The World Cup thread

With 52 days to go, it's about time we had a thread dedicated to the World Cup! Whether you want England to win or fail miserably this is the place to say. Here's a quick looky at the Group B fixtures of the group that everyone expects England to storm through, I'm hoping we can give those Swedes a much needed broadside as we breeze through the group into the second round.


Sat 10th June, 1400 BST
ENGLAND v PARAGUAY
Frankfurt
Live on BBC One/Radio Five Live


Thu 15 Jun, 1700 BST
ENGLAND v TRINIDAD & TOBAGO
Nuremberg
Live on BBC Radio Five Live


Tue 20 Jun, 2000 BST
PARAGUAY v TRINIDAD & TOBAGO
Kaiserslautern
Live on BBC Radio Five Live


Sat 10th Jun, 1700 BST
TRINIDAD & TOBAGO v SWEDEN
Dortmund
Live on BBC Radio Five Live


Thu 15 Jun, 2000 BST
SWEDEN v PARAGUAY
Berlin
Live on BBC Radio Five Live


Tue 20 Jun, 2000 BST
SWEDEN v ENGLAND Cologne
Live on BBC Radio Five Live


GROUP A
Germany
Costa Rica
Poland
Ecuador

GROUP E
Italy
Ghana
USA
Czech Republic

GROUP F
Brazil
Croatia
Australia
Japan

GROUP C
Argentina
Ivory Coast
Serbia & Montenegro
Holland

GROUP G
France
Switzerland
South Korea
Togo

GROUP D
Mexico
Iran
Angola
Portugal

GROUP H
Spain
Ukraine
Tunisia
Saudi Arabia


BBC World Cup coverage

England website

So with Sven soon to be announcing a provisional squad who would you take to the world cup?

 

My squad for the world cup would look something like this:


Paul Robinson - Has to go, in my opinion Robinson is by far the best that England has.
John Terry - Consistent and always seems to be in the right place at the right time
Rio Ferdinand - Hmmmm not so consistent but when on form he is aweseome.. Sol Cam' has a nasty habit of missing England friendlies through 'Injury'.
Gary Neville - So experianced and combines well on the right with beckham, although I'm sure Carragher would do a fine job.
Ashley Cole - Talked up as one of the best in the world, i'm not sure but rather him than Konchesky.
Frank Lampard - If he and Gerrard can finally work together it could be THE best central midfield pairing.
Steven Gerrard - see above
David Beckham - He's the Captain, and in a dull match can scoop the ball into the net froma set piece.
Joe Cole - Has made the left side his own, nice to have a 'technique' player in the squad, can turn games now that he's got his finishing sorted out.
Wayne Rooney - Match winner.
Michael Owen - I hope he's fit because Owen can pop up anywhere in the dullest of games and score a goal.

Chris Kirkland - Who else?
David James (Arghhhhhhhhh!) - hmm.
Jamie Carragher - So versitle he can fit in anywahere along the back four.
Wayne Bridge - again better than Konchesky IMO.
Ledley King - Can be a rock in defence or holding midfield.
Michel Carrick - Passes the ball so well, not so hot on the tackling perhaps.
Jermaine Jenas - Nasty player to play against, good movement off the ball and has goal poaching ability.
Stewart Downing - He can dribble, cross and pass, if he's fit he's an 'unkown' to other teams. The next Beckham but better.
Scott Parker - Works hard enough for two players, would be good if we need a dedicated holding mid.
Jermaine Defoe - Makes things happen, hangs around with peter Pan.
Dean Ashton - We need a big man upfront? I like Crouch but Ashton has sooooo much more than him, Ashton has the potential to be world class


Spurs have got half of the future (And some Current) England Squad... Paul Robinson, Dawson, Davenport, King, Carrick, Jenas, Lennon, Routledge and Defoe!

 

I'm supporting England and Italy.

Can't wait for the World Cup, it's just an amazing few weeks.

 

I have the days off and I'm in the process of securing a steady supply of alcohol, it's going to be a great summer even if England don't do well.

 

My squad would look like this:

Scott Carson
Luke Young
Jamie Carragher
John Terry
Stephen Warnock
David whatshisname
Micheal Carrick
Steven Gerrard
Joe Cole
Peter Crouch
Robbie Fowler

Liverpooled up and Man United free Plus no break Alonso leg Lampard.

Ok, after that complete bias crap I just spewed up showing myself up to be an even bigger idiot, time to get serious.

Paul Robinson
Gary Neville
John Terry
Rio Ferdinand
Jamie Carragher (Cole has hardly had a game all season, Carra will have to continue to fill in at left back)
David Beckham
Frank Lampard
Steven Gerrard
Joe Cole
Wayne Rooney
Peter Crouch (Owen wont be fit, he needs at least 5 games under his belt for a place)

David James
Robert Green
Stephen Warnock
Ledley King
Luke Young
Micheal Carrick
Jermaine Jenas
Stewart Downing
Shaun Wright-Phillips
Jermaine Defoe
Darren Bent

 

Keepers

Robinson
James (Regrettably)
Carson

Defense

Neville G
Young
Ferdinand
Terry
Cole A
Bridges
Brown

Midfield

Beckham
SWP
Cole J
Richardson
Gerrard
Lampard
King
Carrick

Forwards

Owen
Rooney
Defoe
Bent



Starting line up

Robinson

Neville
Ferdinand
Terry
Cole A

Beckham
King
Lampard
Cole J

Rooney

Owen

 

Warnock is way to inexperienced for the world cup but I can see where your coming from (one for the future perhaps)

It was a toss up between Brown and Carragher for me and I rate Brown just a little bit higher.

Owen will be going as will Ashley Cole unless their injuries are so severe they have no option but to be left out. Erikson has taken and foolishly played injured people before and he will certainly do it again.


Green I agree with but again it was a toss up between him and Carson (James has to go for his "Experience") and I think Carson is the better keeper.

 

You wouldn't have Carragher in your squad! He is like the best centre back in the Premiership! Liverpool would be nothing if they didn't have him throwing his self into every challenge and throwing himself at the ball to clear it!


Yeah Warnock isn't good enough for the world cup, but we don't really have any other left backs left after Cole. Theres Konchesky at West Ham but thats it I think.

 

For me it's:
GK - Paul Robinson
DL - Ashley Cole
DC - Jamie Carragher
DC - John Terry
DR- Gary Neville
ML - Joe Cole
MC - Steven Gerrard
MR - David Beckham
FC - Wayne Rooney
FC- Michael Owen

We won't win though.

 

Well if we only play with ten players we won't

 

Completely agree with that.

Crouch is useless and should be England's 7th or 8th choice striker. But just cos he plays for Liverpool he is the third choice! The squad needs to be WORLD CLASS, and Crouch is far from that.

 

We wouldn't win if we had 20 players. Brazil are far too good now-a-days. I doubt anyone can beat them at the moment.

 

I think we can but thats just me... p.s. you only put ten players on your list.

 

Yeah, chuck in Lampard as well.

 

England can win the World Cup, they have a good enough squad, and one of the best defenses in the World
However, if the big teams are on from I think England will be overwhelmed and defeated.
Holland & Spain have brilliant teams that could crush even Brazil when on top form, but they are very inconsistant & in-fighting often leads to then choosing a team or formation that deosn't always work.
Brazil & Argentina have terrifying teams, and I think they might very well go the whole distance, I can't see many teams matching their abilities
Germany IMO are too creaky to win it. Their only majorly great players are Ballack & Kahn & possibly one or 2 more, I can't see them winning.

The best England squad IMO (the best if players are all fit):

GK - Paul Robinson
RB - Gary Neville
CB - Rio Ferdinand
CB - John Terry
LB - Ashley Cole
RM - David Beckham
CM - Steven Gerrard
CM - Frank Lampard
LM - Joe Cole (possibly alternate with Downing since he's more suited to that position)
ST - Wayne Rooney
ST - Micheal Owen

Best team with current injuries:
GK - Robinson
RB - Neville
CB - Ferdinand
CB - Terry
LB - Bridge (Carragher is good but he's not a wingback, so better to use someone qualified for that place)
RM - Beckham
CM - Gerrard
CM - Lampard
LM - Cole/Downing
ST - Rooney
ST - Bent





Other players:

Strikers:
Darren Bent
Jermain Defoe
Dean Ashton (or maybe Andrew Johnson from Crystal Palace)

Defenders:
Jamie Carragher
Wes Brown
Luke Young
Wayne Bridge

Midfielders:
Stuart Downing
Michael Carrick
Kieran Richardson
Shaun Wright-Phillips
Scott parker

Goalkeepers:
David James
Chris Kirkland


Anyone got a team they think will be dark horse in the World Cup and has an outside chance of winning it?

 

Serbia & Montenegro would be my bet to be a dark horse. If they got out of their group they would already have knocked out Argentina or Holland.

 

Hmmmmm, I was thinking more of the Czech republic or the Swedes
I don't know if the Serbs have the firepower to beat Holland or Argentina, although they supposedly have the world's best defense

 

Ferdinand isn't as good as he used to be. Carragher is perhaps one of the most underrated players in the English team.

 

Carragher is perhaps one of the most underrated players in the English team.

Completely agree with that, Carragher can play anywhere across the back four as well as having a better crack at the defensive midfielder role than Ferdinand did.

 

King is better in midfield

Ferdinand is great, but he's very complacent and lazy these days
It happens when players get overpaid for kicking a ball around, they think they're the bees knees

Carragher is good, but Sven will put Rio in

 

Ah, see I was going on who should be in the team, not who will be in the team. Sven should be given a kick in the yarbles.

 

While I agree that Carragher is a good defender, there is just something about his style that I just don't like.


Limited on the ball technique but I'll agree he's fantastic with his timing of tackle (almost Baresi in his prime timing) but he just seems weak when on the ball and is a bit of a hoofer to me and I'd rather have defenders who are comfortable on the ball all the time.

Then again I'll be honest and I'll admit that I haven't really payed much attention to Liverpools defense so I will admit to basing my Carragher opinion on his capabilities a few years ago which were not that good IMO.



Crouch however should not be in the squad under any circumstances although I know he will go.


Even if he gets us the winner in the final he still has to go somewhere to prove to me that he is capable of playing consistantly at the level he's at. He's shown very brief glimpses but thats all they've been for me so far.

Mind you thats more than Heskey ever did.

 

Yep, he's rubbish. Sooooooo overrated. Darren Bent and Defoe are much better.

And yeah, Carragher is very good and somewhat underrated, aswell as Wes Brown, he consistently performs well for united.

 

Darren Bent and Defoe are much better.

Better players yes, exactly the same as each other AND Owen? Yes. Thats the reason Crouch will be going (Shows the glaring weakness that Shearer left when he retired ), if Owen is ineffective against a team there is no point putting on Defoe or Bent because the opposing defence will deal with them the same as they dealt with Owen. I was one of those that jumped to Crouch's defence but now I would prefer we take Ashton because he does everything that Crouch does but soooooo much better, he can use his head, he can finish with both feet and he can hold up the ball. Give him a go Sven, pleeeease (Perhaps for the next manager to do).

 

Please, all of you. Bow down before:

THE MAN WHO SHALL WIN ENGLAND THE WORLD CUP!

[image=http://pub.tv2.no/multimedia/na/archive/00220/Peter_Crouch__Liver_220760s.gif]