England World Cup Thread

[Tom]

The last time Austria won Eurovision, England won the World Cup. ENGLAND WINNING CONFIRMED.

Not just that, apparently the last time a team turned around a 2-0 deficit in the FA Cup final and went onto win it was 1966 also. It has to be England's year

[prophet]

The last time Austria won Eurovision, England won the World Cup. ENGLAND WINNING CONFIRMED.

Not just that, apparently the last time a team turned around a 2-0 deficit in the FA Cup final and went onto win it was 1966 also. It has to be England's year

DOUBLE CONFIRMED THAT ENGLAND WILL WIN.

Also I find it ironic that the FA sent the England squad to Portugal to acclimatise but it's been warmer in England hahaha

[SlightlyJames]

The last time Austria won Eurovision, England won the World Cup. ENGLAND WINNING CONFIRMED.

Not just that, apparently the last time a team turned around a 2-0 deficit in the FA Cup final and went onto win it was 1966 also. It has to be England's year

DOUBLE CONFIRMED THAT ENGLAND WILL WIN.

Also I find it ironic that the FA sent the England squad to Portugal to acclimatise but it's been warmer in England hahaha

Reminds me of the time I went to Spain for a holiday and it rained most of the time and there was a heat wave back home.

[prophet]

England's worst XI on BBCThree right now, pretty funny stuff.

HOW DARE THEY INSULT THE GREAT CARLTON PALMER! @PorkChop

[PorkChop]

England's worst XI on BBCThree right now, pretty funny stuff.

HOW DARE THEY INSULT THE GREAT CARLTON PALMER! @PorkChop

Carlton Palmer is an fucking legend, BBC can piss off.

Carlton's finest moment:

[prophet]

They've honestly just tried to make a case for putting Gerrard, Scholes and Lampard in the worst 11.

I...what...even...

[AkydefGoldberg]

^Robbie Savage isn't on this show is he?

Or some other useless, brainless "pundit".

[prophet]

^Robbie Savage isn't on this show is he?

Or some other useless, brainless "pundit".

They instead put Vinnie Jones in it despite him being capped for Wales.

[prophet]

http://blog.paddypower.com/2014/05/29/p ... rpool-way/

Enjoy reading these columns Scholes does for Paddy Power - shame he doesn't fancy himself as a pundit because he's usually bang on (like he was about Arsenal/Wilshere earlier in the season) and when he talks, you listen. Surprised to see him talk so complimentary about Liverpool and he goes on to say that LFC can challenge at the top level consistently again if they buy two top draw centre halves and a left-back, couldn't agree more with him.

He also states that he'd start Gerrard, Sturridge, Henderson and Sterling against Italy (as would I) but the question mark remains on whether Johnson should play. I reckon Hodgson will endear himself to the public, regardless of how we wind up doing at the World Cup, if he's brave enough to start the younger, fearless attacking players and properly go for it rather than do what he did at the last Euro's and play negative, reserved football that might see us through the groups but would be excruciatingly boring to watch.

[PorkChop]

Agreed, Scholes is usually pretty solid. I'd prefer him to most of the other pundits we get on BBC / ITV / Sky.

Steven Hawking has calculated our best chance of success: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/scie ... ccess.html

[AkydefGoldberg]

Scholes the pundit is awesome, blunt and honest. Love it.

It's nice to see him complimentary, rightly so, about Gerrard as they didn't really get on that much during their playing days with England and he nailed it when he said Gerrard handles the deeper role much better than Lampard. Lampard can't control but is a decent passer and offers stamina but not much else.

[AkydefGoldberg]

Debate around Rooney's role after what it seems, was another disappointing performance last night.

I didn't see his performance last night but tbf to him, at least this time he was injured a few months ago and seems to have finally realised the importance of a tournament and had a trainer with him on his holiday to try and get fitter quickly. But whether this training would have been done had he been fully fit and firing, I doubt it.

I think he could struggle in Brazil but might manage or a goal or two. I felt Strurridge at number nine, Barkley behind him and Sterling/Lallana on each side. If you're going to go out of the WC, then go out attacking than on penalties this time.

SAF said Rooney always took ages to get back into form after injury. And it's a stark contrast to him and his former team-mate Ronaldo in terms of looking after their bodies.

Ronaldo is like a boxer. He always has gym work included in his training hence the physique he has now. He always keep ticking him and more important knows his body and what he needs to do to maintain it.

Rooney, even more so, needed to do that because naturally he's not very athletic (being polite again) so he really needed to keep ticking over in the gym. It's a nice thing to do so, i.e have a trainer with him, but he wouldn't have done that had he not been injured.

Roy won't drop him although just imagine if he did and England did well, he'd have another contract and a wage rise waiting for him in London.

[PorkChop]

Rooney has always been hit and miss. World class on his day, but otherwise average.

He tends to score in bursts also. There's times he'll go several games without a goal and then suddenly will become lethal (usually against Villa, who he's scored against more than any other club). I'd prefer someone like Sturridge up front who basically guarantees you a goal.

[prophet]

I don't think his performance was bad last night, it just wasn't good either. I think the media has built Rooney up so much over the years trying to put him on a pedestal with the likes of Messi, Ronaldo, Suarez etc... that it's become impossible for him to deliver. I really like Rooney and admire his work-rate and overall passion when he plays but I actually think that's his downfall. He tries so hard to do it all and be everywhere on the pitch that his own personal game is disrupted by it - perhaps if he stuck to his position for 90 minutes he'd be a much better attacking player and definitely a more prolific goalscorer. Instead he doesn't really play in a set position but rather floats around the entire pitch and more often than not he disrupts his team-mates.

Right now I'd start him vs Italy though - I'd pretty much keep the team the same as last night but swap Welbeck for Sterling. Good to see Lallana and Henderson both do well last night, the latter's workrate and general energy particularly impressive.

[prophet]

Wade Barrett's trunks last night though?

[prophet]

Triple posting because you lot are useless..sue me!

Looking forward to seeing the team play again tonight though the word is Woy is jumbling the squad around to give players a run out, not a fan of that tbh. I understand the need to take a look at some of the other members but if you have an idea of your best 11 I think you should give them more game time together to continue to gel and perform.

Also if you guys download the Sun Dream Team app I'll set up a league during the tournament, anyone interested?

[PorkChop]

I've heard Milner is starting in right-back tonight

[AkydefGoldberg]

I've heard Milner is starting in right-back tonight

Might be better than Johnson/Smalling/Jones. He's got stamina in abundance which is needed for that role, decent cross in him but will struggle to adapt to the role defensively and positioning. Worth a shot.

Roy doesn't want to drop Rooney so will play him on the left.

[PorkChop]

1-0 down lmao

[Tom]

Ecuador have been bad defensively. However England quite possibly have been worse defensively. They've left gaps the size of the Atlantic Ocean in the defence and I still don't think they know how to keep a straight line when it comes to playing people offside. I honestly think my passport would be more useful to England than chris smalling's, and I'm brutal enough as it is.

Still there has been positives going forward. Chamberlain has looked a right nuisance, he's certainly putting himself in with a claim to start against Italy!