The World Cup thread

I'll admit they didn't have a great tournament, but I think we all have to admit, and to go along with what Richie just said, on paper we had a ******* GREAT squad. World beaters. They could have easily won it, but like Richie said, they just didn't click for some reason.

Best Player, IMO: Joe Cole.

Worst Player, IMO: Frank Lampard.

What was up with Lampard in this competition? On a normal day, he'd be firing goals left, right, and centre. Not this month, though! Does he get confused when he's not playing in a blue shirt, or something?

 

I was gonna say Alan Hansen

 

I'd say on paper we had not only a great squad, but the best in the tournament. The question is: was Eriksson to blame, or can these players simply not play together?

My Best Player: Owen Hargreaves. Solid in the games he played, the best performer against Portugal, and did well to overcome the doubters.

My Worst Player: Yeah, it has to be Lampard. I still believe he is the best attacking midfielder in the world, on his day. Problem was, it was never his day. Considering he'll be 30 at the next major tournament, I fear his club form will never truly be seen at international level.

Best Sub: Lennon. A star in the making, that lad.

Worst Sub: Walcott. What a mistake from Eriksson, and let's face it, it was a huge mistake. Defoe or Bent would have certainly played some part against Paraguay, Sweden and maybe Portugal. So why weren't they there?

 

Lennon has been ******* brilliant whenever he's come on. He's always kicked it up a notch, and made things interesting. Owen Hargraves did play well. I think he was a little patchy during the first couple of matches, but really came good when England played Sweden, and afterwards. And to be honest, I was one of those doubters, but I was glad to be proved wrong.

Beckham was okay, but not brilliant.

Walcott...You can't blame him. That was Sven's fault; should have played him, or not have brung him along. Simple as that.

Crouch...eh.

One things for sure. A lot of questions are going to be asked in the next few weeks...And Ronaldo won't be made to feel very welcome in Machester!

 

Cant have the worst player being lampard, cant have it.

Worst player has to be rooney. The team were 'ok' without him, then he came back and the team...were still just 'ok'.

He made no impact on englands performance whatsoever. id rather he had broken his leg off in stead of just a mild injury. Football is better without the man with no brain.

 

I agree that England probably have the best squad in the world. But you have an absolutly horrendous manager in Sven, and he is the sole reason England did not win the world cup. And now you have the Steve McLaren years to look forward to

 

You see I don't agree with this whole best squad in the world stuff, world class is something thats chucked around these days and in my opinion only Terry, Gerrard and the two Coles are truley world class players in our squad. Rooney had a lot to learn before he can be raised to that status, he'll be there soon but not yet.

Up front we had Owen who is brilliant when fit but was obviously no where near his best, Crouch who's good but is not a proven goalscorer and Walcott who has potential beyond what Owen had but is completely green. So where were the goals going to come from?

What England truley lacked this year was a proven goal scorer and I think more importantly a playmaker in the centre of the midfield. Beckham has to come inside to influence the game leaving the flank WIDE open, Carrick only had one game. Creativity gets the chances and with no one to put them away then the squad looks pretty average in my opinion.


For the Euro quals I would like to see the following


Ashton/Defoe/ It would be nice for an English player to stake a REAL claim to the forward role for once.

Rooney


Cole-----Carrick------Gerrard------Lennon(although he hasn't had a full 90 yet yet)

Cole-----Terry--------Ferdinand-------?(Glen Johnson will be getting into a team next year so he may come good?)

--------Robinson-----------

 

That is true. I hate that thugs will break his window and probably more, that would be a disgrace to the real fans. But the booing will be deserved, and he brought it on his self with his antics, espically with what he did to Rooney before the game.

Also, RE: Italy cheating. You seem to be forgetting the last minute dive against the ozzies. Anyway, I have decided that now England are out I will be joining you in support of the Italians

 

I hate football, but I love friendship. Can I just ask that we don't start making insults towards eachother and sniping if one of us doesn't support England or want them to go through. It looks a bit silly and obviously those who are upset are venting at others. It's not a law to do that, and this is a World Cup thread, not the England thread.

I myself am glad England are out as they seem more a celebrity team than a hardcore football team. Anyone remeber when those hardworking English lads won the Rugby World Cup in '03? Thought not.


I myself wanted Japan to win, but ah well, times move on! So lets try cease the kicking and stabbing and just let it out away from the boards and we can support and want whoever we choose, English or not.

 

David Beckham has stood down as England captain but is going to continue to be an England player. Not suprising really.

So who do people think will take over? I hope it isn't Neville or Owen. Gotta be Terry or Gerrard IMO.

 

Hmmmmm, tough one
I think maybe Terry also

But Neville can do it, he is a wise old head and has done well for United

I think I might support France

I like how they play, and I want to see Zidane win something before he retires, he is such a great player

 

why does everyone hate cristiano ronaldo?

 

Because he is a smug little bugger. And I hated him before. I think he is rather over rated, he has a few tricks but he showboats more then anything and not always when the team need it. Also most of his tricks are the step over, and just keeps stepping over and over.

And I am very glad to hear the Beckham is stepping down as captain, never deserved it.

 

Not everyone does

I don't


I think, like Rooney, Ronaldo needs someone to mould him into a better player. He is young, and like many young people he does things often without thinking.
Ronaldo needs to be taught diving is wrong...and he needs a manager who will make sure he learns that....and Ferguson should do that in time.

Same with Rooney. Yes he has a temper problem, but so do a lot of people. It's not that easy to supress something you're used to doing. People do things like that all the time

Rooney will learn as he gets older that it is not the way to behave......or at least he'll cut it down a lot.

And a firey temper sometimes works well for a player, look at Roy Keane

 

I say Terry for captain, a lot of people i know wonder why he isnt captain already. He is such a hard worker, and pulls off mirical defending whenever we need it.

He is a strong, outstanding player who deserves the captaincy and is perfect for it.


Terry for captain!!!!

 

yeah, to be honest i dont understand why everyone is slating ronaldo after this game though.

i reckon gerrard for captain, but theres little difference between him and terry, as long as its one of those two...gary neville?



ps. i know im gonna get slewed for this, but owen hargreaves, man of the match no question against portugal. that doesnt make him a good player though. i give him two or three games before he returns to the way he used to play for england. ineffective and pointless

 

Hard to judge him since he plays in Germany as is not often seen

And the German syle of play is different from ours, he has to adapt to our way quite quickly, and that isn't always easy.

He's best when he starts the game, as a sub he just get into the game easily

 

yeah i agree, all the germans love him. he must be a good player for bayern (admittedly ive only ever seen quick highlights of bayern games) but i give him a couple of england matches til he goes back to his old self.

although that said, im not disputing the fact that for that one game he was our best player.

 

Well, Sven obivously thought he was better then Carrick

 

I've been reading a Man U messageboard and even 80% of fans on there are abusing Ronaldo and wishing he'd **** off to Madrid!

I'm in the 20% of United fans who still like him, but I would be in the 80% if I was an England fan.

He has defended himself by saying Wayne is his friend and he wasn't telling the referee to send him off, but simply alerting him to the foul. I'm guessing many people don't believe him though, and thanks to the BBC and the papers, he has been villainised now.

About the new Captain, I think it should be Terry, but Gerrard is more likely to get it IMO.

 

yes but the ref had already blown his whistle and given a foul so thats a pretty poor excuse to come running over.

 

It's like I said on the JCC WC thread, now we have a problem, who would you want to see win the cup.

Who is the lesser of four evils?

You've got the Germans and the French, and personally, I'd wish they'd never play in a tournament again.

You've got the Italians, who to be fair have good players, but rode more on luck than skill so far.

Then you have the Geezers, and I hope Rooney kicks Ronaldos teeth out when they get back to Man U.

I think that out of the four, I'd have to say that I hope the Italians would lift the cup - especially if it were something like a 4-0 drubbing over the Germans!

I just wish the Brazillians were still in it.

 

You shouldn't base who you want to win the World Cup on country prejudices

I like to see France win, cos I like how they play. Never mind the fact the French don't like the English much.
Either that or Germany, cos I like how they play. They have a strong fluid team

Portugal are ok, and they will have Deco back....but France I like more

 

i hope the winner of the germany - italy semi final wins

 

Funny, your profile read 14 yesterday.
Then maybe it should be 18 and over.
And I would have thought the definition of a total muppet would have been someone who types the same phrase over and over again.
Hang on, that sounds familiar.