Blame It All on the GORMLESS ONE!!
BACK2BACK
By 40 Years A Blue
July 2 2006
Every cloud has a silver lining and England's silver lining on this depressing Sunday morning is that Sven Goran Eriksson a.k.a 'THE GORMLESS ONE'is no longer manager of the England Football team. Oh Happy Days!
There have been many occasions where 'The Gormless One' should have gone before: Fake Sheikh, Chelsea tap up and all the womanising that the 'Gormless One' got up to, but the Football Association couldn't afford to pay him off but instead paid him a handsome £5m per year for the last four or five years or so and what did they get in return..... NOTHING!! For us fans all we got was another round of heartache and deep depression! Three major Cup tournaments and three quarter-final defeats under the 'Gormless One.' What a waste of time, money and emotion!! Right from the start of World Cup 2006 I have been apathetic about England's chances of actually winning the trophy, but slowly and surely and with the help of the mass hysteria generated by the papers, TV and general folk alike, I started to believe that perhaps we could get to the semi-finals and that view had not changed despite the way the game panned out in front of the TV yesterday afternoon. Don't blame Frank Lampard. Don't blame Steven Gerrard. Don't blame Jamie Carragher for their missed penalties and to a degree don't blame Wayne Rooney for his red card, however stupid it was. The blame for England's failure at World Cup 2006 lies firmly at the door of the 'Gormless One.' He was the one that selected an injured Wayne Rooney and Michael Owen without selecting a back up or two, for example Darren Bent or Jermaine Defoe. He was the one that took an untried 17 year old in Theo Walcott, and then does not use him, so straight away a recognised striker or experienced forward could have had Walcott's place. He was the one that told Shaun Wright-Phillips that he hadn't played enough games to warrant selection and then picks Walcott, who hadn't worn an Arsenal shirt in anger. Want me to go on? Well he was the one who decided to play Wayne Rooney as the lone striker but forgot to tell the rest of the players, that Rooney plays his best football with the ball passed to his feet and that he cannot head a ball or hold up play to save his life. As suspect as Rooney's temperament is and so it proved with the red card he was too young to take on such a responsibility. He was the one to play a holding midfield player, but forgot to tell the likes of Gerrard and Lampard to get forward more and support Rooney in his lone role. England desperately needed for Frank Lampard to bring his goalscoring Chelsea form into the World Cup, he didn't and by Super Frank's standards he had a poor tournament and I suspect the role that Lampard was asked to play in all five games may have had something to do with it. England's performance once Rooney had gone was brave and deserving of victory. Its a shame that the 'Gormless One's' tactics didn't allow England to play just as well before Rooney's red card. What of England now once Steve McClaren gets his bum in the hot-seat? I am not to sure! One thing is for sure at least we will get to see McClaren more in the technical area than the 'Gormless One' ever was!! France produced their best form of the tournament and beat the World Champions Brazil, 1-0, thanks to a Thierry Henry close-range volley from a Zidane free-kick. So the semi-final line-up is Germany v Italy next Tuesday and France v Portugal next Wednesday. One thing is for certain, there will be Chelsea representation in the World Cup Final, next Sunday July 9th. 40 YEARS A BLUE!