I agree that recent results have not been inspiring. But I disagree with you about the energy and imagination. It seems to me that this England team is more comfortable on the ball than many have been in the past (where it often seemed we were happy to let the opposition have the ball most of the time, as this meant less chance of giving it away!), and there were flashes of brilliance (such as the stepover that led to Sturridge’s chance). I think this is a young team still finding its feet that could gel just in time to spring a few surprises. Yes, you wouldn’t think they would get beyond the quarters and it will be an achievement to get out of the group, but if they do then anything can happen in a knockout competition.
Getting out of the group would be an achievement in my eyes too. That said, I fancy England against any of the teams that they will face in the 2nd Round (Colombia are minus Falcao, so a bit weaker though likely still the toughest team from that group, Ivory Coast are aging - would have been very tough 6 years ago but probably on a downward trend at the moment, and rightly or wrongly I would definitely fancy us to beat Greece or Japan), so if they can get out of Group D, they should be aiming for a quarter final at least, in my view.
They have two major issues I can see though - one is how to gel the attacking talent together; a lot of conjecture about Rooney and Sturridge being able to play together, etc, and we haven’t looked super fluid for some time at that end of the field. The other is the defence, which I have low expectations of - they just look so shaky sometimes (we have no right back to speak of, Johnson can’t defend, Smalling is terrible, Jones has had, in common with many Manchester United players, a tough year - and I’m concerned about strength in depth at centre half too).
We qualified with a record of scoring 30+ goals and only conceding 4. On the face of it, it seems weird to be worried about these two areas specifically, but I think it says more about our qualifying group than England in many respects. My hope is that England do what they usually do on these occasions and play to the level of the opposition - most of our best performances in my lifetime have been versus good teams, whilst the worst efforts have usually been against comparative minnows.
Just under 24 hours to go (assuming I’m looking at the time zones properly).
So… anyone think Brazil is NOT going to beat Croatia?
The mothers of the Croatian players. Though I would enjoy a good upset.
Yikes, Portugal just trounced Ireland 5-1 and CR played pretty decently, though not a full 100%. I’m not liking this Portugal finding its footing right before the tourney thing!
3-1 Brazil.
This is a really dumb question: what networks are airing the matches in the US? I’m trying to set my DVR to record everything and I’ve tried every combination of “FIFA” and “World Cup” and “Soccer” and all it turns up are Spanish-language recap shows.
ABC and ESPN/ESPN2. Schedule here(warning: bullshit Good Morning America autoplay video.)
Muito obrigado!
As always, there’s lots of discussion about the “Group of Death” but does anyone have an explanation for the two exceptionally weak groups, namely C and H? Looking at those two groups, I’m having a hard time seeing a team that came from the first pot in the drawing. Russia, maybe?
Apparently Belgium and Columbia (and Switzerland[!]) are #1 seeds.
Well, despite being from England and hence being an England fan - and how we are supposed to have an over-inflated view of our team’s abilities - I’m going to come out with it. It is going to take a minor miracle for us to get out of the group. After that anything can happen, but groups have a better record of weeding out the weaker teams. And we were weak before our team started dropping like flies.
As I have said before, I disagree. Usually I’m very pessimistic about England’s chances, but this time I think we could spring a surprise. However, I have also said that it could go the other way and we turn out to be absolutely terrible. At least Hodgson has formed a team/squad that gives us our best chance, in my view. Yes, they could fail horribly but if it all clicks they could go a long way. And I personally prefer a 50% chance of going out at the group stage but a 50% chance of reaching the semis, to a 100% chance of getting knocked out in the second round (I realise the actual probabilities are way more complex than that, but hopefully it illustrates the point I’m trying to make).
I got Brazil in the office sweepstake giving me an effective 16/1 payout (it’s not winner takes all). So, come on Brazil! Or at least get to the final so I can hedge out for a tidy profit.
I’ve said it before and will say it again. At the last world cup, with a much more highly regarded team we were shockingly bad. Rightfully battered by Germany and offering zero entertainment.
As I don’t think we have the consistency or quality to win it I’d rather see us out in a blaze of glory at the group stage than scraping a qtr spot and meekly surrendering.
I say go young, go fast…( then probably go home!)
The weird thing is that England seems to do best when they’re worse. The “let’s make to every semifinal and lose on penalties” teams of the 1990s were far less talented* than the teams we’ve fielded from 1998 on - but they did much better in tournament play.
*Let’s be honest: there were only four truly world-class players on the 1990 World Cup squad: Shilton (who was well past his prime), Gascoigne, Barnes and Lineker.
People forget how good Des Walker was and David Platt is one of the only British players to forge a successful career abroad, playing regularly for good sides in Serie A when it was the best league in the world. Also, Waddle was about to go and play for Marseille when they were one of the best sides in Europe, becoming a lynchpin for that side and Peter Beardsley was a bloody good footballer too.
Maybe none of these was truly world class - Platt probably the closest - but the second tier players on that squad were very good. Arguably better than the 2nd tier players on the teams from 1998 onwards.
Unless Germany and Brasil both advance out of the group stage and don’t finish in the same place in their group EA Sports’ simulation can’t happen in real life. Chances are much higher, if both teams make it far enough, that those two will meet in the semifinal round, not the Final.
Oh, so you’ve seen the US lineup? 
Tough call, for me. Uruguay’s on home continent (plus we all know how they did the last time the World Cup was held in Brasil - not that what happened 64 years ago will have any bearing, whatsoever, on what’s going to happen this time, of course). Italy (presumably, just like that other blue shirted team from Europe - France’s) will be looking to bounce back after its dismal performance (they couldn’t beat NEW ZEALAND’s team!!!) in 2010, and England’s team hasn’t been eliminated in the first round of a World Cup since, I think, 1958. On the other hand I don’t get the impression that either one of those teams is particularly good this year. Decent, maybe, but nothing special. I’ve decided that England’s team is the one that will draw the short straw this time and will be eliminated after only one round. We shall see…