Post by Salem6 on Jun 23, 2004 18:25:36 GMT
By Myles Palmer
_______________________
IRISH CATHOLIC Wayne Rooney is the finest footballer we have produced since Bobby Charlton.
We need Celtic flair to go with English grit.
All our great club teams were made up of English yeomen plus a couple of creative Scots or Irishmen.
Obviously, the three best players in Euro 2004 are Vieira, Zidane and Rooney.
Rooney is our Zidane, but Sven does not dare to build round him because he is clinging to his icons, Owen and Beckham, hoping they will come good.
It's a big gamble which could come unstuck on Thursday night against Portugal.
I'm not in the mood to write a long preview, so I will just say a few quick words before I go for a swim.
URS MEIER is the ref and he won't be England's 12th man, as Collina was in the 4-2 win over Croatia.
Collina could have booked Scholes twice and given a free-kick against Sol when he missed the ball in the D, flattened Prso, Terry cleared, England broke, and Owen chipped onto the roof of the net.
On form, Owen isn't skilful enough to chip a keeper from there, let alone now.
PORTUGAL will have 60 % of possession.
It might be the old story : they play the football, we score the goals.
So far England have beaten two weak teams by 3-1 and 4-2, so we still don't know whether they are any good and we still don't know if Sven will be made to pay for his unbalanced midfield and his loyalty to Owen.
True, Sven's substitutions were good, especially King for Scholes.
EURO 2004 starts in the Estadio da Luz on Thursday night.
There are 31 games and we have had 22 warm-up games, to let us see the contenders
The first 22 games have suggested that it will be Zizou 2004, but Englishmen hope it will be EUROO 2004 - another three masterclasses by wonderWayne.
Overall, the standard of the teams is well below that of Euro 2000, partly because the managers are so bad.
Sven is better than Keegan, but he insists on having two square pegs his four round holes in midfield.
Scholes cannot tackle, but Sven has to keep picking him because Owen is a passenger and he needs Scholes's goals.
Personally, I don't think Owen and Beckham will be any better in games 4 and 5 than they have been in games 1-2-3.
Sven is coaching a team with bottle.
This England team will be good if they go a goal down.
With Germany so average these days, England 1-0 down are the best side in Europe.
Having said that, I have started to believe that the first goal wins it on Thursday night.
Will write a proper preview in the morning.
DID YOU SEE BILL CLINTON on Panorama last night, with David Dimbleby?
Bill sounds like a Southern preacher when he doesn't sound like a Southern lawyer.
A clever, charismatic slimeball who predictably insisted that Arafat walked away from a historic peace deal.
Bill's defence of his pal Tony Blair was so ingenious that I was almost persuaded !
www.anr.uk.com/articles/m-2004-06-23-13-50-59.html
_______________________
IRISH CATHOLIC Wayne Rooney is the finest footballer we have produced since Bobby Charlton.
We need Celtic flair to go with English grit.
All our great club teams were made up of English yeomen plus a couple of creative Scots or Irishmen.
Obviously, the three best players in Euro 2004 are Vieira, Zidane and Rooney.
Rooney is our Zidane, but Sven does not dare to build round him because he is clinging to his icons, Owen and Beckham, hoping they will come good.
It's a big gamble which could come unstuck on Thursday night against Portugal.
I'm not in the mood to write a long preview, so I will just say a few quick words before I go for a swim.
URS MEIER is the ref and he won't be England's 12th man, as Collina was in the 4-2 win over Croatia.
Collina could have booked Scholes twice and given a free-kick against Sol when he missed the ball in the D, flattened Prso, Terry cleared, England broke, and Owen chipped onto the roof of the net.
On form, Owen isn't skilful enough to chip a keeper from there, let alone now.
PORTUGAL will have 60 % of possession.
It might be the old story : they play the football, we score the goals.
So far England have beaten two weak teams by 3-1 and 4-2, so we still don't know whether they are any good and we still don't know if Sven will be made to pay for his unbalanced midfield and his loyalty to Owen.
True, Sven's substitutions were good, especially King for Scholes.
EURO 2004 starts in the Estadio da Luz on Thursday night.
There are 31 games and we have had 22 warm-up games, to let us see the contenders
The first 22 games have suggested that it will be Zizou 2004, but Englishmen hope it will be EUROO 2004 - another three masterclasses by wonderWayne.
Overall, the standard of the teams is well below that of Euro 2000, partly because the managers are so bad.
Sven is better than Keegan, but he insists on having two square pegs his four round holes in midfield.
Scholes cannot tackle, but Sven has to keep picking him because Owen is a passenger and he needs Scholes's goals.
Personally, I don't think Owen and Beckham will be any better in games 4 and 5 than they have been in games 1-2-3.
Sven is coaching a team with bottle.
This England team will be good if they go a goal down.
With Germany so average these days, England 1-0 down are the best side in Europe.
Having said that, I have started to believe that the first goal wins it on Thursday night.
Will write a proper preview in the morning.
DID YOU SEE BILL CLINTON on Panorama last night, with David Dimbleby?
Bill sounds like a Southern preacher when he doesn't sound like a Southern lawyer.
A clever, charismatic slimeball who predictably insisted that Arafat walked away from a historic peace deal.
Bill's defence of his pal Tony Blair was so ingenious that I was almost persuaded !
www.anr.uk.com/articles/m-2004-06-23-13-50-59.html