ChezGiven

Didnt get the Happy Birthday thing at the end either, surely its their birthday every year?

First there is the hype and then there is the anti-hype. We were never as good as people hoped but we have not turned to shit overnight. We're about 8th best in the world but we didn't play to that potential in a single game. We were shite against Germany I'm afraid. Whether that's a true reflection of how good we actually are is a different matter. Germany are no great shakes which makes it worse for me. We were shite but it should have been 4-2.

Go on...

Watched loads of good bands on the red button over the weekend, would still rather have been there. If you look at the reaction to Gorrliaz on friday and compare to the Scissor Sisters on saturday it shows what the main stage crowd is like, they want anthems and singalongs. Fair enough. Can think of worse ways to spend my weekend listening to bands like The National, LCD Soundsystem, Avi Buffalo, The XX, Wild Beasts etc. Great dance music scene there too.

First there is the hype and then there is the anti-hype. We were never as good as people hoped but we have not turned to shit overnight.

Fucking jinx.

German youth movements have a long history of success.

My rambling thoughts: Scoreline flattered them, any team losing in a knock-out has to go for it and risk shipping a few, which is what happened, the 4th goal Terry was in their box in a strikers position. Goals from mistakes mainly or chasing the game too hard. Dont think they outplayed us, we defended very badly for the first 2 goals but lets face it, the defence was fucked (Ferdinand and King) with the only other proper defender being stripped of the captaincy some months earlier. If we had a settled back four of our best defenders then the earlier parts of the game might have been different. One touch from their goalkeeper, one touch from their striker, goal. Game changes completely, all England's planning our the window, Germany relax. How ironic Herr Beckenbauer? Its tempting after big matches to consider them a microcosm of the entire game in the country, which is a bit daft. High expectations from fans, media and country leads to tactical indiscipline as they try to force the play? Possibly. I also find it incredible that the disallowed goal is considered irrelevant. They say goals change games and this is even more true in tournaments, where one team can sit back and does not have to score if they take the lead. Fine, England didnt have the tactical nous to come back from two goals down twice in one match (they did manage it once to their credit) but when the odds are stacked against you like that and you then have to take more risks positionally, the risk is you will suffer a heavier than normal defeat. If you view the match outside that context, then it must look like a disaster. History only remembers the results of course but if you think like that, whats the point in watching it? The results dont always reflect the players potential, sometimes you get tanked when you can play a lot better. Calls for Capello's head or for wholsesale changes to the team are just emotional defence mechanisms. If we were a club, i'd say we have a decent squad, we need a striker, a centre back and a proper left winger (if we are to play 442). They clearly deserved to win but they scored 2 goals when we were committing men forward (desperately due to expectations) chasing a game we had already equalised in. I dont think fundamental conclusions about the future direction of football in England should be based on any embarrassment we are feeling about the result. We looked defeated and dejected at the end of the game because we were in the match, unfortunately thats the period of the game that poor pundits and poor commentators (imo) will look at to describe the performance. So, we were bad but it was the defensive mistakes, some bad luck and psychological desperation that made us look like mugs.

Unchanged starting 11

Soros did an article on Project Syndicate the other day too on this.

There is a difference between a depression and a recession and if you dont get the problem, perhaps you should study the history of our region during the last depression a little more closely. Kenneth Clark (manc-mag's shoe-model) also coming out against the current economic policy today.

I can vouch for that.

See David James's interview yesterday on the pros and cons of practising.

http://timesonline.typepad.com/thegame/201...-sir-bobby.html Not really about the world cup but its George Caulkin's world cup diary (which has been excellent so far) and some reflections on Sir Bobby.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jun/2...cession-warning G20 summit: Rifts in Toronto as US warns EU of double-dip recession risk The 'Austerians' are being led by the puritanical Germans who see balanced budgets as virtuous, the 'Stimulants' have some traction with Obama now.

But fucking hell, how times have changed. I got up early this morning whilst the bairn and her mam were sleeping to watch a bit of Glastonbury on the red button. Rock and roll.

All that nudging and elbowing must be killing Pearce short fuse an all... @ 1:22

Should have been a goal, was just thinking that Brazil often come forward in two banks of 4 and leave themselves open at the back.

El Show Di Capello

Nae offence ewerk but i've watched and listened to Irish football coverage literally hundreds of times and the IQ level of the pundits and presenters is, in all seriousness, about 60-80 tops.

Not read loads of his stuff but 'Steppenwolf' and 'Siddhartha' are quality. The former's hard work like. Got an unread copy of The Glass Bead Game at home, read 'Demian' most recently which i remember being easier to read than most of his work. Steppenwolf is class too. Never read Siddharta.

Whilst we're on all things culturally great about Germany, i used to love Herman Hesse when i was younger. Obviously that was in my psychedelic period.

Not listened to Ashra for years. Its difficult to know where it all went wrong for German music, the 70's were a great decade for them. Nowadays its all Genesis and The Hoff.

I'm up to 7 minutes now...when does the intro finish you cunt? The world's first ever techno record imo, written in 1971. Let me know when they finish writing it wont you? Its a grower!