TheBoyEllis Blog

Crouch scores for England. Again.

So, a less than convincing win against Egypt seals yet another worrying night of international football at Wembley.

The key question on everyone’s lips is what Capello does next. It’s a question all football fans have an answer to but a question that has been made all the more intriguing – and harder to answer – after last night’s performance.

England is unfortunately full of dull talent. Cole, Milner, Upson, Lampard Baines… they may all play well at club level but are utterly uninspiring when put on the world stage. Yes, even Baines, who had a passable game in the much hyped left back position.

What worried me last night is that several other players are creeping into that list. Gerrard, Rooney, Walcott… All three did little to convince me they deserve a starting place in South Africa this summer. Particulalry Rooney who, having put in another nonedescript, goal-less performance, was described by the eternally irritating Tyldsley as ‘our talisman’.

Sorry? He had better start scoring. That’s all that matters in his position and the brief nature of any major tournamnent.

Walcott – who I rate – was just poor at times. He constantly looks out of his depth. A real shame for a player who is sorely lacking in match practice at the moment and is vying for a place in one of the most hotly contested areas of the pitch.

Gerrard skulks around the park, rarely chasing lost balls or regaining possession he’s just given away. That’s not him, is it? What’s changed?

I’m the ultimate doom-and-gloom, pessimistic England fan, I admit, but we must all surely be mindful of the fact that our chances this summer don’t look great.

While we indeed have a manager full of intent and insistent on taming our overpaid footballers, something is still sorely missing; passion. On the pitch. Sordid affairs, clubs falling into administration and tails of gambling addiction are all recent, clear indicators of a sport which has completely lost it’s purpose.

Fabio’s right. These lads get too rich far too young and aside from the side effects we’ve seen splashed across the tabloids over recent weeks, there is one that remains forgotten – they’ve lost the passion and pride which should come naturally when selected to play for your country. Wayne Bridge’s decision to declare himself unavailable does nothing but cement this sorry fact.

Still… Roll on the World Cup.

Rooney swearing at someone, again.

What a fantastic weekend for sport. England pounded the Scots in the Six Nations, my local team, Northampton Town FC, trounced Stockport 4-0 and Man Utd suffered yet another horrendous couple of days in their fight to retain the Premier League title.

My girlfriend always asks why I detest Man Utd so much and has always cited their success as a reason for my hatred of the club. This simply isn’t the case. What I – and no doubt countless others – dislike about them is the underlying arrogance that permeates every surface of their being. Now, that might sound a little dramatic, but take a moment to consider their many past signings who have very quickly adopted the ‘Utd arrogance’. Nani and Anderson are two prime examples. Two unknown footballers (I don’t care about their past credentials, I’d never heard of either and I follow football closely). Now that they both wear the AIG shirt, they strut around the pitch like they possess a god-given talent for the game. They don’t. Both are utterly average, as is Ronaldo (who has taken the level of arrogance to a whole new dimension).

Back to this weekend, though, and the sight of Rooney’s pasty moon-like face contorted with anger was a sight to behold, if not a particularly pleasant one. Quite rightly dismissed for a childish display of dissent, he dragged his knuckles off the field spitting his usual array of expletives before completing the pantomime with a rousing punch of the corner flag, in full view of two members of the constabulary. Brilliant. It certainly capped off a fantastic weekend.

What a child, though. How can he expect us to hold any respect for him as an England player? As we know from the Ronaldo/Real scandal, Utd fans are about as fickle as they come and I therefore doubt his actions on Saturday will dent their undying love for him, but as an England fan I simply don’t want a bad-tempered little child playing for us. Look at the greats – Pele, Gazza, Moore, Van Basten, Lineker; none of them possess Rooney’s temperament and as a result were greatly respected by football fans worldwide. There’s nothing wrong with being arrogant if you want to be a successful sportsman – look at Ali – but there is a line and Rooney, along with the majority of his team mates, appear to be suffering from a massive, collective, over-inflated ego. Saturday was embarrassing for all Utd fans. I just hope they take their red blinkers off and discover the deep mess their team is in.