Jump to content

The Official England World Cup Thread


AndyFal36

Recommended Posts

Lambert should have played the final game though, we know what Sturridge can do and will get plenty of games in the future, same for Rooney. Pretty ****** treatment of lambert in all honesty.

I am not sure how much or if at all Lambert will feature in our Euro quals. I don't have a problem with him being in squads until better options appear (if ever!) but maybe that was the thinking

To not start Rooney but then bring him on was a bit pointless. Could have bought Lambert on there, I guess

I am not a fan of this 'let everyone have a game' thing though. If is unusual for us to have a dead game as we generally get out of the group. If we were playing 4-3-3 I'd have had Rooney in it as well as he'll definitely be in the Quals

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • Replies 1.7k
  • Created
  • Last Reply
Like this if you agree!!!

jy5hMSGwZ6kNh.jpg

Haha, awesome :D

It's like those facebook type things 'such and such guy is a paedo, it's wrong ... forward this if you hate paedos' ... the implication being if I don't forward it on that I, myself, am in favour of paedos? I guess I better forward it on then just to be sure!!

I am sure that is from the last World Cup with a different picture :p They didn't really complain this World Cup tbh so there!

Link to post
Share on other sites

I am not sure how much or if at all Lambert will feature in our Euro quals. I don't have a problem with him being in squads until better options appear (if ever!) but maybe that was the thinking

Surely there have got to be some kids coming through instead... Lambert will be 34 by the Euros and probably a bit part player at Liverpool by then, or else shoved back out to a midtable club somwhere. He was in the right place at the right time to sneak in this year but I can't see Roy making much use of him going forward. Hope not anyway.

As for Lallana, the media have him pegged as another "bright young thing" because it fits nicely with the narrative about new players coming through. But he's already 26, while the likes of Shaw, Barkley, Wilshere, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Sterling are all 18-22. Even the likes of Welbeck, Sturridge, Henderson, Smalling, Jones have a good 2 or 3 years on him and have all been around the squad for ages. I hope he gets his move to Liverpool and kicks on, I really do. But could he have saved our whole World Cup if Roy had played him from the start? Er, no. He barely got a kick in any of the warmup games. Wandered around against Peru like a lost child.

Link to post
Share on other sites

do think that when looking at some of the performances throughout the group stages that in a lot of the games you can just see that other players from other teams just want it more.

Yeah thats my overriding thoughts on it, players from other nations just look like they want it more, English players more looked like they were just there to enjoy the experience, rather than really caring about being there.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Surely there have got to be some kids coming through instead... Lambert will be 34 by the Euros and probably a bit part player at Liverpool by then, or else shoved back out to a midtable club somwhere. He was in the right place at the right time to sneak in this year but I can't see Roy making much use of him going forward. Hope not anyway.

As for Lallana, the media have him pegged as another "bright young thing" because it fits nicely with the narrative about new players coming through. But he's already 26, while the likes of Shaw, Barkley, Wilshere, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Sterling are all 18-22. Even the likes of Welbeck, Sturridge, Henderson, Smalling, Jones have a good 2 or 3 years on him and have all been around the squad for ages. I hope he gets his move to Liverpool and kicks on, I really do. But could he have saved our whole World Cup if Roy had played him from the start? Er, no. He barely got a kick in any of the warmup games. Wandered around against Peru like a lost child.

There's Harry Kane would had 3 or 4 goals in 4 or 5 games towards the end of last season and seemed ok but it was like 'oh look at him, how nice to get a game ... wonder who Spurs will buy up front in the summer so they don't have to play him, maybe Soldado will be better' rather than him 'breaking through'

Hopefully Poch, with his 'focus on a youth' will give him a proper chance to establish himself. Maybe Carroll will have a proper season too?

Link to post
Share on other sites

Surely there have got to be some kids coming through instead... Lambert will be 34 by the Euros and probably a bit part player at Liverpool by then, or else shoved back out to a midtable club somwhere. He was in the right place at the right time to sneak in this year but I can't see Roy making much use of him going forward. Hope not anyway.

Think in terms of that 'big man striker' type of player, reckon a majority of people around the England set up will be hoping Wickham kicks on and improves as he would be in contention. Otherwise it'll fall back to Carroll by default :/

Link to post
Share on other sites

Chris Kamara :cool: :cool:

Posting on his Twitter account, Kamara wrote: “Not lost me pace!!! I just caught this street robber. Done in now though.”

He added: “My good deed has back fired I have to go to the police station now to make a statement.

Kamara posted a further picture of the alleged thief, in which he said: “Still waiting after my prize catch.”

“Giving my statement now, ‘well I ran after him & caught him’.”

BrJV3XPCUAA62Zz.jpg

no idea where to post this really, but it's good.

Link to post
Share on other sites

COUNTRIES THAT HAVE MATCHED YOUR BEST TOURNAMENT FINISH SINCE 1996

FRANCE:

Brazil, Greece, Italy, Spain

ITALY:

France, Brazil, Greece, Spain

SPAIN:

France, Brazil, Greece, Italy

GERMANY:

France, Brazil, Italy, Greece, Portugal, Holland

PORTUGAL:

France, Brazil, Italy, Germany, Greece, Holland

HOLLAND:

France, Brazil, Italy, Germany, Greece, Portugal

ENGLAND:

Italy, France, Brazil, Denmark, Holland, Argentina, Germany, Croatia, Turkey, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Spain, USA, South Korea, Senegal, Greece, Sweden, Czech Republic, Ukraine, Russia, Uruguay, Ghana, Paraguay, Colombia, Belgium, Costa Rica

Link to post
Share on other sites

I can only imagine if we put in a performance like the Yanks and then patted ourselves on the back we'd be dragged across the coals

OMG just doing a lot of running and showing PASSION is not gonna win games, etc and then Obama calling the players to congratulate them ... it's last 16

There is absolutely nothing wrong with passion and determination but they have become dirty words in English football as some kind of by-word for lack of ability, which is nonsense. I'd love to put in the effort the Americans did and show that committment but mix that with a bit more footballing prowess and craft.

The Americans ran around and showed passion and defended with their backs to the walls with a record number of blocks ... but were quite limited

I assume when we're talking about 'wish we did that' it's just the committment and determination we are celebrating rather than the other stuff but you wouldn't know going by some comments. The same committment and determination that everyone kind of sick of being referenced in the past when talked about what was missing eh

Link to post
Share on other sites

I can only imagine if we put in a performance like the Yanks and then patted ourselves on the back we'd be dragged across the coals

OMG just doing a lot of running and showing PASSION is not gonna win games, etc and then Obama calling the players to congratulate them ... it's last 16

There is absolutely nothing wrong with passion and determination but they have become dirty words in English football as some kind of by-word for lack of ability, which is nonsense. I'd love to put in the effort the Americans did and show that committment but mix that with a bit more footballing prowess and craft.

The Americans ran around and showed passion and defended with their backs to the walls with a record number of blocks ... but were quite limited

I assume when we're talking about 'wish we did that' it's just the committment and determination we are celebrating rather than the other stuff but you wouldn't know going by some comments. The same committment and determination that everyone kind of sick of being referenced in the past when talked about what was missing eh

To be fair it was fair more than that. There was a game plan built around running hard and being aggressive. They knew their weaknesses ( technical excellence, bar the likes of Dempsey), but also knew their strengths (physicality, aggressiveness, fitness). They put that to a good game plan. The one thing England didnt do was play to any solid plan or play to hide our weaknesses

To be honest I dont have too much issue with out determination. Rooney spent most of the world cup being roundly slated, and not taking chances, but he kept on going. What England lack is a focus to all of or respective strengths. We have a good techinal edge, slow at the back, but pace down the flanks and up front in Sturridge, with a gifted but somewhat defensively soft midfield, though not lacking in aggressive younger players

Pack the midfield with a trio, maintain a relatively deep line, cover the aggressive younger players with a more experience holder, look to explode down the flanks with support from a central mid. Counter attacking 4-3-3

Link to post
Share on other sites

I can only imagine if we put in a performance like the Yanks and then patted ourselves on the back we'd be dragged across the coals

OMG just doing a lot of running and showing PASSION is not gonna win games, etc and then Obama calling the players to congratulate them ... it's last 16

There is absolutely nothing wrong with passion and determination but they have become dirty words in English football as some kind of by-word for lack of ability, which is nonsense. I'd love to put in the effort the Americans did and show that committment but mix that with a bit more footballing prowess and craft.

The Americans ran around and showed passion and defended with their backs to the walls with a record number of blocks ... but were quite limited

I assume when we're talking about 'wish we did that' it's just the committment and determination we are celebrating rather than the other stuff but you wouldn't know going by some comments. The same committment and determination that everyone kind of sick of being referenced in the past when talked about what was missing eh

The moment Hodgson and Lampard said that the team talks were revolving around the fear of being eliminated, it was obvious the squad's mentality was all wrong. You don't need a degree in psychology (which is lucky, because I haven't got one) to know that fear is never an effective motivator when it comes to performance, and if you compare the England performance in the first game, when they didn't have to win and weren't favourites, to the one against Uruguay, when they were under pressure and clearly worried about not slipping up, you can see the effect that fear can have on teams. First game, England's failings were mostly naivety and defensive shortcomings, but they threatened well enough and, at times, even seemed to be enjoying their football. Second game, after Gerrard had delivered his speech about how horrible it feels to be eliminated, and the play was overly conservative, with tension demonstrated in the lousy passing and inability to vary their play, ultimately exacerbating the issues from the first game and leading to defeat in a very winnable game.

England have a lot of problems and certainly aren't world beaters, but they still have decent players, particularly going forward, who are playing in one of the world's best leagues. As we see in virtually every sport in which we compete, England/Britain seriously needs to sort out its psychological approach to handling pressure (see: Andy Murray in this year's Wimbledon) and getting the right mindset to not just compete, but compete fearlessly and enjoy these competitions rather than going in already stricken with terror about being eliminated. The US players have a fraction of our technical ability and versatility, but (as in all sports) their mindset is fantastic and they've gone out to do the best they can and make the most of their time in the competition. Bringing in scientists to analyse sweat levels for sports drinks is all very well and good - actually, it's profoundly pointless, though I digress - but what they really need is a team of world class sports psychologists to adjust a national mindset which has been sinking this country's potential for decades.

Yes, the tactics should be better, we need more players with experience in foreign leagues and it wouldn't hurt for the club game to give young English talent more opportunities, but ultimately the national team won't even be able to make the most of its limited means if everyone involved is going in with the wrong mindset. The big worry is that the crop of youngsters in the current England squad have now been poisoned even once the likes of Gerrard and Rooney retire.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Err. Pretty sure you can't use Andy Murray as an example of not being able to handle the pressure. The pressure he'd have been under in last year's final blows away anything that he'd have faced at Wimbledon this year.

Link to post
Share on other sites

To be fair it was fair more than that. There was a game plan built around running hard and being aggressive. They knew their weaknesses ( technical excellence, bar the likes of Dempsey), but also knew their strengths (physicality, aggressiveness, fitness). They put that to a good game plan. The one thing England didnt do was play to any solid plan or play to hide our weaknesses

To be honest I dont have too much issue with out determination. Rooney spent most of the world cup being roundly slated, and not taking chances, but he kept on going. What England lack is a focus to all of or respective strengths. We have a good techinal edge, slow at the back, but pace down the flanks and up front in Sturridge, with a gifted but somewhat defensively soft midfield, though not lacking in aggressive younger players

Pack the midfield with a trio, maintain a relatively deep line, cover the aggressive younger players with a more experience holder, look to explode down the flanks with support from a central mid. Counter attacking 4-3-3

I think in terms of tactics they left massive holes all over the place, which they made up for with athleticism. They had more of a plan than 'running hard' of course but looking at it from if we had put in such a performance.

There was a naivety in there replaced with a 'having a good go' (and Howard having an amazing game). Some of the missing elements of spirit and working hard is what our fans want but we all know had it been like that with us coming up short yet again they'd have been roundly slated

It does highlight that after all these years we don't really have an actual system or style of play though

Link to post
Share on other sites

< snip >

I noticed a lot of that pre-tournament talk as well. Before Uruguay Gerrard talked about what a horrible summer it would be if we didn't 'get it right'. What a way to go into a freaking game and lo and behold we looked edgy and nervous

You almost want all of this old guard to shuffle along with all their negative connotations in the hope that the new breed aren't shackled with the same fears but it's unlikely to be that simply

We focus so much on the individual. We are so concerned is this or that guy good enough as he only plays for Everton or someone else yet we see these cohesive units performing well through the tournament with players working within a system and for each other

It's depressing. It's such a simple game that we have made soooo difficult in the last decade

Link to post
Share on other sites

I noticed a lot of that pre-tournament talk as well. Before Uruguay Gerrard talked about what a horrible summer it would be if we didn't 'get it right'. What a way to go into a freaking game and lo and behold we looked edgy and nervous

You almost want all of this old guard to shuffle along with all their negative connotations in the hope that the new breed aren't shackled with the same fears but it's unlikely to be that simply

We focus so much on the individual. We are so concerned is this or that guy good enough as he only plays for Everton or someone else yet we see these cohesive units performing well through the tournament with players working within a system and for each other

It's depressing. It's such a simple game that we have made soooo difficult in the last decade

We NEVER think about the team first, as you say we talk about building around this or that. As a team, England should be playing 3 in the middle, with a DM to protect our defence, which we all agree can be shaky. We've known that about our defence for a while, and did nothing about it.

For all this talk about sweeping reforms yadda yadda etc It doesn't matter if the manager and 23 dont have a coherent system. We havent had one yet, because we are so obsessed with playing with a number 10.

Link to post
Share on other sites

This is why I am not clamouring to change Hodgson just yet. We need someone that the penny drops so we can come up with a system. Hodgson did change from Euros to World Cup and may change again

I also wonder, with our desire to find a holding midfielder, if we should look at lesser players that can perform the role. Bring someone in solely to do that job rather than pick the most capable of our existing squad (which isn't really Gerrard, is it ... look how exposed the Liverpool defence was all season with him in front of it)

Some midtable player that wins the ball and gives it 5 or 10 yards and that is it!

Of course they'd be an outcry but it can't work worse than what we have been doing!

Link to post
Share on other sites

This is why I am not clamouring to change Hodgson just yet. We need someone that the penny drops so we can come up with a system. Hodgson did change from Euros to World Cup and may change again

I also wonder, with our desire to find a holding midfielder, if we should look at lesser players that can perform the role. Bring someone in solely to do that job rather than pick the most capable of our existing squad (which isn't really Gerrard, is it ... look how exposed the Liverpool defence was all season with him in front of it)

Some midtable player that wins the ball and gives it 5 or 10 yards and that is it!

Of course they'd be an outcry but it can't work worse than what we have been doing!

You mean build an actual team, rather than shoehorning the 11 best individuals into the same side and hoping for the best?

HERESY :mad: That's not the England way.

Jack Cork: Protect the space, win the ball, pass the ball. Rinse and repeat.

Link to post
Share on other sites

England had a player that was fantastic at that this season and left him home: Gareth Barry. Fielding that kind of player is clearly not something Hodgson wanted to do.

Link to post
Share on other sites

England had a player that was fantastic at that this season and left him home: Gareth Barry. Fielding that kind of player is clearly not something Hodgson wanted to do.

I was saying this long before selection, that we would regret not taking one of then. We left Barry and Carrick at home, two of the best we have at doing it. And then wonder why the defence was exposed. If he cant work that out, then I cant see how he can stay in a job, none of the midfielders are going to be defensively adept.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...