I'm no Sloaney Pony, part 2 of what turned out to be 2

Few more football notes -- England is not good. McClaren's side just lacks imagination. They've got too many reliable workhorses but only one who can in any way be considered a gamebreaker, and not only is he being played on the wrong side of the pitch (I'm talking about Lennon), he shaves his eyebrows.

They need Becks back, they need to get some time for Theo Walcott and some other youngsters, and they are really missing Ashley Cole as another player who can get forward and change the game. Or at least start Defoe -- he looked dangerous during the few minutes he was given tonight against Israel.

Not that the U.S. National Team has anywhere near the amount of quality as England. When Freddy Adu goes to Europe next year I think we'll find out pretty quickly how far he is from starting and contributing at a big club. (By the way, did I ever tell anyone that I once emailed the owner of DC United with an email that just said: "I've got a brilliant idea. Write me back if you'd like to hear more." And he did. And then I told him that my brilliant idea was a tagline they could use to market Freddy -- 'What would Freddy Adu?" He didn't really like it.)

Oh yes, wanted to explain why I'm an Arsenal fan: because they're sooo not like England. They have gamebreakers and play the game at a speed that puts the other team on its heels. And they do so without being reckless. In fact, they do so with a degree of style and control that really confirms the whole 'beautiful game' mantra. Say what you will about the fact that they're a massive club or complain about the lack of English players on their side. They're fun to watch, they don't have any players as despicable as Rooney, Ronaldo, most of Tottenham, all of Newcastle. Arsene Wenger is the anti-Mourinho. He could very well be Mennonite.

I got on the bandwagon back in 1999. France had just won the World Cup behind the strength of the best player I've ever seen play -- Zizou. (I love the guy even more after the headbutt. I'm sorry. It was something I could've done. By the way Materazzi has continued to be a class act since the final -- he recently got an eight inch long tattoo of the World Cup trophy on his thigh.) But I could never watch Zizou play for his club -- he was in Italy and then later in Spain, leagues that don't broadcast games very often in the States. So I started watching his countrymen on Arsenal. There's also the whole -- I went to Africa a couple of times and love it there so I support players from the continent and Arsenal always has more than a few.

So that's it. That's the end of this 2 part series. If any of this stuff is interesting to you I'd suggest you read "How Soccer Explains the World" by Franklin Foer. Foer is a writer for the NY Times and covers the sport from a sociological/anthropological level in his book. He spans the globe and tells interesting stories about how soccer has shaped societies and how societies have shaped soccer throughout the years. So even though I think he could've done a better job of naming the book something less obvious, it really is well written and compelling. You'll never watch a game in the same way again.

Don't forget about the tickets.