Posts tagged English Football

Yeah, no one is excited about the football over here. It may be because we finally realise how shit we are, or because the Olympics has taken over. I share your German prediction, but as always, will be rooting for Spain :)

This tournament really is a bit of an anomaly for the national side. Apparently, the number of supporters is drastically down for a major tournament, with the media citing the fact that Donetsk in eastern Ukraine is a difficult and expensive place to reach. I suppose, but that didn’t seem to stop the Irish from shutting down their entire country and move to Poland for a couple weeks. Looks like they were having quite a good time with the locals and opposing fans alike.

The Olympics are a spectacle. I think this marks the third time that London has hosted the Olympics, which is the most in the history of the modern games. From what I can tell, the government has spared no expense for new facilities like the Olympic village and world-class entertainment for the opening and closing ceremonies, including Paul McCartney finishing up the opening ceremonies.

I have also heard quite a bit about Team GB’s rowing team -ranked No. 1 in the world, the European champion men’s gymnastics team, the swimmers, cyclists, and runners, and of course, the Team GB football team which includes David Beckham. Should be fun to watch, the Olympics always are…

One of the benefits of not having a career is the ability to watch major sporting events when they roll around. The latest one is the European Championships for soccer (football) held over the next month. The tournament opens tomorrow with host Poland facing off against 2004 Champs Greece at 9:30 a.m. (MST). I smell a draw, and a boring one at that. Prediction 0-0 with an over/under of two goals scored total (1-1).

I chose the Germans to win this tournament about five weeks ago, so I really hope that they come through for me. To me they have the most stable, consistent, and injury free team heading into the tournament with relatively few distractions - aside from the fact that a significant portion of their side plays for Bayern Munich and lost the Champions League Final to Chelsea last month.

Since some of you are English, I thought I’d offer something about the English national side competing in Group D with France, Sweden (again), and co-hosts Ukraine. Having viewed Sky Sports News and the BBC the past few days, it seems to me that the expectations for the team heading into a major tournament are at a low, a level not seen in some time. Every pundit seems to think this may work to England’s advantage because of the relative lack of pressure from the fan base and media.

From my point of view and based on previous posts, the hiring of Roy Hodgson was an outstanding effort by the FA to hire someone who was the complete opposite of Jose Mourinho - at least in terms of personality. That said, the man tends to be pragmatic just like the “Special One,” employing tactics designed to get results at the expense of the much desired sexy, attacking, free-flowing football wanted by the fan base.

Hodgson does have the ability to guide squads with modest talent and resources to positive results at the club and international level. England is a mid-table side on the international level, so perhaps he can overachieve. If anything else, perhaps he can deploy a side that can gain valuable experience as he readies for the World Cup qualifiers, it seems like a prime opportunity to do so. Winning/getting results in  tricky games looms large in the Qualifiers and the fixtures against Sweden and Ukraine (on its own turf) certainly fit the bill.

England is probably the second-best team in their group on paper but I think Group D is unpredictable. I wouldn’t be surprised if they end up top or bottom of the group. However, my instinct tells me they’ll make it to the Quarterfinals with France.

(Think about how well that analogy works. John Terry can be Joffrey - since he’s the worst.)