Pompey who didn't know how to kick a penalty...

Lassana Diarra thought he should do the rugby-way of scoring, so did Arnold Mvuemba and Glen Johnson.

The Charity Shield game could be the first for Peter Crouch to endure such a terrible result from a penalty shoot-out. His teamates were lousy, in fact they were immulating England for that matter. Two ballooned wide wide away and another was saved. They managed to slot only one. And all the heroic saves by David James made him such a pathetic goalkeeper in the end.

During his time with Liverpool, Crouch would know somehow... LFC would win any game that needed to be determined with a penalty shoot-out. Unfortunately, Pompey didn't have that nerves nor luck to inflict serious challenge to Man.U.

In fact, the whole game was like a `defending mode' for Pompey. They hardly managed a worth-to-mention attack. The game came a bit livelier with the introduction of Utaka but the crosses never reached Crouch. Surely the right formula of having Crouch in the team is to have a huge, massively talented midfielder or wide player to send in crosses into the D-area where Crouch would be on stand by. Pompey didn't have that quality. oh my god... it was so frustrating to watch Pompey only managed to play the ball half way. Not Crouch nor Defoe could deliver if they don't get the services that they so used to in their respective former clubs. I guess Rednapp must address this weaknesses in the team. But on another angle, the combination of Crouch and Defoe would fast to be questioned by the public if they failed over and over again to penetrate the opposition's defence. Granted Man.U's defence is one of the meanest in the league and could only be match by the standard of Liverpool and Chelsea. So we shall see if Crouch can do havoc onto 2nd tier teams...

I guess Pompey would attract my attention, in the event LFC's game is not broadcasted.