World Cup 2014 Thoughts

Now England cling on to the slim chance of the Italians beating both Costa Rica and Uruguay but that's not going to happen. Well done Luis Suarez, pure class finishes in the game. Two real chances and he snapped them both up.

As for England I think this was a tournament too far for Gerrard. His legs aren't what they used to be and the Liverpool forward line have covered for his weaknesses in the holding role this season in front of an equally shaky defence as England's. Equally Rooney seems to have seen better days. Johnson is good going forward but often a liability defending.
Both may struggle to hold their places for the next tournament.

For the youngsters this was a great experience and a learning curve for them for tournaments to come. Ultimately England failed where England always have done since 1966. We can't beat the other nations that have won a World Cup.

originally posted by: Verse
It's good to see football get more attention in the USA. Hopefully they manage to knock out Portugal in the next game, I think they have a good chance because portugal are kinda broken and shaky right now and with no Pepe or Concentrao in def. and an unfit ronaldo there is hope for them.

Watching England now...of course Suarez scored. Hope Uruguay win this one. I hope Germany or Argentina win the World Cup though. If Argentina does it nobody can question Messi's status as one of the best ever. (the Cry7 fans keep bringing Messi down for not having a world cup title on his resume..lol)

I think we will knock Portugal out like we did in 2002. Back then they had a fully healthy squad with Luis Figo, Joao Pinto, Abel Xavier etc.

Confidence is fairly high that we can do it again.

Interesting infographic:

As I predicted, England are sh*t and pretty much out.
Never likely to succeed under Hodgson who is the football manager equivalent of grey paint and has poor decision making and zero tactical nous.

The man's an embarrassment to himself and England.

He had two years to get the team ready and first game, plays Rooney on the wing.

Second game, even though Rooney is dreadful, moves everything around to accommodate him and made us look awful and we played dire football.

We have the worst manager and worst defence at the tournament.

Hodgson (if what I read is true) is the highest paid manager at the World Cup.... just think about that.


If that's not enough... let this sink in.

Rafa Benitiez and Fabio Capello were both "moved on" because "Football men" thought Hodgson could come in and do a better Job.

It might sound like I'm annoyed but it couldn't be more wrong.... I told my nephew before tournament that we'd lose to Italy and draw the next two and we had no chance.
Bless him... he's only 22 and actually has faith in the England team.
After the Italy game He said it's the best he's seen England play.

I feel bad that our youth have to suffer like this




I actually felt pleased for Suarez, fair play to the lad.... shows passion, commitment, determination and incredible skill and workrate, more than can be said for any of our team - who admittedly were hampered by an odious cretin in Hodgson.
Uruguay are a fairly average team but Suarez makes them something more... we don't have that.
We don't play as a team and we don't have a single world Class player.... and even if we did, our manager would somehow screw it up.

It's probably the best group of players England have had for a decade and some excellent young players too., Roy just picked badly and got our tactics totally wrong.

A young, attack minded, tactical manager like Martinez or Rodgers would have had this England side Purring....

But Roy? his solution and tactical knowledge can be summed up in these images

The Hodgson Face-Rub







I almost forgot the head bang...

a reply to: JadeStar

Interesting also to not see the Netherlands on that chart.

Englands world cup in 6 seconds

a reply to: blupblup

Well mate, England surpassed the remarkably low expectations I had of them - a new low in a lifetime of lows of watching and following England.

I don't agree with the criticism Rooney is getting from some - played out of position yet again in the opener and last night he was starved of service from midfield resulting in him dropping far too deep to get any possession.
Gerard and Henderson have been exceptionally disappointing and our defence was appalling.
Six defenders in the box and still Suarez, the only Uruguayan in the box, gets a free header - hate to say it but Terry would never have allowed that.
And would Ashley Cole have allowed Suarez so much space for the second?

Guess its easy to be wise after the event.

But England never looked up for it and Hodgson's selections and tactics have to be questioned.
He's far too negative and stuck in an age long since gone - football has moved on so much, sadly it seems England is getting left behind.

But we're not alone - Spain looked even worse than England and Italy were woeful today.

Its looks a truly open tournament at present, but guess its still only early days - but I still think my 6/1 for Argentina looks a cracking value bet.

a reply to: blupblup

I am old enough to take this all in my stride now and enjoy the World Cup with or without England. I'm too young to have seen the the reverse from 2-0 to 3-2 against West Germany in 1970 but can recall almost every moment we went out of a major tournament since.

The tear gas induced and then real tears in Turin in 1980 are a bit of haze to be honest. The promising 3-1 win over France then saw us peter out and then Keegan's glaring miss as the ball seemed to bounce off his head in Spain 1982. Then came the hand of god in 1986 in Mexico, followed by the disastrous 3 defeats in Euro '88 Germany. Van Basten sealing a 3-1 victory in Dusseldorf. Next were Gazza's tears followed by Pearce and Waddle putting penalties into orbit in 1990. In Sweden we had Thomas Brolin running through the defence to end a dull string of performance in 1992 (Carlton Palmer was our best player!). In 1996 I can still see Southgate nervously stepping up after 10 perfect penalty kicks in that horrible grey/blue strip at Wembley. He scuffed it to the left and football went home.

Next up was poor Sol Campbell who could have been a national hero on two occasions had things turned out different. Down to 10 men after a petulant Beckham was sent off, Sol heads home to make it 3-2 in France 1998 with another quarter-final beckoning. Shearer's elbow on the Argentinian keeper puts a stop to him making headlines next day. Ince and Batty's fluffed penalties made sure of it. Euro 2000 is almost forgettable even though we beat the Germans. Phil Neville's clumsy lunge against Romania wasn't and we lost that one 3-2 after the resulting penalty.

I am beginning to wonder if Sven was actually a better manager than we ever gave him credit for, especially after his 'Ulrika moment'. Beating Germany 1-5 in Munich will probably never be bettered for a long time on the way to Japan. We even beat Argentina in the group stage. But then after Owen gave us hope against Brazil we wilted in the sun after Ronaldinho ballooned a free kick over Seaman's pony-tailed head. In 2004 Sol Campbell could have been a hero again but Urs Meier decided he's fouled someone and we ended up at penalties again. Who can forget the launch of a new satellite "Waddle II" as Beckham slips and puts it into orbit in the shootout? Darius Vassell's miss sends us home.

Big Phil from Brazil (but now with the Portugeezers) got the better of us again in Germany 2006 when the little winker tricked Rooney into getting himself sent off. We battled through for penalties but what was the point. Only one of them went in. The humiliation by Germany in 2010 is still probably fresh in most people's memories as is the shootout with Italy a couple years ago. Young hit the bar (as did many of us afterwards) and Ashley Cole tapped it lightly to the keeper.

Revie, Greenwood, Robson, Taylor, Venables, Hoddle, Keegan, Eriksson, Capello and Hodgson have all failed to win a trophy. Some were better managers than others and the quality of the squads varied as well. At times we came mighty close (90 & 96). But ultimately we've suffered for nearly 50 years now.

So I am not surprised to see England go home and will just enjoy the rest of the World Cup as a complete neutral. I don't think it's just tactics or players that are at fault I think it's a combination of having to play in the usually warmer weather of the summer, never quite sure whether to play like a Premier League team or adapt to the opposition and a most of all a mental thing. I think as soon as we come up against top opposition and come under pressure an inferiority complex comes in. England players then tend to play within themselves and "hang on for penalties" mentality ensues.

I could slate Hodgson and the players but even Capello with all his credentials couldn't squeeze anything out of the team in favourable conditions (South African winter) . But I just accept it now that I may never see England win a major trophy in my lifetime.

a reply to: mikeone718

Yeah, they probably were in the next 10 countries after Mexico.

They are certainly hard to miss in all that Orange

Another article, this time from Forbes

Which nation has the most foreign born players at the World Cup?

The chart below is clickable at the link above:

originally posted by: Freeborn
a reply to: blupblup

I don't agree with the criticism Rooney is getting from some - played out of position yet again in the opener and last night he was starved of service from midfield resulting in him dropping far too deep to get any possession.

Well I think he's burnt out, personally don't think he should have started either game... he offers nothing out wide really.
Sterling got a MOTM performance in the central role Rooney wanted and Sturridge scored the goal.
Fair do's Rooney set it up... but he missed some chances and missed some serious chances vs Uruguay.
I would have brought him on in both games if we needed him, not a starter for me.
He's not a big tournament player, not for England anyway.

Does he have a position?

Gerard and Henderson have been exceptionally disappointing

Well this is what I was saying about Roy not having a clue.
He basically looked at Liverpool, saw some great English players and thought "I'll have some of that" without having a clue how to do it and what a position involves.

Gerrard for Liverpool plays in front of the back 4, a deep lying midfield playmaker with Henderson and Allen/Coutinho in front doing the leg work, Gerry hasn't the legs for it, same way Juve do with Pirlo
Gerrard sets up the play and controls the game from back there, the FBs/WB's push up and we just attack and press.

England did not press.... at all.

Hodgson knows nothing and has no idea how to use an extremely talented bunch of young players.






Hodsgon just saw Henderson and Gerrard have a good season and decided that he'd pick them and play them however he wanted.... he's utterly clueless., had them essentially in the same position doing the same thing.
Even though it could work that way, it wouldn't with Roy doing the "coaching"

and our defence was appalling.
Six defenders in the box and still Suarez, the only Uruguayan in the box, gets a free header - hate to say it but Terry would never have allowed that.
And would Ashley Cole have allowed Suarez so much space for the second?

Totally agree on our Defence.... atrocious.
Both in terms of personnel and their positional awareness.

Jagielka is a particularly awful defender, Cahill had moments where he was good but needed a Terry or such a strong leader alongside him.
Johnson not bad going forward but poor defensively, Liverpool's worst player this season and Baines is vastly overrated and have no idea why Shaw didn't get a run out.

But England never looked up for it and Hodgson's selections and tactics have to be questioned.
He's far too negative and stuck in an age long since gone - football has moved on so much, sadly it seems England is getting left behind.

Asbolutely mate... he's just an FA yes man.
The corrupt FA put him there (Greg Dyke?? FFS) and they've said he has two more years too.

Like I said, we need a young, hungry manager who plays "the right way"

But young hungry managers don't want to manage the national team, why would they?
In this country it's almost like the job you take pre-retirement or something, it's seen as something earned after a great league managerial career.

Its looks a truly open tournament at present, but guess its still only early days - but I still think my 6/1 for Argentina looks a cracking value bet.

It's pretty good mate for sure...Wasn't hugely impressed by Argentina in their opener but they'll improve for sure.
I think it'll be a South American team who wins, although Germany, France & Holland looking good.

Been a fantastic tournament so far and hopefully some really cracking games ion the next round and after.

a reply to: blupblup

Many good points there about Hodgson. But I'm not going to dwell on him too much. I think the best modern manager England had was Venables (but he had too much baggage for the FA so they didn't renew his contract). And if Hoddle hadn't have had such strange religious views, or at least kept them to himself, then maybe we could have seen some real development at international level. We all love Bobby Robson and he was good. But he got lucky in Italia 90 right up to that semi-final when he actually deserved more luck.

Hodgson isn't a bad manager but he's always struggled wherever expectations are high and I can't see us doing much in Euro 2016 to be honest with him. I'd love to see Rodgers or Martinez in the job but fear their careers might be ruined after a couple of poor results in the impossible job. I also think Merseyside deserves them more. He and Brendan have put a smile back on the faces of both sets of fans in the once 2nd city of the Empire.

I'd love to see what a tactician like Rafa Benitez could do in the England job. A man who speaks excellent English (unlike Capello), his family are settled in the leafy Wirral suburbs and he has won numerous top trophies at club level. But I doubt the nation would accept him. Not because he's a 'foreigner' as such but because the media often pilloried him for his zonal marking system (but strangely talking about putting men on the posts) and his rotation of players. When they quite clearly didn't understand him. Wenger, if he leaves Arsenal might be another option but he's no spring chicken these days and we'd probably all moan that the limit of his ambitions was to get England to finish 4th!
However I doubt our FA would go for either of them.

As I said earlier, I love the World Cup and Euros, whether England are there or not. I feel the pain with our nation whenever we fall short. But I don't let it linger any more and have long ago learned to enjoy the game of football beyond just supporting club and country.

Taking off my Ingerland spectacles this has been a belter of a tournament in Brazil possibly the best one I've seen for a long while.

a reply to: mirageman


I agree with most of what you say, I honestly think Sven has been our best manager for some time, he did very well with our time and we actually played decent stuff.
I don't think Capello was a bad manager either, but the press didn't take to him and we know how they can make or break a manager.

Win ratio (saw this posted the other day) for both Capello & Sven are much better than other recent managers.





The FA are as corrupt as it gets, almost.... I say almost as bad as FIFA.
We need a complete restructuring and we need to invest massively in coaching and training facilities.... we don't produce great English managers.
We don't give them a chance either.

The media are actually worse than the FA.

It's definitely not the players... we had the players to at the very least get out of the group.
The FA just wanted a yes man, someone who wouldn't rock the boat and would be a mouthpiece for the FA

As a Liverpool fan I also agree re: Rodgers and Rafa.... the latter being a master tactician who would be a great fit for England and the former being a fantastic coach and would get the best out of the youth and have England playing "the right way"
But HANDS OFF BRENDAN!!


I also agree, the world cup has been great and having not been fussed either way by England, it's been much less stressful and the tournament is magic so far.
Of course you want your home nation to do well, but when they're crippled from the top down and the FA don't want progress or success, then what's the point? Why get all worked up?

Just chill, enjoy the football on show.

a reply to: blupblup

Yes Capello was great when we were playing one-off qualifiers but something went sour in South Africa in the England camp. I remember that game against Algeria and it looked like 11 strangers who'd never really played much football had been put onto the field. Maybe Capello had overworked the players but I suspect there is something we may not find out for a few more years about what happened there. Sven, did really well for a 3 or 4 years but I think he got fed up of the media intrusion and became a little starstruck with certain players, persisting with them far too long. After 2004 he was simply in it for the money.

And too right! Hands off Brendan. Who do you think I support?

Watching Argentina today was depressing.
The after party was worth the wait however

a reply to: mikeone718



I feel your pain.

Your win feels like a loss.

Our draw feels like a loss.

a reply to: JadeStar

The USA v Germany will end in a draw, have no fear.

Germans have history of helping each other out where this sort of thing is required to get through.

(i.e 1982 v the other German nation - Austria)

What nationality is the US coach I wonder?

I'll assume I'll be treated to yet another dismal performance by Argentina tomorrow afternoon.

Here's Will Ferrell giving the USA Football team a motivational speech.

Very funny...

originally posted by: blupblup
Here's Will Ferrell giving the USA Football team a motivational speech.

Very funny...

Yeah it is

So many celebrities are supporting this team now. It's pretty amazing.

On to the Round of 16! Then who knows!?

originally posted by: mirageman
a reply to: JadeStar

The USA v Germany will end in a draw, have no fear.

Germans have history of helping each other out where this sort of thing is required to get through.

(i.e 1982 v the other German nation - Austria)

What nationality is the US coach I wonder?

Well they didn't play for a draw and I am glad that neither side did. The spirit of the competition is well, a competition.

Perhaps we will meet again.

Believe.