World Cup 2010 Thread

[TCO]

lol

Even we beat this lot 3-0. The probelm with England is they clearly need more Robbie Keane in their strikeforce.

[Farmer Reil]

Well, that was fucking dire. Gareth Barry and David James (and Emile Heskey when he wasn't trying to score - ironically) were the only good things to come of this at all.

That was atrocious. No fucking way are we getting anywhere near the quarter finals.

[Dynamite]

Rooney was always going to have a poor World Cup. He does well for us at club level because he doesn't have to run back 30yards to win the ball. Valencia takes on players and crosses it in on a plate for him. Likewise with Nani. Fletcher can actually win the ball in midfield. Scholes, Berbatov, Giggs etc. are good enough passers to play clever balls for him. Barry is no Fletcher. Lampard is not the passer of the ball Scholes is. Heskey is no Berbatov (which, depending on the game, is saying something...).

[therockbox]

The funniest thing all night was Andy Townsend criticising Capello for 'being unable to move away from 4-4-2' because it's so ingrained in him.

Haha, what? I remember when McClaren dared to try a formation that wasn't 4-4-2, he got absolutely slaughtered. I have also thoroughly enjoyed every pundit and commentator so far this tournament claiming that Steven Gerrard's best position is just off the lone striker. Rafa Benitez's sacking really did change things, eh? Up until a few weeks ago moving Gerrard out of central midfield was seen as an affront to his ability.

Watching us tonight though, I'm fairly certain all this talk of Capello 'keeping his cards close to his chest' was just a cover for him not really knowing what he's going to do with us. Even trying SWP and Lennon on the left at any point is bizarre, as is Carragher's sudden elevation to first choice centre back with Upson having completely disappeared. I don't particularly rate Upson, but at least he can keep pace with a milk float going uphill.

Rooney and Lampard have been absolute shit, and Glen Johnson and Ashley Cole seem under strict instructions not to overlap under any circumstances. Barry was steady eddie as always, Gerrard huffed and puffed but ultimately did very little, and once again Heskey was our best player. Scary stuff.

[Walker]

Dreadful. Utterly dreadful. If I wasn't English I would be taking the piss and wouldn't expect anyone to argue. They is no excuse for that shite performance.

[therockbox]

I'm pretty certain Emile Heskey has some kind of evidence of a Capello wrongdoing that would get him fired if anyone found out.

That 'evidence' is probably videos of himself being our best player in the opening two games.

[Farmer Reil]

Luckily, Carra's suspended now...

...so Dawson can play the next match. ¬_¬

[therockbox]

Luckily, Carra's suspended now...

...so Dawson can play the next match. ¬_¬

He'll probably stick Milner in there.

[TCO]

Dawson is clearly the better player, but surely logic says Upson plays considering he made the squad in the first place, when Dawson did not?

[Lineker]

Luckily, Carra's suspended now...

...so Dawson can play the next match. ¬_¬

He'll probably stick Milner in there.

Nah mate, Stuart Pearce.

[Dynamite]

Carrick will play there.

[Farmer Reil]

Dawson is clearly the better player, but surely logic says Upson plays considering he made the squad in the first place, when Dawson did not?

That was the joke. ¬_¬

Also, like Dan said on MSN... Heskey at centerback would be better than Upson at centerback. He basically plays as centerback but further up the pitch. John Terry probably has a better scoring record though. >.<

He's great at winning the ball, just pretty bad at doing things with it.

Edited June 18, 2010 by Farmer Reil

[Whisper]

And to think, we moaned when Sven was in charge.

At least then when we were poor, we still scraped the odd win.

We're missing a midfield. Completely. Barry did ok but there was nothing ahead of him. Lampard continued his dire run of form for England, and Gerrard was wasted on the left. But heaven forbid we should drop Lampard and play Barry, Gerrard and Carrick/Milner in a 5 man midfield. Lampard has some God given right to start it seems. We don't appear to have anyone in the midfield who can take a game by the scruff of the neck in the way that a Robson or a Paul Ince did. We're really missing someone like Owen hargreaves actually. We were so slow getting the ball back today, and it's not like Algeria even passed it that well. Gerrard is trying to do it but he's not really in a position where he can affect the game as much as he'd like.

Silly thing is, we've been woeful, yet will probably go and finish top of the group, then get a Serbia or a Ghana in the second round. We could end up making the quarters without playing remotely well. That, or we could fail miserably against Slovenia. Nothing would really surprise me at this point.

On the bright side, the World Cup is always more enjoyable after we've gone out anyway. (Y)

Edited June 18, 2010 by Whisper in the Wind

[nabeel]

Credit where its due- Algerians played well and instead of packing the defense with ten men behind the ball, they actually passed the ball forward and tried to attack. Shame really that they don't have a good enough striker.

Of course England were pretty shit (as has already been mentioned several times during the last two pages).

It's games like these where I feel England would have done better with Scott Parker instead of Gerrard or Lampard. Parker played in a lot of tough fixtures for West Ham and to me the second half of the England-Algeria game was just like a relegation dogfight game.

Edited June 18, 2010 by nabeel

[palaceofwisdom]

Did chances of getting to knockout stages died?

[therockbox]

We don't appear to have anyone in the midfield who can take a game by the scruff of the neck in the way that a Robson or a Paul Ince did. We're really missing someone like Owen hargreaves actually. Gerrard is trying to do it but he's not really in a position where he can affect the game as much as he'd like.

You don't particularly need to have players that take the game by the scruff of the neck, just a 'four' (two centrebacks and two in front of them) capable of keeping possession comfortably, and not being afraid of knocking the ball about in their own half until someone makes a half decent run.

As I said before the game, I'd like to have seen us try Carrick and Barry as the two holding midfielders at some point before the tournament, because whilst they're not the best players ever they are far better than Gerrard and Lampard at just keeping the ball. Gerrard needs to be playing at 100mph to be effective so he's wasted in central midfield, and I don't think it's a surprise that Lampard has been consistently dire for England over the last four years given that he's forced to play in a role where he is responsible for the defensive part of our central midfield. I'm not saying he's bad at tackling or reading the game, but he's far better at it when he can step back in and do it when needed rather than being ultimately responsible for it, if that makes sense. Playing the two holding midfielders frees Lampard up to break forward without having to look over his shoulder all the time, and would also allow Cole and Johnson to bomb forward without the risk of them getting caught upfield if the opposition manages to counter attack.

[GoGo Yubari]

Did chances of getting to knockout stages died?

I don't believe so. I haven't looked at the board but I believe if they beat Slovenia, England moves on no matter what the result of the US/Algeria match is.

[The Quasi Juice]

Did chances of getting to knockout stages died?

Not at all. Algeria 1 point, UK 2, Slovenia 4, USA 2. UK beat Slovenia, 5 points for UK, USA beat Algeria, 5 points for USA. There's a decent chance England will finish second, which means a tough opponent in the second round, but there's still a HUGE chance England will qualify.

[palaceofwisdom]

Did chances of getting to knockout stages died?

Not at all. Algeria 1 point, UK 2, Slovenia 4, USA 2. UK beat Slovenia, 5 points for UK, USA beat Algeria, 5 points for USA. There's a decent chance England will finish second, which means a tough opponent in the second round, but there's still a HUGE chance England will qualify.

Good stuff, I'm no good with footy and working out stuff so excuse my ignorance

[Kaney]

Did chances of getting to knockout stages died?

Not at all. Algeria 1 point, UK 2, Slovenia 4, USA 2. UK beat Slovenia, 5 points for UK, USA beat Algeria, 5 points for USA. There's a decent chance England will finish second, which means a tough opponent in the second round, but there's still a HUGE chance England will qualify.

...UK is not another name for England.