"A lot of hard work went into this defeat."
Not that the English would be any different, but the Argies are proving to be sore losers after last night's last-minute collapse. Horacio Pagani writes in Clarin (link includes a grainy video of the goals) that the southerners were denied a clear penalty in the 89th minute. TDH saw the tackle as not completely clean, but not so obviously dirty that a trip to the spot was merited. Moreover, the Swiss referee - holder of the Urs Meier Memorial Chair - had set a very high bar by rejecting some earlier English shouts.
Pagani also complains that Argentina's substitutions, which included the removal of Riquelme, were made out of physical necessity while Sven had the luxury of choosing his strategically. Yeah, if you were Argentine, you wouldn't bother about a mundane matter like fitness, would you? Especially when there's so much good beef to eat and good wine to drink....
It's true that the Argies had the run of much of the match, and Robinson saved England's hopes on several occasions. Some of England's men can still add polish to their performances, too. (Why had the missile launcher that extends downward from the right side of Lampard's torso apparently lost its targeting system? Why does Rooney insist on trying to re-enact his volley against Newcastle every chance he gets? Why is Rio, well, Rio?) But by the same token, it's hard to imagine the Argies playing much better, while England are just starting to hit their stride.
Pagani also complains that Argentina's substitutions, which included the removal of Riquelme, were made out of physical necessity while Sven had the luxury of choosing his strategically. Yeah, if you were Argentine, you wouldn't bother about a mundane matter like fitness, would you? Especially when there's so much good beef to eat and good wine to drink....
It's true that the Argies had the run of much of the match, and Robinson saved England's hopes on several occasions. Some of England's men can still add polish to their performances, too. (Why had the missile launcher that extends downward from the right side of Lampard's torso apparently lost its targeting system? Why does Rooney insist on trying to re-enact his volley against Newcastle every chance he gets? Why is Rio, well, Rio?) But by the same token, it's hard to imagine the Argies playing much better, while England are just starting to hit their stride.
posted by Daniel Altman at 1:29 PM
3 Comments:
Fair enough on the Young Joe front... However, I still think the way forward for England is to drop Stevie Wonder and his 50 yard passes to the opposition for a specialist holding player or Carrick, in which case England need to watch Milan and learn how to control with passing from deep. and how to concede three goals in 15 minutes.
thought you might like this, being another member of the Riquelme appreciation society. This is Ledley's assessment of Roman - and judging from his brilliance in the confed cup, he's not the only one to have these problems.
"I've never come up against the likes of Riquelme before - not in midfield anyway," he said. "I knew that before the game and even though he seems to play the game at his own pace you still can't get near him, which is strange."
Sounds like a case for Mulder and Scully.
Was that a Catatonia reference?
I think this lends more support to my argument for Kanu the Midfielder. Like Roman, he operates in the fifth dimension, only he's rubbish in front of goal.
Post a Comment
<< Home