world cup anticipation thread

[jeevan]

This is a thread before the world cup starts, opinions on squads, hopes, views etc.






England SQUAD

I really really hate Capello

over rated, didnt he drop beckham at real madrid.. beckham was doing everything right .. brings him back and they win the league in spain ?

He just threatens players, dude is a dick, bans phones, social networking, wifes and kids , agents, andything that doesnt help the england squad is banned .. though he thinks its ok to have a business meeting during england time to discuss the "capello index" , he thought that was a genuinely good thing, to rate players publiclly, great morale booster ey..

I dont care what the players say about him, because if they talk bad about him they will be dropped

He has no respect for players, bringing in carragher out of international retirment in place of someone who worked hard during the qualifying campaign

Nesta was invited back to play for italy this season, he said he wouldnt do that as it was disrespectful to other players who had worked hard over the last couple of years to get international recognition


GOALKEEPING - good selection , i hope hart gets the starting position , he hasnt looked fazed at international level and been outstanding this sesaon


Defence - Warnock is not as good as Baines , Carragher played no part in qualifying and his form has dropped loads over the last two years. Upson has been average for west ham, Dawson has been incredible.


Midfield - Good decision to drop walcott, he hasnt progressed on the wing, he is a striker, he has no final ball, no skill, just pace .. I have no idea how SWP is in the squad, adam johnson took his position at man city and has been impressive ,, if he wanted a pacey winger, he shoulda taken ashley young

Carrick is going ahead of huddlestone, pisses me off the most, huddlestone is the better passer, played almost every premier leaguee game and been incredible this season .. i remember watching him when he was 16 at pride park hitting 50 yard balls perfectly and not being fazed .. WHERE as carrick hasnt been playing as much as he used to, and when he did, his form dropped a lot


upfront -
Heskey going arrrghhh .. if i waas a defender id be buzzing, heskey is just strength, he offers no speed or goal threat .. bent has been one of the best goal scorers in the prem over the last 4 years ..

Emile Heskey, striker, 58 caps 7 goals. Rene Higuita, keeper, 68 caps 8 goals. Jose Luis Chilavert, keeper, 74 caps 8 goals...

shocking that is, bent knows how to score, we have 1 target man already in crouch, he can do more than what heskey can do ..

heskey, 31 apps 3 goals in prem ,he had 8 shots on target in the league, bent played 38 got 24 .. and look at my last post where i show some gk's having better goal scoring records

Heskey does well with rooney, but we need goals, we will be relying too much on rooney to be our goal scorer , bent will get goals , we all know that .. we have a big man in crouch, who is better in every aspect than heskey

[SanshouMatt]

Oh christ, football season and the world cup, at least the gym will be quieter for a while..

[Chris Griffiths]

Baines and Jagielka should defo be inthe squad, It all about who you play for.

I bet arteta goes to man utd and hes in the spain squad within 12 months! its a joke.

[jeevan]

i think arteta will go to arsenal if cesc leaves ... i love jagielka, i woulda taken him ahead of carragher without a doubt


cant believe carrick has gone ahead of huddlestone though

shows capello lies about taking injured players and players have to be playing and in form















SPAIN .. They lack a senna .. but Busquets has done brilliantly this season .. him xavi and iniesta have a clear bond ..

also, Xabi Alonso is one of the best passers in the world, maybe even better than huddlestone , pique and puyol have been great, casillas in goal, torres and villa up front, hey, cesc fabregas cant even get a start


portrugal, ronaldo is gonna have to take it to another level to give them a chance

Germany, Ozil will need to be on fire to create for them, marin could be big for em too .. tasci can be big for them

Holland, Sneijder on form with RVP up front, very good chance , even better with an on form robben

France, if they drop 1 of the holding mids stand a chance . lucky to even be at the world cup, had to cheat to get past ireland

England, rooney, dude loves everything to do with football, he plays like an excited kid .. also, lampard and gerrard are much better than xabi alonso

i dont rate italy, they have kept a lot of players over the last few years despite the big aging and slow pace they have .. every aspect of that team has become weaker in the 4 years imo .. di natale is exciting , de rossi and pirlo will have to be on top form .. i like quagliarella though

brazil are favourites imo , shame they had to lose that flair to get the defensive stability .. i still woulda taken ronaldinho

Argentina, have more attacking depth than spain, but they are average at best in midfield, defence and in goalkeep .. apart from the attack, i think they are really over rated as a team .. 6-1 loss to bolivia , tried 100 players in 2 years

im gonna put a cheeky 5er on suarez to be top scorer

nyone know betting companies that are taking world cup odds for 2014 and 2018 .. I think they will be massive (DEFOUR , WITSEL, FELLAINI, LUKAKU ,HAZARD , KOMPANY, VERMALAEN, VANDENBORRE, DEMBELE, MIRALLES, VERTHOGEN, ALDERWIRELD, and the GK Sunderland just signed)

[Imy]

For me, the surprise drops are Baines and Huddlestone. I don't think Carrick has had the most consistent season, and would probably have selected Huddlestone ahead of him.

We don't have much cover on the full-backs, though. We could be in trouble if we incur a couple of injuries.

The decision to drop Bent is a tough one. Personally, I feel all 5 strikers should have stayed. They all bring something different to the squad. Many people might bash Heskey's inclusion (myself included), but he's proven at international level. He'll hold up the ball, give defenders a hard time and support the main striker. You don't always have to score goals to be a good striker.

As for Capello being a dick, I must disagree. I think he's been spot on with everything he's done. He's brought the professionalism back in the English camp. You only have to look at the way England have been playing and the results they've got (even when they've played poorly) to know that he must be doing something right. Sven and McLaren didn't command the same discipline as Capello. His no-nonsense attitude is absolutely what is needed at this moment in time.

All in all, I'm very excited. My living room looks like a white-supremist nazi chamber.

[TroJan Fight Wear]

I get butterflies everytime i think about it! Scares me sh*tless thinking about it!

[jeevan]

Imy, no doubt he has bought in good discipline , though he doesnt show respect as he lies and is hypocritical.. however, he doesnt practice what he preaches, and lies ..

* look at his capello index, any manager would know thats not good for morale, he was thinking business , doesnt practice what he preaches ..
* saying players would be selected by form and must play games, yet he chose players who were injured and in poor form
* lampard as a more defensive minded forward
*heskey - for god sake, crouch is 100 times better
* look at his fued with beckham at real madrid, had he not bought becks back, wouda cost him la liga
* taking SWP who has been average at best
* carragher - what games has capello watched to think its right to get carragher out of retirement instead of players who worked hard in the qualifying campaign, i can understand people who perform amazingly well being put ahead of those that didnt help in qualifying, but someone who has been average, really ?

The simple fact is, the coaches before him were just poor .. he's better than them, but hes massively over rated