CRY MOAR.

Yeah, okay, England won. But Michael Bradley upset Frank Lampard, and really, that's all I ask these days. Bonus points to Baby Bradley for wearing black shoes with the black socks and shirt. I respect a boy that knows basic principles of color coordination.

Hi.

Um, finals and graduation and moving back home meant something had to give, and apparently it was everything related to soccer in general and this blog in particular. I would promise to do better, but I just started my bar review course this week, so I'm pretty sure that'd be a lie. I'll do my best, though, and hey, at least it's the off-season?

...Oh right, Euro. With England out, I'm not sure who I'm supporting. I know it's not Portugal (ew Ronaldo), and I have a hard time getting fully behind Spain. While they are awfully pretty and talented, it's Spain. They're gonna choke, and I'm not sure I can handle that. So, here it is. Make your case for what team I should support. Right now, I'm at a loss.

True confession time: I'm actually okay with United winning the double this season. And I won't be able to watch the US/England friendly, what with no ESPN Classic on my cable and the previously-mentioned bar study, I will be interested in the outcome. Because a year ago, I would have been all "pfft, whatever, America," and I still don't think they're gonna win or anything, but. I'll be cheering for them.

England in actually-competent shocker

...I shouldn't jump the gun on declaring them competent, I guess, if past history is anything to go by. (Scolari and Hiddink, anyone?) But at least they seem to be looking at real candidates this time. I'm kind of surprised at myself, but I tend to think Mourinho's a good choice. I loathed him at Chelsea, but I think he might be good for England. If that team needs anything right now, it's someone who won't be overawed by the glamor of all the famous people on the team. Considering Mourinho apparently bought Shevchenko just to not play him and prove they could win anyway, I think he fits. Klinsmann, Capello, and Lippi would also be interesting -- I know Klinsmann speaks English, but I don't know about the other two. Mostly, though, I'm relieved to see that the FA isn't looking under every rock and bush trying to find an English coach who can do it. If McClaren taught them anything, it should have been that midlevel Premiership coaches aren't really up to the job. Even if they are English.

In other news, I'm more than a little ashamed to admit this, but I kind of love BobbyBoswell.com. Though someone needs to tutor Marc Burch on run-on sentences and the difference between its and it's. Just saying.

Waiting-too-long-to-post news

Between travel and Thanksgiving, my post about England, Russia, Israel, and Croatia is pretty much entirely moot now. England only needed a draw against Croatia (who had already qualified) at home to make it to Euro 2008. They couldn't do it, McClaren got fired, and now no one wants the job.

I have to say, I'm not surprised by any of this. England lucked out that Israel won on Saturday to keep them alive this long. They lost to too many teams (and too many bad teams) along the way for me to say they deserved to qualify. At some point, being a big name doesn't get you anywhere, and they reached that point. McClaren didn't have any ideas that Sven didn't have earlier -- by the end, they were still trying to play Gerrard, Lampard, and Beckham all in the same midfield. Like, weren't they trying this before? And didn't it fail horribly then? They're just out of ideas, and chose to bring someone in who would just do more of the same. I don't know how anyone's surprised that they didn't qualify. (And yeah, injuries and all that. Wouldn't have made a difference if they'd done what they needed to earlier.)

And I really can't blame anyone for not wanting the England job, either. The media and the public think you've got a better squad than you do (Paul Robinson, starting keeper. Honestly.), you'll be blamed for absolutely everything, and anything less than winning the World Cup is a failure. I understand having high standards and all, but really, shouldn't the team be able to qualify consistently (and well) before they worry about winning anything? O'Neill's apparently ruled himself out, and I wasn't horribly thrilled with the idea of him regardless, so what the hell. Mourinho for England. Most of those players need their egos taken down a step or two, he'd be more interesting at press conferences than McClaren, and they might stand a chance of making it to the World Cup. (Yes, I know, easy qualifying group. Didn't they say that about Euro 2008?) Based on sheer entertainment value, I'm backing Mourinho. Not that the FA listens to me, but at least I make more sense than Brian Barwick.

Friday linkspam

With an international twist this time, since we're coming up to the last round of Euro qualifiers.

• McClaren recalls David Beckham. Because for a must-win game against Croatia, you totally want an oldish midfielder that has barely played a game since he went to MLS. If anyone ever doubted that McClaren is completely out of ideas, this should be all the proof you need.


• The US named their roster for the friendly against South Africa. I'm glad to see some of the younger players get called up, like Altidore and Edu and Kljestan (...and Eddie Lewis. I don't know.) I kind of wish they were playing a European opponent, but I guess that's hard to do with the Euro qualifiers. Anyway, South Africa should be an interesting opponent, and it's probably a good idea to go down there before the World Cup. Um, assuming they qualify.


• I really have no comment on this story. Except that man needs a job, and fast.

Not dead yet.

Honestly, if England did this, they might get me to care about them again.

Um, yeah, I'm still alive. Sad to say, I don't have anything stunning to report. Liverpool don't seem to be into it this season, which makes it hard for me to care that much. I'll get excited for the Everton game this weekend, but they drew at Birmingham and lost to Marseille, and ugh. The only change I'm seeing this season is that we have a more expensive striker that Rafa's refusing to play consistently, and we've switched from a slow start to the season to a slow October. It's still not great for our title hopes. I do think they should be able to beat Everton, but the sooner Agger and Alonso come back, the better. As my rec-league team can tell you, you need some sort of connection between the defense and the attack, and Steven Gerrard flailing around just isn't enough.

And yeah, I have to admit it. I've lost the England love. I may come back around by Euro 2008, but they've got to start playing better (3-0 against Estonia doesn't count, sorry). They keep making the same mistakes and McClaren's afraid to drop big names, and it's kind of like Sven never left. Which isn't surprising, but it's depressing nonetheless. (And seriously, the US team is just so cute. I don't think England chicken-fights, and more's the pity.)