Back from Honeymoon

Call yourself a football supporter? Name three Macedonian international players. Not easy, is it? And it clearly wasn’t easy for England either, as all they could manage was a frustrating goalless draw against a team of players hardly anybody has heard of.

But ‘team’ was the operative word. Macedonia succeeded because they had a viable plan and they were confident and well organised. As a result they rarely looked in trouble defensively and their neat methodical attacking football enabled them to retain a creditable amount of possession and even to threaten England on several occasions.

By contrast, England looked dull and unimaginative – a far cry from a side which, if you believe all the hype, is bejewelled with world class players. But this was a day when most of the so-called world class players were no-shows and there is growing evidence that some of them, through no fault of their own, have been exalted far beyond the limits of their talent. As for those who genuinely are world class, one is shoved out on the right flank and the other one is trying so hard to overcome a dip in form that he’s obviously getting worse before he gets better, so it’s hardly surprising that Gerrard and Rooney aren’t at their sparkling best.

And as for the management, judging by the media reports you can definitely assume that the brief honeymoon period is over.