Jgc81
County: Meath
Posts: 77

When you say only Cole and Rooney would get into the Spanish side, are you taking form and fitness into account or do you genuinely think Puyol and Pique are better than Terry and Ferdinand?

Breffni40 (Cavan) - Posts: 12316 - 02/03/2010 13:07:09    576919

i wouldnt have rooney ahead of a fully fit torres or villa. both are lethal when fit. differnet class to rooney. rooney will give you more in the way of creativity and hard work, but you dont need that when you have 3 world class playmakers in the shape of fabregas, iniesta and xavi.

jcg. i cant see alonso getting into the side with pablo hernandez and mata there also. they are far better players

32_4_1 (Meath) - Posts: 4140 - 02/03/2010 13:44:16    576962

What odds would you get on rooney to be WC top scorer?

Plastic Paddy (Tyrone) - Posts: 664 - 02/03/2010 13:59:05    576981

Re; Breffni 39, yeah i genuinely do think the Spanish pairing are better then the English pairing, really think Ferdinand and Terry are going to struggle against pace. The persistant back problems Ferdinand is having must be of huge concern? Puyol really reminds me of Jamie Carragher, always looks like he should be cleaned by good players but never is, which imo shows how extremely clever he is! I definitely dont think Terry or Ferdinand are anywhere near as astute as either of the Spanish duo, particularly Puyol!

Jgc81 (Meath) - Posts: 195 - 02/03/2010 14:05:17    576990

Im pretty sure Alonso will start, however i do agree they have plenty of options in midfield. One concern for the Spanish maybe a lack of genuine width, Xavi, Iniesta and Cesc all very similar? The Barca duo will surely play so maybe David Silva may play ahead of Fabregas!! Just shows how strong they are!!

Jgc81 (Meath) - Posts: 195 - 02/03/2010 14:13:27    577001

I cant see past Spain. They are blessed with great players all over from goalkeeper to striker. They have great players in reserve like Jesus Navas, very good winger from Sevilla, who might not make the squad albeit for obvious reasons. England havn't a hope. I'm not an England basher by the way, majority of my family are English.

Adler (Monaghan) - Posts: 754 - 02/03/2010 14:18:36    577011

Adler
County: Monaghan
Posts: 276



England dont have a hope....? bit over the top

They have a Squad full of Champions league players/Winners/Finalists... International football is fairly pants at the minute.

England will take some beating... you'll see.

jimbodub (Dublin) - Posts: 20763 - 02/03/2010 14:43:23    577041

Yeah maybe a bit OTT Jimbo but I think they will find someway to mess it up. Remember they struggled against Paraguay, Trinidad and Tobago and Ecuador at the last World Cup.

Adler (Monaghan) - Posts: 754 - 02/03/2010 15:00:18    577061

England are currently in the top 3 in the World with Brazil and Spain. Them three teams are slightly above the rest. Goalkeeper and the form of their centre-backs should be a worry though and like all teams they need to be lucky with injuries. A lot will depend on if Ashley Cole gets fit as he's currently the best left-back in the World. Got 100 quid on them to reach the semi's so they would need to

pplocal (Tyrone) - Posts: 5878 - 02/03/2010 15:10:02    577073

Adler.

Remember what happened after that? Didnt qualify for the euros. They are a different proposition now.

Plastic Paddy (Tyrone) - Posts: 664 - 02/03/2010 15:10:04    577074

Jgc81
County: Meath
Posts: 79

576990 Re; Breffni 39, yeah i genuinely do think the Spanish pairing are better then the English pairing, really think Ferdinand and Terry are going to struggle against pace. The persistant back problems Ferdinand is having must be of huge concern? Puyol really reminds me of Jamie Carragher, always looks like he should be cleaned by good players but never is, which imo shows how extremely clever he is! I definitely dont think Terry or Ferdinand are anywhere near as astute as either of the Spanish duo, particularly Puyol!
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I'd agree with that totally. Definitely Pique & Puyol for me.

Re. Spain's problem with width, the Spaniards traditionally played with wingers, but have moved to the more narrow midfield in the last few years. Now the width comes from their full-backs, particularly Sergio Ramos who has licence to bomb forward at will. It's a problem that England also have, and means that a full recovery by Johnson & Cole is essential for their (extremely slim) chances, as Warnock & Brown are no threat coming forward at that level.

Thomas Clarke (Tyrone) - Posts: 1002 - 02/03/2010 15:11:01    577075

Adler
County: Monaghan
Posts: 277

577061 Yeah maybe a bit OTT Jimbo but I think they will find someway to mess it up. Remember they struggled against Paraguay, Trinidad and Tobago and Ecuador at the last World Cup.

Capello knows how to win games like that...

They are a different team with that man on board.

jimbodub (Dublin) - Posts: 20763 - 02/03/2010 15:14:35    577080

englands real problem throughout the years is they never had a great traditional "no. 10" playmaker. matt le tissier was the last and they refused to give him his game.

32_4_1 (Meath) - Posts: 4140 - 02/03/2010 15:18:50    577085

Am still sceptical Jimbo - Capello is a solid manager and has got consistency out of this team but their group was a bit flat and didn't push them too hard. He has been woefully indecisive in settling for a number 1 keeper and its not a good bet that he will have his best two centre-halves on top form. He doesn't have many alternatives at this stage and should have settled on a keeper and a group of four solid centre-halves for his squad. I think they will leak goals which will hurt them in the knockout stages.

pearsesabu (Antrim) - Posts: 663 - 02/03/2010 15:26:38    577089

pearsesabu
County: Antrim
Posts: 534

577089 Am still sceptical Jimbo

You can only base it from what we've seen.. In Capellos short time there he has turned England into a good team... just look at the group... yes perhaps not the toughest of groups but hey they didnt struggle though did they... they put teams to the sword... And have a look for yourself that was without Rooney at his very best.

They have players that can come into the team... Milner should in my opinion get the nod... and I think he'll play a big part in this world cup... as I said international soccer is not great at the minute, they'll do damage in the finals.. with Capello on board.... if they stop the messing...!!! Yes they have to get a bit of luck and stay injury free... but hey that can be said about any team... What happens if Spain lose Torres and Villa (Did I spell that right)

I'd like to see them do well... now that the arm band has been taken of that idiot Terry... thye have the players to attack and also stop other teams from playing football when needed.. which is what they'll do!

jimbodub (Dublin) - Posts: 20763 - 02/03/2010 16:36:20    577175

Good win for England last night....

They proved that they have the bench to do damage... Egypt are a good team and have been in the top 10 in the last few years... didnt they also win the African Nations cup the last couple of times to boot. Well they looked a decent side from the first half display... but lampard should have done better..!

I'd have Milner in instead of Lampard... Gerrard links up so well with Rooney that theres no way he'll be dropped... I'm a big fan of James Milner.. he can do it all and Aston Villa will soon be getting a 30million offer from Chelsea for his services... Sean Wright Phillips did very well coming on I thought.. and hey Crouch is a man that can do damage at international level.. he proven that now! 20 goals to his name....

If England can stop the messing off the pitch and keep the British media at bay and out of their minds, I think that they could be looking good in this World Cup. They are on a very impressive run of victories... and I hope they can bring that form into the World Cup!

I'm sure you'll love to see your favourite Man Utd, Liverpool, Arsenal, Man City etc etc players do well...

jimbodub (Dublin) - Posts: 20763 - 04/03/2010 09:28:08    578704

Hart (James)
Cole (Richards)
Terry (Upson)
Ferdinand (King)
Warnock (Dawson)
Milner (Young)
Gerrard (Beckham)
Lampard (Barry)
J.Cole (Lennon)
Rooney (Bent)
Defoe (Crouch)

On reflection, this squad isnt strong enough to reach the final. Players like Terry, Lampard, Ferdinand, Gerrard are ageing.

Scruffy2Donut (Cavan) - Posts: 1112 - 04/03/2010 13:53:42    578988

what happens if spain lose torres and villa ..huge loss no doubt put they still have mata negrado llorentle and guiza in reserve .. this will be da spainsh team id say scary and they destroyed france last night with torres and xavi startin from da bench..

1 casillas
2 ramos 5 puyol 6 pique 3 capdevilla
4 alonso
6 iniesta 10 xavi
11 silva
7 villa 9 torres

bench
reina
albiol
arbeloa
senna
fabregas
mata
negardo


really rate mata think hes top notch but hard to leave out navas whos on fire .. there so strong there was talk of torres been dropped as villa is da no1 finisher in world football and fabregas navas and mata are pushing him.. they are strengthed by the fact they wouldnt miss any one player coz there is just a good player waiting to fill in. ie in euros villa da golden boot got injured and fab came in and was mom against russia .. unlike england rooney arg messi and brazil kaka portugal ronaldo

the only thing i can see stopping them is a big fit and physical african team like the yanks got about them in confederation cup..but that may have been a one off.. there last 16 game against brazil or portugal is likely to be der hardest game

asf22 (Galway) - Posts: 31 - 04/03/2010 14:47:10    579066