A Disgruntled English Fan, I am

I was as disgruntled with my team’s performance as I used to be with ManU, whenever ManU produced a woeful performance.
As Steve said, Eriksson should be sacked. What the fuck did he do when his formation wasn’t working in the first half?? He jus sat there and looked completely dispassionate about the proceedings.
I was really appalled to see the first half display of the Three Lions. They won the match in the end, but they struggled to find a good rhythm and a good chance throughout the match. A Steven Gerrard screamer can’t disguise the poor performance of my team, the Three Lions.

First the replacement of the injured Neville with Carragher for the TT match was a mistake in itself. I am not against Carragher here. He is an awesome defender and is the rock of Liverpool. But what was the need to shore up the defense when we are playing T&T and need to go for 3 points?? Look, T&T doesn’t have enough quality or whatever in them to attack. They just put 8 to 10 men behind the ball and defended like hell. They can’t attack for Christ sake!! Eriksson made a tactical blunder here and thought Lampard and Joe Cole can feed Owen and Crouch. Ok, so he made the blunder. He could see that his formation wasn’t working and what did he do?? Jus sit and stare with concern (???) in his eyes.

This is just the first half story.
There wasn’t much to rave bout in the first half and some mins into the 2nd half for England. Anyway, I will just the highlight the key moments.
Jamie Carragher let out a low strike on goal from 30 yards, without venom as Hislop gathered comfortably.
Crouch’s pass from the right created England's first opening, as Frank Lampard lashed a drive on goal from 25 yards and although Hislop made a meal of the save, Michael Owen failed to make proper contact with the rebound and the ball went harmlessly wide.
Later, Lampard got close with a low drive on 35 minutes.
TT had a corner surprisingly. A Yorke corner exposed Robinson, but Carragher put Stern John under pressure as he headed wide of goal.
The scare sparked England into life and Lampard shot wastefully over following a scramble in the box. Beckham had a shot saved and the next chance was a dolly.
After a typical Beckham cross from the right flank, Crouch found himself in acres of space only to volley wide, when he could have controlled the ball with a first touch easily and slotted it home easily. What did he think of himself?? Rooney?? He cant hit a volley like Rooney for Christ sake!!
The final chance of the opening period went T&T's way, with Terry forced to make a stunning goal line clearance after Robinson had failed to gather a deep ball from Edwards. What commitment from Terry!!! Wow!! He kept England in the match and saved the blushes with that.
England were booed off the field by their fans including me. An appalling display indeed!! Crouch wasted a dolly. Owen wasn’t sharp enough. And so was Lampard wasting chances. Becks provided some passes but he wasn’t that good too. Joe Cole was the only one keen to move forward, sidestepping et all and creating chances. At this stage, Eriksson, however brainless he is, should have realized that he should bring on Rooney instead of Becks, and Lennon instead of Carragher. There was no need of Carragher. Terry, Rio and Cole can look after the defense easily.
But what did he do?? He did nothing and England wasted some 15 more mins in the 2nd half.
Finally, Rooney came on at the expense of OWEN!! Eriksson jus testified that he doesn’t hav brains once more. And Lennon for Carragher. Ronney received a rapturous welcome.
Cometh the hour, cometh the man!! Not exactly, but nevertheless, he was effective with his speed, crosses and his MERE PRESENCE!!. TT was scared and man marked him. Rooney, Lennon and Downing (Later) sparked life into England and they began attacking with more vigour. There was a magical moment in which Rooney carved out a exquisite pass for Crouch but Crouch as usual made a mess of it.
Lampard was England's most threatening player. But he was wasteful too. He squandered yet another decent chance 13 minutes from time when shooting straight at Hislop from inside the box. Things were heating up..
England appeared to have run out of ideas when Beckham tossed a deep cross into the box. For the first time in two matches, Sancho was caught napping and Crouch climbed high to head past Hislop. 1-0 to England.. And I heaved a sigh of relief. I was smashing my remote down on every wasted chance and now it was BLISS!! Phew, Crouch did it atlast. But ofcourse, it was Becks who provided that beautiful cross.
Gerrard, in a holding role for most of the time, finally came forward and promptly slammed home a stunner from 25 yards. Wow!! WOW!! WOOOWWW!! Typical Gerrard!! What a player!! I jus imagined Guruji’s smile at this moment. If Gerrard had an attacking role, he would have hit more goals like this. And England fans like me would rest in peace instead of biting nails for most of the match.
The relief was tangible. England won it 2-0, albeit unconvincingly.
Post Match Expletives:
Eriksson is a defense-loving bastard. He should be sacked right here right now.. Let Mclaren take the mantle. Maybe, I am going too far with this sacking thing. But I say this all the same. Eriksson is a brainless bastard.
England unable to prise open the TT defense satisfactorily and was woeful today except for that Beckham cross and the stunning Gerrard strike.
England should do the following.
1. Eriksson’s idiotic formation for TT. As I mentioned before, Carragher wasn’t needed. He was brilliant thou..as usual.
2. Gerrard should come front and Lamps should drop back. Lamps was profligate. He missed lotsa chances .Dunno wat got into him. He has won matches for Chelsea time and again. But he was out of sorts in this match.
3. Crouch should be dropped. Jus because he scored the goal and Jus because he ahs that height advantage, doesn’t mean he is to stay. He wasted dollies. He doesnt have enough quality for England first team. Rooney is almost match fit. Meanwhile, bring on Defoe!!
4. Give more time for Lennon and Downing in the coming matches.
5. Only if they do the above, can they get rid of this ridiculous long ball game which doesn’t favor Owen.
6. And Eriksson should be sacked!!!