Time to be more upbeat

By Jason Moore THERE have been World Cups when the so-called tabloid media got completely carried away with England, and its chances of actually winning the Cup. Rather average performances were heralded as World Cup victory parades. But not this World Cup. Upbeat headlines have been replaced with Lucky Sven, England Rubbish eventhough they win. Its a double negative at the moment; you suffer when the team plays and it is doom and gloom in the media the next day. England are playing badly but they are in the quarter-finals and face a depleted Portugal who are quite on average team even with their full squad. Victory on Saturday and the semi-finals are on the cards. What all the doom and gloom merchants are forced to admit is eventhough England are playing badly they are still in the last eight. Three more wins and football is coming home. Ok, I might be getting rather carried away but lets not throw in the towel before the match has even started. England can, and I hope, will play better on Saturday, but this is when Sven and the England coaching staff start earning their pay. Obviously, five players is midfield is not working. The player who has to be sacrificed is Frank Lampard, I am afraid, it is obvious that he can't play alongside Steven Gerrard. You can't drop Beckham, like Spain can't drop Raul or France Zidane, they can turn a game. Let just hope that Sven gets it right.