BLAME IT ON THE OVEN GLOVES

It's the day after the evening before and so, okay, I got the score wrong.

Football is certainly a bitch!

We were ecstatic when Gerrard scored after 4 minutes and thought that England would go on to dominate the game. However, they allowed the US too much possession afterwards and then there was that goal.

I reckon that the gloves the goalie - Robart Green - was wearing were far too large and clumsy. He could hardly have felt enough sensation through the darn things to realise that he hadn't secured the ball. Why didn't he just throw himself on the ball and smother it with his body?

Oh well, he did save an excellent US shot in the second half so we could have actually ended up losing 1-2.

I thought we played good attacking football in the second half and if the US goalie hadn't been so good, we could have won at least 4-1. Perhaps he was wearing better gloves. However, John did point out that we didn't really play as a fluent, co-ordinated team. And this was most obvious when we had a throw in. Poor Ashley Cole was screaming for players to get in place.

When I was in the school netball team decades ago, we used to practice set pieces and we were only amateur. Can't understand why England don't have such moves ready.

And I can't understand why Wayne Rooney doesn't contribute more. He can do more than just wait for a good ball to come his way. In premiership football, he is far more dominant. Imposes himself far more in the game.

So, I was left with that dull feeling of resignation afterwards that I so often feel after England have not fulfilled their potential. It's the same feeling that I had this morning when I tried on my holiday clothes and discovered, as I knew I would, that what looked great last year, didn't this year.

Some good news, though. There have been so many complaints about those damn hooters that they could possibly be banned inside the stadium. Go for it, is what I say.

On a note of past victories, however, I will leave you with the memory of the international match a few years ago when England smashed Germany 5-1. So it can be done.

My final comment- I know England won't win the World Cup but it's still a disappointment. And my advice to Fabio Capello is this : Get some set pieces set-up. Adjust them accordingly at half-time, taking into account the strengths and weaknesses shown in all players in the first half. Stick with the same goalie - he's got something to prove. And if possible, change those bloody gloves, which look like oven gloves, and make him practice holding onto the ball over and over again.

But will he take my advice? I doubt it. Same old story.