So.. the mighty English team progress yet again with another thumping of one of the minnows of Europe. Top of the table, undefeated in the group stage, talks of heading to South Africa for the World Cup Finals.
All very well and good, but what’s it worth in reality?
Here’s what Phil McNulty of the BBC had to say:
“England’s relentless march towards the 2010 World Cup in South Africa has gathered almost unstoppable momentum after a stroll to victory against Andorra at Wembley.”
Talk about hype and over-reacting!
We had goals from Rooney (4, 39), Lampard (29), Defoe (73, 76) and Crouch (81), and I wouldn’t expect anything less from players who ply their trade in what is arguably the best league in the world, filled with top-class players.
England have a joke of a group. The only team in there of note are Croatia, who caused us trouble in the Euros last time around and knocked us out at the qualifying stage. The Ukraine have only one real player of note, Andriy Shevchenko, who to be honest, isn’t that good of a player.
The rest of the countries that make up the group (Belarus, Kazakhstan and Andorra) are, to be brutal, not worth putting in a Sunday League. There’s the tried and tested response by pundits and players that there are “no easy teams at international level”.Well, sorry, but yes there are. If England didn’t beat a bunch of part-time painters and decorators from north of Spain by a good margin, then they shouldn’t be playing for England.
What needs to happen is for FIFA to take a long hard look at teams like this and, oh, let’s say, if they’re not in the top 100 in the World Rankings, then they should have to play pre-qualifying matches for all major tournaments before they can even get into the group stages.
Last night’s match, for instance, did absolutely nothing for us tactically, and definitely didn’t improve or test any levels of fitness or skill. For most of the match, our defence was camped halfway inside the Andorran half of the pitch. The 2 center-halves had nothing to do, and Robert Green got a cheer whenever he managed to get to the ball, usually when he wandered halfway into the England half to pick up a back pass. Matches like this are an absolute waste of time. Micheal Owen could have scored, even now when he’s not fully fit and probably still injured, and we all know how crap he is nowadays.
Do us a favour FIFA, and stop making us play non-sensical games like this
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