Ferdinand's comments this morning will no doubt come over as sour
grapes to some, and i don't doubt there is something in that, but i go
along with his view that this tournament should have seen the younger
players given more of a look in. It was always obvious that with the
players available England had no chance of winning this tournament and
that this was a tournament to blood promising youngsters and experiment
with the future in mind. I think that there are some good players coming
through, Welbeck has certainly established himself, if Wilshere can get
his career together he will be a top, top player, if Cleverley can keep
free of injury he should establish himself in the squad and Kyle Walker
is a far better player than Glenn Johnson.
Phil Jones, Chris Smalling and Jack Rodwell could be others to enter the fray, he hasn't made it at United yet, but i expect Will Keane to do the business for United and follow Welbeck into the international set up. Oxlade Chamberlain looks to be another with a great chance, it's no suprise that there are no young players from Chelsea or City that i can think off to add to that list. I know Chelsea knocked us out of the FA youth cup but i don't recall noticing any special English youngsters amongst their ranks.
Martin Samuel agrees with Ferdinand's coments about Hodgson's decision to leave Phil Jones on the bench for the tournament and argues that he could have been used in midfield, either from the start or as a sub. He had played in a foward midfield defensive role for England against Spain and could have been used there in an attempt to stop Pirlo in his tracks.
Up to christmas i would have gone along with that, but he didn't really look the same player after his injuries mid way through the season. Added to that he looked out of his depth playing for us in the middle of the park in our disastrous European campaign's, he wasn't alone of couse. The suggestion that he should have come on before Henderson is totally valid though. He has plenty of time yet, in fact it will be interesting to see how much game time and where that game time will be during the forthcoming season.
Mark Ogden reckons Capello's criticism of Rooney just shows that he never worked out how to make Rooney tick for the national side. I think it's fair to say he never worked out to make anybody tick for the national side.
Rooney himself is already looking forward to the season ahead with United, he thinks the youngsters will have learned from last season and will be better this season. It could have been Fergie himself coming out with that statement.
It seems everybody was a bit taken aback by Flintoff's labelling of Michael Atherton as a bit of a prick. I suppose you would expect me to stick up for a fellow red, but his comments seem to have gone down like a lead balloon everywhere.
Cook has been playing brilliantly and is probably a better batsmen than Atherton in his prime, but Atherton had to play against Warne and McGrath in their prime, Curtley Ambrose and Courtney Walsh, Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis and Allan Donald of Shaun Pollock of South Africa. I'd say an average in the 30's was nothing to be ashamed about. Flintoff was certainly a top player but his average with bat and ball should have been better. I know who's opinion about the world of cricket i'd sooner listen to. Stick to the shite TV.
John Harris talks about why he won't be going to see The Stone Roses at Heaton park over the weekend
Music. When the news came through that they were reforming and doing the gigs, i was as excited as everybody else. I was going to get tickets, but due to a fuck up i missed out. I was going to wait and try and pick one up nearer the time, but the nearer it got, the more i came round to a similar view to Harris's. One other reason was Ian Brown's vocals live, the fact he can't sing didn't matter as much on record, but live is a different matter. From the YouTube clips of their recent dates in Europe, it seems he is still the weak link he always was. They would be an amazing live act with a decent singer, a brilliant guitarist, a shit hot drummer and that's so important and Mani driving the sound on bass.
Music
Beth Jean Houghton & the hooves of destiny - Yours truly, cellophane noise: I saw a track of hers on Jools Holland and wasn't very impressed, so i wasn't sure what to expect from this. It's pretty good, along the lines of the left field female artists we heard so much of over the last couple of years. Her vocals were a bit ropey on Later though.
Bruce Spingsteen - Wrecking ball: He has been on form over his last few albums and he carries it on here, it's more of a protest singers album than of late with a more folk influenced sound than the rock influenced last two albums. He aint a happy bunny.
Burial - Street Halo/Kindred E.P's: This is the kind of dubstep i really like, a mixture of experimental techno genres leaning to a darker less commercial sound.
Paul Weller - Sonik kicks: As with Springsteen, Weller has been on a roll since his 22 dreams album. This is another cracker, as wide ranging if not as experimental as 22 dreams, it's packed full of cracking tunes.
Robert Glasper experiment - Black radio: A great mix of modern jazz and RnB, with some superb collaborations. I love the final track, a totally different cover of Nirvana's Teen spirit.
Sharon Jones and the dap kings - Soul time: Another consistently excellent combination of soul and funk, they really are a cracking backing band.
Phil Jones, Chris Smalling and Jack Rodwell could be others to enter the fray, he hasn't made it at United yet, but i expect Will Keane to do the business for United and follow Welbeck into the international set up. Oxlade Chamberlain looks to be another with a great chance, it's no suprise that there are no young players from Chelsea or City that i can think off to add to that list. I know Chelsea knocked us out of the FA youth cup but i don't recall noticing any special English youngsters amongst their ranks.
Martin Samuel agrees with Ferdinand's coments about Hodgson's decision to leave Phil Jones on the bench for the tournament and argues that he could have been used in midfield, either from the start or as a sub. He had played in a foward midfield defensive role for England against Spain and could have been used there in an attempt to stop Pirlo in his tracks.
Up to christmas i would have gone along with that, but he didn't really look the same player after his injuries mid way through the season. Added to that he looked out of his depth playing for us in the middle of the park in our disastrous European campaign's, he wasn't alone of couse. The suggestion that he should have come on before Henderson is totally valid though. He has plenty of time yet, in fact it will be interesting to see how much game time and where that game time will be during the forthcoming season.
Mark Ogden reckons Capello's criticism of Rooney just shows that he never worked out how to make Rooney tick for the national side. I think it's fair to say he never worked out to make anybody tick for the national side.
Rooney himself is already looking forward to the season ahead with United, he thinks the youngsters will have learned from last season and will be better this season. It could have been Fergie himself coming out with that statement.
It seems everybody was a bit taken aback by Flintoff's labelling of Michael Atherton as a bit of a prick. I suppose you would expect me to stick up for a fellow red, but his comments seem to have gone down like a lead balloon everywhere.
Cook has been playing brilliantly and is probably a better batsmen than Atherton in his prime, but Atherton had to play against Warne and McGrath in their prime, Curtley Ambrose and Courtney Walsh, Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis and Allan Donald of Shaun Pollock of South Africa. I'd say an average in the 30's was nothing to be ashamed about. Flintoff was certainly a top player but his average with bat and ball should have been better. I know who's opinion about the world of cricket i'd sooner listen to. Stick to the shite TV.
John Harris talks about why he won't be going to see The Stone Roses at Heaton park over the weekend
Music. When the news came through that they were reforming and doing the gigs, i was as excited as everybody else. I was going to get tickets, but due to a fuck up i missed out. I was going to wait and try and pick one up nearer the time, but the nearer it got, the more i came round to a similar view to Harris's. One other reason was Ian Brown's vocals live, the fact he can't sing didn't matter as much on record, but live is a different matter. From the YouTube clips of their recent dates in Europe, it seems he is still the weak link he always was. They would be an amazing live act with a decent singer, a brilliant guitarist, a shit hot drummer and that's so important and Mani driving the sound on bass.
Music
Beth Jean Houghton & the hooves of destiny - Yours truly, cellophane noise: I saw a track of hers on Jools Holland and wasn't very impressed, so i wasn't sure what to expect from this. It's pretty good, along the lines of the left field female artists we heard so much of over the last couple of years. Her vocals were a bit ropey on Later though.
Bruce Spingsteen - Wrecking ball: He has been on form over his last few albums and he carries it on here, it's more of a protest singers album than of late with a more folk influenced sound than the rock influenced last two albums. He aint a happy bunny.
Burial - Street Halo/Kindred E.P's: This is the kind of dubstep i really like, a mixture of experimental techno genres leaning to a darker less commercial sound.
Paul Weller - Sonik kicks: As with Springsteen, Weller has been on a roll since his 22 dreams album. This is another cracker, as wide ranging if not as experimental as 22 dreams, it's packed full of cracking tunes.
Robert Glasper experiment - Black radio: A great mix of modern jazz and RnB, with some superb collaborations. I love the final track, a totally different cover of Nirvana's Teen spirit.
Sharon Jones and the dap kings - Soul time: Another consistently excellent combination of soul and funk, they really are a cracking backing band.
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