Leave Robert Green alone, you meanies

Goalie Robert Green manages to not quite catch the ball

Okay, so it was a bitter disappointment that England could not win its first match in the Worldcup, especially against the USA, which should’ve been a piece of cake. And okay, so the goal that cost England victory was one of the classic bad goals that will be a staple of late night BBC 3 clip shows for decades to come, but it’s still wrong to blame Green for it:

  • The goal wasn’t a mistake, it was an accident, something that has happened to better goalies than Green, one of those things you can’t really control. You stop the ball, it bounces awkwardly, you’re left staring as it bounces over the goal line: it happens.
  • The goal wouldn’t have been a problem if the English strikers at the other end hadn’t consistently failed to score after Gerrard’s beautiful six minute opener. There were chances enough, but both Hesky and Shaun Wright-Phillips shot straight at the keeper, which doesn’t help. Had there been evne one more English goal Green’s fumble wouldn’t have mattered.
  • Finally, all the guff about Green looking nervous and vulnerable was only visible in hindsight: had the fumble not happened, would it have been noticed?

English football fans and especially the press have a tendency to grasp at any flaw to predict England’s dooomed. This becomes a self fulfilling prophecy of which Green is now the latest victim. Stop pressuring him and he might just make good his mistake..

4 Comments

  • Dave

    June 13, 2010 at 9:23 am

    England beating the U.S. should have been a piece of cake? I saw the game from here in the ‘Colonies’ and England was terrible. They should have lost. I thought England was good at Soccer? That myth has been shattered forever. You don’t really expect them to win, do you?

  • Robert

    June 13, 2010 at 9:32 am

    It’s a hard place to be. Goal, I mean. Everyone remembers your mistakes, but no one remembers your successes.

    I remember Gao Hong talking about how her team lost in overtime kicks (or whatever they’re called) when she let one goal through, and how people blamed her for that. I asked why they didn’t blame the other players for not scoring one more goal during the game, and she said it was because she had let the goal in.

    I think this links to the human tendency to look for a simple proximate cause for an event, and stop looking. China lost because Gao made a mistake, not China lost because the forwards made lots of mistakes and didn’t score, because Gao’s mistake was the last one.

  • Kix

    June 13, 2010 at 1:27 pm

    Yes, leave him alone! It’s amazing how one person can become a scapegoat for an entire lacklustre game. The headlines in the papers in the UK today were shameful and I boycotted them all because of it….don’t let them get to you Green!

  • BDR

    June 13, 2010 at 4:35 pm

    Piece of cake? You’re darn right! USMNT should have beat that back line of grandpas and famous adulterers by three!