So the curse of England goalkeepers continues. As half time was approaching in England's opening World Cup game against the USA last night, all was looking good. Steven Gerrard had given Fabio Capello's men an early lead and their opponents had rarely threatened. Then an innocent looking looking Clint Dempsey shot was spilled by Robert Green and the West Ham number one found himself the target of a nation's criticism.
It seems to be common for the keeper to make a howler in a big game; in 2002 David Seaman was lobbed from 40 yards by Ronaldinho in a World Cup quarter final, Paul Robinson miss-kicked a Gary Neville back pass in 2006 away to Croatia during a Euro 2008 qualifyer and then a year later in the return game Scott Carson fumbled a long range effort which proved to be catastrophic to England's qualification chances. After their huge errors the international careers of Seaman, Robinson and Carson all went dramatically downhill, so it will be interesting to see if Green is condemned to the same fate after last night's howler and its a real test of character for him, with David James and Joe Hart both snapping at his heels to play between the sticks in the next game. To be fair to Robert Green last night he did slightly redeem himself after the gaffe, tipping a powerful Jozy Altidore shot onto the post in the second half, but whether that will be enough in Fabio Capello's eyes for him to keep his place against Algeria on Friday remains a big question.
Despite only claiming a draw against the USA last night, England's overall performance wasn't too disapointing. At right back Glen Johnson looked confident going forward, goal scorer Steven Gerrard put in a good captain's shift and after intially struggling against the American's tough physical approach Wayne Rooney showed glimpses of that world class talent we all know he has in the late stages of the game.
It would have been much nicer to have kicked off the campaign with a win, but England do have a habit of starting tournaments slowly and a draw against undoubtedly their strongest opponents in group C isn't a bad result.
Capello will now be preparing the team for Algeria on Friday, a game in which they can't afford to be complacent in. I think the North Africa side will be a tougher test than expected and will be difficult to break down, as were Trinidad and Tobago in 2006 when it took two late goals from Peter Crouch and Steven Gerrard to seal victory. Nevertheless, a win will be expected against Algeria is a game which takes on arguably even greater importance now after last night's draw.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
What did you think about the Lampard/Gerrard connection that "can't work" according to the media?
As you said, Gerrard put in a good shift. And although Lampard had a quiet game, they certainly didn't get in the way of each other. They are both world class midfielders, its a load of tosh that they can't play together.
As for Algeria and Slovenia, watching the game now and it has definitely been the worst game of the finals so far. Neither team has shown a glimpse of class, I don't see anything to be frightened of. The only reason we won't finish top is if USA whoop them by more goals than we do.
Neither Algeria or Slovenia seem to pose much of a goal threat, my only worry is they will both put 10 men behind the ball, a 0-0 draw would be a great result for them against England. Hopefully on Friday we can get an early goal again, score early and there shouldn't be too many problems.
As for Lampard and Gerrard playing together in the middle, I think they work well against average teams such as USA, but we really need Barry to be fit for the latter stages, we will have to play a holding midfielder if we come against some of the stronger teams.
Post a Comment