The Official World Cup 2010 Thread

[El Kabong]

Slovenia won which makes our game pretty much a must win. And they're a pain in the ass to play, very good defensively. A draw would still give us a chance but a loss would be the end of it.

It's good that the match means something, I think if it was just another match we might have come out flat. We're going to have to lead in that game instead of counter so I would expect Torres to start.

If the USA wins then England has to win out the rest of their games too

I wonder how "E-A-S-Y" the Brits think the group is now? There's a very good chance they miss out on advancing, that would be tragic for them.

[boxingbantz]

First time I've been able to post.

Being in the pub confirmed why I hate watching England & why the majority of England fans are clueless knobheads. "Who are ya, who are ya!"

Fair play to the Yanks, they kept on going to the end. It also proves how shit England actually are and this 'being world class' is a media driven myth. Argentina had Milito and Aguero on the bench - we had Peter Crouch.

Jesus wept.

Sorry for the negative post but I just hope people realise England aren't a world class side.

[El Kabong]

In all honesty Crouch is a quality player, I hate that Liverpool let him go.

The problemS (plural) England have are....
1. Frank Lampard, he's not what you need in a CM. He is greedy and only wants to score. Gerrard is more well rounded but he's best going forward. If Barry was fit you may have seen a different result

2. Your defense sucks

3. Goalkeeper

4. You lack a creative distributor of the ball, Rooney and Gerrard can't do it all

....If I was coaching England I would maybe tinker with the idea of playing Lampard at CF but whatever is done the Gerrard/Lampard tandem doesn't work


I'm hoping Tim Howard is ok, but I think even if he can't go we'll be OK

[OumaFan]

fucking Hell I just saw the highlights and Slovenia were incredibly lucky to get 3 points. Stupid red card by a substitute who got two awful yellows and then the Algerian keeper just let a completely non-threatening shot go in. Not quite Robert Green awful but not that far off.

[OumaFan]

If I was England's manager I would play Rooney up top by himself with Gerrard playing right behind him and then Joe Cole on the left, Lampard and Barry in the middle and Lennon on the right. Then the normal back four.

I still don't think that is the right setup for Lampard as he wants to be the attacking midfielder but who else are you going to play there? Carrick?

[El Kabong]

If I was England's manager I would play Rooney up top by himself with Gerrard playing right behind him and then Joe Cole on the left, Lampard and Barry in the middle and Lennon on the right. Then the normal back four.

I still don't think that is the right setup for Lampard as he wants to be the attacking midfielder but who else are you going to play there? Carrick?

...Sad that a "World Power" like England has less midfield depth than the United States

Yeah if Dempsey or Donovan go down we're boned, BUT we have Beasley, Torres, Edu, Feilhaber, Holden and all those guys are solid substitutes for our midfield because we play more as a team

[OumaFan]

I actually don't think Carrick's bad but English fans don't seem to like him.

[killersheep]

So because it wasn't 3-0 England.....................Are we down a poster?

[El Kabong]

I do think Bob Bradley's 1 mistake was not making an earlier change....we seemed to link up decently at times and then have a wayward pass or missed opportunity....I can't stress enough how Torres could have really helped out attack. We were splitting possession about 56-44 if we had kind of a "point guard" type of player like Torres in there we would have probably split time 50-50 and I bet we would have created better chances too. Torres is our new Claudio Reyna and it's silly not to play him.

So because it wasn't 3-0 England.....................Are we down a poster?

Who would that be?

[boxingbantz]

2. Your defense sucks

3. Goalkeeper

4. You lack a creative distributor of the ball, Rooney and Gerrard can't do it all

....If I was coaching England I would maybe tinker with the idea of playing Lampard at CF but whatever is done the Gerrard/Lampard tandem doesn't work


I'm hoping Tim Howard is ok, but I think even if he can't go we'll be OK

Our defence sucks? We have one of the best defences in the world. Rio being injured hasn't helped to be honest.

Lampard up front? Are you for real?

[HattonTheHammer]

2. Your defense sucks

3. Goalkeeper

4. You lack a creative distributor of the ball, Rooney and Gerrard can't do it all

....If I was coaching England I would maybe tinker with the idea of playing Lampard at CF but whatever is done the Gerrard/Lampard tandem doesn't work


I'm hoping Tim Howard is ok, but I think even if he can't go we'll be OK

Our defence sucks? We have one of the best defences in the world. Rio being injured hasn't helped to be honest.

Lampard up front? Are you for real?

what the hell is a CF? if your refering to lampard playing as a striker you really have no idea about football/soccer or whatever the hell you call it.

Anywho my ratings from saturday..........

Green - 5 (fuked up, made up for it second half with a decent save)
A Cole - 7 steady as ever without ever looking spectacular
King - 4 should never of been taken in the 1st place, is not fit
Terry - 7 decent enough performance from JT, god we need terry like ever right now
Johnson 8 very impressed going forward, gives you that extra option. Still a below average defender though and the better sides out there will pick him apart.
Milner - 5 had a stinker, played poorly, got injured
Lampard - 5 quite possibly the worst player on the pitch, greedy and obsessed with trying to score
gerrard - 9 heroic performance from stevie G, if we`d of had 11 gerrards on the pitch we would of won at a canter
Lennon - 7 did what he had to do well. The supply wasnt there but when it was he was able to use his pace
Heskey - 6 missed an absoloute sitter. A striker that doesnt score goals and we seriously believe we can win the world cup
Rooney - 7 quiet night for wayne, when your star player cant get into the game your going to have problems

Carragher - 6 looked a bit indecisive on several occasions. Definitely should of started
SWP - 5 absoloute shocker from capello to play a natural right footer on the left hand side and completely alienate him from the play
Crouch - 5 just couldnt get into the game


Im officially hooked with world cup fever and as we speak am desperately trying to convince my governor to let me leave at 3 so i can watch the japan-cameroon game

[BIG H]

I know Australia are Sh1te, but fukk me Germany were impressive last night.

Only 4 teams can win it imo

Spain - Best team player for player
Brazil - Almost equal to Spain as above
Germany - Best I've seen so far
Argentina - Would be my pick if they had a different manager. Especially if they had Zanetti and Cambiasso

Outsiders:

Holland - One of my favourite teams to watch, always strong, but nororious 'Bottlers'
France - Can never rule them out - even as crap as they are
Italy - As above
England - Would need a HUGE amount of luck and HUGE improvement

[HattonTheHammer]

I know Australia are Sh1te, but fukk me Germany were impressive last night.

Only 4 teams can win it imo

Spain - Best team player for player
Brazil - Almost equal to Spain as above
Germany - Best I've seen so far
Argentina - Would be my pick if they had a different manager. Especially if they had Zanetti and Cambiasso

Outsiders:

Holland - One of my favourite teams to watch, always strong, but nororious 'Bottlers'
France - Can never rule them out - even as crap as they are
Italy - As above
England - Would need a HUGE amount of luck and HUGE improvement

Ive got germany winning the hole thing by beating holland in the final.

World Cup 2010 Predictor

[El Kabong]

what the hell is a CF? if your refering to lampard playing as a striker you really have no idea about football/soccer or whatever the hell you call it.

Center Forward which as I understand it is inbetween an attacking midfielder and a striker (blame Fifa 2010 for my using that term, it's in the game). I would say having Lampard playing directly behind Rooney might help you out a bit. If you do that you have a midfield of Milner, Gerrard, Carrick, Lennon which (outside of you guys bringing Adam Johnson) is a quality midfield but that's just my thoughts on it.

And yes Lampard playing Striker makes sense to me because all that cat wants to do is push forward which is partly why he and Gerrard don't play well together in the midfield and I figure since Heskey and Crouch didn't figure into the game very much perhaps Lampard would create more chances for your team in that way. The other option is to sit Lampard on the bench.....do you like sitting Lampard or sitting Heskey? In my opinion you sit them both, but you Brits rate Lamps (I don't) so I figure you guys would want him on the pitch.

[No Contest]

I just feel sorry for whoever finishes second in our group...they will be seeing Germany no doubt.