Rooney Archive

3

Lessons from the Past

By
Mohamed Harb
– June 20, 2010

Matchday two of the group stage has been fairly good if compared to the first 16 matches played in the World Cup 2010. The results have caused some havoc for the big teams especially England and Germany. However, looking at previous World Cup Tournaments will assure the fans around the Globe that those results might be the indication of future success. There are many lessons that have been extracted from the previous tournaments and I will be highlighting a couple of them.

Starting with England, the situation doesn’t look as bad. Away from the fact that Rooney has yet to find his shooting boots, a win against Slovenia will result in an automatic qualification to the knockout stage. English fans should remember that the last time England reached the last four was in 1990. In that specific tournament a win against Egypt on the last day of the group stage earned the “Three Lions” their qualification after some sloppy displays at the early beginning.

Moving on to Germany, the last time they lost in the World Cup group stage was in 1986 against Denmark; and in that tournament Germany finished as runners up. Looking at the current situation of the Germans, a win will earn them the qualification to the next round, keeping in mind the saying: “When the Germans play bad they win titles.”

As to Brazil, fans and pundits alike were expecting a big result against North Korea. That didn’t happen. A modest display ended with a 2-1 win for the Samba players and no one was convinced with the display. Regardless of the result, the Brazilian squad looked too similar to the squad of ’94 where no one liked the way they played but Brazil was crowned as the World Champions.

It is still too early to change your bets and wagers if you have placed any on England, Germany, Brazil, and even Italy. Their chances are still alive and the next games will tell.

10

Algeria vs England

By
Omar Al-Duri
– June 19, 2010

“It’s nice to see your home fans booing you.” (Rooneys outburst to the cameras after the final whistle)
I honestly was left not only dejected but deflated as a football fan after watching the England Algeria game last night.Three Lions? anything but as the Roar and Bite of a lion is exactly what England were lacking.Tactics wrong,players playing at their best wrong and no hunger whatsoever to back up what was meant to be a good group to be in.Now many will have their say and are entitled to and i questioned leaving Adam Johnson,Owen Hargreaves,Scot Parker and Theo Walcott and it would of hurt them more to watch their nation perform so abysmally.All those attributes mentioned above is what those players could have injected into this squad in terms of creativity,determination,hunger and an element of unpredictability in which England lacked last night.From the Goalkeeper to Wayne Rooney it was very uncharacteristic of the well established European players that contribute to a wonderful league and an electric champions league.Algeria were organised flooding the midfield and playing with the one upfront but it worked and they looked more inventive and had the fire in their belly that England lacked.First half there was not much going on and quite frankly it wouldn’t have made a difference whether Robert Green was in Goal or not because David James had very little to do.The booing did echo mildly around the stadium as the England team needed a good talking to as they looked lethargic and out of ideas.When you look around at the players and the roles they play for their respective club i am still not convinced that Steven Gerrard should be compensated on the left to allow Lampard to play in the middle.Joe Cole had been ignored the whole night and in the opening game too against the USA.If Goals are the problem then why continue to play Heskey when Defoe has alot of energy that clearly England lack.What gets into Frank Lampard in games like this?A colossus for Chelsea, he seems to shrink when he puts on an England shirt. And all this against an Algerian side rated a modest 30th in the world.An Algeria playing their first World Cup since 1986 courtesy of beating Egypt in a play-off.An Algeria who had gone into the game on the back of a disastrous run in which they had lost five of their six warm-up matches.An Algeria who, in this spell, had conceded 12 goals and scored just one – a penalty in their only victory, a 1-0 win over UAE.The most animation came from Capello and Beckham who barked orders and showed their frustration on a number of occasions throughout the night.

Wayne Rooney has been spoken of in the same light as Ronaldo and Messi but one may worry for the Manchester United Star as his form in the Premier League was untouchable and made the united fans scream his name the way they were chanting Ronaldos name the seasons before.He looked exhausted and very low on confidence and for a player with that kind of ability mental strength has never been an obstacle as the potential boxer projected in many of his matches against the big clubs.I would personally make a few changes in this England team adding some real width and creativity by inserting Joe Cole on the left,withdrawing Lampard allowing gerrard to resume his regular services in the middle of the field and sit down with Rooney in i real one to one.Sometimes words arent even the solution so i would just leave him in a room with a DVD of his performances for Manchester united to remind him the Lion he is and the impact this World Cup deserves to have by him.All those players are there for a reason make it count or go home.There was something interesting on the sign on the wall at the Green Point Stadium entrance and that was “GO STRONG OR GO HOME” Algeria 0 England 0

12

England vs USA

By
Omar Al-Duri
– June 13, 2010

England England England……

Well i write to you with an sigh as The stage was set and the off the field problems,injuries and Wags would have no influence and it was time to just play football.Gerrard was the Leader of the group as the Nations streets were empty and every Englishman and women were in doors watching the game.The talk in the tabloids and online polls are all about Robert Green and one must not dwell on mistakes ,yet when you are an international keeper you can turn from hero to zero in a second.”its my fault” said the keeper as the Rustenburg stadium was full with English fans.The players started with alot of energy and after just revealing his team two hours before Capellos methods were implemented.The anxiety was over and the players just wanted to go out there and represent the nations great expectation which they have every tournament.Steven Gerrard got England of to a flyer as he latched onto Emile Heskeys through pass where he took a touch to control and slotted in a neat finish passed the Everton Goal keeper Tim howard.Finally playing in his preffered role through the middle alongside Frank Lampard he really took the game by the neck.England continued to threaten throughout the half with a great displays from players such as Glen Johnson and Emile Heskey.You could see them grow in confidence as time went by thoughout the first half and what a big attribute to have when playing in a massive tournament.

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On 40 minutes a clanger of all clangers as Clint Dempseys hopeful strike with his left foot from outside the area seemed to skid of the surface at a very comfortable pace that a keeper should place his body behind the ball and parry.It slipped out of his hands and agonizingly rolled in the back of the net as Green crashed to his knees.Now all great keepers make mistakes and some on bigger stages than others yet it is how they bounce back and reflect.A test of character is the best response a coach or manager can ask for after a mistake like that.However,one may question whether Robert Green is worthy of being mentioned in the same category as David seaman who suffered  in the 2002 World cup against Ronaldinhos floated “Shross” or Gordan Banks in the 70s. My view is you have to wonder whether Capello took a risk in playing Green ahead of the experienced 39 year old David James or the inform English keeper of the year Joe Hart.Only time will tell and it is not up to Capello to either remain faith in keeper who must be low on confidence or revert to the other two.The game did feel like a defeat in many ways as once Milner was taken off Wright Phillips was brought on but in my opinion is too similar to Lennon and perhaps a certain Adam Johnson or Theo walcott would be sitting on holiday wondering why they are not in the current squad. Ledley King was injured and there have been many doubts in his fitness as his condition to rest and not join the squads training is unique.It isn’t the end of the World for England but should have been a game that was won comfortably.In my opinion Algeria are unpredictable and certainly will fight every minute to win the game and Slovenia are my dark horses to perhaps raise a few eyebrows in how tactical they can be. England 1 USA 1

3

Special Update

By
Omar Al-Duri
– June 12, 2010

In all my years of writing I really felt that sometimes you don’t get the full extent of a situation until you are in it and today I am fulfilling that once again as I walk the streets of London the cars all have St George flags, an air of excitement! The children all wearing their heroes Rooney, Gerrard and Co, houses painted in the colours of red and white. Bus drivers smiling away at me and the customers that are coming onto the bus not minding to start work early as they haven’t felt  this much hope for winning the World cup since 1966 with the intelligence and understanding of  winning vital matches that Fabio Capello has emphasised wherever he has managed.

He has treated footballers like they were in a classroom banning music in the changing rooms and as Wayne Rooney relayed in his interview not letting one player from the 23man squad stand up of the table without the rest of the football team finishing their meal when having dinner. 44 years  and several disappointing exits with penalty shout outs, petulance from certain players and carelessness or unwillingness to take responsibility and win the game. I feel that England can progress and certainly have the players to do so especially under the watchful eye of Fabio Capello. He has kept his cards very close to him not revealing his team to the media, exploding and being infuriated when a camera man attempted to take a picture of Michael Dawson in the therapy room so he is taking responsibility and in a way the attention of his players by protecting them. I also feel that if played in the right position there is no player in the world that can take control of a game and is a natural born leader as Steven Gerrard and really believe he has the potential even at 30 to lead the nation to success. A quick message for all as i am reporting live from London i couldn’t help but be biased with a special update.

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