Other sports provide us with lengthy off-seasons, for us to collect our thoughts, take a break, enjoy other sports, and gradually look forward to the start of the next season.

Football gives us no such luxury.

Just five weeks passed from the conclusion of the World Cup to the start of the domestic season. Those five weeks were full of pre-season friendlies and much idle transfer speculation.

Essentially, football never went away.

So, with no palate-cleanser of a reasonable off-season I have had mixed thoughts about throwing myself back into football, and writing about football.

Plus, the start of the football season is never particularly inspiring. This year is no exception. Players fatigued from a long 2009/10 season, and the World Cup, are not the best candidates to kick-start a season. Neither are players eyeing up a move before the transfer deadline at the end of the month. With so many players unfit or unsettled, and club sides still attempting to ‘gel’ players new and old, the start of the season is a messy time.

This isn’t real football to me. I’d much rather transfers took place prior to the season’s start, and that clubs had ample time to get their players fit and prepared. The current situation just distorts the early results, and means the season doesn’t really begin with the ‘bang’ that it warrants.

And there is also something quite odd about football in the summer. At least the British summer is doing its best to recreate proper autumnal football weather, I guess.

But I can resist no longer. The season is well and truly underway, whether I like it or not. So, what of it?

Well, my team Liverpool is in the midst of uncertainty on the pitch (as players look to leave, while others may come in), and off the pitch (as the club is up for sale). There is also a new manager, Roy Hodgson, who has set a suitably statesman-esque tone, and has been refreshingly free of excuses when it comes to explaining the team’s failures and weaknesses.

Hodgson has convinced Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres to stick with the club, which is no mean feat, and brought Joe Cole in – a fantastic player, yet something of an enigma. Hopefully Hodgson can bring the best out of them.

The season has not started well, with just one point from the first two games. However, I am still quietly optimistic that the season will be a good one. The first reason for this is my expectations have been suitably lowered. Liverpool, with their current precarious financial situation, cannot compete with the top Premier League sides.

Accepting this reality, there is still a squad with genuine world-class quality (Gerrard, Torres, Reina), potential world-class quality (Cole, Jovanovic, Agger) and some great prospects (Pacheco, Shelvey).

Marshalled by a meticulous organiser in Hodgson, Liverpool can and will improve from a shaky start. Their first two games were perhaps tougher fixtures than any other Premier League side faced. Three 6-0 drubbings in the Premier League this weekend are evidence that there are many poor sides competing this year.

Liverpool won’t win the league. That is an easy and obvious prediction. But I think they will make encouraging progress across the season.

Image by Robin Rimbaud via Flickr

Liverpool now have a player capable of the unpredictable, and of unlocking defences. If his legs can hold up, he should be quite a coup. This is also a player who wants to prove a point after frustrating campaigns for both Chelsea and England. Tired of being a bit-part player, Cole now has his chance to shine week-in, week-out. Liverpool have not only signed a quality player, but a motivated one.

This deal has to reflect well on new manager Roy Hodgson. He clearly did an excellent job to get Cole on board, considering West Ham were offering more money, while Arsenal and Spurs could offer Champions League football. To get a player like Cole on a free transfer is quite the bargain. Much has been made of the £18.7 million to be paid to him in wages over the next four years, but you would normally expect to pay at least that for a player of Cole’s quality, before wages.

This is a statement of intent not only to the wider world, but also to those (potentially) unhappy campers Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres. They wanted better players brought in, but this signing still might not be enough to convince them to stay. While Cole is a fine addition to the team, he won’t win the Premier League on his own. Hodgson will have to use all his negotiating skills to get a little more patience from Torres and Gerrard.

However, reports than Gerrard played an integral role in selling the Liverpool deal to Cole are encouraging.

I think one of the two still might go, which while it would be a blow, would certainly fill the coffers to help Hodgson build a squad with greater depth. Mascherano, amongst others, seems almost certain to go, which will help too, in terms of funds. What seemed like a poisoned chalice may yet not be for Hodgson.

I’m loath to proclaim a new dawn for Liverpool just yet, but this is a step in the right direction. Cole is a great signing, but it may be the next two or three players brought in, along with the next two or three to leave, who decide the club’s fate for the upcoming season.

Notes

¹ There is an argument to be made than Lionel Messi would never have made it in football if he had been born in England. A player of his size would probably have been overlooked (excuse the pun). Plus, the English culture of “Get it forward” would have been no environment for cultivating his talent.

Image by Marathon Mitch via Flickr

• The final. What a brutal spectacle, eh? Surely it warranted an 18 certificate? I think the Dutch have a cheek for criticising Howard Webb when his leniency stopped them being down to nine men inside half-an-hour. That’s not to say that the Spanish were saints either, with a few choice fouls of their own, and a fair few elaborations upon contact (is that a nice way of saying ‘dive’?). Poor Howard was damned if he did, damned if he didn’t. Send players off early and he’d forever be remembered as the man who ruined a World Cup Final. By giving players the benefit of the doubt, we ended up with a violent, disjointed final. Really, only the players and coaches can be to blame for any lack of quality in the final.
• Saying that, the best side in the tournament, if not the most entertaining, won. Spain’s brand of ball retention is easy to admire, but hard to love. However, my man crush on Xabi Alonso persists. What a great, underrated player. And what strong ribs!
• Player of the tournament for me is Asamoah Gyan, and not for particularly rational reasons. Mainly, it is down to him having the courage and fortitude to step up and take a penalty in Ghana’s shoot-out against Uruguay, just moments after missing one with the last kick of extra-time. He scored, it wasn’t enough, but still….
• If there’s any truth in the rumours that he might go to Liverpool, then we might have a new cult hero on our hands. Meanwhile a terrible tournament for Torres might mean we actually get to keep him!
• Team of the tournament is New Zealand. I thought they might nick a draw, but to nick three and exit the tournament unbeaten? I doubt anybody predicted that. In terms of sheer performance over and above expectation, they are my choice. Germany are a close second. What a great side – and they are only going to get better. Eek.
• Disappointment of the tournament. England. Naturally. They not only got stuffed on their way out, but stunk the joint up in each and every game. Absolute rubbish.
• Well, this World Cup seemed to lack truly great, epic games to make it an outright overwhelming success, but it had enough moments (Slovakia dumping out Italy, the climax of Ghana/Uruguay, Germany dismantling England and Argentina) for it to have been an enjoyable month.
• Now then, how long until the Euros?

But simply, if Spain have the ball, they can’t concede. If they lose the ball further up the pitch, they are in less danger than if they sat deep.

So, can Holland counter it?

They certainly have players capable of a moment of magic, but the longer the game stays 0-0, the more likely they are to tire, and get frustrated. This is when an incredibly patient Spain side can go for the killer blow – just look at how many games they have won with a late goal. Germany, Paraguay and Portugal have all been picked off with goals in the last half-hour.

And once Spain score, it generally looks like game over. Any side that can keep the ball that effectively are pretty impossible to score against.

However, if Holland score, can Spain get back in the game with their patient, methodical approach? Or will the tactics that brought them to the final actually be the undoing of them? From a neutral standpoint I’d love to see Holland get an early goal to see how Spain would react, and to see if they can play with greater urgency and purpose if the game demands it.

Either way, I think it might be a close, edgy and engrossing game, rather than a barnstorming effort. I hope and expect it to be a fitting end to the World Cup. It may even be one of those rare finals that end up being the best game of the tournament. Fingers crossed!

Wow. What a goal. And the Dutch are in the final. They have been the curate’s egg of the tournament, good in parts, but awful in others. However, they are the only team to have not only won every game, but to have won every game within ninety minutes. Come Sunday they will probably be the outsiders, as Germany and Spain are bound to be more fancied, yet it would be a fool who ruled them out.

They are one of the few sides to successfully come from behind to win a game, against Brazil no less, and looked strong last night against a determined Uruguay side, successfully managing to fight off two comebacks.

Wesley Snijder has to be a strong candidate for player of the tournament, Arjen Robben is capable of turning any game on its head, and the footage above shows there is plenty of depth when it comes to goalscorers and flashes of brilliance.

And a word of praise for Liverpool’s Dirk Kuyt – easily the Premier League’s best performer this World Cup.

So, who wins tonight’s game? It will take a braver man than I to predict that one. I can see it being an edgy encounter, unless we get an early goal or two. If the latter happens, we could have a classic on our hands. Otherwise, it may be a nailbiter, with just the one goal in it. Or, dare I say it, the dreaded penalties.

Germany have looked strong, but mainly against gung-ho attacks and frail defences. Serbia were well-organised, and beat them. Spain, meanwhile, have faced opponents parking the proverbial bus in front of goal, and so have had to take their time unlocking the defence. You would imagine matters might be a little different tonight, depending on if Germany push forward, or rely on the strength of their counter-attacking abilities.

At the very least, it should be intriguing to see two quality sides try to out-think one another. If Spain can keep the ball, will Germany get frustrated, push forward, and leave themselves vulnerable at the back? If Germany can hit Spain effectively on the break, will Spain get pulled apart in the same manner as England and Argentina? I can’t wait to find out.

It would have been wonderful to have had an African side in the semi-finals, but amid the uproar over the handball incident (and the celebrations and comments from Suarez and Uruguay that followed), it has been overlooked that Uruguay are a pretty small nation themselves, and have been one of the best sides of the tournament. Still, what a wonderful, emotionally draining, game.

I’m really looking forward to the two semi-finals. It is to the credit of this tournament that there is nothing to choose between Spain, Germany and Holland for who will win the whole thing. Even the bookies can’t agree. It’s pretty rare for things to be so open this late on in a World Cup.

Germany have looked awesome so far, but it is hard to tell if they have been flattered by England and Argentina’s frail defences. Spain haven’t really been at their best yet, but have crafted result after result after their early slip against the Swiss. This game has the makings of a classic, I just hope both team’s degree of organisation and discipline doesn’t suck the life out of the tie. Hopefully we’ll see a slightly fitter Torres too.

Holland are the big favourites against Uruguay, and rightly so. They’ve won every game in this tournament, and still look ripe for improvement, provided they don’t turn in a similar performance to the one in the first half against Brazil. Uruguay, meanwhile, have suspensions and injuries to deal with, and can’t rely on Forlan alone to win this, surely.

This World Cup has been a bit of a slow-burner, but has built up nicely. Two great semis and a final, and it will surely be remembered as a fine tournament, particularly because of its unpredictability. I’ll miss it when it is gone!

So, what is there to hope for, what could/should we learn, and how can we take English football forward – in the short-term, and the long-term?

1. Fabio Capello, if he stays, will hopefully realise the size of the task ahead, and build for the future. He has four years to build a side – so he should, and hopefully will, change the balance of the side from the old ‘golden’ generation to younger players pushing for a place in the team. If Euro 2012 goes wrong, so be it. Rome wasn’t built in a day and all that. Brazil 2014 should be the aim. Everything should be designed as a stepping stone for that tournament, if not 2018.
2. Fabio Capello, if he goes, will hopefully provide an important lesson to the FA. You shouldn’t firm up a manager’s contract right before a major tournament. If they have to pay him off it will be a colossal waste of money, and heads should roll in the FA. The FA also needs to realise that a good manager alone will not win you a major tournament.
3. The FA needs to properly build for the future. There needs to be the infrastructure from the youth systems and grassroots upwards to ensure that England start producing more quality players and more quality coaches. If the FA can afford a £6 million contract for Capello, it can afford to invest properly in grassroots football.
4. This means the FA needs to realise there is life beyond the Premier League. It may be the cash cow, but it was the national side in 1990 that arguably paved the way for the Premier League to be a success. If the England side is successful, the Premier League will be too.
5. So, the Premier League and FA need to be more supportive of the national side. Scrap the match ball contracts, so that players are able to play competitive games with the World Cup ball prior to the event itself. Scrap the League Cup, or restrict it to under 23s, so players get more rest, or young up-and-comers get more games. Institute a winter break, so players can either rest up, or can meet for an England training camp.
6. Get the clubs on board, either by agreement or by decree. Stop the pressure from clubs to cut down the length of international duty. Find a way to ensure every club has to field a least a handful of home-born players. Ultimately, convince the clubs of the long-term financial benefit to all of a strong England side, and they will co-operate.
7. Assess the work of club’s academies, bring them closer together and learn from the best examples (and worst). Bring in stiffer penalties for clubs poaching young players developed at other clubs, in order to encourage clubs to continue investing in youth.
8. Here’s the big one. Change England’s footballing culture. Amongst youngsters, foster creativity and experimentation, rather than win-at-all-costs and 12 year-olds on full-size pitches. Stop the habit in youth football of focusing on big, strong, athletic players, and overlooking the smaller, more talented ones. Train more coaches, and to a higher level, so good practice can permeate the game at every level and in every age group. Educate fans and players of the value of retaining the ball, rather than lumping the ball forward in desperation, or shooting from 35 yards out. Value skill, discipline and fair play over ‘grit’ and ‘English spirit’, whatever they mean.
9. Manage our expectations – England do not have the right to consider themselves a footballing power. We are not good enough to win the World Cup, not by any stretch. We, as supporters, have no right to expect success. The press should know better too.
10. We also need to realise that building a side will take time – a new manager, or a raft of new players, will not solve things overnight. We need to breed patience – in terms of how we play the game, and how we see the game developing in England in the long-term.

The FA, and English football in general, has a fantastic opportunity to change things for the better. Will they take it? I’m not holding my breath.

• One of Ghana/USA/Uruguay/South Korea will make the semi-finals. This just shows how important group position can be, for the rest of the tournament. The so-called ‘smaller’ nations will continue to have their days in the sun.
• Italy and France really were rubbish, weren’t they? But then again, on another day the likes of England and Germany might have failed to qualify, and Spain’s qualification is still in the balance.
• Is that because the smaller teams have improved and worked out how to get a result?
• Or is it because the big sides have woefully underperformed?
• More of the latter, I reckon.
• And what’s with all this bulletpoint for each sentence, anyway?
• There doesn’t seem to be a whole lot of evidence for games becoming more entertaining and open. As we reach the knockout stage, will teams get even more cautious? I hope not, but at least we should get some genuine tension and drama…if not a hat-full of goals.
• It may not be a popular point to make, but the refereeing has been pretty solid so far. When refereeing decisions are out of the headlines, you know they are doing a good job. Can that continue for an entire tournament?
• Now the lunchtime games are over and done with, I want the weekday afternoon games to finish too. It’s bad enough watching bad games on television, but a poor game on the radio is far, far worse, as the commentators struggle to find something to say. Maybe I should just turn off Ivory Coast/North Korea now. And maybe I shouldn’t have had a flutter on Ivory Coast getting a load of goals. It started so promisingly!
• It is such a shame that some knockout games are during working hours. I’m sure there are many sensible reasons for it, but would it really have hurt to have had 5pm and 7.3opm kick-offs?
• The England jingoist machine is spluttering into life. I shudder to think what Sunday’s newspaper headlines will be. Or Monday’s for that matter.
• Just think, there’s a very good chance that England’s World Cup will be over by Monday.
• Or if it is not, we may well have a week of England/Argentina hype. While the game would be a mouth-watering prospect, a week of Hand of God/Falklands nonsense certainly wouldn’t be. I guess I should cheer on Mexico then. I mean, I love Mexican food, and I have them in the office sweepstake. It makes sense.
• This World Cup is still waiting to come alive. I really hope the group stages are the build-up, the slow burn, to something better, not a portent for a pedestrian, defensive tournament as a whole.
• It is wrong that I’m still excited? Even a bad World Cup is better than no World Cup, eh?

• Finally, the England players seemed capable of sticking to their position and to their allocated jobs. If you can’t be inspired, at least be organised. If this discipline can be built upon, maybe there is a chance.
• It was good to see a little more thought going into everything yesterday. It was as if the players were told to wait just that extra half-second when in possession, in order to make the right decision and not give the ball away cheaply.
• I was glad to see Rooney go off for three reasons. One – he appeared to be getting increasingly frustrated at not scoring, and so was shooting when there were far more sensible options available. Two – there was the ever-growing risk of the red mist descending. Three – he’d picked up a knock, and it really wasn’t worth risking a more serious injury. This was good management from Capello.
• Joe Cole is a good player, don’t get me wrong, but he isn’t quite the answer to all our prayers.
• Gareth Barry looked very rusty. He can’t keep giving the ball away like that. I’m hoping he’s getting fitter and that will resolve this.
• Stevie Gerrard is really growing into the captain’s role. He doesn’t need to bark orders or punch his chest, he just leads by example, and brings players into the game. If he has a good game on Sunday, England will be there or thereabouts.
• The Germans have been inconsistent, look a little shaky at the back, and have a few key injury worries. But, they are still one of the best sides in the tournament. However, if England can get their act together, they must be in with a chance. What price penalties?
• England were just one goal from first place in the group and a far easier route to the semi-finals. USA have Ghana, followed by either Uruguay or South Korea. England have Germany, followed by either Argentina or Mexico. I’m not too bothered though. If you want to become World Champions, you have to beat the best sides. No matter what route you take, you are going to come up against a top side sooner or later. And let’s be honest, the USA deserved to top the group. They just don’t give up, do they?
• I also have a suspicion that England may well play better against a stronger side, who are not reliant on keeping nine men behind the ball at all times. If the game opens up, England can take advantage.

EDIT: I just read this over, and I think it is far too optimistic. England just beat Slovenia. If Germany are in any sort of form, England are in big trouble. England need several players to improve – none more than the talisman Rooney. There are far too many ifs and buts to be confident right now.