All those feelings of national pride and self-worth generated by the cricket just weren't meant to last, were they? That kind of thing is not healthy for our collective psyche, so thank goodness for Svennis and his Keystone Cops collection of England players, who arrived in the nick of time to administer a strong dose of self-flagellation and stopped us getting completely carried away with ourselves.
The reaction to Wednesday's debacle has been predictable yet still enjoyable, with the nations' finest journos searching avidly for the TRUTH behind a defeat in another meaningless friendly fixture. Some point to a mis-firing dynamic between Lampard and Gerrard and the lack of a Makelele-style holding midfielder , others to Sven's inability to transfer his raging passion from boudoir to dressing room. David James, bless him, has said that it was all his fault , as he failed to prepare himself properly. Oh dear David, back on the Playstation again are we? Londonist suspects that the goalkeeper's problem is not his warm-up, but an instinctive desire for the limelight. Why else would he chose so often to rush from the safety of his goal area and hurl himself at the nearest attacking player? Look out for David on MOTD's coverage of Man City Vs Brum on Saturday night, he'll be wearing a pair of those massive foam hands and shouting 'Hi Mum!' as he flies past a bemused Emile Heskey.
The focus of Londonist's ire on Wednesday night was undoubtedly Glen Johnson, who, by the look on his face, clearly had no idea where he was or what all those people in shiny coloured shirts were doing around him. Glen is going backwards fast and we are absolutely mystified as to why Mourinho has chosen to keep him at Stamford Bridge. Perhaps he makes an excellent cup of tea?
Enough of England. There is a full Premiership programme this weekend, with five fixtures involving London teams, including one of those 'Clash of the Titans' fixtures that the likes of Sky get so excited about. Carry on after the jump for what we think is going to happen.....
Blackburn v Fulham
Home win. Mark Hughes will have sorted his team out after they were surprised by West Ham last weekend and his two new strikers, Kuqi and Bellamy, will be expected to get off the mark in front of their home crowd (those cliches just roll off the keyboard you know). Fulham's struggles start here.
Charlton v Wigan
Should be an athletic contest....BONG! Ho Ho! Darren Bent to Charlton for £3 million will turn out to be the transfer of the season and will make the difference in this game. Dennis Rommedhal will remember that he's crap again and Wigan will fight hard but fail to convert their chances. Jimmy Bullard is not the poor man's Ray Parlour, Ray Parlour is the poor man's Jimmy Bullard. Home win.
Newcastle v West Ham
West Ham to produce the game of the weekend and a shock away win in front of Newcastle's 'best fans in the world' (apparently).
Tottingham v Middlesbrough
If Martin Jol replaced Jermain Defoe with that player's Corinthian plastic model , would anyone notice? With all the talk of top-four finishes and glory days returning to the Lane, one would expect Spurs to stuff this game right up, but we shall remain resoutely positive and predict a home win.
Chelsea v Arsenal
It is far too early in the season to get excited about this game, which is a shame, as it features the top two teams in both London and England, and it could be a cracker. We expect this to be another draw, but have a nagging feeling that Thierry Henry, who finally scored for France again on Wednesday, could produce something special. Don't expect to see Ricardo Carvalho playing. We don't predict a riot, we predict a score draw.
We shall end on a request. If anyone out there has any tips on how to do well on one of those Fantasy Football League games, could they please email us on [email protected] , with the subject header 'Fantasy Football'. Ta.
