England Sweat Through Another One
It is not working Sven. England has managed to get to the quarterfinals with a complete lack of any offensive spark whatsoever. They eked past the weakest team still in the tournamant with a Beckham trick shot. Beating Ecuador 1-0 off a set play is nothing to be proud of.
In fact, if Carlos Tenorio’s shot in the first half doesn’t barely graze off a desperately scrapping Ashley Cole thigh, the match is turned on its head and England probably wilt in the sun. Actually, they did wilt. They just happened to win anyway. It’s better to be lucky than good. The only problem with that is that luck eventually runs out.
England won’t get through another match with the pathetic offense they’ve been displaying. One up front isn’t getting the job done. I don’t care if it’s Rooney or Crouch. Lampard and Gerrard just aren’t getting involved enough for it to be effective at all. As usual. They never have in this system. It looks good in theory, but in practice it just hasn’t worked.
Yes, it was hot. I’m sure the English players are whinging to the press about that fact right now. That’s no excuse. It’s going to be warm. When you play a minnow, put three past them early and coast the rest of the game. Blatently wasting time, puking on the pitch, and generally looking cooked–England are very lucky Ecuador didn’t equalize late. There’s going to be a good team up next. One set piece won’t be enough.
Let’s give Lennon a decent go. He’s looked great in his limited playing time so far. Maybe that’s just down to the lethargy of the team surrounding him, though. Hard to tell. Joe Cole has been fine. The entire rest of the team has been a big nothing.
That’s alright lads. Just 90 more minutes and you lot can go sit on the beach in Mallorca with an umbrella drink. It’s too hard to win a World Cup when it’s so hot out anyway.
Posted in: World Cup
You need some luck in the World Cup, and it helps to have a magician like Beckham. I know just enough about this game to appreciate the need for shots like that from time to time. A solid squad can go far if they get brilliance like that shot when the rest of their offense is sputtering.
That said, they will need to turn things up several notches to contend, but they are one win away from the final four.