The Devil In Me

Fergie must be absolutely delighted. The first rays of sunshine have only just fallen on July and all of his playing squad are now on holiday. No longer subject to the pressures of a major tournament’s taxing final stages, on the surface this is wonderful news for Manchester United, but is it a double-edged sword? Have United’s players all gone home early because they are not actually all that marvellous? Here I cast my eye over the performances of Old Trafford’s representatives in South Africa.

Park Ji-Sung

The man American commentators call “Fergie’s Dog of War” has been United’s top of the pops in South Africa. He scored a corking goal in the opening game and caused all manner of havoc in every match he played. I was a big fan of the South Koreans and during the tournament have found their fans some of the best to hang out with, shame they couldn’t go further.

Patrice Evra

Viva la resistance eh Patrtice? Although Nicolas ‘The Incredible Sulk’ Anelka is credited with inspiring the French team’s uprising as captain Patrice must chew down a large slice of the blame. As a frustrated football player who will never get the chance to play at a World Cup I wag my finger angrily in the direction of the French squad and hope they feel my wrath.

Wayne Rooney

A leading candidate for not only the biggest disappointment of the finals, but also the worst player. He has been beyond reproach for United this year yet sadly the expectations of England and the rabid tabloid press seem to have crushed him. May well have been lacking match sharpness and still recovering from injury but he still had a shocker. I would have dropped him after Algeria. Nobody has provided a better argument in the last 2 years for the selection of Michael Owen. Ouch.

Fabio Capello emerges from ‘clear the air talks’ with JT and the England squad
Rio Ferdinand

Has got off lightly here. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that England would not have conceded four goals against Germany had he been on the pitch. Alas, being clattered by Emile Heskey in the opening training session gave him a get-out-of-jail-free card and misses the vilification. Spent the tournament proving how dangerous it is for top players to have Twitter profiles.

Michael Carrick

Did as good a job for England as he did for United last season.

Nemanja Vidic

Described by the Serbian manager as “not so much a rock but a mountain range” after qualification the big man didn’t really put a foot wrong in South Africa. Mind you, he didn’t really get much of a chance either. The Serbs being dumped out in the group stage and finishing below Australia robbed Vidic of his chance to elbow some of the game’s bigger players. He was part of the defence that kept out the free-scoring Germans though, and that deserves credit. Pity I don’t expect him to be at United for much longer.

David Beckham ™

England’s best player of the finals by some distance. The only thing that seemed to work out for us was the success of the 2018 bid’s progress. The only man to have pulled on the national shirt and shown some class in the last decade may well be called upon for the finals of that summer if things carry on like this.

Cristiano Ronaldo

Eighty million pounds?! You’re having a laugh. Perhaps if Cristiano paid more attention to the fact he plays as part of a team as opposed to having ten back up dancers Portugal may have gone further. I must say though, I very much enjoyed his goal against DPR Korea.

Fernandez

This guy looks like an astute signing and I expect him to put plenty of pressure of people like Macheda and Berbatov this season. Has already achieved more at a World Cup than Wayne Rooney.

Mesut Ozill?

Here’s hoping. A terrific talent who seems to understand the art of skinning a defender as well as having an appreciation for playing as part of a team. He has really announced himself this month and there will be a lot of bidding for him. Has stated a desire to join United so let’s hope we can afford him.

Fabiano?

‘Ageing striker announces desire to join Manchester United’ could be translated as ‘Fabiano wants large pay-check before retirement.’ The hit-man has put away some peachy goals and he couldn’t harm us if he joined, I am not certain Fergie is all that interested though.

All in all, had the tournament been rated on the basis of players’ clubs United would be finishing far below Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Ajax and Villareal. FC Porto would also be out of sight. I’ll try to ignore that I guess. Who are your tips to win from here on in?

This is juicy. Perhaps too juicy, but my source swears by it.
Make your own judgement call. It would explain a lot.

Anyone out there believe this?

“Courts held a further 2 week gagging order on steven gerrards private life, turns out he got his wifes sister pregnant (not a 16 year old ) Will hit the newspaper in 14 days, the judge held the gagging order to protect FA while they decide on capello, and the future of English football.. John terry and the england boys all know about it and JT had a argument with capello because gerrard got to keep the captains armband. the tension in the camp was down to JT and half the team saying gerrard was a disgrace and the other half of the squad backing gerrard..The press conference was related to the tension and JT wanted Gerrard exposed – they hate each other.”

The World Cup is the perfect time for the football world to congregate and share its talents for all to see. Every four years the rules get a tweak and the game is introduced to new types of technology, for example the Jubilani ball, that help improve the speed and fluidity of the sport.

In the midst of this year’s carnival France have been a disgrace. The thing that rankles most about their puerile tantrums is that they clearly cheated to get to the finals and have denied a honest bunch of Irishmen their chance to make a name for themselves on the biggest stage of all.

I feel most disappointed for John O’Shea, a player who is now in the top 20 for appearances for United and a man who has played in every position available for us on a football pitch. John is an advocate of Concave football boots, a new, innovative brand that provide the wearer with increased power and accuracy when striking the ball.

The French team in maximum sulk mode
John is a unique player for us and were it not for the superhuman efforts of Ronaldo and Rooney over the last couple of years he could well have been our player of the season. This can in no small part be down to the choice of equipment he takes with him to work. “The boots are unique in design and offer exclusive technology which hasn’t been seen before.” Says the man, I will certainly be checking out a pair myself in the near future.

John O’Shea’s Concave boots
Whilst O’Shea has not been blessed with the deftness of touch of some of his contemporaries, I find has attitude to the game to be just as inspirational. He is a guy whose hard work and attention to detail are a terrific example to all our younger fans.

One can only imagine what kind of an effort the Irish would have put in had they made it to the finals this year, but we can be certain that it would have been far superior to that of our Gallic cousins. I for one am simpky grateful that O’Shea will be lining up for United again next season.

Enjoy the rest of the World Cup.

For more information about Concave boots click here.

Photography courtesy of Yum9me@flickrccoms and Concave

This is Mark Payne, he is 702 Breakfast World Cup Rover. Mark has been out every morning across Sydney soaking up the world cup with fans of every nation. He will be out every morning speaking to Adam on 702 Breakfast.

On Monday Morning Mark was with the German fans down at the Rocks watching them whack Australia 4-0.

On Tuesday Morning, Mark was out in Norton street Leichhardt as the world cup holders Italy drew 1-1 with Paraguay.

On Wednesday Mark Joined Brazil’s fans as they played their opening world cup match against North Korea. The South American won 2-1.


This morning, Mark was with South African and Uruguay fans as they did battle, the South Americans coming out on top 3-nilopup