The nation has spoken, and X Factor and Strictly Come Dancing are now officially more important than an England qualifier.
Not that I’m too bothered, as personally I’d rather settle down to watching paint dry on a Saturday evening than watch the likes of John Terry and Wayne Rooney go all patriotic and scream the words of God Save our Queen in Ukraine.
So the England supporters will be left to sit at a computer and fire up their internet to watch their beloved heroic Lions play in an utterly meaningless fixture. Of course chances are before the commentator has even had the chance to mention “The Boys of ‘66” or “Terry Butchers blood soaked bandage” the watchers on will have been distracted by Facebook or Twitter.
Comically it’s also being shown at Odeon cinemas nationwide, but it would appear they have over looked Switch Island and the brand spanking set up at Liverpool One. Maybe that’s an insight that Scouser’s wouldn’t turn up. However the Three Lions must be popular in Basingstoke, Bath, and Hatfield. Obviously they are bigger football towns than Liverpool eh?
It’s a funny old thing watching England, watching those players who annoy you so much when playing for their club, to see Ashley Cole, Rio Ferdinand, Wayne Rooney, Frank Lampard even Gareth “fill your pockets” Barry all playing for the same team seems fitting. Of course the Reds will be represented through Steven Gerrard and Glen Johnson, but even their inclusion won’t tempt me to watch it. I’d much rather play Spider Solitaire.
So in a weekend where the country won’t really care how their nation are doing, myself, and plenty of other Liverpool supporters will be wishing the week away so normality can be resumed, and hopefully the Reds can bounce back from the Fiorentina/ Chelsea debacle and win at Sunderland’s Stadium of Light.
I’m not sure if it’s a Scouse thing. Or maybe it’s just our club. And I’m not even sure where or how it originated, but the truth is very few people actually care about the national team anymore. Perhaps it may be the racism aimed at John Barnes in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s as each touch in England white was booed with venom. Except when he went on that mazy run against Brazil in the Maracana of course. Maybe even before then when Kevin Keegan appeared to be more interested in his country than club. Something, which repeated itself in the late ‘90s with a current Manchester United striker once wore Liverpool red.
It may even have been the resurgence of the aforementioned United, when the national team became littered with United’s side, and perhaps Kopites found it too difficult to support players who they hated every Saturday afternoon.
Even the treatment of Jamie Carragher, during the twilight years of his career the Champions League winner was over looked in favour of the ever so dependable Jonathon Woodgate and Manchester United reserve Wes Brown. The fact Carragher was a stalwart for a side continuously playing in the latter stages of Europe’s greatest competition was an utter disgrace.
Conversely, at the English helm during this time was a Swede who was more interested in scoring himself, and a former Middlesbrough manager Steve McClaren who can boast a single Carling Cup on his extra-ordinary managerial CV. So what did you really expect?
With club football, you don’t really have a choice, it’s there with you every day but thankfully international football is not the same, and now it would appear it’s not going to be force fed on terrestrial television. It’s now an option, and one which I’m certain won’t prove popular in the mean time.
Perhaps in the future, streaming football is the way to go, as of course technology is always changing. Maybe one day we will all be huddled around a laptop watching the FA Cup final, but I really hope not.
Whatever happens in the Dnipro Arena, football fans around these parts won’t be paying up to watch this fixture. If the above didn’t put you off purchasing the game, Andriy Voronin is likely to line up for the opposition. Watching the mishaps of our ponytailed striker? Surely we deserve a week off.
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