World Football thread

[happytorq]

oh, did he marry that Rebecca Lowe person? Because the people who hired him seem to think so!

http://www.metropolitanoval.org/news/20 ... l-director

[happytorq]

wikipedia says he did, and that's always reliable.

[Gullscorer]

Paul Buckle, world class..

[Southampton Gull]

So he'll be Paul Lowe now then

[ferrarilover]

Question is, if he's married Rebecca Lowe, who's he shagging these days?

Matt.

[Gullscorer]

Question is, if he's married Rebecca Lowe, who's he shagging these days?
Matt.

Dream on, Matt.. :~D

[Gullscorer]

Heard Radio 5-Live recently describe Brazil as 'the spiritual home of football'. Absolute b*ll*cks!! Typical Radio 5. Typical BBC..!!

[AustrianAndyGull]

Good luck tonight to Iceland in their home leg against Croatia. They are my joint second favourite country (with the Faroe Islands) and deserve a crack at their first ever tournament.

[Plymouth Gull]

Lots of goals on tonights PL fixtures, and some absolute belters too.

[chunkygull]

Watching the world cup draw - what a load of old sh1t! :~D

I keep hearing this week on the radio that they keep changing the way its going to be drawn and Platini is heavily involved and it is obvious to help France. We shall see.

The whole thing is always rigged in favour of the same old countries anyway. :no:

What in the blue hell are Columbia and Switzerland doing in the top seeds? :-o

We're on the plane home after the first round anyway, so im not that bothered, honest!

[happytorq]

Watching the world cup draw - what a load of old sh1t! :~D

Agreed. but it always is

I keep hearing this week on the radio that they keep changing the way its going to be drawn and Platini is heavily involved and it is obvious to help France. We shall see.

don't think it was necessarily obvious but France did get a very favourable draw.

The whole thing is always rigged in favour of the same old countries anyway. :no:

Nope. Germany have a horrible group. Italy too. And even Spain's group isn't a cakewalk (although they're still Spain, of course)

What in the blue hell are Columbia and Switzerland doing in the top seeds? :-o

Well, they use the FIFA rankings, which is really the fairest way (probably not the most accurate, but still fairest). Switzerland did manage to beat Spain in the last world cup, you know. Colombia are a really good side, too.

We're on the plane home after the first round anyway, so im not that bothered, honest!

If you're not that bothered, why the posting in the first place. Not sure why you automatically assume that England don't make it out of the group - the last time they got to the World Cup and didn't make it past the first round was 1958.

[chunkygull]

Sorry happytorq, a lot of my post was a bit tongue in cheek with slight sarcasm and a touch of self deprecating humour.

A lot of the things I said about rigging and because of Platini things being altered to do France a favour are things that were not my opinion just things that have been said on the radio on TalkSport all week.

I am actually bothered about how England do and call it naivety or blind faith I reckon we could do better than people think.

Our players just have to go for it a bit more and follow their instincts rather than being so defensive and shackled.We always look more scared of losing and trying not to concede, rather than trying to score and win.

Many say our players arent going to be good enough, well they all play in at least the premier league which is an incredibly high standard, the prem is full of foreign players and the number of English players is down but that just tells me that those English who do get in their teams must be very good.

I wouldnt be frightened of any of the teams we have drawn, not even Italy, we could at the very least get a draw with them.

The countdown starts now - COME ON ENGLAND!

[happytorq]

The draw being 'bad' could be best thing for an England team. It seems like we're finally getting used to the idea of the England side not automatically being a favourite for every tournament (it took about 25 years too many, but baby steps). England apparently got an E.A.S.Y. draw in the last tournament and we know how that went. If they can avoid defeat in both of the first two games, they'll go into the Costa Rica game knowing exactly what they need to do goal difference-wise to get through. (it must be said though, that Costa Rica are no mugs)

Getting through the group would be a real achievement. I'd like to see Hodgson take a chance and play some of the really talented younger players (Townsend, Barkley etc) but you just know he'll play it safe with Gerrard and probably Lampard, even though that hasn't worked for 12 years. Would be really nice to see England play without a fear of failure.

[stevegull]

I think it is virtually impossible for an England side to play without fear of failure, Happytorq.

Even when Townsend hits 15 caps it will dawn on him that the pressure is now on and he will simply go through the rest of his international career passing the ball sideways to Jagielka.

The group is difficult. And to be honest, I don't see us getting through it. I HATE how the media (and the England set up!) always say how it's "important not to lose the first game". Well, how about actually going out and trying to WIN the first game. That would really be a good platform then! But no, play it safe. We must not lose. It might be a novel, say daring, way to play football but trying to win the game could very well be the way forward.

I think USA are out as well though Happytorq....

[Kernowgull]

The draw being 'bad' could be best thing for an England team. It seems like we're finally getting used to the idea of the England side not automatically being a favourite for every tournament (it took about 25 years too many, but baby steps). England apparently got an E.A.S.Y. draw in the last tournament and we know how that went. If they can avoid defeat in both of the first two games, they'll go into the Costa Rica game knowing exactly what they need to do goal difference-wise to get through. (it must be said though, that Costa Rica are no mugs)

Getting through the group would be a real achievement. I'd like to see Hodgson take a chance and play some of the really talented younger players (Townsend, Barkley etc) but you just know he'll play it safe with Gerrard and probably Lampard, even though that hasn't worked for 12 years. Would be really nice to see England play without a fear of failure.

The bit in bold really bugs me. This isn't a dig at you happytorq, as it was probably a throw away comment but as I'm sat at work and have another hour to go, I may as well get this off my chest! I hear people all the time claiming that England fans etc are deluded in thinking they will win every year. I haven't known of anybody, bar perhaps The Sun, saying England have a real chance of winning anything since 2006. I'm sure you'll find examples if you look hard enough, but you can also find examples of people thinking that Lizardmen and the Loch Ness Mosnter exist. Everybody keeps saying England expect to win things blah blah blah, I don't know anybody who has said or thought anything of the sort. The team in 2002 and 2006 should have done better than they did, and bottled it. Since then, I know nobody who has expected anything. This doesn't mean that they are not disappointed when we don't put in a better show, but the media and experts, as well as the fans, have been talking about the number and quality of English players at the top levels and how far we are behind teams like Spain, France, Brazil, Italy, Germany with regards to grass roots coaching for at least 8 years. So when people go on about England expecting to win etc, I just don't know where it comes from. Obviously they would like to win, and this doesn't mean just because we don't think we're the best team in the world that we can't be disappointed with performances like that against Germany in 2010, in the same way that as Torquay fans we are disappointed by almost everything. Doesn't mean we think we should be walking the league though.

Also, your assessment of Hodgson is a little harsh. I know that Poland and Montenegro are not Uruguay and Italy, but they were similarly important games, and he didn't go solid and predictable in those games. Mind, if he really goes for it in the first game in the Amazon, he'd be mental.

There is also no point in throwing Barkley in just because he is flavour of the month. If he keeps it up all season, he might be a good fit. I would suggest that lampard is probably quite far down the food chain, everybody being fit. He is behind Gerrard, Wilshire, Carrick, seemingly Cleverly (god knows why) and possibly Barkley and Henderson by then. I don't personally think Townsend is consistent enough, and would be better as an impact player. He had two very good performances in the qualifiers, but is really frustrating at Spurs. i'd put Lennon ahead of him in terms of creating chances, with Townsend coming off the bench and shooting from anywhere if we are chasing a game.

I am fully expecting us to go out in the first game, but that's the great thing about football, you never know- see Denmark 1992 and Greece 2004! (This does not mean that I think England will or should win the World Cup, but whats the bloody point in football if you don't hope your team will do well?!)