By Myles Palmer
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ENGLAND 1 FRANCE 2
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Lampard 38, Zidane 91, Zidane pen 92
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ENGLAND were badly let down by Owen, Beckham and Sven last night.
Ledley King and Rooney were magnificent, Frank Lampard scored with a Platt header after a pinpoint free-kick from Beckham, but we lost.
We should have won, but we lost.
We could have drawn, but we lost.
England were better than I expected and better than France expected.
I won my bet, but I would rather have won the game.
Really, it was : Youth 1 Experience 2.
We had a youthful spine against their experienced spine of guys who have won World Cups and Champions Leagues.
King, Rooney, Gerrard and Lampard are raw at this level.
It was King’s first big game.
Still, the tactics worked perfectly.
Until he took Rooney off.
Thuram, Vieira, Makelele and Zidane have won, between them, everything there is to win in football.
SVEN HAS HAD 7 months to figure out how to stop Thierry Henry – and Engerland stopped him by defending deep.
Ronald Koeman worked that out for Ajax and many have copied the plan since, includng Capello.
It ain’t rocket science.
The only pass Henry got all night was a suicidal backpass from Stevie G, who should have let Ashley Cole clear that ball.
Why did Gerrard decide to pass that ball back?
TIREDNESS.
You should play the way you are facing but he could have let Ashley clear it by playing the way HE was facing.
Still, it’s all to play for.
We can beat Switzerland and Croatia.
And we can improve and learn in the next 14 days.
And we can beat Portugal or Spain.
We can play France again.
But the team needs some fine-tuning.
ROONEY is the best striker we have seen in the tournament so far.
Match for match, week for week, game for game in the Premiership, in the Champions League, in internationals, Mikael Silvestre is the best defender in the world.
Better than Cannavaro, Lucio, Ayala, Nesta or Helguera.
And Rooney took him on and even during a second half siege, when England had only one attack, Rooney took him on and beat him and won a penalty.
DIRECTNESS is being rewarded in Euro 2004.
Everybody who gets the ball and runs straight at the box is causing problems and scoring goals.
Sadly, this heroic break was not rewarded because Beckham took a feeble Sunday morning penalty which Barthez saved.
Rooney will have three defenders on him in every game now.
And that will leave space for him to play runners in.
OWEN should NOT be one of those runners.
Owen is clueless.
Owen is off-form and has had a bad season and he is only there because Umbro can make more money from him than they can from Andy Cole or Jermain Defoe.
I knew this would happen.
I just KNEW this would happen.
I knew Owen would fail.
And that is why Defoe should be in Portugal.
Sven should play Scholes behind Rooney, or Vassell and Rooney, and have Owen Hargreaves on the left.
Hargreaves never showboats and always plays keep-ball.
International football is about not giving the ball away.
HESKEY is a plank.
Nice lad, but a plank.
What did I say after 2002?
That Sven has to choose between playing Heskey and playing football.
Rooney means England can start playing football and stop playing long-ball.
Owen can play long-ball, but he can’t play football.
Talking of long balls, did you see the way Rooney pulled that long Beckham pass down in 66 and beat Thuram and tried to find Owen, but found Silvestre?
England haven’t had a striker who could have controlled that pass since BOBBY CHARLTON !
HESKEY?
A pro does not foul Zidane 22 yards out with a tackle from behind in the 90th minute.
Only a plank does that.
If Beckham had scored that penalty, we would have won Euro 2004.
I’m sure that tattoo is a curse.
Since he tattooed his neck I have refused to write about Beckham.
His neck-tattoo aparently brings spiritual protection for his children.
WHAT A THICKO !!!
England’s richest world famous millionaire is the icon of a decadent lottery culture created by Rupert Murdoch.
Thank you,Rupert.
What a naff world you gave us.
Dumbing down England is your revenge for the British Empire on which the sun never set.
Now we can buy The Sun abroad.
We gave the world Shakespeare, Dickens, the Welfare State, the E-type Jag, Callan, Twiggy, James Bond, The Rolling Stones, Concorde, The Sweeney and three good Michael Caine films – but now we sell soap trivia and prole morons.
IT WAS A SHAME FOR SVEN, who did everything right until he took Rooney off.
Vassell for Owen in 69 was overdue, Hargreaves for Scholes was good, but Heskey for Rooney was madness.
That’s all I have to say this morning.
Enough wisdom for one day.
If Beckham had scored that penalty, we would have won Euro 2004.
If Sven hadn’t taken Rooney off, we would have beaten France 1-0.
The Beckham penalty was a Sunday morning penalty and the Zidane penalty was class.
Beckham rushed it, his body shape told everybody where it was going, and Barthez read it.
Yes, a draw would have been a fair result.
But England should have won.
HOW MUCH DO WE CARE?
Well, the Croatian manager is on £50K a year.
Santini is on £300K.
Sven is on £4.5 million.
That’s how much we care.
June 13th 2004.