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Paying the penalty

I’m afraid to say that my feeling after the end of the penalty shoot-out was that if England couldn’t score in 120 minutes then they didn’t deserve to win.  The blame, I think, has to rest with Sven.  After Rooney’s sending-off, England played better with a 4 man midfield than they had with a 5 man midfield, and Rooney was scarcely missed. 

The decision to gamble on Rooney and Owen and Walcott was insane, and this folly was compounded by playing Rooney on his own when he was recovering from injury.  Surely another striker would have made all the difference?  Sven’s lack of ambition here stands in strange contrast to his almost reckless gambling when it came to picking the squad – if Walcott was worth picking, why not bring him on?  Based on England’s past record, they could hardly rely on penalties.

Also, what can you say when the loss of David Beckham forced Sven to bring on Aaron Lennon, who was much more lively and creative?  Or that England probably created as many chances after Rooney went off as when he was on the field?

One has to hope that Steve McClaren has learned something from all of this. 

As for Rooney’s sending-off, the commentator seemed convinced that he was sent off for the push on Cristiano Ronaldo, whereas other reports say that it was for the stamp on Carvalho.  The latter explanation makes a lot more sense, but why did the referee not send Rooney off immediately?  At the very least he gave the appearance of being influenced by Ronaldo, and it would not have been the first time that had happened in this tournament.  If he really was sent off for pushing Ronaldo then that was absurd.  Anyway, the first Manchester United training session where those two players come into contact might be interesting…

Meanwhile, Cable TV have made a real mess of their schedules today.  I wanted to watch the Brazil game, but they appear to be determined to show the England game and nothing else.  How can that happen when they have 2 or 3 channels devoted to the World Cup?  They really are hopeless.

Oh, and Frank Lampard to take the first penalty – what ever kind of crazy decision was that?

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3 responses to “Paying the penalty”

  1. Ah Gor avatar
    Ah Gor

    It was heart breaking to see England lost. It was even more heart breaking to see Terry’s tears. You’re right. England created more chances after Rooney was sent off. AND I bet that Lampard would take the first penalty – even if Beckham was in the field. Because Beckham failed in last three panalties. What saddened me was that Gerrard failed. From the very begining, I haven’t relied on Peter Crouch to score.

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  2. weenie avatar
    weenie

    Tragic – Lampard scored so many goals in the domestic league and had more shots on goal than anyone else in the World Cup.
    It obviously wasn’t meant to be.

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  3. Qe2 avatar
    Qe2

    Although I’m pissed off with their strategy and results, I’m afraid In-ger-lund never looked like winning the tournament anyway.
    Rooney’s red card? Who knows, he was due a bringing down to Earth at some point. He has been a bit too vocal with officals in my view and should support his superb skills with an equal professional attitude. His sending off at least was now not important and maybe he will learn from that just as Beckham appeared to when he was sent off at a similar age in the world cup.

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