England's World Cup Campaign

[KurtisGSXR]

link dead - removed by moderator

Download this and predict the results!

I've already found that we will meet Brazil in the final. After getting past the argies and portugal...

Togo will make a serious challenge and beat Spain in the first knockouts, but will then be taken down by the mighty Brazillians.

If you put two-nil for everything, then Germany beat the plucky Englishers in the final. Dang. Either that or it'll be FIIIIIVVVVEEEE OOOONNNNNNNEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[el flexo]

o.......................k then.

 

[Dave A]

If we play anything like we did today we won't get to the semi-finals, let alone into the final.

 

[Lee]

Heh I'd be amazed if we get passed the group stages..

Then again Sweden did loose to Ireland tonight.

 

[Dave A]

I think Darren Bent has managed to firmly set it so he never plays for England again. Alan Hansen sumed it up best at half time, he was waiting for the ball to come to him most of that game, all he can do is run onto a ball that comes over, anything else and he's mentally too slow to react in time, he's not an international player. Peter Crouch scored, which is good for him, I still don't rate him much, but who else have we got who can give the team good height.

 

[Race Idiot]

Don't think we played that badly tbh, maybe i'll write some more on it later.

I was trying to find a good thread to post something about it in but I couldn't find one.

 

[Dave A]

I thought we played very second rate, when we got the ball we did nothing with it, we couldn't break them down. It was only near the end when they started to get worked up and arguing with the ref every 5 mins and the play going a bit start-stop with the fouls and the puihing and shoving ect that we broke them down. And that was because they lost it, not because we changed the way we played for the last 10 mins. It's like with Sven, when he starts a game, he has his strategy, the problem is, if his first planned strategy doesn't work, he can't change it, he has no plan B to fall back on. Also the fact he even considered Bent for England tell's me his ability to pick out tru internation ability is poor. Bent's having a good season in the premiership playing for a club where the attacking moves are mainly based on him. He's never going to get that playing for England, and without the right balls for him coming over he's never going to score either. Anything else and he just can't respond quick enough, also there was several times in that game somone passed to him and a player just steppied infront of him and took the ball away, he wouldn't come for the ball enough. I've got plenty of gripes about that game, sure we wern't as bad as our last game, but should we even consider being that bad again as an option, we had good possesion, that's it, and what most of that possesion was, was passing it around the ceneter of the pitch and not moving forward and breaking the oposition down.

 

[Famine]

They played "well", but so few of them seem to realise that they can pass the ball around the pitch all game and have 100% possession, but no shots = no goals. Backheels do not result in mystical ball teleportation into the net.

Wayne Rooney may be many things - including a cheat, a thug and a nasty, pie-munching, troll-faced, thick Scouse warthog - but at least HE realises this. Mind you, he's too dense to realise much else.

A few thoughts:
What is Wayne Bridge doing starting a game for England?
What is Michael Carrick even doing on the pitch in an England shirt?
Jermaine Jenas? Bloody hell.
Why is Rio Ferdinand allowed to play any football of any description, given that he's a drug cheat and should have been banned for life? I hope he has a debilitating, but not serious, illness for the course of the Finals, as seeing him wearing the shirt and representing my country makes me really rather cross indeed.

 

[Poverty]

Yeah I dont know why micheal carrick is in the england squad. We have so many talented attacking midfielders which we could use. We could play a bit like the brazilians if we really wanted to or like the barcelona squad.

 

[Dave A]

Why should Ferdinan have been banned for life? Sure he had a bad game and shouldn't be playing first team at least for England at the moment, but he didn't take drugs, he missed the test on the day and offered to have the test well within 24 hours the test should habeen done. Adrian Mutu got a 1 month shorter ban for being tested and the test showing that he was as high as a kite. Before that Adam Tanner was banned playing for Ipswitch in the mid 90's, he was found with drugs in his system in a test and he only got 3 months. Rio was unlucky, he was used as an example, sure he should have made sure he got to that test no matter what, but he was unlucky.

 

[Famine]

All drug cheats should be banned for life full stop.

Ferdinand deliberately skipped a test - claiming he "forgot" because he was moving house. He tried to get out of it, and he succeeded too. The test is a spot test, not a scheduled one. Three players are selected before the match to have a drug test after it. He was one of those selected and he skipped it. "Offering" to take the test later is no good.

I don't care whether he had a bad game or not - he shouldn't have had a game at all. He is a cheat and should never play professional football again.

 

[Dave A]

If he had the test taken within 24 hours it would show if he'd taken drugs. I don't think missing a test should mean you get banned for life, it's fair enough that missing a test should be equal to being found guilty, but considering he missed the test and got the biggest punishment, bigger than anyone who'd been found guilty of taking drugs before and after, he's damn unlucky. Fair enough if you view it that players found taking drugs should never play again, in that acse there'd be a few players internationals even, not playing now. But if you miss the test, and the result is a life ban, then surely the chance to take the test later that day, or the day after within 24 hours should taken. If it's an honest mistake, that shouldn't be punished with a lifetime ban. Was Rio's a mistake, was he just too stupid, I think he was, I dont for one minuet think he was actually taking drugs. I think he should have been penalised and given a ban, because missing a test is a big deal, but not the ban he got.

 

[Famine]

Fair enough if you view it that players found taking drugs should never play again, in that acse there'd be a few players internationals even, not playing now.

Good.

If you cheat at your sport then you should be banned from playing it. What message does any other punishment send out to youngsters? It's okay to cheat, and your fellow players will welcome you back with open arms once you've served your laughable "suspension" (3 month rest).

Imagine what would happen if you got caught by your employer taking as much cocaine as Adrian Mutu or Mark Bosnich... Or if the police found you with as much in your possession... Why is it any different for a professional athlete? Why weren't these people prosecuted by the CPS when you would be? Why were they so able to walk into another high-paying job easily?


I should separate at this point "drugs" from "performance-enhancing chemicals". I don't believe that "drugs", in any form, should be illegal to take, but they are currently. To treat private citizens differently from one another by virtue of their profession is just barmy. It is entirely acceptable, however, for a private sporting professional bodies to ban "performance-enhancing chemicals" from their members if they wish, but for someone to cheat in this manner to be allowed back into the ranks of the sport is astonishing. For someone to cheat and then be taken back into the national team, representing the people of their country on the world stage, is sickening.


I do not want to have a drugs cheat playing for me.

 

[Dave A]

Thats fair enough, but my point is that if they were to impose a lifetime ban, then when somone misses a test, they should be allowed to take it later that day at the very least. This was not available for Rio, he asked to have it done well within 24 hours, but they flatly refused to test him since he missed the test the first time. If a lifetime ban were in place they should not be saying no to that, they should be tested within 20 hours of the game, if they do forget and just go home after the match, they can always come back straight away and have the test if it's a genuine mistake, this chance is not offered. To have your career taken away from you because you forgot to stick around after the match is harsh when a conclusive test can still be carried out, having it taken away becuse you conclusively failed the drugs test is imo fair enough.

 

[El Gigante]

I don't think we will ever win the world cup

This is why:

All our players are very good, I admit, but in my opinion they dont' work together well enough, hard to describe it, but you could see the way Greece worked so perfectly in Euro '04. Beckham insists on taking every corner/free kick, even though he hasn't taken a decent one for England in about 4 years. Rooney is a good player, but i'd be suprised if he doesn't get sent off at some point. And finally, Sven is so loyal that he seems scared to drop players that are now crap (ferdinand, beckham, etc).

Well that's just my opinion, feel free to commment

 

[Poverty]

All drug cheats should be banned for life full stop.

Ferdinand deliberately skipped a test - claiming he "forgot" because he was moving house. He tried to get out of it, and he succeeded too. The test is a spot test, not a scheduled one. Three players are selected before the match to have a drug test after it. He was one of those selected and he skipped it. "Offering" to take the test later is no good.

I don't care whether he had a bad game or not - he shouldn't have had a game at all. He is a cheat and should never play professional football again.

LOL. Here comes the reality. Every major sport is riddled with drug use

FACT


Just look at some of the muscular guys in NFL NBA and Rugby. For the amount of running around they do they are too muscular for it to be natural.

To get to a half decent size muscle wise on has to lift heavy, have plenty of rest and sleep and consume as many calories as possible.

Every bodybuilding competion barring the ones that explecitively say natural are all mass steroid users.In the UFC and pride most of the fighters openly use steroids and painkillers. Sprinters use steroids. Even 50 cent probablu uses steroids. Im not saying his physique is not capable without the use of steroids but hes always on the road so he doesnt get the rest and amount of food his physique requires. LL Cool J openly talks about using steroids. Most people who have been in the sport know about it. Its just one of those unspoken rules. Just every now and again though someone will get tested by officials to try and pull a blanket over the publics face so that they remain marketable and so people dont ask questions.

 

[Dave A]

He knows what the reality of it is, he just doesn't like it, I agree with the point that a sportsman caught taking illegal substances should be treat exactley the same as your average Joe.

 

[Touring Mars]

Forget Michael Owen, they don't really need him.... what England really needs is a good song to boost their campaign...

DOH!

(atleast it's not the official one...)

 

[El Gigante]

Oh my God. Whatever song we have, i still don't think we'll win it anyway.

 

[Cosmic]

The english team is so overrated...

So is Zlatan big-nose.

 

[El Gigante]

Yeah our team is really overrated. Most English fans will disagree though, they all think we're gonna win it

 

[Jimmy Enslashay]

I think they're more underachievers rather than overrated. England have a strong team this year from my view, though Paul Robinson has to stop taking them all out.

 

[El Gigante]

Yeah, he really crocked Michael Owen! He should be fit in time for the WC though.

 

[Poverty]

Our forwards just dont click togetehr as a team too well Id say. Id rather play rooney and defoe than owen. Owen has been a majorly overhyped player. BRazil has got the strongest team though, england 2nd.

 

[El Gigante]

Rooney is the one who's overhyped, not Owen. And i don't think we have the 2nd strongest team. Maybe something like the 6th strongest team. You are forgetting the great teams like Argentina and France, and also Portugal are better than us.

 

[Poverty]

I think you are underestimating our players. We have arguably the strongest defence in the world on paper and we have a very good midfield. cant say much about our strikers though

 

[El Gigante]

I wouldn't say we have the strongest defence in the world. Terry is the only player i would say is excellent. Gary neville is ok, Ashley Cole is always injured but when he does play he's pretty good. Rio Ferdinand is pretty crap, in my opinion (also a drug cheat).

 

[ExigeEvan]

England aren't even goin to make it through the first round

 

[El Gigante]

Probably true

 

[Jimmy Enslashay]

England need a better right-back. Neville isn't bad, but I mean, he's really not International material in my eyes. John Terry is an excellent defender. Drug-cheating aside, Ferdinand isn't bad. I wouldn't rule out Ledley King, either. Ashley Cole is good when he's fit, and if Wayne Bridge could hit peak fitness and good form, he can be a good left back.

But I do think that England have a pretty consistent defence, and one which England can rely on not to make many mistakes. A lot of the larger teams like Spain, France and Italy have good defenders, but inconsistent nonetheless, and they have the tendency to make mistakes and become complacent on occasions.