I went to my local (20 miles away) to watch England v. N. Ireland this morning. Fantastic game.. This has to have been the best I've seen England play since the last World Cup.
They moved with imagination, pace, and their creativity shone. Other than predictably weak play from Phil Neville, I saw a team that could have competed against even Brazil today.
I think a large question will be how will they handle adversity. In the past, they've done quite well, with the exception of the match against Brazil where Ronaldinho scored that ridiculous goal from 45 yards out.
More to the point, Joe Cole sparkled in the left wing role. If we can Beckham to play with more discipline and stay out wide right we would have a very, very dangerous team in the next year's World Cup. I look forward to seeing what Stewart Downing can do in Cole's position. I've been very impressed with his passing.
Wouldn't that be something -- to go from not having a first-choice left winger to having two that are world-class? The team is pretty young as well, with depth in every position except goalkeeper.
Posted by artandscience at March 26, 2005 04:16 PM