nickbennett_blog

Tag: England

  • England: The Solution

    So we’ll be hanging on to the ’66 victory for at least another 4 years. I can see us hanging on to that for a lot longer though. My dad reckons it’s because the schools are discouraging competitive competition. I agree that this doesn’t help, however, I think the England team did at least try very hard. They just weren’t very good.

    The more traditional football fan still believes you can win the tournament playing a traditional 442 style. I’m not convinced. The game has evolved so much in recent years. The win has become so important that teams no longer seem to just ‘go for it’. The underdog will attempt to get every man behind the ball and hope for something to happen on the counter. The Final itself was a clear example of this. The Dutch game plan was to disrupt the Spanish, and it almost worked. This made for a very poor game of football.

    With our trusted 442 system it relies on there being space for the wingers to get to the byline to cross. Against Algeria, this wasn’t ever going to be possible.
    So what system should we be playing? Well, it’s up to the manager. What no answers Len? Well until we have the players with the level of ability required it’s irrelevant. There’s a serious lack of English talent at the moment. You look at the world champions and you’ll note that the majority of them play for Barcelona and Real Madrid. Our best players do come from Chelsea and Manchester United, but where do the rest come from Portsmouth, West Ham, and Blackburn. You get the picture. We need to look at the grassroots and adopt a model similar to the Spanish.

    Johan Cruyff introduced the total football theologies when he went to manage Barcelona and the Spanish style of play has also adopted this.  I’m not convinced that style of play is what the England game is all about. Instead of a slow ‘tippy tappy’ approach, we tend to play at a great intensity of physicality and speed. However, when we play at the international level this approach never seems to be part of the game plan? Whether this is due to the foreign manager or whether our mentality suggests we should play in a ‘continental’ manner I don’t know. I would like to see us look at our nationalistic strengths and build on these at a grassroots level.

    Here is my 3-point plan to help build a World Cup-winning side.

    1. The first is to limit the number of foreign players per team in the Premiership. This would force teams to invest in (and actually use) their youth teams.

    2. I would introduce football academies across the country funded by the FA. With the amount of money in the Premiership at the moment, I’m sure this shouldn’t be a problem.

    3. A salary cap in the Premiership has to happen. It’s gone far too far now. It’s time to make these spoilt children slightly more humble. If they move abroad then so be it, they can still be picked for England 🙂

    England for the cup in 2030!

  • Gazza for England Manager

    Mental! I know, but hear me out. I’ve listened to a number of theories as to why England is so poor in this tournament and I don’t believe a single one. The fundamental thing is the players look tense and tired. This pressure is caused by the media’s ‘build them up to knock them down’ ethos (see previous rant). You look at some of the fearless teams (New Zealand being a prime example) and they’ve played well beyond any expectation. Can you imagine how England would play if they were relaxed!

    That’s where Gazza comes in. I’m not condoning red bus jaunts with dentist chairs and meat pies. However, Gazza would make training fun. The players may even start enjoying football again. Can you imagine Jimmy 5 bellies as his number 2, brilliant! What better example of getting someone crazy in charge than the Argies. Maradona has already mocked Pele, and Platini, and discussed his young girlfriend. This limelight is probably welcomed by his players as it leaves them to concentrate on the matter at hand (no pun intended). With a controversial manager at the helm, it can help produce a siege mentality which has proven very successful for one Jose ‘special one’ Mourinho.

    So if we go out tomorrow the following will happen, Capello will be paid a massive golden handshake and we’ll begin our search for another expensive manager. If the new manager is lucky he will see us exit another major tournament early doors. And the process will start again. Sound familiar? We could save our selfs a fortune by buying some Newcy Brown Ales and giving a call to the Newcastle priory!

  • DePRESSing

    I’ve always known that the press in this country are a bunch of scandalous cads. I’ve some personal experience as one of these creatures (from the ‘Screws of the World’) slim-ed his way into our school after hearing a sixth former had got one of the teachers pregnant. By the way, back then this was a big story! There was no code of conduct or etiquette that you may expect from a man representing such a fine national institution. His tie was halfway down his undone shirt as he appeared from the back of the school where we were playing football. He asked us whether we knew anything before he was shepherded away by one of the teachers. There is one thing that has only become more apparent in recent years though, how bloody hypocritical they are!

    Front Page – “Pubs ban England Shirts – Outrage”
    Back Page – “What’s your game, Fabio? – Capello signs up for online game”

    Front Page – “Triesman fix claims”
    Back Page – “Remember the war England”

    Front Page – “Terry Scandal”
    Back Page – “Do it for Sir Bobby”

    You get the picture. These papers claim to be ‘behind our boys’ but I’ve never heard such nonsense. If I’m fully behind something I don’t try my utmost to undermine it at every possible opportunity. I’m fed up with hearing the defense ‘Oh, that’s our press they’ve always been like that’. We can stop it now by just not buying their papers. No one is cleaner than clean in the world, so I don’t expect the England football team to be any different. The Daily Mail set up Lord Triesdman by getting his personal assistant involved in the sting. Nice one! Don’t want to host the World Cup then. So come on Fleet street, stop playing silly buggers at least for a couple of months!

  • Love is egg shaped…or is it?

    I have a list of sporting venues and events I wish to see. On that list is Twickenham the home of English rugby. Some of my die-hard football fanatics had given their input on my decision to go. “Is it so you can stick your private part in a pint of Tetleys”, “It’s the strangest game with lots of handbells”, “The ref keeps pointing in the wrong bloody direction” etc. I’ve always quite enjoyed watching the six nations and Johnny Wilkinson’s drop goal to win the 2003 world cup is up there with my top sporting moments. My experience with the people that played rugby at university had been one of bemusement. Often seen vomiting into buckets or wearing very strange headgear. The cynical side of me did expect the crowd to be made up of wobbly mole’d Etonians that enjoyed nothing more than a linked arm sing-song of Jerusalem. I wasn’t disappointed.

    First a warning to anyone traveling to Twickenham by train. DON’T. It’s a mission and a half. The journey from Twickenham station to the ground is a good 15 minutes walk. This part of the journey was made worse by the pouring rain. As you meander through the residential area you are welcomed by homeowners selling hot dogs, doughnuts, and hog roast. A really nice touch.

    The Mrs and I arrived at the ground with an hour and a half to spare. It was OK though, as there are plenty of food, merchandise, and alcohol vendors around the perimeter of the ground. I spotted a merchandise stall selling the Lion’s red tour jersey for a discounted price, so I joined the very ad hoc queueing system. What made it worse was the number of school kids (presumably from Rugby clubs around the country) pushing in and causing carnage. It wasn’t just the kids though, adults also with the manners of a Mexican pimp were pushing in left right, and center. I remember thinking “Gentleman’s game eh?”. Eventually, I got the opportunity to shout “Large Red Lions Jersey Please” to the spotty youth behind the counter. The transaction was made and I was on my way. Better check the size…XL. RAGE!!!

    I go back and push into the front waving the shirt. Eventually, I get the guy that sold it to me’s attention. “You sold me the wrong size”. The spotty oick went to get his supervisor. “You need to go to the club shop to get it changed” the supervisor shouts. Bloody Brilliant. The stress levels have erupted. Cursing ensues as I make my way around the other side of the ground to find the shop. We get to the shop and the queue is even bigger than the previous one. I tell the guy guarding the exit door my dilemma, but he wasn’t interested and told me I’d need to join the queue. “We’re leaving!” is my reaction.

    The Mrs said, “No we’re not and grabs the jersey”. Forcing her way to the front of the initial merchandise stool she demands either a refund or the correct size. Nothing quite like a woman’s scorn to get the job done. Needless to say, we ended up with the correct size, but the tensions were still running high. We’ll laugh about this one day…mmmm. We decided to take our seats and enjoy the rest of the day.

    Twickenham itself is a lovely stadium and I’ve never heard such a stirring rendition of God save the queen. The game itself was very very poor. People around the ground were more interested in whether the numerous paper airplanes could make it onto the field of play. The only highlight of the first half was the precision kicking of Johnny Wilkinson. The second half was a lot livelier than the first, with several great plays causing me to stand from my seat for the first time. Eventually, England managed to break through the resilient Argy defense to score the only try of the game. In the final moments of the game Argentina was pushing for the try as England managed to hold on.

    Johnny Wilkinson miss
    Johnny Wilkinson miss

    If we thought getting to the ground was a pain we had a treat waiting for us on the journey back. The overground service didn’t run at the same regularity as the underground services you normally find situated near these venues. It took well over an hour to get from the ground to the train station. This isn’t a massive gripe as I’d expected this, the Mrs however was not impressed. Eventually, we get our train home, stop at the local curry house, grab a bottle of wine, and then we are home.

    Overall I’m glad I can say I’ve been and experienced it. I won’t be in any hurry to go back though. The atmosphere just isn’t the same at Rugby as it is at Football. Everyone always states that Rugby is such a happy friendly atmosphere, so much so that you can drink in the stadium. This is true because the game in front of them isn’t of the same intensity as that you experience with Football. I’ve been to some absolutely terrible Football games but the atmosphere has surpassed this 76,000 spectator spectacle. The behaviour of the people at rugby is also just as bad as football. The group of lads sitting next to the Mrs was having a farting competition…quite sophisticated high-brow stuff.

  • Blues halt rampant Leeds

    Another Friday night at the Hall, and another entertaining game. Despite there being no goals the game itself was as exciting as they come. Great saves, missed penalties, last-ditch challenges, and friendly crowd banter. Captain Adam Barrett was immense at the back with countless Bobby Moore’esq tackles keeping us in the game. The main talking point happened in the 66th minute when a hopeful ball played into the Leeds area forced a reckless challenge, Penalty!

    Lee ‘Barney’ Barnard had scored 2 penalties at the same time last week (the first having to be retaken) so the crowd was full of confidence when he stepped up. Unfortunately for us the keeper guessed the right way and managed to get an outstretched hand to the ball. On the face of it, a great point but can’t help but feel disappointed to let them off the hook. Next up Brighton away!

    Just like to congratulate the England team who did a fantastic job in qualifying. Just shows what some technical know-how and a strict approach can achieve. I like to believe the rumours that John Terry asked permission for the team to have some nuts on a flight to an away game. Capello simply shook his head….brilliant!