Cmon, don't take the bait.
England got their chance, they just got to take it.
England got their chance, they just got to take it.
England at World Cup 2014
- Thread starter gooDevil
- Start date
I think England have a great team, in fact it's really annoying how Hodgson has made it seem like the team are underdogs. Attacking wise they have Sterling, Sturridge, Rooney, Welbeck, Ox-Chamberlain, Lallana, Lambert possibly Gerrard and Lampard who can chip in with goals, with the defence not being the best however it is sure better than a lot of teams at the World Cup. It reminds me of Moyes underrating our players because he knew he wasn't a great manager, so if he failed his excuse was that the players aren't up to it. England have a team that is better than half of the teams in the tournament, Hodgson is trying to save his skin if the team flops.
and what a glorious ride it has been...There are a lot of hole in this English team, lack of balance and match winne.
- Hart is not world class and will not save the team like Casillas or Neuer can
- In the defense there's not a single world class player, 4 good players but not an outstanding one.
- Midfield, even if Gerrard had a good season, he can't do anything alone, he doesn't protect his teams, he's very useful when England have the ball, and it seems that the Three Lions will be more in counter attack.
- Henderson is a pitty.
- On the wing, there's isn't a natural winger in Welbz or Lallana.
- Up front, Wazza is not in great shape and he doesn't connect well with Sturridge...
We don't have the players, you're right there, but a good manager can turn average players into a great team, but an average manager can't. I can't blame Hodgson as much as I couldn't blame Moyes. They are/were both out of their depth. The people who appointed them are the ones to blame.
It's not going to be this time more than any other time. We're not going to find a way and we're not going to get it all together. I'll end up having high hopes every time we play and probably end up dissapointed as always.
Sadly, that's only indicative of how shit the rest have been.
I'm always blindly optimistic about England when the tournament begins, and i'll be over the moon if we make it out of the group stages this time around. I think people underestimate the current England crop of players due to the fact they've underachieved at International level for so long. Although it's kinda nice we have an Englishman in charge it also reminds us how tactically naive we are as a nation. It's a shame we don't have an English version of Martinez/Rodgers because their progressive style of management would transform England's fortunes imo. I guess the big question is, what would Jagielka do?.
We have to be optimistic - our league is the world's richest, we invented the game, we won the world cup once, we have a tradition, we are a football mad nation. We have to think we can win it. And, frankly, we could if all our players play to their very best and the teamwork comes together. Greece showed that in the 2008 Euros, an arguably tougher competition to win.
That midfield would be torn apart.
England won the WC because of an irregular goal almost 50 years ago.
The league is rich and good because the great teams consist of 90% foreign players.
Greece didnt win 2008. It was 2004, and they got very lucky and fluked it. This was a once in a century achievement. Germany and Spain were in rebuilding mode and almost all good teams underachieved.
Wont happen this time.
Was it feck irregular. Everyone could see that it was behind the line. Except the Germans, but then they wouldn't would they? Anyway, you miss the point.
And regarding Greece, it only shows that it can happen - the "good" teams could all underperform in the next 4 weeks too. But give Greece some credit too. They played well as a team and deserved it, horrible though they were to watch.
It's funny; for all the talk of "this time the expectations aren't high", I've noticed a last-minute smuggling in of high hopes before the first game. It's like the English can't help themselves lol
Yeah, how dare people get excited and be optimistic about a World Cup
I'm sure that's an attitude that will be exclusive to England
I'm sure that's an attitude that will be exclusive to England
Just wait until super Frankie Lampard scores a deflected goal against Italy. We're going to win the damn thing!
What does it matter that you invented the game and won a world cup almost 50 years ago (when apparently all kind of manipulation happened)?
English Premier League is strong because it generates a lot of money which makes possible for clubs to sign some of the best foreign players. There is a reason while most of the top clubs have only a few English players.
England has a chance to win it (by definition of being on competition) but there are 10-15 teams which have a better chance than them.
Euro 2004 was piss poor. The only strong team there was Czech Republic and even they weren't near as good as the likes of Spain, Braziil, Argentina or Germany now.
What does it matter?
Football's coming home etc
It fires up the nation. It's one of the many reason why England is football mad and cannot get enough of it. It's why we shouldn't dream that we can win it.
What a load of over analytical cnuts there are here. Feck me.
Yeah, how dare people get excited and be optimistic about a World Cup
I'm sure that's an attitude that will be exclusive to England
It's definitely not exclusive to England, but it's funny how it's gone from "This time they can play free of expectations and the hopes of the whole nation" to "their youth, passion, and talent will result in the best England performance in years!" in the space of less than a week. Not to mention they are the ones who will be most unreasonably mad when their team exits the tournament.
Bollocks. It's something that every country seems to be allowed to do except England for some weird, unfathomable reason. Any other country gets excited and dreams of winning the Cup, and yet when England do the same everyone can't wait to jump on them. Ridiculous.
10-15 teams?
Allowed? Who said anything about being allowed? As an outside observer with no horse in the race so to speak, I can tell you that England supporters (and its media) are the most prone to ridiculous unwarranted pre-tournament hype, as well as inexplicable confusion and anger post-exit. And even when the line is "this time there are no expectations", people have managed to turn that into "the fact that there are no expectations means they will do well!", which just circles back to the same thing. It's hilarious. Not saying England are the only ones that do it, but they clearly the biggest offenders.
Everybody can dream, but there is being deluded and being realistic. All nations get fired for the World Cup, anyway.
Spain, Portugal, Italy, Germany, Holland, Belgium, Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay would say that have better chances than England with Bosna, France and a few others being on England's level. (just my opinion, of course)
Of course they do. But if you don't dream, where's the fun, the excitement? The world cup is great because it allows everyone that dream. You sound like you could do with some happy pills.
I am not English (and my native country doesn't play in WC). For some reasons have supported always Argies and Holland (probably they were the first teams I saw on WC1998).
But English are unique on overrating their team and their chances to win it. Most of the other fans and media are a bit more reserved, while English (especially the media) are somehow convinced that they are the best, despite this being very far from reality. Eben this time when it looked that they can keep their expectations in a managable level, still on the last weeks they went batshit crazy as always. It will make the eventual failure on group stage even more hilarious for the rest of the world.
Basically the same why all other fans always joke with Liverpool's 'this is our year'. Same scenario here.
If given the chance, this could be Raheem Sterling's WC, in regards to England.
Found this funny:
My personal weird and unfathomable reason for trying not to get too excited is that we're shit compared to plenty of other teams. I could understand if it was Germany we're speaking about. Some of the downtalking in Germany is really ridiculous, but not being to optimistic about our chances seems quite realistic.
In a way I'm probably just jealous that I can't believe anymore. Father Christmas, Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy, God, England winning the world cup...sorry, I don't believe.
Looks like your German. You can watch 100s of proofs on the Internet that shows that the Goal should have never stood but i cant be arsed to talk about a WC 50 years ago.
Regarding Greece it shows nothing. CZ were the only decent team in 2004. 2003-2005 were the years all the good teams were rebuilding their Rosters.
Greece needed the luck of all gods to make it.
Everyone should feel positive about a WC and the excitement and cheer on their team.
But you should be able to differ between being delusional and realistic.
Im German and i dont think that this team under Löw will get it down.
They are probably the most talented after Spain but i think we will have a tough WC.
For England. The media loves the drama and the overreactions and the arrogance and downplaying really good teams is really grinding my gears.
Not sure why you used those goalkeepers as an example because they are prone to blunders more so than Hart, Casillas is the most overrated goalkeeper in world football and Neuer thinks he's an outfield player, running out and making a cock up of things, 3 times per game.
Watching Neuer brings back memory's of Fabien Barthez.
Yep thats why Casillas and Neuer have won World Goalkeepers and had great performances in CL Finals for example.
When those two suck who are the great Goalkeepers in your opinion?
And please dont come up with Joe Hart or the most overrated GK right now Courtois.
Courtois and Buffon.
Okay thats all i need to know about your football knowledge
.Btw i would agree with you about Buffon (in his prime).
Okay thats all i need to know about your football knowledge
Btw i would agree with you about Buffon (in his prime).
What the are you talking about football knowledge and what are you talking about Buffon (in his prime), has there been some kind of great decline?
His prime is now, the guy is 36 and never (to rarely) makes a mistake. Courtois (whilst still young and will make the odd error) shows quality/composure and commanding presence that is unique for a goalkeeper.
Iker 'spillage' Cassillas is a car crash of a goalkeeper, he rarely has anything to do for Spain and they try and get him involved in their tiki-taka and it ends up going through his legs somehow, corners he can't catch, saves he can't catch, easy saves he spills and lets in a huge a amount of goals that should be routine saves.
Neuer, whilst a good shot stopper, does crazy shit like this:-
And that is part of his game and always will be, can you imagine him doing that in an England skirt? Can you imagine Iker 'Spillage' Casillas in an England skirt? Lets just say i don't want to imagine either in an England skirt.
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Just done my first simulation for this World Cup. I did them finishing first in their group and then second and both times they meet either Spain or Brazil in the quarters. I'd be happy with quarters though. Mostly avoided the WC caf section but I'm sick of people saying England have no chance. Sure, they are not the best team there but they have a chance, however small it may be.
Very excited.
Very excited.
Thing is he stops a lot of potential goal scoring opportunities with his play style. It is dangerous but actually really effective.
Both of them are miles better than Hart in practically everything. You are seriously underrating Casillas here, he probably gets more love than he should, but still has been a top top keeper. Hart in the two last season has been very average with many EPL keepers being better than him.What the are you talking about football knowledge and what are you talking about Buffon (in his prime), has there been some kind of great decline?
His prime is now, the guy is 36 and never (to rarely) makes a mistake. Courtois (whilst still young and will make the odd error) shows quality/composure and commanding presence that is unique for a goalkeeper.
Iker 'spillage' Cassillas is a car crash of a goalkeeper, he rarely has anything to do for Spain and they try and get him involved in their tiki-taka and it ends up going through his legs somehow, corners he can't catch, saves he can't catch, easy saves he spills and lets in a huge a amount of goals that should be routine saves.
Neuer, whilst a good shot stopper, does crazy shit like this:-
And that is part of his game and always will be, can you imagine him doing that in an England skirt? Can you imagine Iker 'Spillage' Casillas in an England skirt? Lets just say i don't want to imagine either in an England skirt.
Also, those first 2 gifs of Neuer are amazing.
Hart had a very good second half of the season this year I thought.