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World Cup 2010 Thread


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For fitting into the way England play, Defoe and Bent are pretty much obsolete. Neither will get the nod ahead of Rooney, and both require the gameplan to be played to suit them.

Don't get me wrong, I like Bent a lot, but he needs things to be worked around him. In this case, as long as Rooney stays fit, Heskey and Crouch make better choices than Defoe and Bent, arguably.

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I'd take all the strikers their, Bent is a goalscorer, quite possibly the most out and out goalscorer in the squad (including Rooney & Defoe), he's scored bag loads.

2001–2005 Ipswich Town 122 (47)

2005–2007 Charlton Athletic 68 (31)

2007–2009 Tottenham Hotspur 60 (18)

2009– Sunderland 37 (24)

I keep hearing he's not proven at international level, but he's only had 5 caps, and I'm pretty sure he may have only started 1 or 2 of them, maybe even none, so he's never really had a chance. 9 in 15 caps at U21 level isn't that bad either

We need goalscorers in the team, what if Rooney gets injured or sent off? Remember 2006?

Edited by Version Dan
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Then Defoe comes in. A World Cup is not the place to 'give him a chance', and to be fair if Rooney gets injured we're bollocksed anyway. We were talking about it at the weekend, looking back when Shearer and Sheringham were ruling up front there was always Ferdinand, Fowler, Andy Cole, Chris Sutton and a number of others who could have fitted straight in and done a job (With teenage Michael Owen waiting in the wings). We don't have that anymore, theres the 4 who'll be picked, then the likes of Carlton Cole. Ugh.

Edited by Colly
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Strictly on goalscoring record for England:

Jermain Defoe - 11 in 39.

Peter Crouch - 20 in 37.

Emile Heskey - 7 in 57.

Wayne Rooney - 25 in 58.

Darren Bent - 0 in 5.

Record this season:

Jermain Defoe - 24 in 41.

Peter Crouch - 12 in 36.

Emile Heskey - 5 in 42.

Wayne Rooney - 34 in 44.

Darren Bent - 25 in 39.

Now of course Heskey offers the "bullying" for England. Crouch offers something relatively similar with his height (which freaks out opponent defences and causes them to push 2 men onto him making space for Defoe). He's also got a great strike rate for England.

It would be nice to take all five I think if we're gonna play 2 up front but I guess he could take four of them if Theo Walcott makes the trip, though I hope Walcott is the right winger to miss out.

Also, it's likely only two at most of Barry, Huddlestone, Carrick and Parker will make it.

Also I think Lennon will make the trip meaning two of Johnson, SWP and Walcott won't travel.

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Apparently Barry only got the call because Capello failed in a last-ditch attempt to also persuade Paul Scholes out of international retirement. Make of that what you will.

Italy

Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus), Morgan De Sanctis (Napoli), Federico Marchetti (Cagliari), Salvatore Sirigu (Palermo)

Defenders: Salvatore Bocchetti (Genoa), Leonardo Bonucci (Bari), Fabio Cannavaro (Juventus), Mattia Cassani (Palermo), Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus), Domenico Criscito (Genoa), Fabio Grosso (Juventus), Christian Maggio (Napoli), Gianluca Zambrotta (AC Milan)

Midfielders: Mauro Camoranesi (Juventus), Antonio Candreva (Juventus), Andrea Cossu (Cagliari), Daniele De Rossi (Roma), Gennaro Gattuso (AC Milan), Claudio Marchisio (Juventus), Riccardo Montolivo (Fiorentina), Angelo Palombo (Sampdoria), Simone Pepe (Udinese), Andrea Pirlo (AC Milan)

Forwards: Marco Borriello (AC Milan), Antonio Di Natale (Udinese), Alberto Gilardino (Fiorentina), Vincenzo Iaquinta (Juventus), Giampaolo Pazzini (Sampdoria), Fabio Quagliarella (Napoli), Giuseppe Rossi (Villarreal)

No Totti, Toni, Legrottaglie, Miccoli, or Cassano. Guiseppe Rossi is the only player selected not based in Italy.

Slovenia

Goalkeepers: Samir Handanovic (Udinese), Jasmin Handanovic (Mantova), Aleksander Seliga (Sparta Rotterdam), Jan Koprivec (Maribor).

Defenders: Bojan Jokic (Chievo Verona), Marko Suler (Ghent), Bostjan Cesar (Grenoble), Branko Ilic (Lokomotiv Moscow), Matej Mavric (Koblenz), Dejan Kelhar (Cercle Brugge), Elvedin Dzinic (Maribor), Miso Brecko (Cologne), Aleksandar Rajcevic (Koper), Suad Filekovic (Maribor).

Midfielders: Andraz Kirm (Wisla Krakow), Andrej Komac (Maccabi Tel Aviv), Rene Krhin (Inter Milan), Mirnes Sisic (Giannina), Darjan Matic (Rapid Bucharest), Dare Vrsic (Koper), Dalibor Stevanovic (Vitesse Arnhem), Robert Koren (West Bromwich Albion), Aleksander Radosavljevic (Larissa), Valter Birsa (Auxerre).

Forwards: Milivoje Novakovic (Cologne), Zlatko Dedic (VfL Bochum), Zlatan Ljubijankic (Ghent), Nejc Pecnik (Nacional), Miran Burgic (AIK Solna), Tim Matavz (Groningen).

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Then Defoe comes in. A World Cup is not the place to 'give him a chance', and to be fair if Rooney gets injured we're bollocksed anyway. We were talking about it at the weekend, looking back when Shearer and Sheringham were ruling up front there was always Ferdinand, Fowler, Andy Cole, Chris Sutton and a number of others who could have fitted straight in and done a job (With teenage Michael Owen waiting in the wings). We don't have that anymore, theres the 4 who'll be picked, then the likes of Carlton Cole. Ugh.

Yeah, the World Cup isn't the time to 'give people a chance.' A semi-final match with Darren Bent, Matthew Upson, Adam Johnson and Theo Walcott fills me with such fear. Yeah, they can go with the preliminary squad, but if they're not in the best line-up for any given match, then the World Cup isn't the time to give them a chance. They should just impress enough in the preliminary training to be properly utilized for European Championship qualifiers.

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I'm not quite sure if you're agreeing with me or arguing... Either way, I'd throw Adam Johnson on as an impact sub any day of the week. Ideally after the starting left/right winger goes off after ten minutes. Bearing in mind I'm a Newcastle supporter, and Johnsons a mackem who's played for the Boro, thats high praise.

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Heskey isn't even Aston Villa's best England striker in my eyes. I see why he's there, but call me old fashioned but I like my strikers to score goals and Bent did that better than anyone not named Rooney or Drogba this season with a vastly inferior team. Bent is a confidence player who's full of both that and form at the moment and if we went, I'm sure he'd make an impact. But it doesn't bother me either way as England's progress doesn't concern me at the moment, until I put a bet on them to win it again.

Also Adam Johson definiely deserves to go. Joe Cole hasn't shown enough sustained form to warrant a place over him this season, plus he's left footed which is a bonus for any England team. Experience is over-rated too, if I remember correctly a certain English 18 year old made a rather large impact at the 1998 World Cup.

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Heskey isn't even Aston Villa's best England striker in my eyes. I see why he's there, but call me old fashioned but I like my strikers to score goals

Why?

I know it sounds stupid, but the job of a striker evolved from 'scoring goals' a while ago. It's a bonus if they can score goals AND do the things that Heskey does, but to be honest I'd have absolutely no faith in Bent or Defoe up front (for reasons I mentioned before). Rooney, Gerrard and Lampard are the players that are going to drive us on at the World Cup, so why not go with a striker who enables them to do that rather than players who will force those three to stifle their games, just because they've scored goals in teams set up in a way to suit them specifically?

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Pretty harsh to say that Bent should be staying home; he's had a superb season at Sunderland. Much rather have him than say Heskey but I'm not Fabio Capello ¬_¬

I meant Bent should be staying home as in the odds of Capello taking five strikers or selecting Bent as one of his four over the others are slim, not that I wouldn't take him.

But I wouldn't anyway. Rooney is our best player, Heskey brings the best out of everybody else (and seriously, how many times do people need to hear that it isn't his job to score before they stop mentioning goal talleys?), Defoe has done well as the pacey little goalscorer who comes on when Rooney's injured/subbed in friendlies and Crouch plays well with Defoe, has experience, a fantastic strike rate (the opposition he's scored against are absolutely wank though) and will be sure to divert defences away from Rooney, not nearly as well as Heskey mind you. If there was a debate for another striker coming it'd be for Zamora in my opinion but his injuries prevent that. Bent is a fantastic goalscorer but there's only room for one pure goalscorer and Defoe's done great in that role so why disturb it?

In regards to the right wing position. I think it helps to have somebody with real pace there. Lennon would be first choice ideally but if he were injured I'd have Walcott as opposed to Milner or SWP. If we can't find a way through against a solid defence I'd rather have Walcott's pace than Milner's never-say-die attitude - Milner's one of my favourite players and he should definitely go to South Africa but he's not particularly fast and I think he'd fill in better for Gerrard on the left. But we saw how beneficial Walcott's pace was against Croatia and if defences have to deal with Gerrard, Rooney, Heskey and a pacey right winger as well as Lampard's runs from deep, that's so many different types of player that it should baffle them. SWP should stay well away however.

I only came in here to post that I just saw Spain's squad and it scared the life out of me. They have one of the best goalies in the world sitting on the bench, a stacked defence, an incredible midfield and probably the best combined strike-force in the tournament. If they don't win they've massively underachieved. Brazil's seems distinctively average though their born to win personality makes them a lot better than they look on paper and still leagues ahead of England for me.

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So, Brazil won't be fielding Ronaldinho/Neymar/Adriano (Grafite instead)/Roberto Carlos

It'll just be odd without 'dinho/Carlos (not that I completely disagree with the non-selections) and I'm surprised Adriano wasn't called into the 30 given his recent run with the national squad.

Goalkeepers: Julio Cesar (Inter Milan, Italy), Doni (AS Roma, Italy), Heurelho Gomes (Tottenham, England)

Defenders: Daniel Alves (Barcelona, Spain), Juan (AS Roma, Italy), Maicon (Inter Milan, Italy), Michel Bastos (Lyon, France), Gilberto (Cruzeiro), Lucio (Inter Milan, Italy), Luisao (Benfica, Portugal), Thiago Silva (AC Milan, Italy)

Midfielders: Elano (Galatasaray, Turkey), Felipe Melo (Juventus, Brazil), Gilberto Silva (Panathinaikos, Greece), Josue (Wolfsburg, Germany), Julio Baptista (AS Roma, Italy), Kaka (Real Madrid, Spain), Kleberson (Flamengo), Ramires (Benfica, Portugal)

Forwards: Grafite (Wolfsburg, Germany), Luis Fabiano (Sevilla, Spain), Nilmar (Villarreal, Spain), Robinho (Santos)

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USA:

30-man Roster

Howard, Hahnemann, Guzan

Onyewu, Bocanegra, Spector, Cherundolo, DeMerit, Bornstein, Pearce, Goodson, Marshall

Donovan, Dempsey, Clark, Bradley, Edu, Torres, Holden, Feilhaber, Beasley, Bedoya, Kljestan, Rogers

Altidore, Ching, Buddle, Gomez, Findley, Johnson

==========================================================

WTF - Marshall/Kljestan/Findley ... and we're banking on ching's leg being good .... Rogers is questionable too ... fucking A

*facepalm*

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I'd take Adam Johnson out of that lot simply because we have no one else on the left of midfield. Joe Cole and Adam Johnson aren't exactly ideal in the context of the entire England squad, but seriously, who but them on the left? Downing?

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Yeah, Capello has said he asked Scholes to come out of retirement but he told him he wanted to spend the time with his family. I'm a huge, huge Scholes fan and would have loved to see him at the World Cup. During his prime, he was so regularly played out on the left wing that he never had the effect he was capable of having. For the past few weeks, he's been chosen consistently over Carrick and has put in some really good performances too. I think against a lesser team where we have a lot of possession, Scholes would have been really useful in dictating play and spreading the ball out to the wingers. Although, against a stronger team that puts pressure on the midfield, I'll admit he may have struggled with the pace a bit but that's the case with Carrick already.

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