Football's ups and downs

Starting with the downs, I have been following the England team's progress in trying to qualify for the European Championships next year. They have no reason to be worried playing against any team in the group, and yet they remain in 4th place out of 7 in the qualifying table. I do not expect to win the World Cup or anything, but the players are good enough to be a good challenge for any in the world, so qualifying for big events should be no problem, especially against teams like those in our group (Estonia, Israel, Macedonia, Andorra, Croatia and Russia).

I am also not a person who criticizes everyone on principle. I think we were unlucky in the World Cup last year, not to get further than we did, given our good side and a good coach (barring his choice to take Theo Walcott who he had never seen play).
Now we have a coach who messes with the formation every game and who is always happy and confident no matter how well the team plays. Sometimes players need criticism. Another of his faults is his insistence in putting Gerard and Lampard together. I don't know why they can't play well together, but they have had enough chances, and they can't, so one of them needs to be left out of the first team. In their place, how about David Beckham? He really cares about playing for his country. He has always given his best, and is one of the best passers in the world. He also scores goals, which seems to have been a problem, particularly against Israel last week.

During the game on Wednesday, the fans were booing and shouting a lot, which will never help anything (and you have to remember that these players and manager etc are all people with feelings. However, I feel their frustration too, because Steve McClaren does not seem to have the ability to get everything out of his players. How about a change?

The good news about football is that my team Shrewsbury Town have just made it into the playoffs, since they have not lost a game since 2006. Let's hope it continues today!