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Hahaha, I am taking it all back! EVERYTHING is possible in this World Championship

European Champion turns out to be the worst team so far

Hlaine Larkin mk2 wrote:It's official: Spain and Australia are officially out!

 shrike wrote:
Also an example of why you shouldn't play a keeper who's been on the bench for the past season. Lopez, Reina or De Gea would all be better choices- hell, even Valdez.

I've always felt sorry for Valdes because Casillas has just been that little bit better than him and stopped him getting many caps for Spain
De Gea imo is like Barthez, highly erratic but can come up big when you need him to, just don't count on it

I agree with all of the above.

 Sigvatr wrote:
Hahaha, I am taking it all back! EVERYTHING is possible in this World Championship

European Champion turns out to be the worst team so far

I don't think they were that bad at all! They just got out-played by a much faster, hungrier and (for a lot of the time) more skilful Chilean team. Think they probably used the wrong players, and missed the chances they did have.

But, both Chilean goals were awesome, and in fact that was probably one of my favourite games of the tournament so far.

 Pacific wrote:

 Sigvatr wrote:
Hahaha, I am taking it all back! EVERYTHING is possible in this World Championship

European Champion turns out to be the worst team so far

I don't think they were that bad at all! They just got out-played by a much faster, hungrier and (for a lot of the time) more skilful Chilean team. Think they probably used the wrong players, and missed the chances they did have.

But, both Chilean goals were awesome, and in fact that was probably one of my favourite games of the tournament so far.

Yeah, definitely weren't the worst of the tournament, just straight up didn't play well as a team, and didn't finish the chances they did have.

"It's" gonna hit the fan when the next stage in the Cup begins. Games are gonna be so much more intense. I'm hoping Mexico pulls through with a miracle, but if not, the Krauts have my support.

Rooney keeping his scoring streak intact?

Even more pressure on England now. Hopefully they can bring it back.

Hah looks like England is the next one to leave the world champions-

-ROOOOOOOOOOOOOONEEEEEEEEEEEYYYYY!

Only took him 12 years!

Went to the toilet and missed it.

Hope they can get the win now!

EDIT: Oooft, as soon as I posted that Uruguay score...

...and back to getting the butt kicked again!

That was a good quick series of plays!

So right now, Spain and England are already out of the WC...the hell?

Soooo... does that mean the US has a chance?

Tie Portugal and not get crushed by Germany.

Doesn't sound that crazy.

Well......I have a new drinking game.

Whenever a pundit says 'on his/their day they are world class, I take a shot of tequila'.

Whenever a former England Manager is asked what could be done I take a shot of tequila.

Yet again we are no longer masters of our own fate.

 Sigvatr wrote:
So right now, Spain and England are already out of the WC...the hell?

England aren't out yet... if Italy beat Uruguay and Costa Rica, and England beat Costa Rica with a better goal difference, we're second in the group and we'll go into the round of 16. Hanging in there by the skin of our teeth

Annoyed yet again, both of England's games were very close, each game a draw would have been fair. Godin should have had a second yellow card for jabbing Sturridge in the throat and Suarez's second goal was a mixture of an unlucky header and Hart ducking his shoulder under the shot. Hodgson should really give Lallana, Barkley and Forster more of a chance- not speaking as a Celtic fan, but Forster would have reached Suarez's header (he's 6' 7") and would have stood firm 1 vs 1 (he's a big bastard, he doesn't hit the deck unless he's sure the striker's drilling it).
England need to play Lallana instead of Welbeck if they're playing 4-2-3-1, and Try out Barkley if Sturridge and Rooney aren't getting anywhere.
And I've said it repeatedly, england's defense really needs some experience along the back four to get some communication going on- Most of the goals conceded are directly because of poor coordination along the back four.

 shrike wrote:

England aren't out yet... if Italy beat Uruguay and Costa Rica, and England beat Costa Rica with a better goal difference, we're second in the group and we'll go into the round of 16. Hanging in there by the skin of our teeth

Seeing as England lost twice, I think they are out and should be out.

What a pity. Overpaid prima donnas (don't) strike again, add four more to the 'years of hurt', not that I care much.

 Red Viper wrote:
Tie Portugal and not get crushed by Germany.

Doesn't sound that crazy.

anything can happen in this World cup. Howard looked good the other night. But then he wasnt having to save goals from Ronaldo, let alone Muller or Klose. However Ronaldo doesn't look like he is getting the support so fingres crossed. Would love the USA to beat that slimy looking git. as for germany not crushing you................ best of luck and hope they use lube . Unless Italy beat Costa and Uraguay 4-0 to reduce their goal difference. England are well and truely out, but I had little hope for them anyway if im honest.

 Orlanth wrote:

 shrike wrote:

England aren't out yet... if Italy beat Uruguay and Costa Rica, and England beat Costa Rica with a better goal difference, we're second in the group and we'll go into the round of 16. Hanging in there by the skin of our teeth

Seeing as England lost twice, I think they are out and should be out.

What a pity. Overpaid prima donnas (don't) strike again, add four more to the 'years of hurt', not that I care much.

Well, England are, by definition, not out. It's mostly out of their hands, sure, but they're not out. And they should not be out. They played decently in both games and the fact that they lost both was bad luck.

England's form was awful and lacked energy in this game, they were outclassed by Uruguay. Their defence was very poor to have not picked up Saurez's run to the second goal.
To all the Rooney haters though, I hope your mouths are firmly shut seeing as he was the only decent player in that game, gets a goal and tried hard to make chances even though he was man-marked.

 Tyranid Horde wrote:
England's form was awful and lacked energy in this game, they were outclassed by Uruguay. Their defence was very poor to have not picked up Saurez's run to the second goal.
To all the Rooney haters though, I hope your mouths are firmly shut seeing as he was the only decent player in that game, gets a goal and tried hard to make chances even though he was man-marked.

England really wasn't that poor. Baines and Johnson both played well, Sturridge and Sterling made some good runs and Rooney was all over the place in a good way. Only poor performance was Jagielka, Hart and Welbeck for me. The rest was just not playing to their strengths (one vs one dribbling runs with Sturridge and Sterling, wing play etc.) and the same problem they had vs Italy with the finishing in the box. Think if Rooney had scored that header or that free kick, or if Gerrard hadn't headed that ball, or Jagielka had marked Suarez more closely, people would be making far less criticisms.

I've always defended Rooney- he's definitely not one of the best players in the world, but he's a damned good option to have, gives 100% every match and is a very well rounded player- good at passing, running, dribbling, shooting and heading. Just seems to not click for him in world cup finals. I think from a managerial perspective, points to improve would be:
- Caulker should be playing.
- Terry or Cole should be in to give a bit of international experience to the back line.
- They need to utilise the strengths of Lallana and Sterling.
- Barkley needs to play more, very reliable and fearless, not let down the team once.
- Need to give Forster a chance, Hart can be very inconsistent.
- Welbeck straight up isn't that good. In my opinion, he's basically a slightly worse Sturridge. There's better options out there (Barkley, Lambert, Defoe).

I know it's always pretty easy to beat up on the referee, but if he would have handed out that second yellow this game would probably been in England's favor.

An observation: I'm becoming more and more convinced that the British play-by-play/color commentary guys get some sort of check every time they use the word "quality."

I'm actually very optimistic about the US' chances. They won't beat Germany, but I don't think Portugal's going to be the hurdle everyone else does. It's Ronaldo and 10 other guys, basically. The Germans played well against the Portuguese, but they were helped by the Portuguese not playing well at all. I think the US can beat them.

Or to put it another way...I believe that we will win. (And that's a Navy chant, you usurpers.)

Seaward wrote:An observation: I'm becoming more and more convinced that the British play-by-play/color commentary guys get some sort of check every time they use the word "quality."

I'm actually very optimistic about the US' chances. They won't beat Germany, but I don't think Portugal's going to be the hurdle everyone else does. It's Ronaldo and 10 other guys, basically. The Germans played well against the Portuguese, but they were helped by the Portuguese not playing well at all. I think the US can beat them.

Or to put it another way...I believe that we will win. (And that's a Navy chant, you usurpers.)

Portugal do have some other very decent players- pepe, bruno alves, joao moutinho, raul meireles, varela, nani... not world class to the standard germany and italy have, but still very good in their own right. Though yeah, their game plan really needs to change from "pass to ronaldo until he scores". It's clearly not going to work, they need to function as a team better.

Fabio Coentrao and Hugo Almeida are injured, and it looks like Ronaldo might actually be out as well. Peps is suspended for his red card against Germany.

The US has every opportunity to tie, if not flat out win, this game.

I was disappointed in the England loss yesterday. I watched them play Italy, and thought they did a respectable job against a very strong team. They ironically need Italy's help to make it out of the group stage and (probably) a crushing win in their last match to have the point differential. We'll see.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 d-usa wrote:
Fabio Coentrao and Hugo Almeida are injured, and it looks like Ronaldo might actually be out as well. Peps is suspended for his red card against Germany.

The US has every opportunity to tie, if not flat out win, this game.

I'll take it!

kronk wrote:I was disappointed in the England loss yesterday. I watched them play Italy, and thought they did a respectable job against a very strong team. They ironically need Italy's help to make it out of the group stage and (probably) a crushing win in their last match to have the point differential. We'll see.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 d-usa wrote:
Fabio Coentrao and Hugo Almeida are injured, and it looks like Ronaldo might actually be out as well. Peps is suspended for his red card against Germany.

The US has every opportunity to tie, if not flat out win, this game.

I'll take it!

Yeah, both England games could easily have been draws, and no one would think it undeserved. I think it ends up that they need Italy and themselves to beat costa rica by a total of four goals, so two 2-0 wins would be enough. Italy could well do that, but England... I dunno. Maybe.

And yeah, I reckon it'll be an interesting game, Portugal vs USA, I'm just saying neither side should underestimate the other

 Seaward wrote:
An observation: I'm becoming more and more convinced that the British play-by-play/color commentary guys get some sort of check every time they use the word "quality."

I'm actually very optimistic about the US' chances. They won't beat Germany, but I don't think Portugal's going to be the hurdle everyone else does. It's Ronaldo and 10 other guys, basically. The Germans played well against the Portuguese, but they were helped by the Portuguese not playing well at all. I think the US can beat them.

Or to put it another way...I believe that we will win. (And that's a Navy chant, you usurpers.)

I would be delighted to see the USA do well in a "real" world competition.

Definitely. I think it's going to be a nail-biter.

But we couldn't have asked for any more breaks than that!