World Cup 2014 Super Thread copyright warning #1645

Vinz Mesrine wrote: »

Are they passing the ball a lot without actually doing anything with it?


How in the name of God is Glen Johnson first choice for England? Surely Jon Flanagan would be a much better option.

Their passing has been very sharp, it's been surprisingly quick given how slow the pitch is playing. The patterns and attempts to play their way through have been terrific.

Playing with a 3 man midfield with Alonso at the base, the tactic of playing long to the direct runs of Pedro and Costa have been obvious, it's yielded chances and won Spain the penalty.

Not exactly news but Koke is fantastic. Has a real control of the game and the energy and physicality to do the off the ball stuff.

Costa's direct running and presence offers Spain a different dimension and should pose different problems to teams when they set up to defend against Spain.

The pressing of La Roja has been excellent, it will be a key factor if Spain are to retain their title but based on tonight and the previous game it appears rejuvenated to an extent. If it's given an extra 10% that you'd hope World Cup games will spur on then Spain could be back to their best.

And that was the first half.

Vinz Mesrine wrote: »

Sterling for Welbeck and that's their strongest 11

I have Wilshire ahead of Henderson and I probably pick Ox (if he was fit ahead of Sterling) he has a little more experience. I don't get the love for Henderson, he's just a grafter for me.

Not again!! Suspended!

I'm not liking the look of England during these three friendlies. If they came up agaisn't a team with pace and power like a Germany or Spain they will be found out.

That interview with Hodgson was a bit strange :pac: Hoddle showing exactly what he thinks of it :pac:

blueser wrote: »

I think Joey Barton is a reprehensible individual, but he's bang on here;

Reminds me of Father Ted v Father Stone. :pac:

Neeson wrote: »

Cringe on ITV!

Glenn Hoddle standing around awkwardly like an uncle at a family function

Pro. F wrote: »

Except that it's obvious Terry would come out of retirement if Roy had managed the situation well enough. Go on sticking your fingers in your ears there and just pretending that he couldn't have been called up if asked and managed properly. It's a piss poor argument.

My argument in the first place is that the top nations have an abundance of talent that didn't make the cut for their countries, but would have made the cut for England.

Whether or not John Terry would've came out of international retirement if Hodgson managed the situation better is a long way from our original discussion :eek:

Pro. F wrote: »

I'm not interested in what most people's opinions are on any particular football matter. The fans, journalists and pundits who don't have a clue are in the overwhelming majority. I'm happy to form my opinions without regard to what most people think.

Yes but if you're not interested in anyone's opinion then how can you have a debate?

Pro. F wrote: »

If you repeat the process that we just went through using Shaw, Smalling and Jones instead of Cole and Terry you will still find players that they are better than, going to the tournament with some of the big nations.

As I've said since, your "To be fair, there are plenty of players not in other squads that are better than players in the English squad" could be said about a good few of the big international squads. If you compare the weaknesses of one international squad, to all the other international squads then you will find those match ups. It is a convoluted and ineffective way of assessing the depth of talent available.

That's fair. I just feel that Spain, Brazil, Italy, Argentina and France have a lot more talent available than England.

Pro. F wrote: »

Pass completion stats without context are a rubbish way of judging central midfielders. They end up making people think that Carrick is better than Xabi Alonso.

A pass that puts a centre-back in trouble or slows a building attack is still counted as a completed pass. A pass where the CM drops between the CBs to do their job for them (playing easy passes under no pressure from deep) and achieves fúck all is still counted as a completed pass. A CM who doesn't have the skill to demand the ball when closely marked, turn on it and pass to the free team-mate, so taking his markers out of the game, can still rack up good pass completion numbers.

You think that Britton and Cork are poor enough as to not even be worth comparing to de Jong. That's what I meant by "so poor".

I'm in agreement, stats don't tell the full story, but that doesn't take away from the fact that De Jong is a very consistent passer of the ball? I don't understand how you've developed this opinion of De Jong? He's been consistent throughout his career and is coming off the back of a very good season personally?

I do think that yes because I don't see how anybody could argue that they're better than NDJ? Now some aspects of their game could be better, but NDJ is excellent at the DM job that he does.


We may just agree to disagree on this one

Nuri Sahin wrote: »

I've shown plenty of times I can be unbiased.

Calling Henderson merely a grafter after the season he's just had is frankly ridiculous.

Sterling was one of the best players around Europe for the last 2-3 months of the season.

Johnson should be binned.

Wilshire will unlock defences Henderson won't do that, not knocking the guy. He works hard and gets stuck in.

Sterling was great but Ox, He's got champion league experience Plus agaisn't Ecuador he showed his class, he was awesome agaisn't Bayern and really dragged Arsenal in games when we were struggling with injuries. Sterling will be awesome but this world cup maybe a little too early.

No one good enough to challenage the guy, he gets a easy pass.

God, ITV's football coverage is depressingly sh1te. Thank fcuk the terrestrial coverage of the FA cup is back on the Beeb next season. Chiles is out of his depth, and Hoddle just annoys me.