England World Cup thread - the thread of certain disappointment

Defense looks pretty ropey and it's hard to imagine them getting much defensive support from midfield. 

I am actually really excited by the squad this year.  Pretty much every major tournament I go into it hoping that England do well, but after about 30 minutes into the first game I start to feel sick from supporting a team that contains Cole, Terry, Lampard, Defoe and Rooney (amongst others) and start supporting on whoever is playing against them.  I don't specifically want to, but it always ends up that way.  This squad has very few people who make me seethe, so I might actually enjoy cheering them all the way to the inevitable group stage eliminaton.

If you should be " seething " about anything, it should be the dire anti-football served up by your mob this season...

Oooft! Take that F Mac!

*gets popcorn*

Quite excited by the England squad and agree it's the first time in a while that it's lacking in C U Next Tuesdays. Potential for a really exciting and pacey attacking team. Back 5 picks itself but a front 6 like this could be fun:

-------Gerrard-----Wilshere

Sterling------Rooney-----Chamberlain

---------------Sturridge

Except you just know Hodgson will be over-cautious and start Gerrard, Lampard and Milner in midfield and probably Welbeck on the wing. I think we could surprise a few people. Not expected to go very far given the tough group, but we do usually seem to find a way to stumble through the group even when not we're not supposed to, so we could get through to the usual quarter final loss to one of the big sides (looks like being Brazil or Spain). Could be in trouble if any first choice defenders get injured as there's not much in reserve.

Lampard won't start alongside Gerrard. A 35 and 33 year old in midfield in those climatic conditions? NO WAY. Lampard's best chance of playing will be via the bench with 20mins to go, possibly replacing Stevie G... Given Hodgson's liking for Milner's reliability, he might be in the starting lineup though. Personally,I'd veer towards the Ox, Welbeck and Barkley before Milner. I think Hodgson's picked the correct squad: there's no " bloody hell him " players picked/omitted. Biggest weakness in my opinion is the defence: a right-back who can't defend, and the lack of a truly dominating centre-half. Perhaps it's the moment for Gary Cahill to step up, as Jags is a good premiership defender but no more.

Worst right-back to play for England in my (fading) memory, excluding guys who got under 10 or so caps...Oh for a Paul Madeley or a Jimmy Armfield...

Getting through the group stage will be an achievement, given the difficulty of the group. Anything past that is a bonus. 

It's hard to compare DNQ when up until 1976 only 4 teams qualified for the the Euros and then that increased to 8 between '80 and '92. It's the same for the World Cup, up until 1978 only 16 teams qualified for the finals (13 European nations now qualify!) and then it increased to 24 up until the '94 WC. How many Euro's  and World Cups would England have qualified for post EPL if there were only 4 spots available at the Euro's and 16 at the WC?

Not sure what difference the EPL has made.  Is it just a name change and two teams less than it was in the olden days?

What factor does the influx of foreign players into the EPL have on the England team?  Sides sometimes with little or no eligible England international on match day.  Or does that mean that the true England internationals are making it into sides anyway and the foreign players increase the standard and therefore the abilty of the England players? 

On a completely unrelated matter, for those that love the precedent of statistics, the last time a team won the FA cup final 3-2 having been two down was in 1966 when Everton beat Sheffield Wednesday.  Add to that, the Everton No.3 that day was Ray Wison who also wore No.3 for England in the 66 WC.  Lets hope that the current Everton No. 3 and left back Leighton Baines also wears No. 3 for England in Brazil

Also a few more for people who like that sort of thing:

Atlético Madrid won la liga in 1966
Austria won Eurovision 1966
Real Madrid won European cup 1966

And Man City ( Zabaleta, Aguerro... ) have just won it for Argentina.

I agree with you completely. Formats have changed over time and this is not a perfect comparison. My point is simply that one could make a case that there has been no noticeable difference in performances pre and post-PL and I believe that still stands.

The last time a team overcame a two goal defecit to win an FA Cup final without penalties was in 1966.

If England win the World Cup we know who to thank.

Squad numbers have been announced. Not sure how much you can read into it as 1-11 wont necessarily be the starting lineup for the first game, although it looks pretty much like it. Lampard getting 8 may just be because that's his favoured number he's always had in his career, although Wellbeck getting 11 sounds like Hodgson may stick with him on the wing instead of Sterling/Lallana/Ox.

1 Joe Hart
2 Glen Johnson
3 Leighton Baines
4 Steven Gerrard
5 Gary Cahill
6 Phil Jagielka
7 Jack Wilshere
8 Frank Lampard
9 Daniel Sturridge
10 Wayne Rooney
11 Danny Welbeck
12 Chris Smalling
13 Ben Foster
14 Jordan Henderson
15 Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
16 Phil Jones
17 James Milner
18 Rickie Lambert
19 Raheem Sterling
20 Adam Lallana
21 Ross Barkley
22 Fraser Forster
23 Luke Shaw

England v Peru friendly: Saturday May 31  7 am NZT LIVE on Sommet Sports

Ch. 14 Freeview               Ch. 69 Sky TV

"Compared to football quantum physics is relatively straightforward." - Stephen Hawking puts his enormous brain into solving the problem of how England can win.

   @ 3pm    kick-off             4-3-3 x 5 X 59% X 2

                                                 ____________

                                                         500

otherwise              4-3-3 x (5 - z) X 59% X 2 [where z = degrees less than 5 celsius]

                                                  ____________

                                                     500 (approx)

 See: www.stuff.co.nz latest.

NB If not 4-3-3 then all theories out the window.

think Glen Hoddle trialled him once - but in another life.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/football/10107242/England-World-Cup-fan-flags-resemble-KKK

I never knew Asda was another term for muppet.

What did people think of the England - Peru friendly?

Great goal by Sturridge made it worth watching.

Good work-out for England after three month gap since their last international  against an average but competent Peru side.

Peru a pretty well - organized side even if they didn't mount much threat on England's goal.

Some of England's defensive work a bit dodgy - Henderson, Jagielka.

Rooney didn't do much to threaten Peru's goal.

Sturridge, Lallana, Baines, Cahill, Hart, Gerrard did okay.

Thought Hodgson might have given Lambert a run, even for ten minutes at the end. Might have been effective in this sort of game.

Probably was Gerrard's last Wembley appearance for England at age 34.

I was hoping to get a look at Peru substitute "George Forsyth" but it never happened. I was intrigued to see if he bore any resemblance to Bruce. Maybe he was some bloke Peru met in the local bar / park and they roped him in to make up the numbers. 

The paper plane thrown by a crowd member hitting the Peru player on the back of the head near the end was a highlight. Credit to him for not falling to the ground and writhing around clutching his head... 

"Wembley cackled with malicious joy." - The Grauniad, match report.

Pretty good hit out and a comfortable victory. Lambert will get a go in the next two warm up games, so no worries there. Biggest worry for England is their non- tackling/non-defending right back. I'm sure he'll be targeted by their group rivals. Jags a bit rusty, but he definitely needs to play these games after a long lay of with injury. He admitted himself he's not quite match fit. I'd much prefer Wilshere starting alongside Gerrrad: Henderson strikes me as a top quality work horse, whereas Wilshere has the vision to open up defences at international level. Again though, he'll get his chance to really push in the next two games.

Jag is a liability. Other than that I actually quite rate England this WC. 

http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/27383424

Please James have a blinder and consign Johnson to being the kit man...

how is the british media looking at this world cup squad?  with less pressure on people they might suprise people...  as long as they don't get to penalties 

England 2-2 v Ecquador. Rooney and Lambert scoring. Quite an open game, with some good moments from Barkley and the Ox. The defence however was all over the shop. Definitely the 'B' team defence (Milner, Smalling, Jones, Shaw). Probably underlines what people have been saying: defence lacks depth. My RB hopes are dashed: on that display: Milner will be the kit man, not Johnson... The Ox went off injured which doesn't look good, and Sterling was sent off after a challenge on Valencia( a rash challenge for sure, but Valencia kicked off and probably got them both reds instead of simply a booking).                                      Versus Honduras on Sunday, in which Roy will probably reveal all( well MOST...)

"A concerned Roy Hodgson on Oxlade-Chamberlain, 'we have our fears there might be some ligament damage'. Scan required for knee."

Looks bad for the Ox. A shame because he'd played really well too

Goals V Ecuador

Barkley is a terrific option for a spark off the bench. I thought Wilshere looked good too and could be handy against Italy where numbers in midfield will be key.

Ox played himself right into contention before being injured, poor guy.

There's no wingers on the standby list, anyone bar Ruddy and Stones could realistically replace Ox if he's ruled out. Personally I think Carrick as cover for Gerrard in the deepest midfield role would make sense, no real holding midfield players in the squad, other than the Phil Jones option.

Ray Hicks wrote:

http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/27383424

Please James have a blinder and consign Johnson to being the kit man...

How'd that go?

Er...I answered my own question further down the thread. Put your Arsenal coloured specs on...