Re: Football Chat Thread PART II : Mon Jun 09, 2014 7:16 am  

At least the low expectations are sparing us the car flags.

I think Hodgson will make one selection gamble against Italy. Either Barkley or Sterling, not sure which.

Re: Football Chat Thread PART II : Mon Jun 09, 2014 12:42 pm  

I bet England go out in the group stages.

[TimperleySaint]

Re: Football Chat Thread PART II : Mon Jun 09, 2014 2:43 pm  

Won't beat either of Italy or Uruguay, so yep!!

Re: Football Chat Thread PART II : Mon Jun 09, 2014 6:58 pm  

Mike Oxlong wrote:

Won't beat either of Italy or Uruguay, so yep!!

Neither of those are particularly good. If we lose to both of them the players need to be shot. Italy are not what they used to be, Pirlo is 35 now and his powers are waining. If they play Balotelli up front there is no reason why we shouldn't beat them. Uruguay too, take Suarez (Who may well be injured and not really feature in the WC) and Cavani out, what's left? Their back four is very susceptible to pace with Godin and Lugano at centre back.

The key for England is to effing go for it for once. Forget Lampard completely, try to leave Gerrard out if we can. Go with Sterling, Barkley & the Ox and if we still lose, at least we've tried.

Re: Football Chat Thread PART II : Mon Jun 09, 2014 9:19 pm  

http://m.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/27762435 Blatter becomes more of a tool with each passing day!

http://m.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/27762435 Blatter becomes more of a tool with each passing day!

[TimperleySaint]

Re: Football Chat Thread PART II : Tue Jun 10, 2014 8:52 am  

Pirlo may be 35, but he is still better than anything we have!

Taking the 2 best players out of any team is easier said than done! Take Gerrard and Rooney (who on their day are Englands best) out of the England team and what is left - not much.

The back 4 and keeper are suspect and not solid enough, midfield has no real quality to speak of to break a team down or pick a killer pass, and if Sturridge doesn't get the service from midfield, we will struggle to score goals.

Not saying we will lose both of those games, I just don't see us winning. And if we only draw both, there is massive pressure to beat Costa Rica and hope they already haven't stolen any points from the other two teams.

[TimperleySaint]

Re: Football Chat Thread PART II : Tue Jun 10, 2014 8:55 am  

Realisitically, everyone should beat Costa Rica in our group - however, we could already be playing catch up by the time we play them.

How does qualification work if teams finish on the same points? Is it goals scored, goal difference or head to head? As I could easily see 3 teams finishing on 5 points in our group with a win and 2 draws!

Re: Football Chat Thread PART II : Tue Jun 10, 2014 4:33 pm  

Mike Oxlong wrote:

Pirlo may be 35, but he is still better than anything we have!

Taking the 2 best players out of any team is easier said than done! Take Gerrard and Rooney (who on their day are Englands best) out of the England team and what is left - not much.

The back 4 and keeper are suspect and not solid enough, midfield has no real quality to speak of to break a team down or pick a killer pass, and if Sturridge doesn't get the service from midfield, we will struggle to score goals.

Not saying we will lose both of those games, I just don't see us winning. And if we only draw both, there is massive pressure to beat Costa Rica and hope they already haven't stolen any points from the other two teams.

I'm not saying we'll beat Italy or Uruguay, but should we really be scared of them? Neither are particularly good sides and both have major deficiencies. Uruguay in central midfield for example are very poor and it's possible Suarez will have no impact on the tournament at all given his injury and the lack of recovery time. Italy haven't won in 7 proper international games including games against Luxembourg and Armenia. They are no better than England.

Re: Football Chat Thread PART II : Thu Jun 12, 2014 4:13 pm  

Fabregas signs for Chelsea, didn't see that one coming!

Re: Football Chat Thread PART II : Thu Jun 12, 2014 6:49 pm  

So, which england player will shock the world, stand up head and shoulders above his team mates..........

and dramatically underpeform and be generally underwhelming in comparison to how highly he is rated?

My mortgage, life savings, and life itself is slapped firmly on wayne rooney.

As a side note, england aren't going to win, or make the latter knock out stages. So i'd like to see them at least have a dig.

I would rather england go out at the group stages all guns blazing, than bumble their way through to the quarter finals, only to go out on penalties.

We've had tentative, turgid football for the last generation from england teams at major tournaments and i just can't be arsed with it.