Spain 1-0 Germany

Goals:
Torres 33’

The first thing I voiced after starting these Spain reviews was the worry that my support for the Spanish squad would jinx their chances. After the conclusion of the tournament, I’m happy to say the opposite turned out to be true.

As I’m sure you’ve read multiple times by now, this is Spain’s first major trophy in 44 years. And the man who scored the goal that sealed the title was Fernando Torres, the reason I started the endeavor of examining Spain’s performances. After misfiring for much of the tournament (and the first 30 minutes of today’s match), Torres produced a moment of brilliance like the many he performed for Liverpool time and time again this season.

For the first 10 minutes of the game it looked as if Germany might overrun the Spanish. Having been in this position before, the Germans seemed to start with less weight on their shoulders, were denying Spain the ball, and pushed towards Casillas’ goal. But like in the last match against Russia, Casillas was rarely threatened, and as the game progressed, the Spanish became more dominant.

Indeed, Spain nearly opened the scoring in the 13th minute when Iniesta’s shot deflected off Metzelder, forcing Lehmann into a reaction save to prevent an own goal. Nine minutes later, Torres did well to get on the end of a Ramos cross, only to see his header cannon off the foot of the post, which summed up how most of the tournament has gone for the #9.

But ten minutes following that chance, Torres finally found his Liverpool form with a goal straight out of Benitez’s playbook. Xavi’s throughball put Torres one-on-one with Phillip Lahm, but Torres was left with ground to make up to get on the end of it. But the striker out-paced the quick fullback and deftly chipped over an on-rushing Lehmann to give Spain the lead.

And it was a lead that would last for the rest of the final. Spain continued to turn the screws, although Germany remained tough to break down. Silva had a chance to get a second minutes after the opener but screwed his volley high and wide.

The Germans brought on left back Jansen for Lahm at half-time in an attempt to change proceedings. Which it didn’t. Kuranyi came on the 58th minute for Hitzlsperger, bringing on a striker for a midfielder, and while it brought the Germans more possession, they still weren’t creating chances.

Ramos should have sealed the game in the 66th minute, sending a free header straight at Lehmann from Xavi’s free kick after the German defense completely fouled up the offside trap. But that was one of the few times the German defense was caught asleep; their resilience was the reason Spain only scored one.

Although there’s always a danger of giving up a soft equalizer, Germany rarely looked like getting it. Iniesta continued to threaten, forcing Frings to clear off the line and eliciting a save from Lehmann minutes later, while Senna nearly got on the scoresheet after Guiza’s knockdown into his path in the 80th, only for the ball to bounce unkindly.

As the minutes wore away, the Spanish simply tried to keep possession and prevent the Germans from getting something undeserved. And if there’s any team in this tournament who can pass the ball around all day long, it’s Spain, leading to a final 10 or so minutes that progressively disheartened the Germans.

One of the best things about Spain’s victory is that it demonstrates that the team with the most eye-catching football can win this trophy. To be honest, after Greece’s victory in 2004 and seeing the Russians and Turks do so well this time around, I feared that the most cohesive “team” would succeed, no matter their strategy. But Spain’s victory is a victory for pretty football, and hopefully it’ll set a precedent for the future.

It’s tough to pick a man of the match, especially when Torres gets the winner, and I’m automatically drawn towards him. But I have to highlight Marcos Senna, as Spain wouldn’t have won anything without him. He’s been a superlative holding midfielder: breaking up the play, protecting the back four, and providing a platform for players like Xavi and Fabregas. Throughout the tournament he gave an absolutely master-class performance, but because of his position in the team, it has been overshadowed by the likes of Villa, Torres, and Fabregas.

But I’ll finish on a selfish note. No matter how happy I am for Spain, and I truly am pleased with their performance and that they broke such a long-standing jinx (next up, England’s 42-year drought!), most important to me is that the four Liverpool players in the squad will come back to Anfield brimming with confidence and with the Euro trophy in the cabinet. And hopefully, none more confident than the game-winning Fernando Torres, who continues to show he can score goals on any occasion.

Spain 3-0 Russia

Goals:
Xavi 50’
Guiza 73’
Silva 82’

One couldn’t have expected another three-goal margin of victory for Spain, especially with the way the Russians consummately dispatched the Dutch last Saturday. And for the first 45 minutes, it certainly didn’t look happening.

Once again, Spain started well enough, dominating possession and tempo but with little to show for it. Berezutski, who marked Torres very well, and the rest of the Russian defense weren’t giving Spain any openings to put their possession to use, while Akinfeev was making the few saves he needed to. An injury to Villa, who appeared to hurt himself taking a free kick and went off for Fabregas in the 34th, didn’t help matters either.

But at the same time, Russia offered next to nothing in attack, and Arshavin, the man who had been so impressive in their previous two games, was often invisible. Casillas didn’t have a save to make in the entire first half, with Russia’s lone chance coming when a Pavlyuchenko free kick sailed over the bar 16 minutes in.

But five minutes after the restart, Spain’s pressure paid dividends and an early goal sent them on their way. Iniesta, who played mostly on the left, cut inside, and appeared to aim a shot at the far post. It was going wide, but Xavi had continued his run and was able to redirect it past a sprawling Akinfeev.

From there, the game opened up a bit with the Russians in need of an equalizer. Torres had two decent chances, coming in the 62nd and 63rd minutes -- first unable to get a cross on target from a narrow angle and then getting stuck between a volley and a header on another Ramos cross, only to knee it helplessly wide. The latter was a chance he would have buried in a Liverpool shirt, but even with the striker misfiring he still looked dangerous.

But then, again, Aragones saw fit to take him off, bringing on Guiza (and Alonso for Xavi) in the 69th minute. However, this time it worked exactly as the manager drew it up, with Guiza getting his second goal of the tournament four minutes after coming on. In a goal made by substitutes, Fabregas delicately lobbed the ball over the top for an onside Guiza to chip over the keeper.

The second goal took all the wind out of the opposition, and Spain was able to drop the tempo and play keep-away. When the Russians got possession they had to send as many forward as possible in order to get one back, and Spain was able to take advantage in the 82nd, with Iniesta brilliantly finding Fabregas on the left with a long pass out of defense. Cesc took a touch and slide-rule centered for Silva to control and slot past Akinfeev.

Sychev nearly got a consolation in the 88th but for an excellent save from Casillas (with a free header from a free kick, something that the Spanish will have to improve on and how Germany was able to punish Portugal), while Guiza was denied a fourth in the 90th to keep the score at 3-0.

I still maintain the scoreline flatters the Spanish, but they were far and away better today than against the Italians, and it was the improvement from the likes of Iniesta and Ramos that was a big reason for it. Throughout the game Ramos was more composed and made no silly challenges, but was still able to get forward to put in threatening crosses. Meanwhile, as the game went on, Iniesta was more and more effective playing inch-perfect long balls, including the one that set up Fabregas to assist on Spain’s third goal.

Spain’s midfield, especially when it was 5 vs 5, bossed Russia’s, kept them from playing the football that beat the Dutch, and Fabregas was the centerpiece of it. The substitute was probably the man of the match for his two-assist performance and the way he was able to replace the tournament’s leading goalscorer off the bench. He directed traffic, linked the play, and popped up left, right, and center. I’d be stunned if he doesn’t retain his place if Villa isn’t fit.

This will be Spain’s first major final since Euro 84, and the players did well to not succumb to nerves today having made it this far. There was a mountain of pressure in finally making a semifinal and being favorites, with the Russians unfancied even after their win over Holland. But Germany will be a very different, and tougher, proposition -- not only because of their experience (this will be their sixth Euro final, having won three) but also their aforementioned capabilities on set pieces.

Spain 0-0 Italy; Spain win 4-2 on penalties

You couldn’t ignore the omens. All three group-winners had gone out of the competition in the quarterfinals. Spain hadn’t beaten Italy in a competitive fixture in 88 years. There’s the precedent of Spain stumbling in the knockout rounds after an impressive group stage, while the Italians often start slow only to improve as the tournament progresses. And the Furia Roja had been knocked out of international competitions on June 22nd on penalties at the quarterfinal stage on three separate occasions -- World Cup ’86 and ’02 and Euro ’96.

You almost knew how this game was going to play out before the whistle blew. Spain was going to have the majority of possession, but Italy would pack bodies in defense and throttle the life out of the Spanish attack. After eking through a tumultuous group stage, the Italians probably would have settled for penalties from the get-go. And for 120 minutes, that’s exactly how it played out.

It doesn’t do the cliché justice to say chances were at a premium. With Italy content to let Spain have the ball, but relegate their possession to midfield and the wings while swiftly shutting down any attacker with the ball in the final third, the Spanish had to be content with mostly long-range efforts throughout the first half. David Silva threatened the most often, but with Panucci, Chiellini, De Rossi, and Ambrosini quick to close down the ball Buffon was rarely tested.

Spain could have had a couple of penalties, with Grosso pulling Torres’ shirt and Ambrosini chopping down Villa a minute later, but Herbert Fandel ignored both. Which wouldn’t have been all that surprising (although Villa probably did deserve his shout) if Fandel wasn’t blowing his whistle at every opportunity when it was outside the box, especially for Spanish fouls on the Italians. By the end of the match, Andy Gray was beside himself with the referee, which always makes for amusing commentary.

Only twice in the second half did the script deviate from the first, with each side nearly getting a goal in a match where one goal always looked enough. In the 61st minute, a ball over the top created a scramble in the Spanish penalty area that Camoranesi got on the end of, only to see Casillas get back into position to make an excellent instinctive save with his left leg. In the 81st, with Spain still resorting to deep shots, Buffon fumbled an excellent long-range effort from Senna, but instead of rolling over the line it bounced back to the keeper off the post.

Aragones attempted to change the game with the same substitutions as against Sweden, with Cazorla on for Iniesta and Fabregas for Xavi, but they failed to make the same impact. In addition, with five minutes left in normal time, Spain’s last roll of the dice was to remove Torres for Dani Guiza. I may be incredibly biased, and Torres didn’t have his best game (he was better in the second half), but the move seemed insane. Liverpool fans excoriated Benitez for taking Torres off in extra time of the Champions League semi-final, and at least then Torres was arguably injured. It makes zero sense to take off one of the best strikers in the world when you need a goal, and Spain nearly paid for it during penalties.

Once the teams made it to extra time, with both sets of players tiring, penalties looked inevitable (although penalties looked inevitable throughout the contest). Italy sent on Del Piero with their last substitution, but chances were still few and far between, with the best coming at the death when Cazorla tried a shot, putting it wide from a tough angle, when centering across the six-yard box would have led to a certain Villa goal.

By going to penalties it looked like history would repeat itself once again, and Spain would lose on spot kicks on June 22nd for the fourth time. But, finally, all those years of history were avenged.

Villa, Grosso, and Cazorla netted before De Rossi’s decent effort was well saved by Casillas. Both Senna and Camoranesi scored before Guiza’s tame penalty was easily stopped, bringing the Italians back into it. I’m fairly certain Torres’ would have offered a bit more. But luckily, Di Natale’s for Italy was just as tame and Fabregas sealed it with Spain’s fifth, breaking all those jinxes listed earlier and setting up a semi-final against the Russians.

The semi-final will be completely different from the first meeting where the Spanish rolled. First and foremost, Arshavin is back for Russia, and he’s been one of the stars of the tournament in the two games he’s played. Without him, Russia probably wouldn’t have made it out of the group and certainly wouldn’t have beaten the Dutch. Hiddink has his entire side playing well, but Arshavin is the centerpiece.

And the Russians will probably replicate what the Italians did today, which was quite similar to how Russia played Holland yesterday. Defenders will pack the middle and Russia will look to attack on the counter, which they’ve done better than the Italians all tournament long. Russia assuredly won’t play as openly as they did in the first meeting.

In the last three games, Spain has squeezed by teams in tight games where they’ve been able to play possession football but haven’t created numerous chances on goal. They’ll have to do it again on Wednesday against an in-form side full of confidence after beating the tournament favorites.

Spain 2-1 Greece

Reina
Arbeloa-Albiol-Juanito-Navarro
Alonso
Sergio Garcia-De la Red-Fabregas-Iniesta
Guiza

Goals
Charisteas 42’
De la Red 61’
Guiza 88’

With 10 new faces in the line-up (including 3 Liverpool starters), it was always going to be a tighter game for the Furia Roja. And with nothing left to lose in the competition, going out at the group stage despite being the holders, Greece was willing to attack, although still as difficult to break down as always.

Not only was Xabi Alonso the captain of this revamped line-up, he was also the focal point. Today we saw Alonso near his best, setting the tempo in a deep-lying role, pinging both long and short passes, and nearly scoring from his own half (as he did against both Luton and Newcastle) in the 24th minute, only to see his shot go inches wide.

Even though the game was more lively than you’d expect, with Greece headed out and Spain playing the second string, there were still few opportunities for either side, with Alonso’s long range effort probably the best of the lot.

But in the 42nd minute, the Greece from Euro 2004 reappeared. Having picked up a number of free kicks throughout the half, they finally took advantage of one from the left flank, with Karagounis curling in a ball for Charisteas to head home. It looked like Arbeloa lost his man, although the fact that he didn’t even make the run with Charisteas makes me question who was supposed to mark him. Either way, it was another moment of shaky defending for the Spanish, and they paid for it. There was little Reina could do about it.

The second half saw much of the same, with Alonso still creating Spain’s best chances, most notably with a shot from distance that crashed off the inside of the far post in the 54th. But soon after, Guiza’s skillfully knocked down a long ball into the path of De la Red, who make no mistake with an unstoppable shot from just inside the box. Nikopolidis got a hand to it, but there was no way it was staying out.

It looked likely to end level, which wouldn’t have been an unfair result, but Spain’s increasing pressure finally paid off in the 88th minute when Guiza, who had struggled as a lone striker, got away from his marker to head in an inch-perfect Garcia cross.

Once again, Spain had problems breaking down a packed defense, and Greece is one of the best at getting bodies in front of attackers and closing down the space in the final third of the pitch. Like against Sweden, Spain were too intricate at times, and moves would break down when they approached the Greek goal. One moment stood out when Guiza and Fabregas linked up well on Garcia’s long ball, but it was one pass too many when Fabregas touched it back to Guiza instead of shooting, and nothing came of it. In addition, Dani Guiza is certainly no Torres or Villa, and Spain weren't getting anywhere near enough from the lone striker; they've looked far, far better playing two up top.

But like against Sweden, they held on in the end, and came up winners thanks to taking the game to their opponents for the full 90 minutes and getting a late goal. And surprise, surprise, it came from the player I thought did the least for his chances. Even though Sweden has been better than the Greeks (despite Sweden’s capitulation to Russia today), it’s arguably more impressive today as Spain came back from a goal down and were playing the B-team.

But now the fun starts. No matter how disappointing the Italians were in the group stage, I’m sure they're a team Spain wanted to avoid in the quarter-finals. This tournament is spookily shaping up like the last World Cup: Spain was outstanding in the first game and the best side in their group, only to be matched up with an experienced, if underperforming, big side in the knock-out round. Let’s hope history doesn’t continue to repeat itself.

But to conclude I want to go back to Alonso, who was arguably today’s man of the match, as this is still a Liverpool blog. Today re-raised all the questions that have surfaced because of the supposed Barry for Alonso switch. When Alonso plays like he did today, he looks like he could go straight into any side in the world (he was probably the only player today who forced himself into contention against Italy, and I think he should be starting ahead of Senna, especially with the way the Italians have been playing). He sets the tempo for the entire team and can seemingly complete any pass (if given the time and space to do so).

But he’s been showing less and less of that for Liverpool this season. I’m well aware his injury played a huge part in that, but even after returning to fitness, the first leg against Chelsea was the only match where he truly excelled. And given Liverpool's problems in the league, I completely understand purchasing players with an eye on the Premiership. Alonso rarely, especially after the damage he did in his first season, gets that time and space he needs in England.

I will be devastated to lose Xabi. He is one of my favorites, and I’ve got a lot of time for players who know how to control the tempo and have that range of passing. But I’ve got even more faith in Rafa Benitez. If Benitez feels like Barry, who can link up excellently with Gerrard, is better on set plays, and has an excellent passing sense of his own, is a player than can improve Liverpool in England, so be it. Benitez is renowned for collecting central midfielders (he’s purchased Alonso, Sissoko, Mascherano, Lucas, and Plessis), and knows exactly what he wants out of the position. Plus, the relationship between Alonso and Benitez has always seemed close, so if Benitez is ready ship the player out, he has to feel secure with the decision.

But today’s game showed exactly why I’ll always follow the career of Xabi Alonso, no matter where he plays.

Spain 2-1 Sweden

It took me a while to see the entire match as I only saw the first half live, but I can’t quit doing these write-ups after only two games.

Sweden’s defense is better than Russia’s and it showed all match long. But Torres certainly started out the brightest, with an excellent run inside three minutes, and deserved his goal 15 minutes in. It was a gorgeously worked corner, short along the byline for Villa, moving it to Silva at the top of the box, who put in a smartly weighted ball in over the top that Torres got a leg on to in front of Hansson.

Also, once again, Villa rushed over to Torres and literally dragged him onto the ground and mounted him. Their celebrations are bordering upon illegality in at least 13 states, and I’m getting to the point where I’d kill to see the two together at Anfield.

But Sweden’s didn’t relent after the opener, getting a couple of opportunities through Elmander and Larsson before Ibrahimovic equalized in the 34th minute.

It didn’t help that Puyol (who is clearly the cornerstone of the back four) went off injured in the 24th minute, and Spain’s defense is living up to its shaky reputation, but the fault for the goal lies with Ramos. It’s getting uncomfortable bashing him in two straight articles, but I have no idea what was he thinking on Sweden’s goal. Admittedly, the move started when Torres’ shot was blocked and Sweden countered, but Ramos was still late getting back, allowing Ibra the space to control Stoor’s cross, and then dove in early, allowing space for the shot. Casillas didn’t do himself justice either, but it shouldn’t have even come to that.

Sweden’s goal wobbled Spain for the rest of the half, and they were nowhere near as effective as in the first 15 minutes. But they still should have been leading at halftime when Elmander clattered into Silva in the box, nowhere near the ball and never looking at anything but taking out the player. However, Pieter Vink had no problems with it (I’m sure Gooners remember the one he didn’t give against Kuyt), and Torres had to lead teammates away from the referee when he blew for halftime moments later.

The second half saw Spain suffer through what we’d worried about before the tourney: they had all the possession and were passing well, but with little end product. Spain prodded and pressed, but the final ball was lacking, resulting in only two really good moments. In the 62nd minute, Silva was denied by Isaksson, who also blocked Villa’s rebound. Although Villa was still able to pull it back for Torres, Andersson blocked that shot. The other was in the 67th, when Senna’s vicious dipping strike from distance after a nice run was palmed away.

But at least Spain were trying to win the game. Sweden certainly were hurt by Ibracadabra going off at halftime, and offered much less in attack because of it, but they still seemed content with a draw, unlike the Spanish.

And in the 92nd minute the tournament’s top scorer struck again, assuring the three points and top spot in the group. Capdevila sent an accurate long ball out of defense that Villa was able to latch on to, masterfully controlling the ball before getting by Hansson by poking the ball through the defender’s legs and shooting past Isaksson from corner of the six-yard box.

It’s still very early, and Spain’s notorious for bottling it after the group stage, but from what I’ve seen in the past this is an excellent result, even if they struggled for it. Aragones made smart substitutions in midfield (bringing on Santi Cazorla for Iniesta on the right and Fabregas for Xavi), and while Spain was nowhere near as successful as against Russia, they still ended up getting the second goal. Sweden were also far more hesitant to attack than Russia, especially in the second half, and it showed in the scoreline. Plus, Spain should have had a penalty, especially with the ones given against Poland and Italy recently.

Now, with top spot and qualification assured, I imagine they’ll rest a few for Wednesday’s match against Greece. Obviously, I still hope to see Villa and Torres leading the line any chance I can get, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see at least one rested.

Spain 4-1 Russia

Casillas
Ramos Puyol Marchena Capdevila
Senna
Iniesta Xavi Silva
Villa Torres

Goals:
Villa 20’ 45’ 75’
Pavlyuchenko 86’
Fabregas 90+1’

Although Torres was only on the field for 54 minutes, and David Villa was truly the star of the show, today demonstrated just why so many Liverpool fans are looking for those two to recreate their partnership on Merseyside.

This is what I’d hoped to see after last week’s Spain/USA match. While you can never put too much stock in friendlies, and I’ve made it clear I haven’t seen Spain enough to have a concrete opinion, Torres was all too often isolated in a 4-1-4-1 and Spain struggled for goals despite a clear edge in possession. But with Torres and Villa paired up top, that was never an issue today.

It’s easy to get ahead of one’s self after a 4-1 win, but this isn’t the first time Spain’s started a major tournament well. They put four past the Ukraine in the first match at the 2006 World Cup and were still dumped out by France in the first knockout round. But today’s performance was still far better than last Wednesday’s display and even better than expected.

Torres and Villa combined well from the off and Spain had their usual dominance in possession, but Russia looked lively on the counter attack, which is always frightening given Spanish liabilities in defense. But an early goal can take the weight off a team, and that happened today after Villa’s first in the 20th minute.

Capdevila was able to pick out a streaking Torres with a long pass from deep in his own half to put Torres one-on-one with Kolodin (Torres tormented Kolodin throughout his time on the pitch), and the striker took advantage of the defender to get through on goal, only to cut it back for Villa to slot in an empty net.

That goal alone demonstrated how well the two strikers can link up (Torres knew exactly where his strike partner was while barely having a look up) but both made excellent runs to draw defenders throughout the first 45, freeing up space for the other. Torres usually lurked down the left channel into the center, as he often does for Liverpool, while Villa played mostly through the middle.

Russia nearly equalized in the 23rd minute when Zyrianov hit the post after a flowing move and more lackadaisical defending, but Spain took advantage of their profligacy on the stroke of halftime with another lovely counter-attacking move. Breaking out after an awful Russian corner, Capdevila found Iniesta, who put Villa in with a lovely throughball, with the striker nutmegging the keeper for his second.

With a two-goal lead, Spain began to slow down their play, and took Torres off for Fabregas nine minutes into the second half, ostensibly to protect him after he suffered an ankle knock in training last week. But the change didn’t slow Villa down much, as he continued to threaten looking for his hat-trick, while Akinfeyev prevented both Senna and Silva from tallying a third in the 67th minute.

But with 15 minutes left, Villa finally got his hat-trick. Once again, it came on the counter, with Russia stretched looking for a way back into the game. Storming up the field, Fabregas picked out Villa on the run with a perfect slide rule pass, and Villa was able to cut inside away from the defender and shoot past the keeper inside the near post.

And Liverpool fans had to enjoy Villa’s celebration, as he ran to the Spanish bench to embrace Torres. Let's hope there was an ulterior motive behind it. I’m still trying to avoid writing about Liverpool’s financial situation (as it depresses me so much), but it’s an absolute shame it looks like Liverpool would be priced out of a move for Villa, especially with Valencia seemingly willing to sell.

Russia added a consolation in the 86th through Pavlyuchenko’s header from a corner (with Capdevila losing him after a flick-on), but Fabregas got a fourth in the first minute of injury time, and surprise, surprise, it again came on the counter. Villa broke down the field and held up the ball well waiting to bring others into play, finally chipping into the box to set up Xavi. His shot was saved, but Fabregas was there for a header on the rebound, although he looked offside on the replay.

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the similarities between Spain today and what Benitez is trying to build at Liverpool. All of Spain's goals came on the counter-attack and were quick strike, which is what Benitez has tried to do at Liverpool with the addition of Torres and the use of a 4-2-3-1 formation. Yet another reason to dream about getting Villa in a Liverpool shirt.

Alonso was the only other Liverpool player to see time on the pitch, coming on for Silva in the 77th minute, and playing in the holding role with Senna moving further right. Meanwhile, although I haven’t seen enough to say conclusively, Sergio Ramos didn’t impress me today. He’s excellent going forward and can certainly deliver a cross, but his defensive positioning is questionable at best (although compromised by how often he gets forward) and he commits far too many unnecessary fouls. His defending, along with the rest of Spain’s backline, which has the propensity to switch off at unfortunate moments, will have to improve if Spain is going to challenge for the trophy.

But if Spain continues to attack like they did today, they can beat any opposition in this tournament, and I’m including both Germany and the Netherlands in that despite how impressive both looked in their opening matches. Spain really was head and shoulders above an improving Russian team, albeit a team that clearly missed both Arshavin and Pogrebnyak. But we’ve seen also before that in Spain’s first match, most notably in the last World Cup.

The next match, against the Swedes, is Saturday at noon.

A note on Euro 2008 announcing

Despite this blog’s name, I’m often annoyed with Andy Gray, mainly for his anti-Liverpool bias. He likes individuals such as Torres and Gerrard well enough, but is frequently quick to criticize the club as a whole, and seems to enjoy every second of it. He’s still getting mileage out of slamming Benitez for rotation and zonal marking, although he's certainly not the only one. And while I definitely don’t go so far, I was thoroughly amused by the campaign to remove him from Liverpool games on Sky after the first leg against Inter.

But his addition to the booth (and recap show) for ESPN’s Euro coverage has been a godsend. I’m not embellishing when I say he and Adrian Healey might be the best pairing I've heard on US television. When he’s unbiased, Gray usually knows what he’s talking about (a large step-up from most US coverage of European football) and has already developed a decent rapport with Healey. Admittedly, I like Healey more than either Rae or Dellacamera to begin with, but I’ve still been surprised at the quality of the combination.

And I was very, very worried about ESPN’s coverage of this tourney, especially after the debacle that was World Cup 2006 (I certainly don’t miss Balboa or O’Brien). If the network only sprung the cash to have the commentators on site...

It’s sort of sickening to praise an Evertonian like Gray to the hilt, but he really has made the games he's done that much better.

Now if we could only muzzle Tommy Smyth.

Viva España

It’s been nice, but weird, having little to say in regards to either Liverpool (possibly Dossena and/or Barry soon, with Alonso and Crouch looking more likely to leave. Woohoo.) or England (man, those friendlies were the opposite of encouraging). Plus it’s been nice to somewhat recharge the batteries after the season past. But with the Euros coming up, I’ll have far more to write about.

If there is any Liverpool news, I’ll have something up, but for the most part, I’m going to focus on Spain for the next few weeks (as if they need another jinx). With England done for the summer, I’ll need another team to distract me, and just like this Torres Nike ad shows, most Liverpool fans will be cheering on the Spaniards (I can watch this commercial over and over again. Pity about the subtitles though. Edit: Found an English version. It's even better). I hope I’m jumping on the bandwagon before it careens out of control.

Yeah, I’m rooting for Spain mainly because of Torres, while Alonso, Reina, and Arbeloa are also in the squad (although none are likely starters). But I’m also interested to see if Xavi’s still the main pivot for Spain’s play, how Fabregas does seeing extended time in a major tournament for the national team, how Torres and Villa pair up after the season El Niño’s had, and if Aragones implodes yet again.

So join me as I attempt to follow a national team I’m less than familiar with. It’ll be like when I write about the USMNT, but with far fewer cheap shots at Eddie Johnson or Sunil Gulati.

The Spain/US friendly is tomorrow at 4pm, but in their wisdom, espn2 is showing it on tape delay at 5:30. Lord knows we can’t interrupt NFL Live, Rome is Burning, Around the Horn, PTI, or the French Open.

In the meantime, here’s a few Euro 2008 links to get the juices flowing, led off by the always enjoyable That’s on Point.

• That’s on Point: The Big Eur-bowski
• 200percent has excellent previews of the four groups
• Unprofessional Foul’s team previews
• The Offside’s Euro 2008 Blog
• Guardian UK’s Euro 2008 page

England 2-3 Croatia

No matter what I wrote yesterday, I’m absolutely gutted.

Much of that scribbled yesterday turned out to be wrong; some was right, but all that’s important is England will miss out on the European Championships. Kudos to Crouch and Beckham for that goal (the lesson, once again, I’m an idiot), and the team for trying to haul themselves back into it, but Croatia were too much, and England’s missteps, both earlier in the game and campaign, were too much to overcome.

I don’t really care to single out players. You all know who was gash, either by watching the game or via match reports. You have enough choices to choose from, at the least. England only conceded 4 goals throughout qualifying, and with a makeshift backline, they conceded three today. And while I’d love to excoriate McClaren’s tactics and managerial capabilities, it’d be beating a dead horse into oblivion. He’ll obviously be sacked, and I can’t imagine who’ll be hiring him next.

I truly feel for Scott Carson, who shouldn’t have been put in that position. I’ve been calling for Robbo’s replacement for months now, but this was absolutely the wrong time to make the switch. Carson’s first competitive cap, and it’s in the game that determines whether England will qualify, in front of an expectant Wembley. It’s little surprise he had a stumble within the first ten minutes, and despite that and some other frightening moments, he showed his quality later on with a couple of saves. I truly hope he isn’t pilloried beyond belief for today’s result. He’s still young, and he should still have a tremendous future for both England and club (although it’s clear that club won’t be Liverpool).

And while it’s not a time for laughing, I do find it funny that the NFL game between the Giants and Fins a couple of weeks back did such damage to the Wembley pitch that it impacted this match. Good work FA; I hope the quid were worth it.

That McClaren will certainly lose his job and that English Liverpool players will have the summer off are of little consolation. I care far more about Liverpool’s results than England, and will admit to being exceptionally frustrated with pretty much every facet of the national team, but as a fan, I’m beaten into submission and disappointed.

I’d also love to see Croatia do well at Euro 08; they’re a team that deserves to, who were playing their hearts out on the stage. And I also hope that their manager, Slavan Bilic, starts being considered for Premier League jobs when he’s ready, as he stated earlier in the week. He’s a hell of a manager.

I may have a longer requiem of both the game and England’s future, but now’s not the time.

England v Croatia 11.21.07 -- Crouch as a lone striker?

Guess at a line-up
Robinson
Richards Campbell Lescott Bridge
Hargreaves
Beckham Gerrard Lampard Joe Cole
Crouch

I have a bad feeling that after the sense of relief following Israel’s victory, something could go wrong at Wembley tomorrow. Maybe it’s just the pessimist in me, but even though Croatia have already qualified, they will still be a threatening team, and it’s still England we’re talking about.

A draw will suffice. And while we’ve seen England do enough to grind out a 0-0 against every type of opposition, with Croatia’s talent (Da Silva has 10 goals in qualifying, plus Modric and Kranjcar have been known to pop up), England will want a goal to settle the nerves, the sooner the better. Which has gotten slightly more problematic with the injuries and lack of depth up front.

I’m rarely prone to taking shots at Liverpool players, but I can’t help but thinking starting Crouch as a lone striker is going to end badly.

And I like Peter Crouch. He’s an easy target and a frequent magnet for stick, even for Liverpool fans, and a frequent scapegoat for poor performances, rightly or not. I’ll continue to maintain Crouch has a place and purpose in a Liverpool squad that’s meant to be competing for the title.

But Crouch as a lone striker doesn’t always come off as hoped. He can be very effective, the best example being the 4-1 win over Arsenal. But pace and width from the wingers, fullbacks getting forward, and Gerrard in an advanced position with both Alonso and Mascherano covering were utterly essential to success in that game.

Despite his great touch for a big man™ and goal-scoring record for England (13 in 23), Crouch is best at holding up play and bringing the midfield into attack. And while this isn’t a slight on Crouch’s talent, his inclusion can lead any team to shift to route 1 football at the first sign of trouble, something England is too apt to do anyway. And Croatia has a stingy and physical defense in Corluka, Kovac, Simic, and Simunic, although they’ve conceded two more goals than England in qualifying (3 to Macedonia, 3 to Israel).

Which leads me to believe that England’s best chance for success with Crouch up top is with players like Wright-Phillips and Joe Cole on the flanks, and players like Ashley Cole (who, along with Terry, probably shouldn’t feature even if they’ve declared themselves fit, given both haven’t played in over a month) and Richards getting forward from defense. And yet, all the talk is about Beckham possibly seeing a start.

It’s tempting to think Beckham should feature to ping crosses into Crouch, as Golden Balls supplied assists for Crouch against both Estonia and Austria, but Crouch is admittedly not the best with his head despite his height, and England will need to have other goal threats in the box to support. But I have to believe it’s going to be Cole – Lampard – Hargreaves – Gerrard – Beckham, which incidentally is the same midfield that lost to Portugal in the World Cup (as I’m sure you’ve heard).

Admittedly, England has few other options, with Bent, Defoe (both of which have spent the majority of the season on Tottenham’s bench), and Alan Smith the other recognized strikers. And I’d really rather avoid a discussion about the strength and future of the national team, which is a subject that’s been steeped in landmines all week long. But I’m still afraid England will find a way to fail to qualify after being handed second chance after second chance on a silver platter, and what sticks out to me is that I don't know if England have, or will play, players suited to support Crouch in what's going to be a 4-5-1 or 4-1-4-1.

Look, I hope I’m wrong. I’ll happily eat crow if England win, and Crouch and Beckham are essential to it. I’ll be rooting for it to happen. Maybe Gerrard and Lampard will be able to work together with a lone striker, and supply the other attackers that England will need.

But I do worry.

England 1-2 Russia

For 69 minutes, England were playing the game they wanted. It wasn’t perfect, and the players were obviously uncomfortable with both the artificial surface and the opposition, but they were up 1-0 thanks to a superb Rooney goal and seemed to be in control. It was an exceptional goal by Rooney as well, wonderfully volleying home from a Michael Owen (!) header, but more important was how England were playing steadily, and bent but didn’t break against Russia’s attack.

And then, a penalty is given for a foul committed (by Rooney, who tried to escape blame with a hysterical swan dive) outside the box, and it’s level. 4 minutes later, substitute Pavluchenko, who tallied the penalty, scored again after Robinson’s save fell to his feet.

England had been under pressure in the second half, but while Russia was getting bodies forward and England was defending desperately, it still felt like they were going to hold on for the win. And now, not only is the team going home with a loss, qualification for Euro 08 depends on Russia dropping points against either Israel or Andorra.

England had two gilt-edged chances to go 2-0 in the second half. First, Barry’s free kick found Gerrard unmarked at the far post, only to see his volley tamely fly wide. Later, Micah Richards was unable to get on the end of Rooney’s flicked header, and Gabulov palmed the ball away.

The most frustrating part is that it’s “typical England.” The team played well; it might have even been their best performance until Russia’s goal, playing as well as they did in that hostile atmosphere and on a plastic pitch. An excellent win in Russia, and affirmation of McClaren’s regime was within their grasp. But in the end, they let in two goals they shouldn’t have, despite an excellent goals-against record, and now qualification hangs by a thread.

Missing out on Euro 08 would be an unmitigated disaster, and I’m obviously furious with this result, but there could be a silver lining.

I hate to kick a man when he’s down, and he’ll suffer an exemplary kicking this week, but McClaren’s not the answer for England. It’s almost a pity, because he’s gotten better results in recent games, making the correct decisions over Barry and Heskey and improving the team as a unit, but he’s never going to take England the necessary step further.

I find it hard to believe McClaren will be kept on if England fail to qualify, and England will have the opportunity to start anew, although I have no idea who they’ll turn to. I’d jokingly suggest Mourinho, but I still can’t decide if that’s sarcasm or not.

You only have to look at the changes made when England went 2-1 down. Admittedly, there wasn’t a lot McClaren could do with who was on the bench (Crouch, Lampard, Downing, Neville, Young, Shorey), but what he did was still baffling.

Waiting until there was 10 minutes remaining, McClaren sent on Crouch, Lampard and Downing for Cole, Wright-Phillips, and Lescott all at once.

I’ve praised and promoted Peter Crouch on many occasions. But this wasn’t the situation for him, and that he was the only striker on the bench is infuriating. He hasn’t been in the best of form for Liverpool recently, and he’s frequently struggled in international competition against physical defensives, where he gets more fouls called against him by touchy international referees (as happened today).

At the same time, Downing’s only a game-changer in McClaren’s mind (and he slotted in at left back), while there seems to be little use in throwing on Frank Lampard if Gerrard, who didn’t have the best of games, is still on the field. Although, I reiterate, the three unused substitutes were Shorey, Young, and Neville.

As to the other scapegoats, Gerrard will undoubtedly be one. Even ignoring the miss, he was below par today. In fact, his performance looked a lot like recent ones for Liverpool – every now and then he made a good tackle or a smart pass, or got himself into space for chances like the aforementioned one, but with no end product, and stretches of the game where he went missing. It’s not reassuring as a Liverpool fan by any stretch of the imagination, but he comes away from 180 minutes of international football uninjured, and hopefully with a chip on his shoulder for Saturday’s derby.

Paul Robinson, as usual, will be one of the others. He’s never been the most reliable, either for club or country, and the save that fell to Pavluchenko sticks out in the memory. I know England isn’t the deepest at the position, but at the least, I still find it unfathomable that Carson hasn’t seen more time over the past 3 months. Foster also has to be back in contention when he returns from injury.

Neither Cole nor Wright-Phillips played very well either, and if Lampard was going to be brought on while Gerrard stayed on the field, he should have come on for one of the two earlier, but neither stood out to the degree that either Gerrard or Robinson did.

Otherwise, certain players did do well. Barry’s been a revelation, and has to have cemented a place for the near future. Owen’s seemingly returned to fitness, and I still can’t believe that he won the header that led to Rooney’s stellar goal. Campbell and Ferdinand were a decent pairing, with Campbell making some excellent last-ditch challenges, while Richards gets better at international level in every game. But that more players disappointed than impressed is a big reason why England’s going home with a loss.

I honestly don’t know how England will react to this. Russia may well slip up in Israel; the Israelis have little to play for, but it’s never an easy place to travel to. I don’t see it though, and that means that England will fail to qualify for Euro 08, from a group they thought they’d waltz through. It may seem knee-jerk after all the good feelings in the last three outings, but something needs changing.

There were moments of brilliance, and over an hour of steady if not spectacular play, but that’s not enough for the amount of talent in the team and the importance of the sport in England.

0-0 draws against Macedonia and at Israel will linger longer than today’s loss, but all three results aren’t good enough. I almost hope Russia wins out as to not paper over the cracks, but I can’t root against England.

Either way, there needs to be changes. England isn’t good enough right now, and hasn’t been for too long.

England 3-0 Russia

Well, I asked to see England give a similar performance to that against Israel on Saturday. The same line-up and same scoreline certainly satisfies that.

As promised, Russia aimed to do far more in the opposition’s half than Israel. They got into England’s box within the first minute and also forced the first corner. And before seven minutes were up, they paid for that directness, with England able to create opportunities of their own with the resulting space.

After Gareth Barry’s corner was cleared back to him on the right flank, he sent in a threatening cross. John Terry’s run and attempt at a header made mountains of space for Michael Owen, who made no mistake in side-footing home off the far post, giving England a dream start.

From the inception, England looked to equal Russia’s attack, and we were treated to an open and entertaining match, at least for the first half. Wright-Phillips and Richards were the focal point of the attack down the right flank for the first part of the game, as they were against Israel, and once again, Heskey looked to set up those around him admirably.

But Russia should have pulled level 19 minutes in. England failed to clear the ball, and it came to Zhyrianov, who chested it down, swiftly turned, and slotted it in. However, it was chalked off for handball, and honestly, it might have come off his arm after the chest. It sure looked to be incidental contact if it happened though, and England could consider themselves lucky.

But just after half an hour, Owen made it 2-0 after a flick-on from the ubiquitous Heskey with a delightful first-time volley. The half finished as it started, with both teams having decent spells of possession and decent chances on goal.

After the break, Russia was the better team for large stretches of the second half but without any stellar chances (although Robinson made a couple of nice saves), and honestly, the final 45 minutes were pretty dross. But credit to England, who held on and sealed the victory in the 84th minute with a stunning goal from Rio Ferdinand, faking out the defender and stepping past him before unleashing a strike from close range.

With Owen getting a brace, he’s got to be man of the match. Both goals showed how classy a poacher Owen can be, and if he can maintain his fitness (which has to be a big if after the last couple of years), he’ll soon be doing similar in the Premiership.

Gareth Barry was also again influential in midfield, this time overshadowing Gerrard’s contributions with his excellent passing. Gerrard did play the full 90 minutes, looked fit, and didn’t appear to take any knocks, which is great news for Liverpool fans. Joe Cole also threatened at times, but by the end of the game, showed his temperament in picking up a silly and unnecessary yellow card in a game that was otherwise without malice.

Heskey’s also going to get a bit of attention, and rightfully so, even if the majority of it is because of surprise at his inclusion in the last two games. I’ll say it straight up; I do not think Heskey is a better footballer than Peter Crouch. But if Michael Owen is going to be the focal point of the attack, which has become obvious, Heskey is the best partner for him. They know each other that well and complement one another excellently. It’ll be interesting to see how McClaren copes once Rooney is fit, as Heskey and Owen have looked a better partnership than any of the strikers paired with Rooney since 2004.

So all that was said after the Israel game has seemingly come to fruition. England could replicate their performance against better opposition. They’ve gotten ahead of Russia on points, and won so convincingly (or at least, the scoreline was convincing) that it has to be a psychological boost going into the game in Russia. And they’ve put themselves in pole position to qualify from this group.

But there’s still work to be done. Despite never wanting to seem confident about any team I root for, England should stroll over Estonia, especially based on the past two games. And they probably could drop points in Russia or against Croatia and be safe. But the key word in that sentence is “or.” England probably needs two wins from the final two games to advance. It’ll help matters that Croatia should have qualification sewn up by the final game, but I won’t put anything past England after how good the Croats have looked and England’s atrocious performance in Zagreb.

Still, as an England fan, you couldn’t have asked for much more from this game.

And even better is the fact that the Premiership resumes in less than three days.

England 3-0 Israel

That went about as well as England could have hoped. To be fair, Israel was pretty dire.

Since by now most have probably read a write-up of the game if not saw the match, I’ll limit my thoughts for brevity’s sake.

- It’s hard to tell how much was actual progress and players playing to potential, and how much was down to Israel’s poor performance, which should be kept in mind throughout my comments. Israel defended from the opening whistle and showed little ambition to get forward. Robinson didn’t have a save to make.

- What is this, 2002? The way that Heskey and Owen played, it sure seemed like it. And while surprising, it’s undeniably pleasing to see. There’s certainly some nostalgia value as a Liverpool fan. I can’t believe I’m writing this, but the pairing has to start against Russia, even considering Crouch returns from suspension. It was a marvelous goal by Mickey too, even if he was wasteful on other occasions.

- Gerrard played well, but slowed as the game went on and limped off after 70 minutes with Wednesday’s match in mind, although today he's said that the toe's healing and it was down to cramp and a lack of fitness. Pity how important the Russia game is, as McClaren will undoubtedly start him again. Heaven help my reaction should Stevie re-injure his foot.

- I thought Gareth Barry in central midfield and both Joe Cole and Wright-Phillips on the flanks were excellent, which means all the more as Barry rarely plays for England, Cole’s been frequently injured, and Wright-Phillips hasn’t always impressed in an England shirt.

- Funny how Frank Lampard doesn’t play and all of England’s midfielders earn plaudits.

- Micah Richards just took Gary Neville’s England place. I just feel absolutely awful for Citizen Neville.

- The booing of David Bentley after he came on was wholly out of order. So he skipped the Under-21 Euros as to avoid fatigue for the side that pay his wages after a long and grinding season where he saw more time than he ever had in the past, and after he had already featured as a full England international. An understandable decision, and were he a Liverpool player, I would have applauded it. And for fans to boo him incessantly is mind-bogglingly small-minded and juvenile.

- Thanks for stealing “Ring of Fire” from Liverpool, England fans. Now I’m going to feel dirty when (if) it’s heard ringing throughout Anfield.

With Macedonia’s loss to Russia and Israel’s dire performance (and a game less left than their competitors), it’s pretty clear that 2nd place in Group E is between England and Russia.

Croatia, 2 points ahead of Russia and 3 ahead of England, is going to win the group. And on results, they deserve to. They’ve been the best team so far, and they’ve probably got the easiest run-in of the teams in contention.

England hosts Russia and Estonia before traveling to Russia and finishing against Croatia at Wembley. Croatia is at Andorra, home against Israel, and at Macedonia before traveling to England. Russia has the two games against England before Israel and Andorra away.

Russia was always going to be a harder ask than Israel, and thanks to England’s win yesterday, it’s even more essential that they pick up three more points Wednesday to keep up momentum. As one of the two is going to finish second in the group, the winner of this game will have an enormous advantage over the other.

Should Russia win, they’ll be four points up on England, and England will assuredly need to win their last three. It will also be a big ask for England to pick themselves up from what would be a devastating loss.

And a draw wouldn’t be much better. Russia will still lead on points, they’ll be that much more confident going into the home game, and England will still probably have to win their last three.

But should England play as they did against Israel and win, as they certainly looked capable of, it will put them in an excellent position for the remaining qualifiers.

So is today’s result another false dawn for England, like the early matches of McClaren’s reign, or a true turning point?

We’ll find out on Wednesday.

England v Israel 09.07.07

The more I think about it, the less incredulous I am that England must win games against Israel and Russia to even have a chance at qualifying for Euro 2008.

The problems aren’t solely because of injuries to key players, although the absence of Rooney, Lampard, Beckham, Owen (in previous matches), and Hargreaves (possibly), among others, has and will continue to hurt.

It’s not even because of Steve McClaren, although he hasn’t helped matters or himself.

And while the FA has time and time again proved themselves criminally inept, running the gamut of foul-ups, it’s not completely their fault either.

This has been a long time coming.

England underperformed at the 2006 World Cup, but that in and of itself isn’t all that surprising. There’s definitely a precedent for it.

But since then, they’ve clearly regressed. Which after Sven Goran Eriksson I didn't think possible.

Right now, England sits fourth in Group E on 14 points. Russia has 15, Israel and Croatia 17, although Israel has played one more game than the other three. When the group was drawn up, with England matched up against those three teams as well as Macedonia, Estonia, and Andorra, the majority of pundits were pleased at the outcome. This originally looked like a group that England could qualify from with ease.

But it hasn’t been.

After two wins against Andorra and Macedonia that gave the appearance that McClaren might be a different manager than Eriksson, England drew against Macedonia at home 0-0, lost to Croatia 0-2 in the embarrassing ‘3-5-2’ game, and drew Israel 0-0 in Tel Aviv. The last two games have seen 3-0 away victories over Estonia and Andorra, but had England not won those games, riots may have ensued.

In reaction to these problems, McClaren’s major moves have been to recall Beckham and now Heskey, and play as conservative a style as the one that Eriksson was lambasted for. Mistake-prone Paul Robinson is still the #1 keeper, no headway has been made in Lampard v Gerrard debate (as an aside, Gerrard’s been declared fit and may not even need an injection to play Saturday, and while I’m not happy about it, I’ve no desire to enter the club v country debate), and England is woefully understaffed at forward.

Nowhere near enough progress has been made in blooding youngsters, and that’s been a major fault of the last two England managers (especially in friendlies), but it’s also due to the media culture that demands results every time of asking and cries bloody murder when “star players” are left out.

And yet, England should still be favorites to qualify.

As proven in Tel Aviv last March, Israel will be no walk in the park. Benayoun, Ben Haim, Toto Tamuz, and Sahar are excellent players, three of whom ply their trade in England. Once again, it will come down to whether or not England can breach the opposition’s defense and score goals against decent opposition, which, despite their overall superiority, they were unable to do at Ramat Gan.

But this time should be different just in that it’s the national team’s first qualifier at Wembley. Being back at the national stadium, in the first meaningful game held there, should catalyze the team. That is, if the crowd stays on their side, which will come down to McClaren’s tactics and how England starts the game.

After the next two games, England will host Estonia and travel to Russia in October before finishing qualification at home against Croatia on November 21st. Chances are that England will need to win 4 out of the remaining 5 games to qualify.

And while I’ve spent the whole article trashing the team, manager, and set-up, they should be able to accomplish this.

Maybe it’s my biases or maybe it’s the fact that England’s always been one of football’s pre-eminent nations (not a joke, I swear), despite some of the results in major tournaments. But I can’t fathom England not qualifying for Euro 08, despite not being all that surprised at previous results or the state the England’s currently in. And I refuse to join the camp that secretly (or overtly) hopes against qualification for the sake of shaking the foundations of the international set-up.

I will however admit that should England drop points in either of these matches over the next week, the ‘McClaren out’ campaign will look mighty appetizing.

Roll on England.

Guess at a squad:
Robinson
Richards Ferdinand Terry A. Cole
Wright-Phillips Carrick Gerrard J. Cole
Owen Heskey

England 3-0 Estonia

Well, now we can have our David Beckham praise in full. The surprising thing is that most of it will be deserved.

If McClaren manages to lead England to qualification, and save his job in the process, a lot of it will come down to the recall of Beckham. And yes, I’m as surprised as you.

Beckham truly played well, even after picking up an ankle knock. I don’t want to join the chorus that will over-emphasize his role, but those were two gorgeous crosses for England’s second and third, both coming during open play.

I still feel, despite what McClaren says, Beckham still moves infield and congests the middle too often while leaving gaps to be exploited on the right. Wes Brown was on his own on the right flank for much of the match. But both of the crosses for goals came from the wing, and they were absolutely spot on. And now McClaren can take the credit for this master plan.

No matter how pretty the crosses were for the second half goals, England’s first goal was easily the best. Some of the moments Joe Cole has created while playing for England have been jaw dropping, and this was up there with the rest. Controls the flick-on from Crouch with his chest, swivels, and fires on the half-volley in off the post. If Ronaldinho did that, everyone would be falling over themselves.

I also thought that Crouch was up there with Beckham for man of the match. It’s easy to mock him at times, but he’s finished the game with a goal and assist, and was heavily involved with England’s attack. While I’ll readily admit his goal was down to Beckham’s cross, his header was perfectly placed, and he’s gotten stick for his heading ability in the past. Albeit against a different class of opposition, England held the ball up much better than against Brazil, and most of that was due to Crouch. He’s ruled out due of the next match because of a needless yellow picked up here, but McClaren would have dropped him in favor of the returning Rooney regardless. It’s too bad, because England’s played just as well with Crouch as with Rooney since Wayne’s performances in Euro 2004.

Let’s not get carried away though. England were playing Estonia, who have yet to score or gain a point during the qualifiers. And there are still problems with this team. I fear that, as usual, some will take too much from one game against admittedly lesser opposition. I know I fell for it after McClaren’s first few matches in charge.

Again, Lampard was fairly anonymous. He was more influential than against Brazil, but that isn’t saying much. Gerrard still did most of the legwork in midfield, as against Brazil if less effective, while Lampard was unable to pick up the slack in attack. Something has to happen here. It’s gotten repetitious, but I’m still of the opinion this pairing will not work against top competition.

The defense was also sloppy at times. Estonia was never going to create a ton of chances, but there were still a couple of moments where they managed to worry. Paul Robinson had to be quick off his line on the stroke of halftime when Voskoboinikov was through after easily splitting Ledley King and John Terry. And John Terry had to make a last ditch save in second half stoppage time after more confusion in the box and a shot that skidded under Robinson. There were gaps to be attacked on the counter when England was spread, and that’s worrying.

England still sits in 4th in the group, but only 3 points back of first place Croatia, who drew 0-0 at home against Russia today. Four of the five remaining games are at Wembley. It was unthinkable when the groups were drawn that England wouldn’t qualify, but now, I will echo McClaren (despite my preference not to) and agree it’s back in their own hands.

Job done here, and now no England games until September. I’m pleased to see the Liverpool players involved, Gerrard especially, get some well deserved rest before the Premier League resumes. Me thinks it's time for a nice, long summer. But, of course, hopefully chock full of gossip, hearsay, and innuendo.

So I heard Thierry Henry was off to AC Milan? Or is it Barca?

England v Andorra 3.28.07

There's one way to avoid a repeat of the Israel debacle. Score goals.

I want to lay all the blame for England's problems, mainly the 1 goal in the last 5 outings, at the feet of Steve McClaren, who in any event hasn't helped himself. That'd be easiest, and despite the fact that there are very few English candidates in the pipeline, the manager is fairly easily replaceable (despite whatever payout the FA would be forced to fork over). But it's more than that. We were having all the same debates over England's woeful performances and the fact that their "world class" players can't replicate their club form for country while Sven Goran Eriksson was manager. Similar debates over positions (can we please solve the Gerrard v Lampard debate because they cannot play in the same midfield) have taken place as well.

Granted, McClaren was Sven's #2, and there are a lot of holdovers, in staff and style, from the previous regime. The only major change, dropping Beckham, was an easy decision with all the media already having sharpened their daggers for Golden Balls. Of course, now England's missing his set pieces enormously, but I agreed with dropping Beckham, because the line-up needs to be changed and younger players brought through. Maybe more should have been dropped. Maybe Beckham should have remained a squad player. Answers aren't easy to come by, but that's McClaren's brief in a nutshell. Make those tough decisions, Steve, do the job you were hired for.

But what it comes down to is England's lack of goals. Owen may be a long-term casualty along with Joe Cole, and there are goals in those 2, but failing to score against Croatia, Macedonia, and Israel is embarrassing, no matter who's missing. For a side that fancies themselves one of the best in the world (you're having a laugh…), it's completely unacceptable.

Tomorrow will be the game to remedy that. If England doesn't beat Andorra by a large margin, the knives will come out again, and deservedly so. England won 5-0 at home in September. Andorra lost 4-1 against Israel, 3-0 against Macedonia, and 7-0 against Croatia. Calling them a semi-pro side is rude to other semi-pro sides.

Every time I write something to post, I do my utmost to not be “knee-jerk,” which can be the hallmark of commentary on the internet. So let me be clear. I don’t believe it’s knee-jerk to knock the team for these sub par performances since last fall. And I don’t believe it’s knee-jerk to put a lot on McClaren’s head, especially if England screws the pooch against Andorra, despite the obvious failings of the players.

I apologize for not having a ton of confidence in the English national team right now. I wish this could be a more optimistic “preview.” But the team is sub-par, the manager’s done damn little to inspire any confidence, and I don’t see any better prospects for the future if England continues on the same path.

But that won’t stop me from rooting. Roll on England. Please.

Oh right, there's Euro 2008 qualifying matches...

Apologies for the lack of posting on my end, but another international break combined with utter silliness at work has brought us to this point.

That, and I just can’t get ginned up over England’s Euro 2008 qualifying matches, even though Saturday’s game against Israel is as make or break as one can get at this stage of qualifying. If England lose, they’ll probably sit in 4th place, possibly 5th, in the group with nearly half the games played and games still to come against all who would sit ahead of them (Russia twice).

Maybe it’s the fact England’s just as boring under McClaren as under Eriksson, but even less effective. Maybe it’s because based on past performances in the group, England probably doesn’t deserve to qualify.

My guess though is it’s because this is yet another stage in the squandering of an incredible generation of talent, and it’s getting really tiresome.

Gerrard, Rooney, Lampard, Terry, Ferdinand, Carragher, Ashley Cole, Joe Cole, Owen. These are “world class” players who play for some of the best clubs in the world, let alone England. You can even argue there are more names worth of being on that list. Why the hell can they not perform as a team??? And I don’t mean to be glib, but if you can name 4 Israeli players without looking up a team sheet, you’re more informed than I am. And Israel should probably be favored, even if they didn’t have home advantage, simply based on England’s form.

I understand the injuries. I understand that there’s an adjustment to a new manager, although that grace period is fading and the fact remains there’s been little change in style except for the absolutely abysmal attempt at 3-5-2. What I do not understand is no matter how well these players know each other, no matter how many times the exact starting line-up goes out, or how many younger players get a brief look in, the team has gotten no better. We’ve had the same “Gerrard v Lampard or both” debate going on for years now!

Of course, I’ll still await the result with interest; supporting the English team is what brought me to Liverpool and started my descent into being a huge football nerd. And I’ll be awaiting the result because I’m certainly not spending $20 to watch England flail through the match on pay-per-view. The alcohol that can be bought with that money will probably amuse me far more.

England 0-2 Croatia

I don’t care if Croatia has never been beaten at home in a qualifying match. I don’t care if the entire stadium lined up in swastikas, shouted racial epithets, and was the worst place in the entire universe to play soccer, as some tabloids would have you believe. Any time an England manager admits that his entire game plan was to try and sneak a win, he's going to be questioned and rightly so.

Slaven Bilic absolutely out-managed McClaren, and the Croats dominated the game. Didn’t really matter what formation England was playing, as Croatia jumped on top of them, and England pretty much played with nine men back. Any way you want to line it up on paper (and I still firmly believe it was more 5-3-2 than anything), it quickly became very defensive and it looked as if England would be more than satisfied with a 0-0 draw. Only Paul Robinson kept them in the game in the first half, which made his role in the Neville own goal debacle all the more fitting. Other than Rooney’s blast over the bar, I can’t think of any real opportunity England had.

I’m angry, and there’s always going to be a fair amount of overreaction after a loss, but this was an England performance that makes recent England performances look absolutely inspired. I will never wish for the days of Eriksson or Graham Taylor, but McClaren is trying to tempt me. There is no team here, just a collection of individuals who sometimes can be bothered, and the tactics seem dreadfully wrong as well. They fully deserved to lose this game.

I do not understand how England does not have one of the best midfields in the world. The roster, albeit when fit and available, reads like a murderer’s row: Gerrard, Lampard, Cole, Hargreaves, Carrick, Parker, Lennon, Wright-Phillips, even Beckham and a fair supply of youngsters if needed. A midfield of Carrick, Parker and Lampard, supposedly three of the best central midfielders in the Premiership, was unable to control today’s game at all. Maybe I overrate the players because they play in the Premiership, but all three were made to look pedestrian by Croatia. The link up play between the midfield and forwards has been disappointing at best, and nonexistent at worst of late. Yes, Rooney is off-form and Crouch hasn’t scored in two games, but when the service isn’t there, and both strikers are dropping deep to win the ball, what do you expect?

All the usual mollifying remarks, there’s still games to be played, points to be won, and a long way to go all still apply. But the excuses are getting tiresome. Qualification just got a fair amount tougher. With the players on the roster, England should be playing far better than they are. No matter that England has always underachieved. No matter that it’s still early days in Euro qualifying and in McClaren’s reign. No matter that the team doesn’t have enough time to play together because these qualifying games are being played during the league season. No matter the injury and suspension list.

No more excuses. England should be better. End of.

England v Croatia 10.11.06

Rumor has it that England will actually use the 3-5-2 formation versus Croatia this afternoon. The English media has been promoting it for over a week now, since they spied McClaren using it in practice, but the reports today sound much more assured of its use.

According to the BBC, the formation will look like this:



Which is, for all intents and purposes, a 5-3-2. I know Ashley Cole especially likes to get forward from wingback, but there are going to be five defenders on the pitch, and England will be playing away from home. This lineup is going to end up a 5-3-2.

Not that it’s necessarily a bad thing. Playing Croatia in Croatia is probably England’s toughest game out of all the Euro qualifiers. If England had done the job over Macedonia, and they were sitting on 9 points instead of 7, this game would be a lot less important. When the fixture list was drawn up, I’m sure England would have been satisfied with a point here. A win would be a lot nicer now, given the dropped points on Saturday, but a defensive lineup, with the focus on retaining possession and keeping Croatia out, isn’t a bad idea, and should secure the needed draw.

I still don’t see where the goals are going to come from. From the looks of it, the Rooney/Crouch pairing is tenuous at its best. When Rooney’s off-form, it’s not a pairing that will score you buckets of goals or win you games. Lampard, again, is going to be a key man. It’ll be his job to get shots and be the main threat from midfield, especially with Gerrard ruled out of the game. If Crouch and Rooney aren’t going to threaten, with Gerrard, Lennon, and Joe Cole out, and Wright-Phillips, Downing, Defoe, and Bent on the bench, it’s going to fall to Fat Frank to score. Yikes.

I truly hope McClaren isn't experimenting for experment's sake, simply to prove he isn't Sven Goran Eriksson. This formation might be the strongest versus Croatia, the manager is in a better position than I to decide that, and I can see how he'd come to that conclusion. But it feels similar to other decisions McClaren has made, like dropping Beckham, in that he's doing it for the reaction he'll get from the press instead of doing what's best for the National team. We'll find out today whether McClaren's the master strategist he likes to believe.

I’m going to go out on a limb and predict another 0-0 draw. Hopefully, as I expect it to happen, it won’t, as that’s usually how it goes down.

England 0-0 Macedonia

Now this is more like it. I was getting worried there, what with three wins out of three for Steve McClaren. This is the England I know; the England that underperforms, is inconsistent, fails to impose its will on the game, does little creative, and ends up with a draw. Both teams had chances to score, but 0-0 is far from a surprising or undeserved result. This is a tough Macedonian side, but they are still a team England should be beating at home, end of.

I’d like to lay blame at the feet of Michael Carrick, and by extension McClaren for selecting him over Parker, but it was more than that. But Carrick was taken completely out of the game, and certainly didn’t help matters. Macedonia covered him closely, and his strength, his vision and distribution, was taken away. England didn’t have someone like Hargreaves or Parker to sit deep in the midfield and protect the defense, and Carrick cannot fill that role, so Lampard was taken out of the game as well. He continually dropped back to fetch the ball and help out, and didn’t get into Macedonia’s penalty box nearly enough to be a threat.

You can go down the list and tick off the rest of the boxes. Rooney continues to disappoint. Crouch’s luck in front of goal ran out. Gerrard was substandard, and picked up a yellow card that rules him out of the Croatia game as well. Downing isn’t of international quality yet. Macedonia shut up shop, and once again, England failed to be clever enough to unlock a team that will sit 9 or 10 men behind the ball. Wright-Phillips was an improvement when he came on, and the team clearly misses Aaron Lennon, but more inspiration is essential, whether it’s Wright-Phillips, Lennon or Joe Cole when they’re healthy, Gerrard in the center, whomever. Both Theo Walcott and Wayne Routledge showed more willingness to be inventive and run at defenders in the Under-21 game than anyone did for the senior side today.

Of course it is not the end of the world, and Israel’s draw with Russia still leaves England on top of the group on goal difference, but it is disappointing and worrying nonetheless. Macedonia should have been there for the taking and later on, when England has to play more fancied teams like Israel and Croatia, I hope they don’t rue the dropped points.

Meanwhile, Scotland gets a landmark 1-0 result over the French. That’s right. England drew against the 51st ranked team in the world, at home, while Scotland beat World Cup runners-up France. Enjoy your weekend, England fans.