English football is great again, yes?!
- Details
- Written by Darren Douglas
The way in which England have started their new qualifying campaign for Euro 2012 has seen a remarkable about turn by certain sections of the English media in their regard for the national team. Football like a lot of sport is a fickle business so maybe the reporting of it is as prone to the highs and lows as those who partake in it.
For example fans always get on the back of a striker during a goal drought, but other supporters and pundits will be just as keen to stress that once the drought is broken the goals will come flooding back. Likewise there is the old adage that form is temporary and class is permanent, a good line for those that wish to argue with detractors of a player going through a rough patch.
In the weeks leading up to the start of the new La Liga season in Spain, much of the talk had focused on the increasing predictability of the Real Madrid and Barcelona duopoly. 
The Bundesliga is off and running and this weekend delivered the second round of league matches for the 2010/11 season. The British press will be keeping a particularly keen eye on the competition this campaign as they wait to see if Steve McClaren can follow up his successful two-year tenure at FC Twente with another league title in a new country.
The French league got underway on 7th August, and whilst the season may only be two fixtures old the Ligue 1 table already has an interesting look to it. For a start the current champions Marseille have managed to lose both of their two opening games, to Caen and Valenciennes respectively. The latter may have finished in a respectable 10th place last season but Caen is the real surprise package...
After much speculation and some predictable developments Cardiff City have secured Craig Bellamy on a season-long loan deal. The Welsh capital team are amongst the strong favourites for Championship promotion after their performances last season saw them finish fourth and narrowly lose the play-off final to Ian Holloway's Blackpool 3-2.