You Suck England

Well at least those internationals are out of the way for the rest of the season. What a shower. And I did tell you so, regarding McLaren. I was wondering the other day whether England would actually be better with Lee Cook on the left wing (Lennon on the right, Gerrard and Hargreaves in the middle) compared to whatever it was they were trying to do against Israel with Lennon on the left and the other three clomping on each other's feet. I think they would. Not that I'm suggesting that Lee Cook should start for England, it's just that almost any creative, genuine left-sided player would be better than playing everyone out of position, especially against mediocre opposition.

Then I started wondering whether a well-coached, motivated, properly supported team of Championship players could do reasonably well in international football. Until I realised, why wonder, it's right here :

1 Northern Ireland 6 4 1 1 10 7 3 13 2 Sweden 5 4 0 1 9 4 5 12 3 Spain 5 3 0 2 9 6 3 9 4 Denmark 4 2 1 1 7 2 5 7 5 Latvia 4 1 0 3 4 3 1 3 6 Liechtenstein 5 1 0 4 3 15 -12 3 7 Iceland 5 1 0 4 4 9 -5 3

Small sample of games or not, everyone involved with the England football team should take a good look at how Northern Ireland are doing in a more difficult group and hang their heads.