Head Space Daily Words...

This Fathers’ Day there will have been a vast number of mildly depressed, slightly hung over dads up and down England, following last nights defeat to Italy. Not that we played too badly, it’s just that we were beaten by a better team.  Everything came down our left hand side, with Rooney offering no support whatsoever to Leighton Baines at left back and the Italian team had free run of that flank. To be fair to Rooney, left midfield is not his position, he doesn’t want to play there, we don’t want to see him play there – so don’t play him there, Mr. Hodgson!! Rooney should be played through the middle or not played at all but I doubt he will be left on the bench. We looked good going forward, although apart from one chance in the second half, which Rooney should have scored, or at least got on target, the Italians’ defending reduced us to long range efforts. The Azzurri is renowned for defensive excellence and once you go behind to them, you are going to struggle to come back. They are a cut above and are always a tough proposition in the World Cup. If we at least draw to Uruguay on Thursday, we stand a good chance of qualifying for the second round, so long as we beat Costa Rica in the final group match. Even if we lose to Uruguay, we can still go through on goal difference, so long as Italy beat Uruguay and England beat Costa Rica by the required amount. Whatever happens, we are still in it and at least it is exciting, which is the word to sum up this World Cup so far, with every match having great attacking quality. As for the television coverage, I personally always prefer to watch sporting events on the BBC rather than ITV. The coverage is better, the pundits and commentators are superior (although Phil Neville was the audible equivalent of watching paint dry) and there are no adverts, which always helps the flow. Adrian Chiles as the front man on ITV, is probably a very nice guy but should not be presenting T.V. It is like watching an embarrassing uncle, as he cracks appalling jokes and comes out with ridiculous comments. He has no dynamism. The coverage on ITV also has a contrived, ‘relaxed’ feel on Copacabana beach, with people playing volleyball in the background and Wright and Dixon sitting on deck chairs. I understand the need to differentiate themselves from BBC but Chiles in shorts is a sight for sore eyes!! The BBC coverage has greater weight, being hosted by a former player in Gary Lineker, with some excellent pundits - Thierry Henry is brilliant. You know you are getting a professional opinion that you can trust. Chiles, on the other hand, speaking to former World Cup winning captain Fabio Cannavaro, just isn’t believable for me. On a brighter note, the ITV opening titles are growing on me and the tune is a proper Brazilian track, rather than Stevie Wonder’s Another Star, which although a great track, is not connected to Brazil...