England v. Israel

With qualifying for Euro 08 heating up, and the morale of the English team dwindling, one has to wonder how England will approach their qualifier against Israel this weekend. In the early goings, I think Israel will win this. They simply have a fitter squad than England. Steven Gerrard has been cleared to play on Saturday but the BBC isn't reporting if he will be taking a shot to alleviate the pain in his broken toe. Apart from that, England's normal starting eleven is now England's missing eleven. Crouch, Rooney, Lampard are all ruled out for this weekend and Owen Hargraves will undergo a medical on Saturday to see if his injured thigh will keep him out of play.

With the struggle to reassign players and call up others, it will be interesting to see how England Boss Steve McClaren handles the pressure not only from this game but the next qualifier against Russia. Most of his team look to be sidelined for that match as well. We should also pay special attention to Paul Robinson. The English keeper, who flailed around in net against Germany in August, will be starting Saturday against would be the collective conscious of the fans and perhaps the FA.

For a country that invented the sport, England has sure seen some rough times in recent years and I don't see them making it past the group stages for Euro 08 and I think Mr. McClaren should start shoping for a home in America, where we won't notice him because his name isn't Beckham.