England Lose Meaningless Friendly to France… Mediocre Football at Best but Watch the Highlights Anyway

Yeah, I watched the match yesterday and while I’m not one of those types who think we should abolish friendlies, yesterday’s game served as testament to nothing else. 1-0 to France, it should have been 0-0, but Calamity James, as per usual, showed up between the sticks as opposed to that bloke who actually does a fairly solid job for Pompey. I think if you see images of the foul, you’ll notice that dude is actually upside down at one point after James takes him out. You figure that James could have at least tried to play the ball, eh? Jesus….

So, my one real thumbs up from last night (aside from Sir Becks) was that wicked move that Rooney pulled when he runs through the three guys and of course the move goes to shit as soon as he passes it, but moves like that are why I argue that Rooney isn’t over-rated and he is, at the moment anyway, the only England player able to create something out of nothing and truly take on defenders.

So, the Beckham saga…. I think he will continue for a few more games, but I will also acknowledge that there is an outside chance that he may be on the bench in 2010. And I think the reason for that is the fact that he’s going to be playing football in America. Hear me out, if he was still plying his trade in the Premiership, he would be subject to the intense pace and brutal physical treatment of teams like Wigan, Blackburn, Championship sides in cup matches etc etc. Instead, he’s going up against the Colorado Rapids and the Columbus Crew… Every MLS team will have been told, either subtly or not-so-subtly “injure Beckham and it’s your ass.” He doesn’t have to fear bone-crunching tackles in his league, so if he can keep himself relatively fit I think he will be putting in those long balls to Crouch from the right back position for a few more years… Whether thats a good thing or not isn’t really the issue. Beckham doesn’t offer genuine width and I don’t think he should start games, but with a team relatively short of veterans (players w/ 80 caps or so early to mid 30’s) we need experience on the bench.

I may be lambasted for saying so, but last nights game was the type of England performance that needed a Mr. Paul Scholes raising hell in that area just 15 yards ahead of the opposition goal-box. Stevie G’s anonymous performance leaves no excuses as Lampard didn’t feature. Why wasn’t Steve there? Compliments to Mr. Hargreaves for another workmanlike Canadian performance. He does my whole country proud every time he plays. He has guile and grit in abundance, the type of football you can expect from a corn-fed Calgary boy. I wouldn’t be surprised if Hargreaves is the next in line for Capello’s rotating captaincy. Wouldn’t that be something?

England Smoke Estonia 3-0… Bring on the Russians! Check out the video highlights

Highlights Right Here

Another competent performance against meager opposition earns the three lions a three point tally. Respect to Steve Mclaren for keeping the Barry/Gerrard central midfield pairing as it continued to pay dividends again today.

Wright-Phillips goal was another example of just how effective he is at international level. I guess it all boils down to pace and positioning for him… He is a clear example of why the premier league will miss Jose Mourinho. Wright-Phillips has gotten exponentially better in the past year and he’s bagged himself another goal although I do have to concede that Mart Poom got stuffed. Is he even a championship level keeper anymore? League 1 anybody?

Rooney’s strike was also a bit soft, but it was still good to see him end that sickening goal drought. If there’s one thing I know about Wayne Rooney, it’s that once he scores after going through a lean spell in front of goal he starts to bang them in on the regular.

Additionally, that was probably one of the funniest own goals I’ve ever seen.

Vidic thumps the Toffees as Manchester United beat Everton 1-0

VIDIC’S GOAL

Manchester United continue to work exclusively in binary numbers as we edged Everton in the early game today. It was really tight stuff for most of the match and there were times when I thought “aw shit, here we go again…” But for some reason we keep managing to win games we may not deserve to win. Thing is- winning games you don’t deserve to is a hallmark of champions, but you kinda wonder when you don’t really deserve to win any game. Yet somehow, we continue to win.

Tevez played some nice passes, Scholesy had a wasteful game, but you can’t fault him because he saved the game by clearing off the line. Am I dreaming or have we cleared a ball off the line in every single game we’ve played this year?

On the plus side, I still think we are a team in transition. Four new big name signings usually doesn’t happen and that is bound to unsettle a group of players slightly. To be honest though, I think its a good thing. Our team is almost like an awkward teenager at this point, still trying to figure out how to talk to girls… We always seem to walk away with a phone number somehow, but it is clear for everybody to see that our game needs work.

Once we click around late October, we’ll be unstoppable. We’ve yet to see the boys in the Champions League this year and I think we will be able to cope with the Milan’s and the Barcelona’s this year. We have a battling midfielder in Hargreaves and one of the most precocious footballing talents in decades with Cristiano Ronaldo. Add to that his back-up cast of Nani and Anderson.

And did I mention a guy named Rooney yet? I’m gonna throw it down right here- Chelsea are gonna get beat next week.

Frank Lampard is leaving Chelsea! Should you invest in Spanish pie companies yet?

After rejecting a contract offer from Cheslea, Frank Lampard looks to be bound for the continent. Seemingly, the problem is over imaging rights and Frankie Baby’s reported desire to earn as much as stormtrooper Ballack and waste-of-space Shevchenko (130,000 pounds a week). While Lampard rejecting his contract offer comes as news to some, it appears as though the Chavs have already been shopping around England’s most useless central midfielder in a generation.

Interestingly enough, today’s issue of the Observer  quotes an unnamed source from Barcelona FC’s executive branch saying “‘There is no other option. He has been offered to us, Milan, Inter and Real Madrid. Basically all of the big clubs. But none are interested. We are the same as those clubs are, we’re looking for a player who is more creative and has a greater technique than Lampard. So it looks like he will go nowhere.”

True enough, does 8 penalties and 11 deflected goals a season translate well in the Spanish League? Well, I guess we’ll just have to wait and see. If that Barca executive’s viewpoint reflects the viewpoint of the other big clubs Lamps has been offered too, will his ego keep him from moving? Would he go to a seemingly 2nd-tier European side like Lyon, PSV or Roma? I don’t think so and if no big clubs take him, would Frank eat a substantial amount of crow and accept a reduced contract offer in Chav-land?

I  wouldn’t bet on it.