Lost in translation
Thu Mar 27 09:02AM
Nobody was expecting miracles straight away - that kind of optimism is left to Newcastle fans - but at one point last night, England fans could have been forgiven for thinking Steve McClaren was still in charge. First up was the insipid display, which lacked inspiration going forward and boasted a gaffe at the back that brought memories of just why the French love using the nickname 'Calamity James' so much.
The personnel chosen to take to the field at the Stade de France also harked back to a bygone era, with the inclusion of a certain century-maker making all the headlines.
Let's get one thing straight. ED in no way at all begrudges Becks his 100th cap - he fully deserved it for being such a great servant to his country over the years.
But the future on the right hand side surely is David Bentley and talk of Becks carrying on until 2010 are pie in the sky.
Nice golden boots, cap and specially-embroidered shirt though.
Then there was the raft of half-time changes - four of them this time - a move which left England with little hope of getting back into the game against a classy France side playing in their own back yard.
Don Fabio himself claimed he was pleased with the performance and through his dark rimmed spectacles (with a rose tint?) he saw an improvement on the Switzerland game.
At least that's what his translator told us. With ED relying on internet translation sites for its vague knowledge of the Italian language, there is no way of knowing if the man attached to Hat's side is actually doing a good job. He might have told us Beckham has no chance of ever playing for his country again last night, but we'd never be any the wiser.
It looks like we'll just have to trust him, and the manager, for the time being.
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Dunga may well have had a point yesterday when he said England are as good on the pitch as Brazil. The Selecao coach may have initially been mocked for his seemingly outrageous assessment, but on last night's evidence at the Emirates, he was bang on the mark - Brazil played just as badly as England.
Sure, the South Americans were missing some of their best players - Kaka and Ronaldinho were their most notable absentees - but an enviable bunch still took to the field against Sweden, and should really have given their colourful fans more than the 1-0 win they mustered.
On the subject of fans, if there was a World Cup for supporters, Brazil would be perennial winners. Wherever they go in the world, yellow and green flags, drums, trumpets, silly hats and hot girls invariably follow. It is a sight to behold, and an experience ED savoured last night.
In particular, their Mexican waves were a triumph - that's a proper Mexican wave, feet stamping and continuous shouting included, not the airy fairy ones you normally see performed in this country - even if the fans seemed to have difficulty in comprehending the Emirates stewards' zero-tolerance policy towards standing "except in moment of extreme excitement".
The problem with Brazil supporters is that are in a constant state of excitement. Take the example of Robinho's first darting run last night - as soon as he touched the ball a volley of teenage screams erupted, akin to what ED imagines the noise to be like when Robbie Williams takes to the stage.
That Robinho trod on the ball seconds later and made a prat out of himself did not appear to matter - and neither did the fact that he and his team-mates, debutant goalscorer Alexandre Pato excluded, failed to do much else for the rest of the game. The fans present were there to have a good time, and to hell with the football.
With so much music, smiling, back slapping and bonhomie all around, it was difficult to remember what going to the football used to be like. This was fluffy modern football, just how Sepp Blatter wants it - nice fans having fun and spending money in a gleaming, sanitised stadium.
Which made it all the more shocking when Manchester United's Anderson came on as a second half substitute to a chorus of boos from the Arsenal contingent present in the crowd.
Those boos were nearly as loud as the ones that rang out at the beginning of the match when Mike Riley was announced as the evening's referee.
ED can only assume the moral high ground has been taken by Gooners, who were showing their displeasure at the official having let a player get away with first, a horrendous tackle, and secondly a blatant show of disrespect last week.
Nothing to do with the fact that the player concerned was one their most celebrated hate figures, then?
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QUOTE OF THE DAY: "I have a house in the South of France." Becks explains why he was so proud to reach the 100 mark in Paris.
FOREIGN VIEW: Brazilian striker Hulk has been released by Japanese side Kawasaki Frontale with the J-League season only four games old. The 21-year-old fell out of favour after a display of petulance following his substitution in the second game of the season. "Hulk is a player with tremendous potential but we have decided he does not fit into the club policy of the team coming first," Frontale president Shimpei Takeda said. Incredible, but true.
TALKING POINT: In amongst all the bitching that ultimately marred yesterday's discussion, barney1158 managed to make a coherent point: "Footie stars don't set any examples in my view, they do things wrong and then suddenly make charity donations to take the heat off themselves. Bunch of hypocrites, albeit rich ones. Some decorum back in the game please, the kids of today don't need any more bad influences, unfortunately."
For today, it will be difficult to stop you anyway, so we'll ask you for your thoughts on last night's action.
COMING UP: Unless you're a fan of the Blue Square Premier, there's little football to enjoy today. Which is why we're suggesting you follow the second round of the China Open with our live streaming video. You can even post your questions to the commentators and get them to answer on air - although they'll ignore you if you ask them what their favourite cheese is.
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IM this storykeep going ED, you re brilliant guys, its funny, its fair, its "i say what i think"..love it
From fred_pon on Thu Mar 27 09:18AMI'd rather have watched a documentary on civil service reform or the colour of Tony Blair's dado rail than the English footballing joke last night.
Spot on ED, i did feel like McClaren was still in charge until Sky quite happily kept flashing Fabio onto the screen.
Can anyone tell me if i am the only one in thinking that Becks had a good game though? Or at least one of the best of the England squad that night?
Spose...twas a good excuse to get the beers in and get bladdered i spose...(wish i hadnt now, my heads leaking brain fluid on my desk)
From neo_booie on Thu Mar 27 09:20AMI hope that's the last we see of Becks! He got his 100 caps now it's time to say au revoir, and good riddance - too many long balls. And wtf is Downing doing in an England shirt!? He's had the chance to prove himself on numerous occassions and failed to flourish, he's not even half decent (he plays for Bore FFS - nuff said!).
Lucky Nasri, Benzema and Ben Arfa weren't playing for France cos then we would have been in real trouble!
From double_t_uk2002 on Thu Mar 27 09:30AMYou see, that's why Brazil will always be better than us. They are undertaking experiments to play Marvel superheroes. What next, Mr Fantastic in goal? Wolverine in the holding midfield position? or Maybe Spider-Man as the perennial goal-hanger.
From g_hine on Thu Mar 27 09:32AMThought there were some good points about the game Hargreaves was impressive and kept Ribery out of the game aprt from the penalty.I was amazed however at Allan Mullery's comments on Sky telling us that the Great JT had a good game, looked like a labouring donkey to me and then excused it all with a mystery injury..which I'm sure will be OK by the weekend. I didn't think Sir David (100 Caps) Beckham had such a bad game..but not according to the Mullery..."He has had is moment and rightfully so, and should go quietly now"
From andy_cooper087 on Thu Mar 27 09:34AMwhat about the other home countrys?come on ed dont be a little englander i mean some of us had a good night last night and does last nights farce in france prove that england dont have the world class players they think they have ? you could put tommy cooper(r.i.p) in charge and get the same results.nevermind champions league looks good for you
From stupotsemail on Thu Mar 27 09:37AMwhat about the other home countrys?come on ed dont be a little englander i mean some of us had a good night last night and does last nights farce in france prove that england dont have the world class players they think they have ? you could put tommy cooper(r.i.p) in charge and get the same results.nevermind champions league looks good for you
From stupotsemail on Thu Mar 27 09:37AMThe problem is not Capello or Mclaren even though the coaches have a little bit to do. The problem is you can not teach an old dog new tricks. This set of players have limited skills and are used to playing a certain way. There prides are covered in club football by the foreign talented ones but in international football until Ronaldinho or Ronaldo or Drogba or berbatov and so on nationalise as british citizens then it is more ofthe same. go back to the venebles era with Mr Gascoigne and the rest some skills and ability hence decent play.
From sbyron992000 on Thu Mar 27 09:42AM....England Match, what England match?
Gave up watching England try to play football years ago (especially the wasted friendlies, surely players need to play together a bit longer than the Money guys will let them be away from the clubs for) - Learn the rules of rugby and enjoy a good game! even losing games have action.
I have faith that hairy-one-hair-hat-man-coppello will learn to pick on form...what form that is I dont know... but I suffer from terminal hope!From gary_parratt on Thu Mar 27 09:46AMrubbish
From rickiricardo on Thu Mar 27 09:51AMAfter the Swiss game and the farce last night one thing is certain. It wasn't Steve McClaren's fault after all. Even with a 'world class' manager the 'golden generation' of English footballers are simply not good enough.
From anthonywest71 on Thu Mar 27 09:54AMNo mention of the Scotland result??
From davybroo on Thu Mar 27 09:55AMPersonally, I have never understood why English teams - both at club level and the national side - consistently fail to play to their strengths. The premiership is at its best when played at 100 miles per hour - and not all foreign players adapt quite so well as Ronaldo and Torres - so why do we always try and adopt a "continental" approach, slow things down and focus on all this passing stuff we are evidently no good at? Like 24-hour drinking, it will take more than a change of coach/law to alter the mindset of a generation. Foreign teams should feel trepidation and fear when playing England, but obviously with Capello in charge we will be seeing a more measured approach for years to come. Good luck to him though, hopefully he will instil some discipline.
From garethcoletranslations on Thu Mar 27 09:55AMlets give Fabs a chance
From admire162 on Thu Mar 27 10:02AMI have never been so bored in my life... Charlton vs Wolves looked like a good fixture. Hands up anyone who wanted to turn the tv over to Question Time by the 60th minute. Even the penalty decision was boring. David Bentley? Can the Media stop falling over themselves to find the great white hope?! Bentley's trying so hard to be like Beckham, and yet he's not even half the player. About as committed and inspirational as Downing (2006's great white hope, you might remember him...) Well and I choke on my cereal as a Brummie for saying this, Gareth Barry for England Captain, at least he looked convincingly like he was going to start a ruck last night (unlike Bentley's pathetic push) and played with a level of passion and inspiration sadly lacking from Terry. p.s. Can anyone tell me what Wes Brown is doing at right back? Clearly nothing for us (or Becks!)
From cjg274 on Thu Mar 27 10:08AMFinally! The Fans have woken up and realised it doesn't matter which chump they pay 4 squillion quid a year to manage the England team, he still has to work with arrogant under-a@#$%vers who would struggle to even spell the word 'Unity', let alone understand it. If watching their team defend (not very well) for 90 mins is the future for England fans, i would be very worried indeed. But that begs the question, would you rather grind out insipid 0-0 draws and make it to the World Cup or get beat 5-4 in a blaze of attacking football and just miss out? I know which i'd prefer. Attacking all the way.
I'm fairly happy with the Scotland result to be honest. Despite missing the bunch of arrogant lazy a**eholes pretending they were injured, we put on a good show. Under the cosh for a lot of the game, but all in all a fairly sturdy and assured performance against a great European side.
From kevmun82 on Thu Mar 27 10:11AMGood observation, really DOWNING!!! Talk about experiments, Fabio must limit experiments reality!
From crazy_pee_jay on Thu Mar 27 10:20AMCongratulations to Becks on getting his 100th cap, and I really don't give a stuff if he goes on to get 200. The point being that even 200 modern day caps will never equal 100 caps from earlier geenrations when the players played the entire match, tried their guts out and rarely called in mysteriously sick only to instantly recover when the following weekend came around - what's more their club squads were generally about 16 strong. I would suggest that in future all International friendlies are rewarded with half a cap. And may I be so bold as to suggest that the non friendlies are rewarded with 3/4 cap as the poor pampered darlings don't appear to try very hard when sporting the three kittens (oops, sorry - I meant lions)
From michaeljones370 on Thu Mar 27 10:21AMI still believe Capello will make his way through.....I got a feeling that he is experimenting things bit by bit, in his own way.....and all the way, I don't think any manager can make an impact as soon as the second match.....I still remember when he took over Real Madrid it took him a while to push everything his way and make it work for him.....so give him some time. If Capello can't fix the problem, no one can.
From likaki88 on Thu Mar 27 10:27AMFabio Capelo will win the next world cup with the England team...THIS IS NOT A JOKE..., just give him time and he will make England play differently from the way english players play in the premier league; they have to learn that international football is not the same as playing club and league football in England where it only works because both teams play the same way
From vveiga on Thu Mar 27 10:39AMWouldnt mind a little mention of NORTHERN IRELAND, WALES or SCOTLAND. At least some of us WON last night
From royfullerton on Thu Mar 27 10:52AMi have to say th whole of england got their choice... saint gerrard in midfield what a big crock of shite.. as for gareth barry who the @#$% are you trying to kid.. the whole england team over-rated and over-paid... just plain shite.....
From laurence.odea on Thu Mar 27 10:54AMInteresting point, vveiga, but don't you think a clash between a full-on England team playing with passion against the superior guile and skill but possibly greater reserve of say France would be a fascinating encouner? Totally different styles, but that wouldn't necessarily mean the French winning.
As regards the World Cup, it would of course be fabulous to win it, but I still believe the manager should have the same nationality as the players, and if you win it with a foreign coach because the powers that be deem none of the domestic coaches to be good enough, then you might as well start picking foreign goalies because yours are all rubbish.From garethcoletranslations on Thu Mar 27 11:02AMso becks took the glory and all the fuss about him as if it was only him playing , we should be playing the young players now for the future, thats the problem with the english team we always rely on the so called senior players ? well that idea has not given us any trophy so we should change now get rid of the old players ie glory i play in usa for more money becks, for the young talent that you see in u21 level , man u have won with young boys , and arsenal have done the same we need to play these young ones as a team now for the future of the english game , capello stop given in to becks , as becks licked your arse so much in the past few weeks he should marry you , now lets play the kids and get rid of the so called senior player , then we will win something ?
From pompey80uk on Thu Mar 27 11:23AMDifferent manager same old England, can someone please tell what players like Downing,Hargreaves and Crouch (who has hardly played for Liverpool this season let alone England) are doing in the team ? Beckham to his credit tried with his crosses but to no avail and as for Ashley Cole (can he cross a ball or what) useless.
It's the same old boring rubbish all over again with England, 2 games in and no wins but did we really expect anything else ?
Well done to Scotland,N.Ireland and Wales some good wins and at least you had something to cheer about, sounds crazy but the pressure is already mounting on Capello at this early stage.
From rigby515 on Thu Mar 27 11:24AMThe one thing that you can say about England is that they are consistant....Consistantly poor! There is not an area of the pitch where they can dominate 2 games in a row let alone look like they have quality running through the side.Its not the manager's fault and never has been , its the over-paid, over-rated prima donnas that are shored up week in and week out by the foriegn talent in the premiership..When will someone wake up to the idea that you need a team to win matches not 11 posers,drop all the fancy-dans, pick some real grafters who are proud to play for England - start with the spirit and commitment and build the talent and flair on top of it if its whats needed.It is blatantly obvious that it doesn't work the other way round.What have we to lose???
From mdan1405 on Thu Mar 27 11:25AMReally thought that the game last night was pants. Anelka and Ribery run the show, and tho Becks tried hard, there should now be a clear out. Watching France trounce all over us in every part of the field, just showed how far England are away from being a force in international football. France themselves had a few players missing, yet they worked the ball in a way England don't know how to? Not for foreign managers myself but thought the appointment of Capello would be enough to turn our england team around. Suppose an amount of time is required, and I only hope he pulls it off.The england supporters doing their usual whistling when the french national anthem was played, does little to supress the idea that our fans are moronic thugs either.Pride in our team should start with the fans. About time they behaved with a bit of decorum too.
From barny1158 on Thu Mar 27 11:27AMHow anyone can think that David Bentley is a replacement for Beckham, I dont know. After all the subs were on, he was one of the worst performing. IMO Hargreaves was one of the better players on the night. As for everyones favourite whipping boy, Downing, his display on the left whilst not great, was still streets ahead of Bentley. If we could get rid of that prat A Cole who wont pass to anyone outside the top 4 teams, then any left winger would have a better chance.
I watched a lot of Mullery's comments last night and Lawrie Sanchez was right when he said that age shouldnt preclude Beckam, after all didnt Bentley withdraw from a international championship cos he was too tired!!!
From mikegettings on Thu Mar 27 11:31AMIf Scotland can draw with Croatia, then why the hell can't England?! Taking nothing away from Scotland, however, they were brillant.
From captaincom on Thu Mar 27 11:49AMnote to garethcoletranslation, they are bringing in foreign goalkeepers because ours arent good enough. by the end of the year manuel almunia will be eligible, theres a lot of talk of him being englands great goalkeeping hope. worrying given hes no more than a competent goalkeeper. im an arsenal fan so i should be biased, but i dont rate him as one of the best, though given the 'english' goalkeeping pool, maybe he is the best of that lot. Hart at man city is now the new one for the future, as have been richard wright, robert green, chris kirkland, paul robinson, ben carsley and countless others. the problem is there is no confidence in these players
From nathangtalbot on Thu Mar 27 11:49AM
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