had a decent tournament did'nt they. A little bit of reality goes a long way.
Re: “The World Cup is Here (Or Why an Irishman Has Decided to Root for the USA)”
Forget your RBI's , touchdowns and triple doubles this is the Daddy ! Can see a lot of sense in the argument put forward by Derek, but cannot see the USA holding onto the tails of Ing-er-land for the whole match. I fear that the boy wonder Rooney will sprinkle some of his own star spangled magic on the Americian de- fence. I feel that Ing-er-land ( as they shall be known ) through various injuries and enforced withdrawls are being forced into a no nonsense selection policy which will suit the conservative Capello to the backbone. Can see the USA getting through the group though. Algeria, though talented and sharp in the last third are flaky at the back and will be punished at this level. Slovenia hugly over acheived in even getting this far by defeating Russia in a playoff. One wonders if that was the height of their acheivement.
Outside of USA,s group I have a sneaky feeling that the ever argumentative Oranjie boys of the Netherlands could well go far. Packed with scoring ability they will give anyone a tussle as long as they are allowed to go on the offensive. Their defence this time looks a little more composed than before where they were always likely to implode. Biggest cahllenge for the coach will be the 12 hour plane journey where the in fighting could begin. All those egos in such a small space !
Top scorer the boy who has it all. The looks the name the talent the trademarks. Ronaldo ! Will be taking everything for Portugal . Free kicks, penalties and against such dodgy defences such as Ivory Coast, North Korea ( !!!! ) and even Brazil I will expect him to look upon this as a target rich enviroment.
Anyway nuff said, probarly Italy , Germany final then. Here's hoping that it throws some crazy hairdos, unlikely heroes and the odd moment of brilliance our way. And France to go home before the end of the month..Allez les Verts
