4/02/2005
Catching up...
Thanks to the fact that I'm actually playing a fair bit of football now (including two matches back-to-back yesterday), I haven't really had the time or the energy to write about it. Since the debacle down in Mexico City...
USA 2-0 Guatemala: This was much, MUCH better. As far as the teams in the hex go, the Guatemalans are probably the least dangerous. They did have that 5-1 win over Trinidad, but my sense about the Trins is that they're a halfway-decent side that are just coached in speactularly-poor fashion. In stark contrast to the hesitant and overly-conservative approach south of the border, the USA treated their fans to a nice show of offensive prowess. If you take away some poor finishing and the heroics of Guatemala's keeper, this easily could have been 4-0 or 5-0. Still, a win is a win, and we're in pretty good position having now faced our toughest opponent on the road. I'll say it again...I can't wait for Mexico to come up here. We're going to fucking murder them. Again.
England 2-0 Azerbaijan: Dour, drab, dull...choose whatever "d"-word you wish. The funniest thing about all of this is that the Azeris should have scored twice...most nations in the world would have beaten England based on this performace. Personally, I hope for nothing better than England playing like this when they come to Chicago in May...I'd love to see the USA knock 3 or 4 past them (if only to shut up the type of English fan that thinks they should beat everyone 11-0, and who thinks that anyone who is from America can't know anything about The Beautiful Game). For their part, England should have had a bucketful, especially Michael Owen. But, credit the Azeris for not folding, and especially credit their keeper, who was excellent.
Arsenal 4-1 Norwich: Anyone who thought Norwich was ever staying up this season is insane. They did practically nothing to bolster their squad heading up into the Premier League...even WBA did a better preparation job. We looked like the Arsenal of old, but that isn't such a big deal...not against shite opposition like this. All credit to Huckerby for scoring a nice goal, but that really was their entire lot. I'm sure that Green, Ashton, and maybe Huckerby and Francis will find useful employment somewhere else in the EPL next season. The rest of these jokers will be much better suited to Division One, where they belong.
USA 2-0 Guatemala: This was much, MUCH better. As far as the teams in the hex go, the Guatemalans are probably the least dangerous. They did have that 5-1 win over Trinidad, but my sense about the Trins is that they're a halfway-decent side that are just coached in speactularly-poor fashion. In stark contrast to the hesitant and overly-conservative approach south of the border, the USA treated their fans to a nice show of offensive prowess. If you take away some poor finishing and the heroics of Guatemala's keeper, this easily could have been 4-0 or 5-0. Still, a win is a win, and we're in pretty good position having now faced our toughest opponent on the road. I'll say it again...I can't wait for Mexico to come up here. We're going to fucking murder them. Again.
England 2-0 Azerbaijan: Dour, drab, dull...choose whatever "d"-word you wish. The funniest thing about all of this is that the Azeris should have scored twice...most nations in the world would have beaten England based on this performace. Personally, I hope for nothing better than England playing like this when they come to Chicago in May...I'd love to see the USA knock 3 or 4 past them (if only to shut up the type of English fan that thinks they should beat everyone 11-0, and who thinks that anyone who is from America can't know anything about The Beautiful Game). For their part, England should have had a bucketful, especially Michael Owen. But, credit the Azeris for not folding, and especially credit their keeper, who was excellent.
Arsenal 4-1 Norwich: Anyone who thought Norwich was ever staying up this season is insane. They did practically nothing to bolster their squad heading up into the Premier League...even WBA did a better preparation job. We looked like the Arsenal of old, but that isn't such a big deal...not against shite opposition like this. All credit to Huckerby for scoring a nice goal, but that really was their entire lot. I'm sure that Green, Ashton, and maybe Huckerby and Francis will find useful employment somewhere else in the EPL next season. The rest of these jokers will be much better suited to Division One, where they belong.
