After another dismal performance that hinted that Stevie M had more to do with the dull football under Sven than he lets on, there should be a flood of membership applications to Castor’s new club.
Stevie did get his excuses lined up before the match, so we expect plenty of “I told you so” and innane talk about how difficult it is to beat Macedonia…MACEDONIA…away from home.
But nobody cares how good a job he thinks he’s doing, England were poor in their first “real test” and showed that the team still suffers from many of the ailments that were papered over by victories over powerhouses Andorra and Greece. An inability to play their way out of trouble on the ground, over reliance on hopeful balls and crosses, and defending a 1-0 with 11 men. Sound familiar?
Here were some of our knee jerk reactions and we’d like to hear yours, unless of course you’re too busy celebrating:
– Gerrard and Lampard did not play well as a partnership in the middle, but apparently are even worse apart. At least Frank used to score back then.
– Peter Crouch is tall. Andorra and Macedonia found it hard to deal with extremely tall people. A nation with more than two* professional players may not.
– Aaron Lennon runs fast. Stuart Downing doesn’t.
– Paul Robinson may have actually gained weight over the course of that match.
*Yes they may have more than 2, does it really matter?