Spare a thought for the poor Dutch. If they qualify from their group they'll probably face either hosts Brazil or holders Spain next!

They're beatable of course. Uruguay whilst they have two star players, they're not as good as they were 3-4 years ago. But they'll be more used to the climate, which surely must come in to a factor. And I'm sure we've never beaten Italy in a major tournament. We need to beat one of Italy/Uruguay to go through. And that's assuming we beat Costa Rica.

No we don't. If we draw both games then even if Italy and Uruguay draw against each other we just need to put more goals past Costa Rica than one of them.

 

Uruguay really aren't much cop and shouldn't be anywhere near seeding. They were my 2nd preferred seed to get after Switzerland, thought it would've been nice to not have Italy I don't think it's that bad a group at all, before the European teams were drawn I'd have said it was better than A, B or G and on par with C.

 

As for location, yes one is in a shit location but it's at 22:00, not at 13:00 when some matches there will be played, it's not like Italy are a team that'll be used to it, and the other two games are at locations which are very near to where we're staying.

 

Overall, not great but nowhere near the disaster it's being made out to be.

Basically this. Uruguay will hate this draw, I'm sure they have high expectations of the tournament and as seeds they could have ended up against Bosnia, Cameroon and Iran.

 

If any team is to stop Suarez outside of the obvious handful with brilliant defences, I'd bet on ours given Cahill and Jagielka know him inside out. And he'll probably get crocked before June anyway. I'm more worried about Cavani but he's temperamental in major tournaments.

 

At least this should mean Woy sees sense and makes Cole his starting left back for the first two games.

I think the group is doable we only have to come second to qualify, we easily beat Costa Rica, Italy can be a bit of a hit or miss sometimes. I think Uruguay will be toughest side to beat, as they are practically on home ground.

England v Italy has been moved to 11 pm Saturday UK time. Better for television viewers but not for the players.

I think the group is doable we only have to come second to qualify, we easily beat Costa Rica, Italy can be a bit of a hit or miss sometimes. I think Uruguay will be toughest side to beat, as they are practically on home ground.

Italy looked far better in the Confederations Cup.

Spare a thought for the poor Dutch. If they qualify from their group they'll probably face either hosts Brazil or holders Spain next!

This can't happen as they are in the same group.

England v Italy has been moved to 11 pm Saturday UK time. Better for television viewers but not for the players.

 

Many pubs will apply for extensions then! Much better time.

This can't happen as they are in the same group.

 

 

Well the BBC said that so they must haave made a mistake. Two of us heard it.

No we don't. If we draw both games then even if Italy and Uruguay draw against each other we just need to put more goals past Costa Rica than one of them.

Basically this. Uruguay will hate this draw, I'm sure they have high expectations of the tournament and as seeds they could have ended up against Bosnia, Cameroon and Iran.

 

If any team is to stop Suarez outside of the obvious handful with brilliant defences, I'd bet on ours given Cahill and Jagielka know him inside out. And he'll probably get crocked before June anyway. I'm more worried about Cavani but he's temperamental in major tournaments.

 

At least this should mean Woy sees sense and makes Cole his starting left back for the first two games.

 

Can't see Suarez getting injured *touchwood*. He's super-like. I can't ever recall him missing a game through injury since he's played for Liverpool. He looks after his body so well considering how much football he plays.

 

The problem everyone's forgetting is yes we're not that bad on paper, but we have Hodgson in charge. Now you can argue playing a high tempo, pressing game is not going to work particularly well in Brazil, but it's dinosaur tactics we play. We don't even play to our strengths.

Can't see Suarez getting injured *touchwood*. He's super-like. I can't ever recall him missing a game through injury since he's played for Liverpool. He looks after his body so well considering how much football he plays.

 

The problem everyone's forgetting is yes we're not that bad on paper, but we have Hodgson in charge. Now you can argue playing a high tempo, pressing game is not going to work particularly well in Brazil, but it's dinosaur tactics we play. We don't even play to our strengths.

Euro 2012 proved that we can at least hold big teams, and that was with a defence he hadn't worked with. I'm not sure how long you can carry on trotting out this Hodgson line - since he's been in charge we've achieved everything expected of us.

 

As for Suarez, he's never been in a position before where he could potentially eliminate the country he plays in during the next major tournament. Think of the number of Premier League teams with at least one English centre back - I'd be shocked if he doesn't get a kicking before May.

Well the BBC said that so they must haave made a mistake. Two of us heard it.

I think you must have misunderstood, generally teams that qualify from the same group can't play each other again until at least the semis.

Euro 2012 proved that we can at least hold big teams, and that was with a defence he hadn't worked with. I'm not sure how long you can carry on trotting out this Hodgson line - since he's been in charge we've achieved everything expected of us.

 

As for Suarez, he's never been in a position before where he could potentially eliminate the country he plays in during the next major tournament. Think of the number of Premier League teams with at least one English centre back - I'd be shocked if he doesn't get a kicking before May.

John Terry can stick one on him at the end of April.

Euro 2012 proved that we can at least hold big teams, and that was with a defence he hadn't worked with. I'm not sure how long you can carry on trotting out this Hodgson line - since he's been in charge we've achieved everything expected of us.

 

As for Suarez, he's never been in a position before where he could potentially eliminate the country he plays in during the next major tournament. Think of the number of Premier League teams with at least one English centre back - I'd be shocked if he doesn't get a kicking before May.

 

 

Everything that's been expected? This is what annoys me. We're not that bad. We've some really good players, and crucially a good spine of the a team. Since Hodgson's come in, suddenly we're awful, a mediocre team. It's what he does all the time. Dampens expectations to make himself look good. The man's a bellend. We've loads of players that play in a posession based game for their clubs. Arsenal, Liverpool, Everton, Man City and Southampton. Admittedly Chelsea and Man Utd not so much. But we're afraid of keeping the ball.

 

Suarez will relish playing against England. To be honest I can't imagine him getting greater satisfaction than knocking them out after all the stick he gets in the media! Of course teams will have a go at him, but they always do. The guy's a superhuman. Even if he was carrying an injury there's no way he would miss the World Cup.

Everything that's been expected? This is what annoys me. We're not that bad. We've some really good players, and crucially a good spine of the a team. Since Hodgson's come in, suddenly we're awful, a mediocre team. It's what he does all the time. Dampens expectations to make himself look good. The man's a bellend. We've loads of players that play in a posession based game for their clubs. Arsenal, Liverpool, Everton, Man City and Southampton. Admittedly Chelsea and Man Utd not so much. But we're afraid of keeping the ball.

 

Suarez will relish playing against England. To be honest I can't imagine him getting greater satisfaction than knocking them out after all the stick he gets in the media! Of course teams will have a go at him, but they always do. The guy's a superhuman. Even if he was carrying an injury there's no way he would miss the World Cup.

Did you watch the last World Cup?

Did you watch the last World Cup?

 

We did awful in the last World Cup because of the dressing room. John Terry was like a bad smell. The FA and Capello got their preparations all wrong, and we rightly got out just desserts served to us. Plus the insistence to play big name players over an actual team.

We did awful in the last World Cup because of the dressing room. John Terry was like a bad smell. The FA and Capello got their preparations all wrong, and we rightly got out just desserts served to us. Plus the insistence to play big name players over an actual team.

The tactics were diabolical. I understand where you're coming from given that most of our competitive matches are inevitably qualifiers, usually against inferior teams, and Hodgson's England don't seem able to win those matches as easily as Capello's did. But I think that's more down to the team experiencing a slight decline in quality as we've not had enough talented emerging players and those we've got have struggled to regularly play ahead of the old guard. That's a systemic problem and goes back through several England managers. Against big teams I have infinitely more confidence in Hodgson than Capello. In Euro 2012 it was still a 4-4-something formation but he at least acknowledged that you can't play two banks of four and expect to compete for possession these days. I don't think I've ever seen such a suicidally stupid idea in a big international game as trying to press high up the pitch with Upson and Terry as your centre backs. With the possible exception of Maradona's Argentina a few days later.

The tactics were diabolical. I understand where you're coming from given that most of our competitive matches are inevitably qualifiers, usually against inferior teams, and Hodgson's England don't seem able to win those matches as easily as Capello's did. But I think that's more down to the team experiencing a slight decline in quality as we've not had enough talented emerging players and those we've got have struggled to regularly play ahead of the old guard. That's a systemic problem and goes back through several England managers. Against big teams I have infinitely more confidence in Hodgson than Capello. In Euro 2012 it was still a 4-4-something formation but he at least acknowledged that you can't play two banks of four and expect to compete for possession these days. I don't think I've ever seen such a suicidally stupid idea in a big international game as trying to press high up the pitch with Upson and Terry as your centre backs. With the possible exception of Maradona's Argentina a few days later.

 

But instead of competing we just concede and think - let's try and hit them on the counter attack. It's a weak mentality and they players we have are better than that. We've a good footballing team, not the best, but individually we've some excellent players, but the same old average players keep getting picked because the only reason they get picked is because they play for a big club. We looked awful against Chile and Germany. The excuses are 'we were trying out new players' etc. etc. but so were Chile and Germany. We lack a plan B. We can be solid and defend all we want - but when we concede a goal, but don't change things up massively to get back in to the game.

 

Capello went for experience over youth in South Africa and it messed up big time. But he was playing mental games with the FA and it was clear as the light of day he fell out with several players.

But instead of competing we just concede and think - let's try and hit them on the counter attack. It's a weak mentality and they players we have are better than that. We've a good footballing team, not the best, but individually we've some excellent players, but the same old average players keep getting picked because the only reason they get picked is because they play for a big club. We looked awful against Chile and Germany. The excuses are 'we were trying out new players' etc. etc. but so were Chile and Germany. We lack a plan B. We can be solid and defend all we want - but when we concede a goal, but don't change things up massively to get back in to the game.

 

Capello went for experience over youth in South Africa and it messed up big time. But he was playing mental games with the FA and it was clear as the light of day he fell out with several players.

In fairness, the attacking line ups in the two friendlies are hardly indicative of Brazil given the players involved. I can't see either Lallana or Rodriguez going, for instance.

 

The issue with some of our better technical players is that they're not getting enough playing time compared to the old guard. Liverpool are a good example - I know Henderson is a semi-regular starter but Gerrard never misses a game (didn't he play every minute of last season or something ridiculous?) because of his status and presence on the pitch. Those are rarer qualities than being technically sound and efficient with the ball in domestic football so managers see those players as essential. Even Wilshere, supposedly our great hope, is expendable at Arsenal because there are other players who can fill the same role.

In fairness, the attacking line ups in the two friendlies are hardly indicative of Brazil given the players involved. I can't see either Lallana or Rodriguez going, for instance.

 

The issue with some of our better technical players is that they're not getting enough playing time compared to the old guard. Liverpool are a good example - I know Henderson is a semi-regular starter but Gerrard never misses a game (didn't he play every minute of last season or something ridiculous?) because of his status and presence on the pitch. Those are rarer qualities than being technically sound and efficient with the ball in domestic football so managers see those players as essential. Even Wilshere, supposedly our great hope, is expendable at Arsenal because there are other players who can fill the same role.

 

I think Lallana will be on the plane to Brazil, but can't see Rodriquez being on it.

 

Currently both Henderson and Gerrard play in the first XI for Liverpool. Henderson hasn't missed a minute of PL football this season IIRC. Gerrard plays because people underestimate his abilities. When Liverpool are afforded space he's sensational. He controls the midfield, pings ball everywhere. His ability to create something out of nothing with a ball outweighs his negatives. When teams occupy the same space Gerrard wants, that's when he struggles. But he's always got something in his locker. Sometimes he wants longer on the ball than the game these days gives him, but he's an essential part of Liverpool's possession game we play. I see your point but he's the exception rather than the norm. Lampard doesn't have the same influence anymore.

I think Lallana will be on the plane to Brazil, but can't see Rodriquez being on it.

 

Currently both Henderson and Gerrard play in the first XI for Liverpool. Henderson hasn't missed a minute of PL football this season IIRC. Gerrard plays because people underestimate his abilities. When Liverpool are afforded space he's sensational. He controls the midfield, pings ball everywhere. His ability to create something out of nothing with a ball outweighs his negatives. When teams occupy the same space Gerrard wants, that's when he struggles. But he's always got something in his locker. Sometimes he wants longer on the ball than the game these days gives him, but he's an essential part of Liverpool's possession game we play. I see your point but he's the exception rather than the norm. Lampard doesn't have the same influence anymore.

Lampard's a different type of player now, he's lost a yard of pace and being an extra couple of years older than Gerrard really shows.