England World Cup discussion

[Superhoops]

He set up Gerrard's goal as well. He was named man of the match against T&T. Any game in the WC is a big game, despite the opposition and T&T have proved that they are a good side anyway.
Set up = a 'precision' 4 yard pass to Gerard who was about 30 yards from goal at the time! :rolleyes:

[Stuttgart88]

I was at the England / Sweden game in Cologne. Very entertaining, virtually a Premiership match. Very little of the finesse seen in other groups but a good honest scrap between two sides prepared to engage each other in a game.

I thought the game started with both teams relatively equal but England gained control of the first half. Owen Hargreaves actually looked good in this period, making good tackles and playing simple passes to those who can use the ball more effectively.

This was the first time I'd seen either Rooney or Beckham live. Beckham is very one dimensional. Even his set pieces were poor. Rooney wasn't as sharp as he can be but is still a handful.

Joe Cole was the only quality performer on the night for England but even he lost his way once his teammates did.

I thought it was incredible how yet again England surrendered the initiative in a game like this. With luck Sweden could have gone 3-1 up when they should have had no way back into the game.

All Sweden did, from what I could see, was up the tempo and press the man in possession. England had no response.

So, it looks like England have completey failed to learn the lessons of WC02 & EURO2004.

But, I've always felt that by accident Sven could stumble across an XI that might be more effective. He'd never have had the balls to drop Owen, but now he doesn't have to.

Surely a team, with some variation of 4-5-1 / 4-3-3 comprising of Rooney, Gerrard, Lampard, Beckham & Joe Cole must have goals in it. But can they fend off a team with superior ball retention & incisive passing?

Also, Joe Cole simply has to cut in on his right. I think a top level defender should be able to cope with this.

Great stadium. 45,000 right on top of the pitch. Much better than these fancy-dan bowls with a running track etc. My guess is to construct something as rudimentary, yet brilliantly atmospheric, would cost only about £20 million to build. There really was nothing to it whatsoever. With a home ground like that, whatever town or city it'd be in, Ireland could become a home force again.

PS: English fans were good (usual boring chants though) & were very quiet when Sweden were on top) but Swedish fans were exceptional. They really got behind their team when the chips were down & were vociferous throughout.

[DmanDmythDledge]

Looks like Ericcson has finally seen sense and put Carrick has the holding midfield player, only because Hargreaves is right back though. Hargreaves had a excellent game against Sweden I thought and it will take a good performance from Carrick to keep him out of the side. Don't know about Rooney up front on his own though. He might not have the stamina after being out for so long.

I expect England to get through this game, but they need to lift their performance to beat Ecuador and to send out a message to other teams of what they are capable of.

[tetsujin1979]

I'm starting to have similar fears mentioned on the board, England aren't impressing anyone but they're on a winning streak, every time we say they're going to be beaten by a side that will test them, they come through. Just like the rugby team a few years ago.....

[FarBeag]

They talk about the luck of the Irish but i think they got the wrong country.

England got the easiest group of all the teams at the world cup.

Their best player breaks his metatarsal bone and recovers quicker than anyone else has ever done.

England was very lucky to have won any of their games so far.

The get paired with the worst team to reach the quarter finals.

All their games so far have being so boring

Their next opponents Portugal happen to have lost their two best players Deco ( sent off by a psyco ref) and Ronaldo through Injury.


If England do not win the world cup this time around they never will.

[shakermaker1982]

Ireland would be in the Q finals if we had the draw England had. As soon as they play a decent side i.e. Portugal they will be going home.

They were awful yesterday with no imagination. Big Phil will have something in store for ING GER LAND

[Reality Bites]

Heres hoping Figo doesn't get banned for Match, I think losing Deco isn't huge for Portugal as he tends to be a Hollywood player at times, Tiago will slot in nicely for Portugal.. and if Ronaldo is injured then a like for like swap with Simao who like Ronaldo can be at times brillant and at times dreadful, Do not under-estiamte the coaching brillance of Scolari either.
Expect Portugal to beat England!!

[Roadend]

Heres hoping Figo doesn't get banned for Match, I think losing Deco isn't huge for Portugal as he tends to be a Hollywood player at times, Tiago will slot in nicely for Portugal.. and if Ronaldo is injured then a like for like swap with Simao who like Ronaldo can be at times brillant and at times dreadful, Do not under-estiamte the coaching brillance of Scolari either.
Expect Portugal to beat England!!

I don't thik Figo can be banned retrospectively after getting carded for the incident, or at least this is what ITV said afterwards.

[NeilMcD]

I would not listen to ITV on anything. There is no evidence that he got booked for head butting. It may have been for talking back. Gabby Yortath just presumed it was for the head butting incident. But there is no way that ref would only give a yellow for a head butt. I think Figo plays better in the Deco role at this stage and Simao and Ronaldo on either wing will test Cole and whoever plays right back. I think Portugals ability to keep the ball will see them through but then again if England lift their game they could go through after extra time. I said from the start they would get to quarter final and depending on who they got they may scrape a semi final spot but they will go no futher than that.

I think they will go out in the quarter final though.

[NeilMcD]

From the Guardian

Luis Figo has escaped further punishment for his headbutt on Mark van Bommel during last night's ill-tempered game between Portugal and Holland.

The Internazionale player was booked for the incident, and as the referee, Valentin Ivanov, took action at the time, Fifa says it will not intervene.

Fifa communications director Markus Siegler told a media briefing in Berlin: "He was sanctioned immediately by the referee at the time. The referee's report came in last night and is being analysed by the relevant people but it is very unlikely anything will happen as he has been sanctioned already. It is only where there is a clear disciplinary issue which has not been acted upon by the referee that the [disciplinary] committee can look at it."

[OwlsFan]

I would not listen to ITV on anything.

So ITV was correct then :rolleyes:

[shakermaker1982]

Gutted about Deco missing the game. Oh well, still enough quality to give em problems.

[NeilMcD]

So ITV was correct then :rolleyes:


It seems that FIgo is going to play but I am not convinced that Figo was booked for the head butt. ITV are correct from time to time but I think if you live your life not listening to what they say and doing the opposite in what they believe I think you will lead a fruitful and full life. They are tabloid TV at its worst the last night while the adds were on RTE I switched on Yorath Venables and Guillit and they were rubbish. Guillit was so bias towards Holland it made Ian Wright look balanced. A joke channel in my view.

[Roadend]

if England lift their game they could go through after extra time.

I haven't seen anything to suggest they are capable of raising their game, bar dropping Lampard and Beckham that is.

[shakermaker1982]

to play 5 in MF so Sven doesn't need to drop Lampard or Beckham shows how gutless the Swede really is.

[pineapple stu]

Noticeable that, even when playing 9 v 10, Portugal were able to find gaps in the Dutch defence and stretch them almost at will; they came the closest to scoring again as well. The loss of Costinha, Deco and possibly Ronaldo is big, but I still think they'll have enough for a very pedestrian England. Ricardo'd be my only worry - he was appalling last night!

Anyway, if England do win, they don't have a snowball's chance in hell against either Germany or Argentina in the semis.

[OwlsFan]

Don't write them off. They were poor in Italia 90 if memory serves me correctly and they went out on penos in the semi-finals to Germany. I can't remember the last time I saw a free flowing England (1-5 in Germany perhaps) but they're tough to play against and grind out wins.

However, I cannot visualise Peter Crouch holding up the World Cup. Amusing set of photos of him going the e-mail rounds :D

[NeilMcD]

Peter Crouch a cross between Ryan Tubridy and a ladder, classic stuff from Apres Match.

[Declan_Michael]

As much as it pains me to say it England are in with a good chance of winning the tournament. They know Portugal well who are without Deco and possibly Ronaldo. Semi final opponents are likely to be Brazil who again they know well from WC2002. England have to peak sometime, better to play well against weaker opposition and get away with it and start performing later.

[Marked Man]

Talk of peaking at the right time is all well and good, but where is the evidence that England can play any better than this? Seems to me this is their peak, and it's just not that good.

[tricky_colour]

It would be more correct to say they have hit a trough at the wrong time :D