"So I don't think he is ever out of his thoughts. "If he saw him tonight and Woody gets a run in the team now, there is every chance of him being picked for the England team because he is more than good enough," he said.But Woodgate, 25, is keen to keep his feet on the ground: "First and foremost I have to keep my place here and I'll train my bollocks off every day to get fitter and sharper and if I do that hopefully then I'll play more games."Woodgate returned to action last month after 17 months on the treatment table because of a career-threatening thigh injury, but he had a horrific debut in his first La Liga match against Athletic Bilbao, scoring an own goal within 25 minutes and being sent off in the second half.Two weeks later he suffered a minor ankle injury and followed that up by bundling into his own net in a friendly against Zaragoza.But on Wednesday that all changed when he met a David Beckham free-kick with a bullet header three minutes into the second half to cancel out Rosenborg's shock first-half strike.The goal acted as the catalyst to a spectacular recovery from Real, which came courtesy of a classy finish from Raul, a header from Ivan Helguera and a trademark free-kick from Beckham.But if it was Woodgate's night, it was another outstanding performance from David Beckham that had the Spanish media drooling."Beckham is in a state of grace," said best-selling sports daily Marca. "Don't bother your head," I replied, "just keep your eyes on the game.". Jonathan Woodgate was clearly relieved to have finally put an end to his run of bad luck when he scored the goal that sparked Real Madrid's recovery to claim a 4-1 win over Rosenborg in the Champions' League on Wednesday, but his performance is also likely to have caught the eye of Sven Goran Eriksson, according to the England captain, David Beckham. As applied to creative inside-forwards, one of my favourite terms was "schemer" You did not have to work out what the guy was up to.
You knew what to expect when a player was billed as "a ball-artist" or a "fast-raiding winger".When commentators say "back stick", I cringe. What was wrong with "far post"? Why do they keep going on about playing in the "hole"?"What does that mean?" one of my grandsons recently asked. I do not know who came up with the term "sweeper" but it was pretty much perfect The role was there in the mind's eye Similar with wing-backs. How could you guess the first point would be scored 15, the second 30 and the third 40? Six games win a set. Why? There is sure to be an answer but I've never been bothered enough to search for it.Sometimes, of course, terminology has to keep pace with tactical development. Recently, I was asked to point out the positions in Aussie Rules Hadn't got a clue.
Similar with hurling.Somebody once said that the scoring system in tennis must have been invented by Lewis Carroll Data systems with nets. The game has become difficult to follow but the positions are easy: full-back, threequarters, scrum-half, outside-half, forwards. To make matters worse, he invented corroborative comment from Mee. "Something I've always wanted to try," the Arsenal manager was alleged to have said.
