Yeah, I though Crouch had a good game, although missed a couple of good chances

Owen, I think, is lacking sharpness and/or confidence. I'd drop him and start Rooney with Crouch on Wednesday.

Beckham is an arrogant arsehole who thinks he can run the game from anywhere on the pitch, although, to be fair, he ended up on the left a few times because he was taking the corners. But, I hear he's been superb for Real the last few games on the right - clearly the roaming he does for England is not tolerated there. Thankfully he has at last realised that he can't take penalties.

Nothing about the game suggests we'll go any further than the traditional QF after tediously scraping through the first round (or getting the job done as the optimists will have it) and beating an outsider in the second. Although with four new keen African countries in the draw, we might not get that far.

I'm planning to be in Berlin for the final week to soak up the atmosphere and the excellent beer - anyone else?

Posted By: BerlinCanary, Oct 9, 13:22:03