Lone Justice

As has been the case with this World Cup, a day of mediocre football is followed by matches that prove that it is impossible to be interested in only your club side, matches that make you marvel at the abilities of individuals and team units.

Hot on the heels of the turgid Swedish victory over Paraguay, came Argentina's demolition of Serbia & Montenegro. I doubt that any performance by a team unit will be better during this tournament. The first goal set the bar for teamwork, slick passing finished by Maxi Rodriguez. The fourth by Cambiasso raised it even higher, probably bettering the effort by Fernando Torres earlier in the week. Without doubt, the Argentinean performance was excellent but it is difficult to fathom the depths to which the Serbs had plummeted, they had plenty of possession but never really threatened. Argentina posted a warning to the rest of the competition but the Dutch subsequently showed that they are up to the challenge overcoming a strong Ivory Coast challenge in the second of the matches in the previously called "Group of Death". Robin van Persie followed Freddie and Tomas Rosicky into the scoring books, bagging a corking freekick, before Shergar added a second. van Persie reminded us of his versatility by being provider for the second and clearing a header off of the Dutch line towards the end of the match. The Ivorians will no doubt look back and wish that they had been more adventurous as once they pegged one back, they had the opportunity to grab an equaliser.

If Group C was the "Group of Death", there is no doubt that Group B is the "Group of Dearth". England's Golden Generation played more like the Golden Girls, making hard work of the Trinidadian challenge, lucky to be level at half time following John Terry's goalline clearance, England resorted to the long ball, finally winning with Peter Crouch and Steven Gerrards' late goals. There are two schools of thought about England, (1) the first decent team they meet will tear them apart or (2) who gives a toss how we play let's just win the damn thing. I fall into the latter but would prefer them to play with more "nous". I am more concerned by the lack of form shown by Owen, I wish he would be as well; being happy to sit on the bench is not a public commitment to putting things right on the pitch. However, is the reason that Owen is playing poorly due to the partnership with Crouch and / or the absence of Rooney. If it is the former, the latters return will solve it. If it is the latter then God Help Us All as there is little doubt that an Argentinean, German or Ecuadorian tackle is going to test just how well his foot has healed in either Round 2 or the Quarter Finals.

One thing that is apparent in this tournament is that thus far the smaller teams are not rolling over as they used to in World Cups past. There is unlikely to be a repeat of Hungary's ten goal annihilation of El Salvador in 1982, as I write Angola are making the Mexicans work exceptionally hard to even score. I know that the Mexicans notional placement of fourth best in the World makes a mockery of the FIFA Rankings system and is no doubt indicative of (a) riding of luck and (b) solid defensive tactics but the inability of the top teams to put opponents away is shameful.

Another thing that is apparent about this tournament though. The standard of refereeing is generally poor, no matter which Continent the officials come from. The fluidity of games is frequently ruined by the shrill blast of the Acme Thunderer for seemingly innocuous offences. And no, this is not a diatribe about the Referees coming from Asia or South America, the Italian who refereed the Argentina / Serbia rout was no better.

Little doubt that nerves hits these officials, after all players complain of nerves and the Referees are no different as it is the big stage for them also. But the flourishes with which cards are brandished or whistles blown at times make you wonder if they have lost sight of the fact that they are managers / facilitators not the stars of the show. FIFA edicts do not help but there is a feeling that I cannot shake that physical contact is being eradicated, the slightest shoulder contact is being penalised and I have lost count of the number of seemingly fair sliding tackles that have been punished by a yellow card and freekick. I hope this is not a foretaste of what is to come in the new season as there will be eight a side games in a large number of league matches in the 2006/07 campaign.

Today's Tunes come from Lone Justice, taken from their self titled debut album from about 1985, I think.

Ways To Be Wicked

Pass It On

Jam Today

Germany 2006 has seen The Good, The Bad and The Ugly over the last forty-eight hours. The Good were definitely Spain. Even before the Ukrainians were reduced to ten men, the men from the Iberian peninsular were rampant and away from their opponents. The third, a contentious penalty that should not have been given - the initial tug of Torres shirt was outside the area, the Atletico forward slipped when turning in the area - should not detract from the fourth, a fabulous strike from Torres, fully justifying the hype, following Puyol's pirouette and deft flick on. For once, they have been placed in a straightforward Group, and for once they have come flying out of the blocks with a 4 - 0 victory. If they can do this to their nearest rivals in their Group then Tunisia and Saudi Arabia must be fearful of being on the end of a complete hiding. From an Arsenal perspective, neither Reyes or Fabregas started, the latter getting on for the last ten minutes or so, but it is hard to criticise Aragones selection with this win.

For which we should all be thankful because the French were just complete shite. I am not sure what is wrong with them as technically they are the equal of most teams in the world but they just cannot click at the top level. Following on from their disastrous 2002 campaign, one would have thought that they would have been itching to get off to a flying start. Instead it was more va-va-kaput-splutter-cough than anything else. One thing that puzzles me is Henry's inability to transfer his Arsenal form to internationals, possibly due to defenders being better than those he faces on a weekly basis or maybe due to the speed with which Arsenal play being more suited to his game?

Somewhere in between these two were Brazil, who put in an England type performance - OK in the first half, nonexistent in the second, holding on for a win in the end. The difference between England and Brazil's performance was that Croatia deserved a point and had the chances to have taken it. And it is games like these that I find myself admiring the little flicks and dribbles by Ronaldinho but at that the same time whether all of the showboating is actually productive, raising the issue of whilst there is little doubt that he is the most skilful player but is he the best player in the world in terms of his team? What does he contribute on days like these, other than to make a dull game look prettier? One thing is for certain, he contributed more than Ronaldo who lumbered around the pitch for the best part of an hour or so without actually doing anything other than one shot on the hour mark from twenty yards out. He looked as out of sorts on Tuesday as he did in the final in 1998, back then though he had an excuse of illness beforehand. Now, he looks too big for his game - not necessarily fat as he is labelled - just too bulky. Whether this is a wake-up call remains to be seen but Adriano supported by Kaka, Robinho and Ronaldinho caused more problems for the Croat defence than anything that had gone before.

The hosts meanwhile, laboured to a 1 - 0 victory that marked their passing into Round Two and the Poles probable exit from this competition. The English ought to join them tonight with a victory over Trinidad and Tobago but I'm sure that the Swede's thought they would win on Saturday. Looking at the first round of matches, there is little if anything in their opponents that England should be worried about. The trouble is that England gave their opponents little or nothing to be worried about either.

Todays tunes are more from The Jam, this time from the 100 Club in London, 1977. Both are cover versions, Heatwave and In The Midnight Hour.

All Kangaroos Tied Down, Sah!

Sunday's matches at the World Cup brought the expected wins for Portugal, Holland and Mexico, the only surprise being that the Portuguese did not thump the Angolans instead being restricted to a 1 - 0 victory. Of the three teams, Holland put in the most solid performance looking threatening going forward and for the first half at least, comfortable in defence. Serbia proceeded to show in the second half why they topped their qualification group and will probably feel disappointed to have not taken a point out of the match. Robin van Persie played well on the right for the Dutch, setting up Robben's goal. It gives Wenger another variation to use if he feels that the team is not performing next season, this World Cup is proving to be a useful testing ground for his team selections next year, with Walcott likely to play against Sweden if England have already qualified. Of one thing there can be no doubt though is the return of Freddie Ljungberg's fighting spirit, unfortunately for the Swedes it was shown in dressing room fight with Olof Mellberg, bringing back memories of their previous row when Freddie took exception to one of Mellberg's tackles in training before, I think, the last World Cup although it could have been Euro 2004.

In today's games, Australia came back from the proverbial dead to score three times in the last eight minutes to beat Japan 3 - 1, the Walking Ego complaining about his charges being labelled a rough team. Tomas Rosicky became the first Arsenal player to score at this World Cup, hitting the target with a 25 yard screamer, his second a deft chip over the diving keeper, and a crossbar denying him as good a hattrick as the World Cup would have ever seen, as the Czech Republic beat the 5th ranked nation in the World 3 - 0. So Carl, yah boo sucks, I told you FIFA Rankings were complete bollocks and Budweiser is still a crap beer. Italy meanwhile laboured to a 2 - 0 victory over Ghana, playing well but giving the Africans enough of the ball to make it harder evening that it should probably have been.

Spain appear to have announced their line-up to the press by holding a training session where the first XI were trained by Aragones and the subs went through their drills elsewhere. It appears that neither Reyes nor Fabregas will start the game but the biggest "shock" seems to be the omission of Raul, whose national status was something akin to the Queen Mother's when she was alive. The team appears to be:

Casillas; Ramos, Puyol, Ibanez, Pernia; Xavi, Xavi Alonso, Senna; Villa, Torres, Garcia

Pernia's rise is the stuff of fairytales having been only eligible for the Spaniards for less than a month, omitted from the initial squad and brought in to replace Del Horno.

Elsewhere, depending on which paper you read of course, Pascal Cygan is on his way to St. Etienne for a million quid, Arsenal will no doubt be biting the French clubs hands off if this is true. What is more unbelievable is that Blackburn are rumoured to be interested in buying him - I know that Cygan has not had much chance to play during the last twelve months but even Mark Hughes must surely know how bloody awful Cygan is? Other potential signings, Eider Gudjohnsen is available for a measly £10m which would be a good investment although Barcelona seem to be favourites for him and just about every other decent player on the market whilst a deal is close at hand for Dutch youngster Vincent van den Berg who has met with Wenger and Bergkamp about a move to Ashburton Grove.

Todays Tunes give me the loosest possible reason to put up some more live tracks by The Jam, not that I need any excuses to do so. So to mark the re-issue of All Mod Cons, which everybody should own, here are three of albums songs:

To Be Someone - Manchester Apollo 1979

It's Too Bad - Fox Warfield Theatre, San Francisco 1980

Mr Clean - Pink Pop Festival 1980

World Cup Diary

Germany 2006 is now up and running, the first five games done and dusted with three of the pre-tournament favourites over their first hurdle. The Germans kicked off with 4 - 2 win over Costa Rica, a game they were expected to cruise through only giving them mild discomfort. The one thing that struck me about their performance was that they may not have trouble scoring goals but it looks like they may have problems claiming clean sheets. This may not be too much of an issue in the Group, especially as victory over Poland will send them through to the next round, but once the knockout phase starts, the level of opposition will improve and stretch them more than the Costa Ricans. And what of the other two teams in the Group. Ecuador may have beaten Poland 2 - 0 but after the second half, I am not sure that the Poles understand how they lost. Key moment was their incorrectly disallowed goal but to have hit the bar and post as well showed that they had the right idea. It highlights the paucity of their efforts in the First Half when they could not even muster a shot even vaguely on goal. The Group will either be blown wide open or sealed on Wednesday. Should either of Poland or Costa Rica win then qualification will go down to the wire although the hosts four goal haul in the opening game ought to be enough to see them through in the event of points being tied, especially if the teams win, lose and draw their matches; the head-to-head fixtures method for resolving tied teams would be redundant so Goals Scored is the third method which puts the Germans in pole position to qualify.

Group B started with England beating Paraguay with a third minute own goal. Indeed, the England team followed Sven's gameplan to the letter: (1) Score early goal, check, (2) Do not concede before half-time, check, (3) Defend too deep in the second - half, giving the opposition ample possession to try and snatch the points, check. The tactics were exactly the same as the ones that have failed so badly in 2002 and 2004 showing that whilst this squad could potentially win the World Cup, the manager has the infinite capacity to balls it up. Even more of a concern is that Steve McClaren is there and was unable to prevent the degeneration of the performance. Things that came out of the match that need working on are firstly, sorting out whatever problem Michael Owen has because he played like a man who had the weight of the world on his shoulders. This is urgent because whatever else is said, Peter Crouch is not a forward who can play up front on his own. The continual long ball to him works if he has support but not when the midfield is some forty yards back down the pitch. That said, the midfield played reasonably well yesterday, perhaps some work needed on ball retention but their passing was good, generally hitting the intended target. Much was made beforehand of the eccentricity of the Mexican referee in the English Media but initially he seemed to be spot on with his decisions, Gerrard did his usual diving into a tackle, studs showing and both feet off the ground. He did not heed the warnings from before the tournament so he got booked. Thereafter, the Referees performance lived up to the hype with bizarre interventions that resulted in Paraguay getting every decision for the first twenty minutes of the second half, or so it seemed.

So three points were sealed and given the result in the other match, an England win on Thursday will send them through to the next round. Which is more than can be said of Sweden. Unbelievably, they were held to a goalless draw by a Trinidad & Tobago team reduced to ten men with less than a minute of the second half gone after, shall we be generous and call the two tackles, "over-enthusiastic". Add into the mix a thumping shot that rattled the bar and the Swedes may be relieved to have a point which counteracts the fact that Shaka Hislop played out of his skin to keep T&T in the match.

The final match so far was in the Group of Death. Argentina were cruising to a comfortable victory over the Ivory Coast before a late Drogba goal made it an uncomfortable last ten minutes. Of the three "Big Guns", the Argentinians were the most impressive, straight into their slick passing, unlucky not to be one up when Ayala's header clearly crossed the line. Crespo showed the form that Chelsea could not capture from him, still one of the best forwards in the world despite the best efforts of Mourinho to prove otherwise.

Reports today of a proposed revamp to the World Cup and European Championships. Plans to be presented will include the moving of both competitions to bi-annual events, qualification not through competitive matches but based on FIFA's World Rankings. Hot on the heels of the FIFA mandate to move to eighteen team top flights, it became clear that Uncle Sepp was planning to move Internationals to the forefront of football. Until you read that the proposals are from a study commissioned by the G-14 clubs, directly at odds with the posturing of the Premiership Spokesman who poo-pooed the FIFA idea of reducing the size of Division. What is in it for the clubs, you ask? Well, expansion of the Champions League for starters. Apparently, increasing this to 48 teams from the current 32 will bring in a mindboggling £300m of additional revenues. This would help offset the loss of money from domestic games as you can bet your arse on the fact that the additional twelve teams will be coming from England, Italy, Germany, France, Portugal, Spain and the like rather than from the Faroe Islands. Note that the clubs also want to do away with the Qualifying Tournaments, something that neither FIFA or UEFA will go for unless those matches are replaced by International Friendlies. So instead of reducing the number of fixtures, the clubs are proposing to increase them. Or are they actually admitting that reducing the size of the domestic Leagues might not be such a poor idea after all?

Todays Tunes are one remix and one mashup, courtesy of fuTuRo, website here, where there are more to pick from.

What's Going On - fuTuRo Re-Fresh

Long Groovin Summer (The Style Council v The Young Rascals)