Catching Up

The England blog is back and – much like the team – it’s under new management. Shawn was caught negotiating with a fake sheikh about writing another blog for more money, so here I am.

Old News: We didn’t want Steve McClaren, but then we got him, and… so far so good. Dropping Beckham was the right decision (same goes for all the over 30s who didn’t survive the cull) for a variety of reasons. Liking the youthful approach. Also liking the width McClaren has us playing with, that he split up the dysfunctional Lampard/Gerrard central midfield relationship, and that he’s turned Crouchy into a prolific international goalscorer. There was even a place in my heart for Owen Hargreaves, until he broke his leg. An exciting win over Greece, thrashing Andorra, and grinding out an away win in Macedonia. Could be worse.

New News: England play Macedonia at Old Trafford on October 7th. There’s a bit of an injury crisis in midfield (Lennon, Cole and Hargreaves all out) so it will be interesting to see what Steve does. Squad should be named around September 29th.

The Soccer Weblog