Soccer Limey in America

Following England’s miserable 0-0 draw with Algeria in the second phase of Group C games at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, fans and media alike turned on the participants of that debacle with a ferocity rarely seen at England games. Striker Wayne Rooney was seen to mouth an attack on the fans in the stadium who were rightly booing the insipid performance that had just been served up. Back home, the fans lambasted the coach and players and expressed their disgust at what seemed to be a total lack of desire to give 100% effort. Coupled with a fan entering the England dressing room and supposedly confronting David Beckham, the disastrous night probably went down as one of the worst in English football’s long history. [Read the rest of this entry...]

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As I am so disgusted with the England performance today in CapeTown against Algeria, I am referring my readers to an article I posted on WorldCupBlog.org today. I don’t have the energy to go through this again in my mind.

Normal service will be resumed as soon as we get a football team. [Read the rest of this entry...]

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We are currently 11 games into the 2010 World Cup in South Africa and already criticism is mounting in regard to the “Jabulani” ball manufactured by Adidas and introduced to this World Cup as a partial tribute to the South African culture. Many goalkeepers have described the ball as “horrible”, “similar to a ball that you buy in a supermarket”, and “a bad invention” and comments made by outfield players and coaches may lead us to believe that FIFA has once more laid another egg for purely financial gain. [Read the rest of this entry...]

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Following yesterday’s disappointing 1-1 draw against the USA at Royal Bafokeng Stadium in Rustenburg, England manager Fabio Capello certainly has a full plate to deal with before England’s next Group C game against Algeria on Friday at GreenPoint Stadium in CapeTown. To date, the Italian maestro has had an almost flawless record following a brilliant World Cup Qualifying campaign which saw England score a record number of goals which definitely projected them into that small elite of teams that are “possible World Cup winners. That was 9 months ago… [Read the rest of this entry...]

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Last week, on a training field at England’s World Cup training base at Royal Bafokeng, England captain Rio Ferdinand suffered a tournament ending knee injury that threw Fabio Capello’s squad preparations into disarray. Ferdinand was one part of a center back pairing with Chelsea’s John Terry that formed the bedrock of England’s defense. With the captain on the sidelines, a distress call went out to Tottenham’s Michael Dawson to drop everything and fly out to start his World Cup career. Many pundits have suggested that this calamity may have derailed the Three Lion’s hopes of lifting the World Cup Trophy for the first time in 44 years. But is it really that destructive ? [Read the rest of this entry...]

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Last Monday night at Wembley Stadium, England began their brief warm up campaign in preparation for the World Cup which kicks off in twelve days in South Africa. It was supposed to be a farewell to the fans coupled with a comfortable win against a Mexico team which traditionally struggles against European sides away from home. What transpired was a flattering 3-1 win for England which raised more questions rather than offering concrete answers.

One of the most glaring deficiencies that England have suffered from in recent years is a distinct inability to maintain possession of the ball. Last Monday was no exception. Mexico dominated the statistics for long periods and looked much the more settled team and but for some defensive lapses from their backline, Mexico left the field that night clearly disappointed that they took nothing from the game. [Read the rest of this entry...]

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In the frantic world of football yesterday, there were two games played in Europe that epitomized some of the reasons why we all love this great game of ours. In Madrid, Spain, we were treated to a yawning spectacle of how one team can choke the life out of another as Jose Mourinho’s Inter Milan throttled Bayern Munich into submission to take the UEFA Champions League title 2-0. Further north, that same afternoon, at Wembley Stadium, London, two teams locked horns in a battle to decide who grabs the final promotion spot to next season’s Barclay’s Premier League in the Championship PlayOff Final. [Read the rest of this entry...]

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Today saw the end of the English Premier League season with Chelsea steamrollering Wigan to take the Title for the first time since 2006. Man Utd also won in a canter against Stoke by a margin of 4-0 but it was a case of too little too late for the Manchester club. The outcome of the race to the finish line was in no doubt once Gary Caldwell was red-carded at Stamford Bridge and Frank Lampard converted the penalty to make it 2-0.

As is the case in every Premier League season, the best team won the title although if you listen to the commentators and experts, you would think Chelsea dominated the season from start to finish. As it turned out, they finished one point ahead of the Red Devils and with 22 lead changes through a frantic season, it will be recorded as one of the most competitive ever. [Read the rest of this entry...]

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This past week, two of the most storied teams in world football clashed at the Nou Camp Stadium in Barcelona for the second leg of the UEFA Champions League semi-final. Feverish anticipation was fueled by the return of “The Special One“, Jose Mourinho , to his development days as a coach under Bobby Robson. Down 3-1 from the first leg at the San Siro, Barcelona were expected to put a supposedly inferior Inter Milan side to the sword with a display of attacking prowess and goalscoring that would set up the Final at the home of their fiercest rivals, Real Madrid. What transpired was definitely the most surprising result of the season to date as Barcelona crashed out of the tournament, losing 3-2 on aggregate.

I have never been a fan of teams that play defensively having been raised on a steady diet of dire displays from Italian teams of the 60′s, 70′s and 80′s and several English teams who lived on “stopping” offensive minded opponents. The term “beautiful game” was derived from teams such as Pele’s Brazil and Maradona’s Argentina, along with Capello’s AC Milan of the 90′s, who played some attractive free-flowing football which was so pleasing to the eye. However, what I saw on Wednesday from Inter was the defensive version of perfection.
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It would not be a complete English Premier League season without the traditional speculation about whether Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson is planning to retire from the game. Every year the English media tries the guessing game to determine if and when this cataclysmic event will take place. I can assure all of you that it’s going to be a while before we’ll see a new face patrolling the sidelines at Old Trafford. Common opinion suggests that Ferguson’s achievements will eventually push him out to pasture but frankly, it’s his lack of achievement that will keep him going.

The Scot has a resume full of trophies including multiple League titles, FA Cups and other less important titles but the one that eludes him the most and provides all of his ambition is the UEFA Champions League trophy. The man himself admits that United have underachieved in this tournament even though he has lifted the trophy twice in 1999 and 2006. His teams have dominated the early rounds over many years but have failed at the final hurdles mostly at the quarter final stages. While his team continue to compete at the highest level, Ferguson will be sure to push on for success and if United should win the trophy again, you can bet that the great man will then, and only then, consider hanging up his managerial boots. [Read the rest of this entry...]

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