Monday, June 28, 2010

World Cup Reportage PtIII

After a first half that promised to turn this meeting of old foes into the first genuine classic of the tournament, before it turned into a one-sided march reminiscent of Germany v Oz match &, at times, Portugal v N Korea.

Such was the incisiveness of the German counter attacks in the second half that the stars of the bestest, greatest league in the world look ponderous & amateurish in comparison. Case in point - Gareth Barry. En route to setting up the fourth goal, Mesut Ozil sped past Barry like a Fiat Coupe overtaking a Toyota Vios. And if he wasn't fully fit, why was he in the strating XI? And Barry wasn't alone. Matthew Upson, despite scoring a goal, was woefully short of international class & quality. Rooney as good as Messi? In yer fooking dreams. Our own Stevie G looked lost stuck out on the left.

Were the English once again the victims of horrendous officiating? As bad as the decision to disallow Lampard's goal was, there is nay hiding the fact that the Germans were vastly superior in nearly every department. Tactically, individually and mentally, the Germans outclassed England to set up a mouth-watering clash with Argentina this weekend.

Even the famously jingoistic Daily Mail had to agree on this. There was nay hiding from the deficiencies of a squad that played miserably throughout the tournament.

England, now deservedly, joins Italy and France as the other heavyweights to exit the tourney after a series of frankly turgid & lifeless performances.

Comments?

6 comments:

Achilles said...

AD: Me not a major footie fan, so got not much to contribute. but it is a surprise to see teams that were once considered giants dropping out like flies. Italy, France and now England.

So far the 2 teams i got money riding on seem to be doing good... hope they keep it up.

PS: Check out me blog and leave comment. Me sure you will love the posting i just made.

Anba said...

I actually thot that england could actually pull it off...
Was even telling my students that england are just started to peak..but after watching the game i felt like bozo the clown...
Lampards strike if it was allowed might have...
But Being england they are good with what if...
what if Rio ferdinand wasn;t injured as with beckham..
What if Terry didnt sleep with Wayne Bridge punya wifey sure they could have made a better partner..

you can put anything you want but the fact was that The German machine now in not just super efficient but it's also an efficient Killing machine..
They way they split apart the English Defence like A Durian was a joy to see...

another good thing for german is with ballack injured it freed up the germans ...
They are very good with counter attack..and this might be the strongest way to beat the south american game of passing and holding the ball for possesion...

anfield devotee said...

achilles: Lotsa of people lost money. Thought England could hold out fer a draw in 90mins. Good luck with yer pools.

anba: bozo teh clown . . . Ah ha ha ! yer students must think this cikguu talkig cock la after last nite's performance!

kevo said...

disgraceful. germany showed england alright and its laughable. you can't help but wonder what tactics or game plan a seasoned gaffer like ol fabs there had fer the match if at all... oh yah, game plan or no, the fookin players didn't show up anyways! rooney, me arse!!! fook the major overhaul needed, nevermind, the english pride to thick me thinks, verpiss dich anyways lah! why i even bother with the wankers, i dunno?

Life's Like That said...

I have always believed that the BPL or the English League b4 that was grossly over-rated. We think they are great cos we see them every weekend. The current generation of Lampards, Gerrards and Terrys are jus like the Shearers, Robsons or Butchers b4 them. Unless they start taking the bold step of proving themselves in the Italian, Spanish or German leagues, there is no fooking way that they are going to achieve anything notable in our lifetime. Ppl talk abt the Germans but have u seen the skills and composure of the Uruguayan, Chile or Paraguayan midfielders? Or for trhat matter, look at Honda and Endo of Japan. Lampard n Gerrard are nowhere near their class! So England can go on basking and being "Jaguh Kampung" for the forseeable future!

anfield devotee said...

kevo: yes, the tactics or lack thereof was lamentable.

LLT: Yes, agreed. Me is rooting fer the smaller south american teams to do well but alas chile has since been eliminated.

Uruguay with a population smaller than Subang fooking Jaya (not literally but ye gets the picture) can boast of TWO stars on their jerseys compared to MIGHTY england's solitary honour.

As fer england's golden generation, well, me thinks the late-70s & early-80s also produced world class players.

Despite the culture of heavy drinking & meat & potato diet, England still managed to conquer Europe in succesive seasons with Forest, LFC & Villa. Beating the likes of Madrid & Bayern in the finals of the european cup.

Perhaps, da Kaiser is rite, da englanders play a little too much football & are physically drained.

Wotever the root cause of the downfall, it is a time fer some serious soul searching among the english fer now.