Englands Quest For The 2006 World Cup Thread

[Adie]

Guess who's rooting for Togo tonight :D

Me too! :D

:winky:

[Scarlet Pimpernell]

Well, Becks scored and it was good job and I'm glad for him, 'cos else it was curtains!

If Sven's gonna go for one loan stricker, then he needs the quality ball in, and Rooney just wasn't getting it. Lennon would have been the man to start with 'cos his pace would have torn Ecuador apart.

Carrick played well, and you could argue that with Rooney playing well again, more balls into him would have run riot against that naff Ecuador defence.

Lampard again missed too many. Becham was lack lusture though he scored (thank ***), but as they used to say at school "it was ajammy win"

I want England to do well, and they haven't lost a single game, but how will they stack up againt Portugal? No Deco, possibly no Figo or Ronaldo...looks good for another Jammy run?

My prediction 3-2 as Portugal love to attack and will leave the door open for England, but to who? It'll be a goal filled tight game I reckon. I just dunno who'll win...

Ideal Squad? 4-4-2? Or this defensively orchestrated 4-5-1 when the midfield is not hitting the target...?

Or should I come down to reality and say it will be 1-0 to England after another naff display...

[Adie]

As long as we dont sit back and defend a 1 goal lead as we normally do. Inviting the opposition to attack then sneaking in a cheeky goal.

I just hope we dont end up going to penalties..

I agree that Lennon should maybe start instead of Beckham as he takes on players and gets to the byline to knock in the crosses. Where as Becks at the moment is just drifting into the centre of midfield and spraying the long balls. Although we did pass the ball alot better yesterday. But it was still a lack lustre performance.

[Mr Morse]

OK, so Deco (their best player on the night) is out, but Figo's been cleared of any further discipline and all Ronaldo has is a sore leg, so he'll be back!

And of course Portugal have England's nemesis at Euro 2004 and Japan 2002 - Big Phil! :duh:

[peter026]

England should reach their optimum peak at the time of the final............but unfortunately, it will be too late, they won't be there. I hope I am wrong but I just cannot see them progressing any further than the Semi-Final.

[Scarlet Pimpernell]

England should reach their optimum peak at the time of the final............but unfortunately, it will be too late, they won't be there.

Looks like it, that's the worrying part...and unless they are consistent in 2 halfs Portugal will beat them!

They will never play consistently until they feel the places in the squad are threatened...and for as long as Sven and Mclaren are there that won't change.

We saw it again against Ecuador - McLaren is the one drawing the tacticals on paper, he's calling the shots, so nothing changes after the world cup.

Wrong man for the job...if that's what's actually happening!

Oh well another 40 years of hurt...

And why do Sven and Beck's keep saying the best is yet to come....who and what do they think we all are? I feel sorry for the die hards who got mugged by touts selling tickets at ridiculous prices...

[Adie]

2 of my mates were at yesterdays game. They paid £460 each

[peter026]

Italy have cheated there way into the 1/4 Final with a last kick penalty.......Dive

[Adie]

Italy have cheated there way into the 1/4 Final with a last kick penalty.......Dive

Yep. Unfortunately thats Italy for you.. bunch of diving ****ers

[Mr Morse]

Italy have cheated there way into the 1/4 Final with a last kick penalty.......Dive

Yep. Unfortunately thats Italy for you.. bunch of diving ****ers

Yep, blatant dive, but the Skippies should have made more of all the previous chances they had. Funny ole game

[Rob's Lexx]

Italy have cheated there way into the 1/4 Final with a last kick penalty.......Dive

Yep. Unfortunately thats Italy for you.. bunch of diving ****ers

really mate, i'm half-italian myself

i think that any player in any team would have tried to get a penalty given the defender had lunged on the floor in front of him

you see, the problem with footie is the whole 'wrapped in cotton wool' attitude of referee's. at the end of the day, its a game where contact is inevitable. there should be far more tolerance when it comes to things like contact etc. it'd make the game far better IMO

[Adie]

Sorry mate. Didnt mean to offend anyone. I meant the Italian football team. All through the years they have always dived, as have most of the latin / southern american teams. Unfortunately now adays most teams seem to see this as part of the game. Chelsea especially :P ..

Australia were robbed.. But hey ho, thats football :shutit: England

[Rob's Lexx]

Sorry mate. Didnt mean to offend anyone. I meant the Italian football team. All through the years they have always dived, as have most of the latin / southern american teams. Unfortunately now adays most teams seem to see this as part of the game. Chelsea especially :P ..

Australia were robbed.. But hey ho, thats football :shutit: England

ahh no worries mate. i admit that italy have a bad reputation for diving etc. unfortunately this is becomming more and more prevalent in the game and it spoils it to be honest.

i'm more a rugby man myself, but do enjoy watching internationalt football and its such a shame that top class players see it as being necessary to dive or cheat there way to success. its a sad state of affairs to be honest!!

maybe we should employ tactics used in american football, where more than one referee is on the field of play (3 or 4 refs). this way diving and unclear decisions could be cleaned up quite nicely.. either way, something must be done ;)

[Mr Morse]

where more than one referee is on the field of play (3 or 4 refs). this way diving and unclear decisions could be cleaned up quite nicely.. either way, something must be done ;)

Yeah...but they do:

one on the field

two on the lines

two scratching their balls in the dugout

[Rob's Lexx]

where more than one referee is on the field of play (3 or 4 refs). this way diving and unclear decisions could be cleaned up quite nicely.. either way, something must be done ;)

Yeah...but they do:

one on the field

two on the lines

two scratching their balls in the dugout

we need more refs on the field of play like in american footy. that'd help the game i think :winky:

its unlikely to ever happen, but the issue of diving/foul play needs adressing

[Scarlet Pimpernell]

And that stretcher keeps coming on...they are lifted onto it, go to the touchline, get a drink and are back on again...what a fiasco!

Amazing thing is that they all line up in a wall, holding their crotches, get whacked by a ball (which is like a punch). They shake it off and carry on playing.

But boy, one accidental tap (many times no tap) and they all roll around in agony...

Jamboos long winded and complicated solution:

A player goes down in a heap. He is given 20 seconds to stand up and try and shake it off so the game carries on.

If after 20 seconds he's not up, he has to be taken off immediately (via stretcher)...and the team carries on playing with one fewer player.

Once off the field he can return after treatment, but not for 20 minutes to let his injuries heal! If he can't return in 20 minutes, the team is allowed to sub him if they have any left after 20 minutes which gives the sub time to warm up.

Yellows and Reds should be awardable after the game (by post-video-mortem) if any cheating happened without ref's seeing it, and bans as appropriate for the next 2 matches.

This way no one gets away with it, and the game keeps moving on.

I can't wait to see Portugale run at England. This will be the first proper world class team they've faced!!

PS - if 20 secs is too long then I could settle for 10 !!!!!

[Adie]

I like your thinking mate. You've got some good ideas there. I'm not sure the 20 min would be practical though. Maybe 5 mins. But I definately agree about getting the cards afterwards.

Punishment can still be given out after a game if Fifa / UEFA / FA feel its appropriate eg the horror tackle Essian did on Didi Hamann. He was punished afterwards with 3 game ban or something.

If the ref hadn't have given Luis Figo a yellow card for the headbutt he did in the last game (which the ref didn't even see), then Fifa would have punished him far greater after the game and he would have been banned from playing England on Saturday.

[Scarlet Pimpernell]

Absolutely...

This world cup will be remembered for 2 things:

1) Englands inconsistency (nothing new there)

2) Shocking ref's

Somethings gotta happen...

And to cap it all, did you see that match last night - Switzerland v Ukraine?

Roll on the Brazilians tonight....

[Adie]

Absolutely...

This world cup will be remembered for 2 things:

1) Englands inconsistency (nothing new there)

2) Shocking ref's

Somethings gotta happen...

And to cap it all, did you see that match last night - Switzerland v Ukraine?

Roll on the Brazilians tonight....

The refs have been terrible. The guy the other night Portugal v Holland with all the yellow cards + 4 reds.

Unfortunately one of the worst refs was our very own Graham Poll and he's meant to be the cream of Premiership refs, representing us at the world cup :duh:

[Noel]

Easiest solution to red cards and diving is....

REF blows the whistle to stop the game and then should wait and look up at the big screen for the replay and clearly decide if it was yellow , red or dive... No more wrong decisions

[Adie]

Easiest solution to red cards and diving is....

REF blows the whistle to stop the game and then should wait and look up at the big screen for the replay and clearly decide if it was yellow , red or dive... No more wrong decisions

Not always a big screen at games though..

Also if there wasn't so many dodgy decisions all the time in football, then what would you talk about down the pub Also we wouldn't be having this discussion.. Unfortunately it is part of the game. You win some and you lose some.

See how many dodgy decisions go against us on Saturday and ultimatley cost us the game

[lexus boy]

there is it at the world cup though

[Adie]

Bad luck to Spain.. was hoping they would win. But what a great goal by Zidane.. Glad thats not yet the last we've seen of him :D

[Mr Morse]

Thought Spain were going to pip it judging by their 1st half performance....

but the Master showed his true form!

[Scarlet Pimpernell]

Good game that one...shame about Henry! That'll go down like the Rivaldo one at the corner of the pitch...lying gyt! It was so funny....and then to score from that set piece was even funnier!

This thread is strange...all these blokes on the forum and only a handful appear to be interested. We'd get more banter if we started talking about politics!! Where is everyone?

Anyway, I have a sinking feeling about England tomorrow...they can only prove me wrong!! Sven has gone public now and stated that he is different at half time when compared to Scolari...

From BBC:

England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson has launched a passionate defence of his management, insisting he knows exactly what it will take to win the World Cup.

Eriksson's side has faced criticism after four below-par performances, despite reaching the quarter-finals.

But the Swede denied lacking a gameplan or consistent selection policy, claming: "I am prepared to do what it takes to win, even play badly.

"And don't tell me I don't know what to do. I know exactly what to do."

yeah yeah yeah....

Anyway - what's your ideal team to win the QF? Mine is play same 4 at the back, possibly with neville on the back right

Midfield (left to right):

- Cole, Gerard, Beckham, Lennon - this means Becham has to hold the ball and find the passes, poss play it to Rooney and Gerrard (like Ronaldinho role). It also means that we don't just rely on the left moving the ball up. Neville can link with Lennon and Becham to make the team more aggressive on the right and gives the midfield a better balance.

Forwards:

- Start with Rooney just behind Theo (a gamble, but he's gotta start at some point this game rather then bring him when we need a goal...the pressure may be too much for him). Then replace him with Crouchy 2nd half, unless he's got 2 and needs one more for a glory hat trick!

Subs:

- Crouch for Theo Walcott

- Lampard for Theo, Becks or Lennon (in which case Becks move to right midfield as normal). If he replaces Theo, Gerard goes up to play as a Striker with Rooney and Lampard takes Gerards role.

- Carrick for Beckam if we can't control midfield

This also means we have the best penalty takers on the pitch should it come to that...

Anyone else?