Almost time for the big day guys, who are you fancying to win it? England? Or maybe the Germans? Or maybe the home of one of the greatest footballers of all time Brazil.
I'm not taking bets, but i'd be interested in your fancies.

England did a half decent job in their practise run with Mexico, thanks to red i got to watch it, if he had not reminded me i would have missed it. A bit like the advert i suppose, good old red he took the milky way.
Considering the team was changed regularly, i suppose it was a pretty good game. Johnson pegged a pearler, a left footer, any one see it?

Rooney was quiet, he's saving himself for the big one by the looks of it. We must be in with a heck of a chance this time around unless injuries keep hitting the lads, fingers crossed i guess.

I think Argentina will win it to be honest, but I really hope England do! Watching Steven Gerrard lift the trophy would be awesome!

Ah a fellow England fan, i dont know about you, but i cant wait, ive stacked up with my favourite beer, and loads of snacks already, and to be honest, with Capello in charge, i fancy we are in with a chance. Or am i just dreaming, no, we are definitely in with a chance.



That's a heck of a name you have there, it would take ten minutes ten to right it out, do you have a nick name on by any chance?

So your a Liverpool fan then?

:| Of course I'm an England fan! Even though I prefer Mauritius over England. With Fabio in charge we've got the best chance to win it since 86!

Well, I have been thinking about changing my name, but most people call me TGL. o.o

Although England stand a far better than chance than in previous years I don't think we will win it. Although we can now impose our own style of attacking play on teams we still lack enough finese or flair to cause real problems for the truly world class sides like Spain. For me our goalkeeper and defense is still questionable also. I don't really think Rooney is fit enough to truly shine in this world cup and that's awful hard for me to say as a United fan as I'd love to see him take apart some of the defenses that will be lining up against him.

I think Rooney can take on any defenses as long as he's got the attacking support from Lampard, Gerrard and the wingers!

I know you won't like this TGL but after the season Gerrard has had I doubt he can provide much of anything for England either, Lampard never produces the same form for country that he does for club (even I have to admit he is outstanding for Chelski). Barry for me has the flair and charisma of a gerbil and I have never understood the supposed benefit of him in the side.

For me a fully fit Joe Cole offers much more from midfield in terms of feeding forwards, if we can get Lennon running down the wings it will be of much use if he can get his final ball right. He might not be going and he might not be the player he was but if Becks was there I'd be more hopeful of our prospects, nobody else (when in form) can deliver a ball like him onto the head of a blade of grass if necessary.

I'll admit Gerrard has been off it this season, as has most of the Liverpool team. I would of chosen Beckham for the final 23, but he's not getting games when it matters.

I would LOVE England to win it... and I'll be supporting them Scotland haha how many time do you think I'll get beaten up?

More than none Rach!

I think I'm correct in saying Argentina have good players. I think Capello made a mistake not taking Leighton Baines, which may now be apparent. I think Joe Cole should be given a free role in which he can support Rooney and do whatever he wants. Also I would have taken a holding midfielder as cover for whatsisname - even Nicky Butt. For the opening game, my midfield would probably (I might change my mind) be Lampard, Butt, Wright Phillips, Lennon, Cole. Rooney would be the only striker but Cole would be free to do what he wants and support him.

No one else fancy Wright Phillips and Lennon on either wing? Or a holding midfielder?

I've had dreams about the 2nd game. I think the second game might be interesting.

I'd play Wright-Philips on the Right and Lennon on the left, then switch them mid game to use Barcelona's technique of having the wingers move into the center on their favored foot.

I was thinking Ledley can play holding midfield, someone has to do it. I think a Lampard/Gerard midfield is dynamite against Albania but it could come unstuck against the USA. You need either Lampard or Gerard in central midfield, form goes with Lampard. I'm not convinced Gerard should play with Rooney, its something he can do and posibly well, but I would have thought at World Cup you play Joe Cole in that role, or play Crouch or Heskey. I'd go with Joe Cole. I think Ledley should definately play in midfield against the USA.

I could suggest a radical formation that might work and it's a formation I use on the newer Football Management sims and adding into the old one's, 3-5-2 Wingback.



Carragher playing the holding midfield role, which he used to do when he started with Liverpool, as did Gerrard. 2 Wingbacks in Cole and Johnson, Carragher helping the right wing defencively to cover for Johnson's lack of defence skill, Cole can do the left side.

I'd honestly choose Lampard over Gerrard for the attacking midfield role, which will leave Gerrard in the midfield with Lennon or any other player who can play in the center.

Crouch with Rooney. Crouch is a Target Man, so he'll get most of the long/high balls and either get it to Rooney or if it's a cross, header it at goal as he's really tall.


It's similar to what I do with Liverpool on FIFA Manager 08;

Reina. Carragher, Agger, Hyypia. Arbeloa, Mascherano, Riise. Gerrard, Alonso. Crouch, Torres.

I don't even know why Upson and Carragher are there in the squad to be honest. Niether have done anything for club this season and it must be a reflection of what real lack of talented defenders the country has!

We're buying foreign players, so it's tough for the likes of the younger defenders to find a place in squads, unless they're really talented likes of Carragher, Terry and Ferdinand.

Carragher is more of a liability than even Neville was (and I'm a United fan).

You are right though it's an awful state or homegrown players are in due to the flash the cash culture of the Premiership allowing all manner of foreign imports into the country.

I'll admit that G.Nevillie is a brilliant defender when he's at his best, even better than Carragher but even our state of the game needs something to help the youth get involved.


I've signed up to an independent scouting site, filled in a form and I just need to fill out a PDF application form and send it off and then soon I might be having trials with Barnsley and all that was thanks to a Facebook advert!

Unfortunately it looks like Rob Green is about to get a kicking from the press for his handling error and some of the more pressing concerns to come out of the USA game may get glossed over. Our defense was awful the first half and I am not sure that Ledley King can deliver at this level anymore, there was no end product from Wright-phillips again despite his pace obviously causing problems for the USA. On the plus side I thought Gerrard was fantastic and Heskey did an excellent job. I thought Johnson was vastly improved also.

As for Rob Green - anyone could have made that error (James or Hart equally) and I hope he is not judged off the basis of one error as he did produce a fantastic second half save to deny the USA a victory.

P.s good luck with the football TGL.

I'm not a big fan of Heskey, but he done rather well even if he was caught offside many times and didn't make use of his chance against Tim Howard. But I can see Carragher starting against Algeria.

And thanks, hopefully you'll be seeing a Leungsangnam on the score sheet in the future and then you can say that you know that tosser. xD

I think you'll be safe rach there are a few of us scots that understand you should back your country of birth
I would like to see england get to at least the semi's . As for the U.S.A. Game i did think it would be a hard game and a draw was not that bad really might wake the boys up and get them playing as they should .
Just look at some of the other teams SPAIN , FRANCE , ITALY Not the best are they .
The Germans Looked Good But i think the Dutch will get Better and Better .
Come on England do your Fans Proud .

France and Spain... Oh dear!

What an absolute dismal performance by England, I missed the US v England game in which England was criticised for their performance so I thought I’d watch tonight’s game against Algeria to see if England were as bad as people have said, and I wasn’t disappointed.
It was like watching two pub teams go at it on a Saturday afternoon. England lacked in everything you would expect from a football team. They couldn’t keep possession, and when they did have possession the players would simply shrug their shoulders, wondering what to do with the ball next. They did have opportunity but it was if every team member was in a world of their own. If they limp through to the next round then it will be a slaughter if they go up against someone like Brazil, Argentina or Germany.

I think it's safe to say that if this World Cup keeps up we'll have Euro'92 all over again and that's when Denmark won it!

Germany and England humbled are could both fail to progress!

To swap loyalty from Scotland to England for This World Cup and Rooney to slag off the people Supporting them i would drop him like a stone .
Send him back to Manchester
I would Play the 3 Subs from the start and for god sake play the players in their club positions where possible

I have sat through some terrible England performances in my time but last night was absolutely terrible. We looked dejected, disjointed and despondent as a team. There was no spark, no flair and no cohesion. Both of the forwards were awful, I think Rooney is way off his best since his injury and he saw this World Cup as his chance to really shine and since it is not coming together for him he is lashing out at the fans (which stinks).

The substitution of Wright-Phillips for Lennon (like for like) made no sense and I genuinely believe if we had put Joe Cole on we could have broken the Algerian back line eventually. As a result of us being unable to cope with being closed down by the Algerians we made a team ranked 30th in world look like Brazil. As the commentator said last night these players in the England squad have played for and against the world's best players in the best tournaments in the world so they should be adept at dealing with the pressure of the World Cup.

I noticed during the game last night that the knives where already coming out for Capello, saying he was causing tension in the team with his mannerism and politics on team selection. That to be frank is absolute bollocks! This man has been a god in the eyes of the press, fans and players during the entire qualification period, he has galvanised and raised the level of English National football by a good couple of notches. Now as a result of two poor performances he is already being put in the spotlight by certain parties when all that needs to be done is to look no further than the 11 men on the pitch who clearly aren't the team our nation hoped them to be. I genuinely hope we get dumped out by Slovenia on Wednesday as we don't deserve to progress in this tournament and should we manage to muddle through to the knock out stages we would be lambs to the slaughter.

As for the tournament as a whole I think I can safely say that it has been a royal let down, it is not even as if the lesser teams have set the place alight as despite the poor performances of France, Spain and Italy it has hardly ignited the year of the underdog has it? Only Argentina have looked anything like worthy winners.

they think it all over... it bloody well is now.

Germany 4-1 England

The shame of it all.

Me and my boyfriend walked to the station when it got to 4-1, shambles it was!

A thought occured to me today (was due another one this millenium) - it goes a bit like this and it is not backed up by any statistical evidence because......................well I have a life.

Imagine you are an England player.

For example, say Frank Lampard. Week in, week out in the Premiership you turn in top class performances. In the Champions League, FA & League Cup you give it your all for the club, for the fans, for the shirt on your back for the badge on your chest. You know that if you play poorly for a consistent period of time any one of three or four other players equal to you in terms of ability and skill can fall into your place when the coach gets sick of you and inevitably drops you from the side. A spell on the bench becomes a spell in the reserves becomes a "sell him for all he's worth" scenario (and this is hypothetical) and you are gone. Your career (although diminished) remains intact. Your own poor performances through injury, lack of fitness, off the field problems or simple ego etc cause you to lose your place, that is you see the consequence of your own actions.

Now, back track a bit. You are still (hypothetically) Frank Lampard (and I am not singling Frank out, he is purely for purposes of example). You never get to the poor performance situation for your club, you naturally get picked for England for the World Cup. You (along with most of the team) put in poor performances for 4 games solid - just eeking out one victory against a third rate European side. After a hammering by a fantastic Germany side the press and media vultures go full on for the head of the coach of England. Almost with a sense of inevitability he hands his future to the FA in a press conference mere hours after your country's worst ever World Cup result. All the incomplete passes, the shots blazing wide of the upright, all the corners that didn't even miss the first defender, all the lack of width on the pitch, all the defensive blunders, all the general lack of discipline in terms of positioning and awareness cause a witch hunt for the coach of the squad. In the end after 2 weeks of deliberation as to whether the FA can afford to sack him they bite the bullet and do so.

A new coach comes in looks at the squad..........................and your picked again, nearly all of you.

Hang on, stick with me there is a point to this.

Where is your motivation to perform in any of the above for your national team? If the only consequence you see for failure is the sacking of the man who has no safety in his job by virtue of either a) his nationality or b) the fact that competition for his place is far greater than that for any other position within the national set up, then why not just do what the hell you like in the national shirt? After all you are seemingly untouchable? Given that poor performances at club level have very definite consequences for players over time, there is little in the way of such hazard for them in their national squad. In the England set up there is nobody to replace an in form or out of form Wayne Rooney based on current evidence, likewise with David James, Steven Gerrard or Ashley Cole (to give random indicators) so regardless of performance even on the worlds biggest footballing stage their places are almost assured for their playing careers.

The English national set up is flawed because without the array of foreign imports to serve and supply to our named stars these same stars cannot deliver on the national stage. In short Premier League players cannot give Premier League performances in the World Cup because that fame is not entirely their own. The English Premier League may well be the strongest league in the world, but as a result our national game is a feeble, meek and very distant second.

At least England beat australia in de cricket yes yes yes.

AB you clearly put alot of thought and effort into that post (sorry if that sounds patronising!). Its a shame that someone else posted after you without even acknowledging what you wrote. But thats typical of this forum.
Your theory seems pretty decent to me. Sorry i cant say any more than that as i dont really have a clue on football, which is pretty surprising considering i live with someone who can hold his own on major football discussions. Its a shame he doesnt come on here anymore to contribute.

Needed to get it off my chest and couldn't wait until the pub tomorrow night. Oh I didnt expect a response anyway (other than yours) - after all I have posted it on here haven't I? Bestukforum - as long as you post in the news section!

Well done Spain on winning it's a shame the game was so dirty i tipped the dutch to win at the start of it all but god they were dirty tonight

I tipped Scotland,but they never turned up ???

Come on england !! Stop shagin each others wives, getting 16 year old birds pregnant and using brasses, and just concentrate on the footie and we might get somewhere

Well it's more about the media publishing stuff like that, just look at USA '94 during the qualifiers!

Good point, still think they were a shower of shite

It is very difficult for England to win the world cup because of the high tension and highly physical English Premier League .
Before any world cup the English players have to play the premier league and when world cup arrives ,most of the England players are injured or lost there form at that time .

But are we not constantly being told that the Premier League is the best league in the world. Surely you would imagine that exposure to that level of competition week in week out would make us a real force in the World Cup? I am sure that once every 4 years these supposed athlete's could find the levels of energy necessary to put in a half decent performance for the World Cup?

The result is amazing
I always think Germany would be win