General Chat / World Cup '10

This game is so boring. Nothing happens.

Now I know it for sure, Holland is better then the UK this year and we will see tomorrow how good the Netherlands truely are. 

Looks like someone spoke too soon.


EDIT -

Just for the record;

England (8th in the world) Vs Algeria (30th in the world)

Netherlands (4th in the world) Vs Japan (45th in the world)

Edited by trav, 19 June 2010 - 06:23 AM.

I have no hope for England now. There are so many problems it is difficult to know where to begin.

I've lost all faith in Capello, his man management regarding team selection and the way he handled the keeper situation has only invited press speculation and put more pressure on the players. He needs to take some notes from Mourinho in how to deflect attention from the team, rather than increase it.

His team choice is ridiculous and proves he was full of shit when he said he would ignore reputation and play only players who are fit and on form. Rooney is clearly not fully fit, lacks confidence and hasn't scored for 3 months. Heskey has barely played for his club this season, looks clumsy every time he gets the ball and couldn't finish his dinner. He played Milner unfit against the USA and Barry, who is a useful defensive midfielder, has suddenly become England's most important player since being unavailable and whilst he saved our bacon at the back a few times against Algeria he isn't going to win anyone a World Cup.

On top of that I think everyone assumed we needed Barry fit so we could play him with Lampard in midfield allowing Gerrard to play off of Rooney in attack, hopefully with Joe Cole on the left and either Lennon/WP/Milner on the right. Clearly not, Capello can obviously not count above 4 as he still insists on playing his preferred (and only) system with 3 out and out strikers on the field...pushing Rooney to the left when Defoe and Crouch came on.

Why can he not see what every other pundit/England fan/anyone with eyes can and play 4-5-1 with Gerrard and Rooney in the positions they play for their club? Liverpool, Chelsea, United and Arsenal all play systems other than 4-4-2 and our squad isn't used to it. Not to mention at the end of the day it is ineffective, boring and predictable.

They can't blame the ball, the pitch or the vuvuzelas. And they certainly can't blame pressure. If it really is pressure than we can expect a comfortable win for Slovenia because the pressure in that game is now going to be twice that of the Algerian match.

It just makes no sense how players like Rooney, Gerrard, Lampard, Terry, Defoe and Lennon who out class the majority of the Premiership and Europe on a weekly basis can shrink so badly when they put on an England shirt. They look desperate and tired, all waiting for someone else to do something. They can't even manage the basics, I don't think Rooney controlled one pass comfortably all match and no one hit a sweet shot or a crisp cross. Most didn't even look where they were passing it with Terry and Heskey the most guilty. It's like the ball is infected with some hideous curse, whenever they receive a pass they just wan't to get rid of it again. Someone needs to man the fuck up, get the ball down and get us playing before it is too late.

In my opinion Capello should come out on Monday and fully take the blame for this shambles, in doing so diverting attention away from the squad and on to himself, allowing the team to prepare for the match Wednesday. He should also name a preliminary team Monday morning (injuries permitting) so that the players aren't walking on egg shells all week and can properly psychologically prepare themselves for the game on Wednesday. In an ideal world he will be changing the system as well which will allow the starting 11 a good few days to adjust.

4-4-2 clearly isn't working and we're not getting the best out of Rooney or Gerrard so in my opinion there are only two logical choices for the team against Slovenia.

A)

We change to 4-5-1 as mentioned:

James

Johnson
Dawson (Carragher is out anyway but I wouldn't play him, he looked exhausted the whole match)
Terry
A.Cole

Lennon
Barry
Lampard
J.Cole

Gerrard

Rooney





If Capello insists on 4-4-2 and playing a 'little and big man' combination up front he should grow some balls and drop Rooney and Heskey for Crouch and Defoe who play this way for Spurs.

James

Johnson
Dawson
Terry
A.Cole

Lennon
Barry/Lampard
Gerrard/Lampard
J.Cole

Crouch
Defoe

Whether or not he changes anything will remain to be seen but if we start with the same system we did against Algeria and keep the same attack then we won't score more than 1 goal, possibly 2 if Slovenia have a bad day at the office. However we will more than likely concede so 2 goals may be a necessity. At this stage anything can happen and as much as I hate to say it I think we may need to face the reality that England will fail to make it out of the group stages...and even if we do in the form we're in Germany, Serbia or Ghana will comfortably beat us. At least we'll be out of the tournament before I go travelling and I won't miss any games!

Right now I am honestly expecting a 1 - 1 or 2 - 1 England win.

...and if anyone at the FA is reading this I will happily takeover from Capello for 1% (£60,000) of what he asks for a year...

well said TPM.

What i dont understand is why isn't he using Joe Cole. He's easily the most creative player england seem to have at the moment and hes sat rotting on the bench while players like who SWP (who shouldnt even be there IMO) come on and underperform time and time again.

There was a complete lack of passion yesterday to the extent it was just embarassing to watch. Time and time again when we had the ball we would play a lazy pass lose it in the last third while under little or no pressure.

Screw being good enough to win the cup, we dont deserve to win anything if we play with that attitude.

Woohoo, first country through to the 1/8 finals!
What a match btw, Cameroon-Denmark! I think it's my favorite game this world cup to date.. So many chances, strong pace throughout the game, and some tense moments..

The France team is a mess btw, Anelka sent home after insulting Domenech.. Looks like it's the end of the road for them..
England and Germany really disappointed me though, looks like they are up for their last chance this week..

Looking forward to Brazil-Ivory Coast tomorrow!

SF

Woohoo, first country through to the 1/8 finals!

[...]

England and Germany really disappointed me though, looks like they are up for their last chance this week..

Okay so England and Germany disappointed you? How is that? Germany was the better team against Serbia even with one man down. The ref was just so fvcking card happy that he sent Klose off for nothing. His first yellow was already ridiculous but the second wasn't even a tactical foul. There was NO reason to give a second yellow. The ref basically handed Serbia the points and just think about the chances Germany still created. Serbia was only counter attacking from that point on. Also I wonder how Germany disappointed you when they won their first game 4-0 against an Australian side that couldn't even be beaten by group leader Ghana even though they were one man up.
So if you disliked the way Germany played, then don't forget about Spain, Italy, Portugal, and Ivory Coast. I agree that England was horrible so far though.
But if you didn't like Germany's performance then I wonder how you could actually like what the Dutch team showed so far. They were by no means outperforming anyone in their games. They're just through because Cameroon was unable to get the draw against Denmark and a Danish defender, and the Japanese goalie had one of these bad moments in their games against you guys. I'm sure you would've eventually won both games even without those mistakes but the Dutch performance, as I said, was by no means that great so far.

Edited by Fisch, 20 June 2010 - 03:14 AM.

Well sorry to break your dream Fisch, but Klose knew he had yellow and he made another wrong tackle ... Then you get another yellow and you are out. He made the German team loose. The rest of it played for what they can, but Serbia had one man extra from that moment. 

Well sorry to break your dream Fisch, but Klose knew he had yellow and he made another wrong tackle ... Then you get another yellow and you are out. He made the German team loose. The rest of it played for what they can, but Serbia had one man extra from that moment. 

Of course he knew he was on a yellow but that doesn't mean you can't challenge the ball anymore. That was Klose's 3rd foul in the game and none of them were bad so I blame the referee. Klose shouldn't have been so stupid to get the second yellow but seriously the ref was fvcking awful!
And yes, Serbia was one man up from that point on, but it still doesn't mean they played better.

Fisch The germans were dissapointing. As mentioned Klose knew he was on a yellow with a ref who is known for cards. The 2nd tackle was rash and clumsy. The Germans may have been the better team but it doesnt stop them from being dissapointing compared to last week.

The Dutch have also been lacking in my view. In both games they have got the result they needed but through perserverence more than anything else. I was hopeing for much more flair and creativity. Something perhaps robbern will provide once he's back.

Note: I agree though the ref in the germany game was awful. but i think the one in the next game may have been worse

lolwut

The Dutch have also been lacking in my view. In both games they have got the result they needed but through perserverence more than anything else. I was hopeing for much more flair and creativity. Something perhaps robbern will provide once he's back.

I agree, however I think after seeing the interviews with the coach, the Dutch will going to play better in the 1/8 finals. Robben is back then too  


Klaas Jan Huntelaar is almost recovered as well + we have a lot of other good reserve players, so I still think the Dutch will make it untill the last 4  

We probably have Brazil in the quarter finals ... 

NuuuuUUUNnUNNNUUU

[Stolen from OZONE]

Haha Italy.

And wow Brazil. I didn't watch the game so I don't know if they actually played well but 3-1 is a great result against such a strong side as Ivory Coast.

damn, portugal is on it's way to succeed us in the high-scoring game category xD

Just bringing the U.S. game back up I think calling the yellow against Findley was really the worst call of the game
Considering it hit him not even in the shoulder but the face, and its fucking us for next game. Not that we don't have a proper replacement but I still wish they could at least repeal cards

Same goes for Kaka's second yellow yesterday, that literally made me laugh

Same goes for Kaka's second yellow yesterday, that literally made me laugh

The referee was conned but Kaka and the Brazil team in general were asking for something like this to happen when they started reacting to fair challenges and getting involved in scuffles.

As for Portugal earlier, a fine performance that will give them a lot of confidence going into the knock out stages, 7 goals and 6 different scorers will send belief flowing through the team but they will face much stiffer competition than North Korea in the later stages.

If you need to know why soccer/football will never take off in America, it's because there's no other professional sport, save KONG's beloved basketball, where so many grown fucking men lay on the ground and cry like little bitches until they get a penalty called, and then pop right back up like nothing happened. The Brazil game reaaallly ruined this for me last night.

Yeah, and then you wonder why they do it and it's because it really does work

The over reaction of the Chilean to a small arm to the face is really what won it for them today
It's really a disgrace, and I look at it as cheating in a way

MA hit the nail on the head. The rest of the world, where this sport is very popular, is so damn wimpy compared to the US that they don't mind some slight exaggeration of appearing to be pain, if it benefits their team.

Joking aside, I can't stand that aspect of the game either. I think all kinds of dirty tricks should be severely punished, that includes bad tackles as well as obvious dives and deliberately wasting time (like when they make a substitution in the 95th minute and the player shuffles off the pitch at an agonizingly slow pace, all while making a face like "damn I'm so tired, I can't possibly move any faster these last 40 metres to the sideline although I've been running lots of kilometres in the hour and a half preceding this.". But the optimal solution would of course be for the players to stop trying to take advantage of every single situation, or sometimes even when there isn't even a situation at all. But since they've noticed that it more often than not pays off to do it, they do it. It's a really bad trend that I hope will change.

Poor N. korea I think you deserved better after your fantastic result against Brazil. Spain to pull a Portugal and go from failing against a relatively good side to then relieve the frustration on a weaker opponent and kick thier ass? 5-0 in their favour, that's my tip.

Portugal was good today, one of the better teams I've seen so far. I feel sorry for the Koreans though...

I liked Chili too.