World Cup 2010 - England Thread

YoungGun_UK

YoungGun_UK

20 TIMES!
12 July 2007
UK
Manchester United
England's provisional squad
Goalkeepers: Joe Hart, David James, Robert Green.

Defenders: Leighton Baines, Jamie Carragher, Ashley Cole, Michael Dawson, Rio Ferdinand, Glen Johnson, Ledley King, John Terry, Matthew Upson, Stephen Warnock.

Midfielders: Gareth Barry, Michael Carrick, Joe Cole, Steven Gerrard, Tom Huddlestone, Adam Johnson, Frank Lampard, Aaron Lennon, James Milner, Scott Parker, Theo Walcott, Shaun Wright-Phillips.

Forwards: Darren Bent, Peter Crouch, Jermain Defoe, Emile Heskey, Wayne Rooney.
Click to expand...

Interesting to see "some" names, Carragher being the stand out, along with Capello's need for form how did Heskey make it?!

With that said I think we've got a good(ish) chance aslong as we can get the right balance in the team.

Been ridiculous to say the least about John Terry's "Injury" scare headline news :ROLL:
 
7 more need to get the boot from this list right? Some of it will be tough but here's who I'd kick out if I were Capello.

- Carragher
- Upson
- Warnock

Tho Carragher who imo really doesn't deserve to be in NT, seems to be the only one who can also provide cover for Glen Johnson at RB and a bit of versatility to him then along with the experience. Lack of depth at RB for England and even your first choice, Glen Johnson is good but not great.

And

- Heskey (Yes, generally he's always been one of the most under-rated players throughout his career) but hasn't been playing that well and England have better options. Crouch will be the aerial threat so it's not like he's needed for that reason either. Other strikers are much more dangerous and all should be there.

Midfield, SWP needs to be cut and I'm guessing Barry will be too if he's not gonna be fit enough for 3 games and so might be sacrificed. That leaves one more, It'll probably be between Huddlestone and Parker, I'd keep Scott tho Tom has been good too.

And yeah this is the 1st time I think England actually have a very good chance. Previously, I've never really seen them as a real contender or threat. I can see it this year with Capello in charge.

EDIT: But I'm not Fabio and I'm afraid Capello likes Heskey too much and so Bent might for example be sacrificed which would be really unfair as he's again shown this season, he's almost a total package striker and very dangerous! And for some reason Carragher suddenly seems to have a very good chance of going to World Cup which I'd be against but I suppose his versatility might have a lot to do with it.
 
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I'm just afraid when looking at the potential starting elevens, that it's really not very different from the 2006 World Cup, and we were shite then.

Quarters I'm predicting and I'd be fine with that.
 
I can't remember but did we play Lampard and Gerrard together in midfield? If so then that makes a big difference along with a much better (more mature) Wayne Rooney from 06.

Yeah I agree about Bent having a good season but you wonder if he's got the ability to change a game for England and the pressure that brings, English Fernando Torres no doubt you'd say PLF ;))
 
Nah Torres is a much better footballer. Better vision, technique, passing, etc. But sure Bent is one of the best England has, isn't he?

And yah I do think he has that ability to be a game-changer. Let's say England are in extra-time of a Quarter-finals or down a goal against Argentina with 70 minutes on the clock and need a goal. Who better to come in than someone like Defoe or Bent off bench? They have pace, they're hungry, great movement and good finishing! Very dangerous strikers!

Having thought about it, they're even perhaps more useful when England is leading 1-0 though and soaking a lot of pressure. Then the pace and movement of these two off the bench will present many counter-attacking opportunities which can put the game to bend and end the pressure with an extra goal to make it 2-0 or 3-1 or whatever....

I rate both highly though they're not everyone's fav and I think most would agree that should that be the situation, either of these two could pose a lot more danger to the opposition than Emile Heskey.

I actually like Heskey a lot though and if it wasn't for the presence of Crouch in the team, I would actually sacrifice one of these two talisman for Emile's presence, power, work-rate and aerial ability. It's just that with Crouch in good form and having much improved his head ability, I don't see Heskey offering something 'different' as evident anymore and not worth it to waste some talent like Bent or Defoe for him.

matherto said:
I'm just afraid when looking at the potential starting elevens, that it's really not very different from the 2006 World Cup, and we were shite then.

Quarters I'm predicting and I'd be fine with that.
Click to expand...

Yeah but who was in charge then? Who's in charge now? ;)

I think you can give a team like Mexico or Ivory coast to Fabio Capello and with him in charge, they'd be contenders! With England he has even more resources to work with and so like I said, for me the management makes all the difference. Even if the starting 11 was the exact same which it won't be and players hadn't grown further (which they have, like Rooney), under a different manager like Capello everyone will perform better. They're likely to be at their best.

So anyway, personally, I've never seen what all the hype about England was or rated them highly. But this year, because of Don Fabio, it's a different matter and I consider England a legitimate contender and can see them winning it.
 
Just looking at that squad I just don't see it doing very well. All our hopes pretty much rest on Rooney I think. If he gets injured, we are fucked.

Unless Gerrard and Lampard really step up a gear for England then it might be alright. But just comparing our squad to the top teams in the world, It jsut doesn't look to good, especially with a part of our squad getting injured frequently.

I hope I'm wrong and this squad can actually play like a team and get it together in time.

Come on England!!!
 
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Similar to Brazil. Very well drilled team, with a lot of talent as well. Is Ferdinand going to be fit for it?
 
If I'd be Capello, I'd select this squad:

GK HART, Joe
GK GREEN, Robert
GK JAMES, David

CB FERDINAND, Rio
CB TERRY, John
CB DAWSON, Michael
CB KING, Ledley
RB JOHNSON, Glen
LB BAINES, Leighton
LB COLE, Ashley

DM CARRICK, Michael
DM BARRY, Gareth
CM GERRARD, Steven
CM LAMPARD, Frank
WG COLE, Joe
WG JOHNSON, Adam
WG LENNON, Aaron
WG MILNER, James
WG WALCOTT, Theo

ST BENT, Darren
ST DEFOE, Jermain
ST HESKEY, Emile
ST ROONEY, Wayne

I feel, just on the paper, is one of the best 3 squads of the tournament.
 
There's some talk about Capello switching to a 3-5-2 if Barry isn't fit, which is interesting because his Scudetto winning Roma side played three CBs.

Capello's preference of Heskey reminds me of how he used Delvecchio a lot in that Roma side, although he eventually put Montella in instead.
 
The thing is with 3-5-2, it's not that different to a 4-4-2 really. If you imagine when we attack, our right-back stays back with the centrebacks, and the left-back pushes on and Gerrard tucks in, that's now a 3-5-2.

Also it could be seen as a narrow 4-4-2 diamond, with the defensive midfielder pulled even further back, and the fullbacks pushed further up.. if you think of it that way, it's not that much of a change.

This is (very) basically how we set up now.
Code: 
      LB--->
                 LW
    CB                ST
GK        DM            CF
    CB          CM
      
      RB--->       RW


So if you imagine Ledley King is playing DM where Barry normally would be (King played DM for us in Euro2004), he has been told to sit back and not go forward, whilst Cole and Johnson the fullbacks have been told to bomb forward with the LW and RW tucked in more then this is how we look when we are on the attack...
Code: 
            LB----->
                 LW
    CB               ST
GK    DM      CM       CF
    CB           
                 RW 
            RB----->

That's now basically a 3-5-2.

When the players are on the pitch, they could be playing a 4-4-2, 4-5-1, 2-1-7, whatever... the instructions each player has to how they play when they are attacking and defending is what will really define the shape of the team.
 
BobbyBox said:
All our hopes pretty much rest on Rooney I think. If he gets injured, we are fucked.
Click to expand...

So we're definitely fucked then :P

Rooney's injured at the minute, and probably won't be fully fit for the start of the tournament so even that is exactly like 2006, it just doesn't bode well, even with Capello in charge.
 
Rooney's fine, I think its best suited to switch to a 4-3-3.

------------Hart-------------
Johnson-Ferdinand-Terry-Cole
------------Barry----------
----Carrick/Milner-Lampard----
-Lennon-----Rooney---Gerrard-

Think that would bring a good balance, Can see us getting overun in midfield with the 4-4-2.
 
Not really about England as such but we don't have a general thread, I was thinking how ironic it would be if France won it or there was some more blatant cheat that won it or on the England note a goal was given/not given ala 66' we would still be arguing about it...

The game is so different to that off 66' but in a way has not changed at all, now is that a good thing or bad thing?
 
Anyone seen the utter dog turd that is Three Lions 2010?

If you ever wanted to see what happens when a song gets into the hands of the wrong producer then here it is. It's a pile of over-produced shite.

YouTube - 'The Squad' Presents Three Lions 2010

Even the 1998 version was miles better ffs.

Original version:
YouTube - Three lions on a shirt by lighting seeds

Three Lions '98
YouTube - Lightning seeds three lions


And while i'm posting youtube links, the new Carlsberf advert is brilliant.

YouTube - Carlsberg Team Talk TV Ad
 
Crouch had the worst shot/goal ratio of all strikers in the league this season, only 10% of his shots produced goals. (from Talksport magazine)
 
As much as I agree that Heskey is the worst striker in that squad, but he's able to do something that the other strikers can't. That's the create space/room for Rooney and Gerrard to do their thing. With Heskey, they're able to play more freely and score goals. The pairing of Rooney and Heskey brought forth the most goals during the qualifying games more than Rooney and Defoe/Crouch/Bent

That's the reason why i think Capello chose Heskey and will stick with him.
 
Imo Capello should drop Rooney and call up Hibbert(his fit! and yeh he can play up front!!), ud problaby win the WC with him scoring a last mim blind seen butt goal inside the box for the glory.
 
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