World Cup 2014

Are England going to qualify? ("Yes" is the answer).
Will England beat Ukraine tonight? ("Probably, but don't bet against a draw" is another answer).
OK, so will England win the World Cup in 2014? ("Er, no...." is the answer).
Did you get all your answers correct?
Three correct answers means you know summat about football. Anything less and you're a Spud (well, you know what I mean)!

OK, "World Cup 2014" should be a new heading rather than a topic....
So, England got the draw which was OK for me (not, apparently for Gary Lineker but what does he know, eh?). I didn't much like that we played the "Hit-The-Big-Man" ball more often than not - I mean, I suspect that Wilshere can receive and pass a ball through the midfield - but I did like how the centre-backs played. They looked like a unit - it's been a long time......
Walker cannot defend which is a shame 'cos I thought he'd develop into a good full-back a couple of years ago, even if he is a Spud. Apart from that a draw is good enough, all we've got to do now is get the results at home and, as Lee Dixon said, if we can't win them then we don't deserve to get through to the finals. I hope people lay off Hodgson a bit, he seems to be affected by the pressure. If I were him I'd stick two fingers up at the Gary Linekers and get on with my job (à la Alf Ramsey in the day) - a draw away from home is a result in my book so eff off!

Cahill, Jagielka,Cole and Gerrard all had decent games. Lampard was steady enough. Wilshere was hopeless, never seen him play so poorly. Walker had the positional sense of a distressed hedgehog on a dual carriageway. Milner did ok defensively but offensively was woeful. Walcott was crap, on par with Walker. Lambert did ok in the first half but was left totally isolated in the 2nd. The subs..... Cleverley, still don't understand how he plays for Man U, just can't see what he brings to the table. Young, been totally off the boil since the euros, no business being in the 22.
After that performance, have to be happy with a point. If we qualify we will do well to get out of the group.

So, will we get out of the group? Will be do well against Italy? For what it's worth (little, I know) I'm predicting a draw against Italy, 1-1 probably which might be satisfactory for both teams, who will both want to beat Uruguay.

If we get a draw against Italy we would have done well and it will be a confidence booster.

I think we'll sneak through the group, win the next match and come up against either Spain or Brazil in the QF. curtains

Semi-finals then. I'm going for Germany to win tonight and Argentina tomorrow to give us a Europe v South America final - Germany v Argentina.
Why Germany? Cos that's what they do, win stuff. Plus they've got the players and team-work. Brazil out? Without Neymar they've lost most of their "wow" factor and I don't see them having the players to get through. Mind you, they've got the will of the people, which could prove decisive.
Why Argentina? Messi, really. He's the one player who can pull something out of the bag, which is something most teams, including Holland, don't have. OK, Holland could nail Messi early doors and then battle for the win but I just don't think they have it.
So, there it is, The Village Elder has spoken (so you can expect a Brazil v Holland final, eh - still Europe v South America)!

Was that Leo Sayer playing centre back for Brazil?

jak wrote:Was that Leo Sayer playing centre back for Brazil?

Nah, Sayer is better'n that!

That Holland / Argentina match last night was one of the worst games I've ever seen. Ever.

And when you consider that I've been watching Blues for years, that really does say something.

Yes, it was a crap game that let this World Cup down.
Holland are out today without having really tried to win the game.
I guess Old Trafford is going to be an exciting place next season.
6-3-1, Yippee!!!!!

Unless Man U are playing Argentina every other week, I doubt it.

I guess he'll have Argentina on his mind for some time now.

I wouldn't think he'll be dwelling on it once he arrives at Man U. He'll be concentrating on repairing the carnage that Moyes left behind.

I think the carnage was actually left on simmer by Sir Alex himself.

That team would have finished much higher up the table had Sir Alex still been in charge. Moyes was a disaster, as many predicted he would be.

That's a matter of opinion. Look at the squad, considering RVP was injured a lot, I think they finished about where they should have.
Ferguson failed to strengthen in vital areas and Moyes paid the price.
Doesn't change the fact that Moyes was not up to the job, it just was not all his fault.

That same squad (minus Scholes, who'd hardly played the season before anyway) won the title by 11 points under Fergie.

Moyes spent over £ 60 million on new players to add to that squad. Look what happened.

Tilton wrote:That same squad (minus Scholes, who'd hardly played the season before anyway) won the title by 11 points under Fergie.

Moyes spent over £ 60 million on new players to add to that squad. Look what happened.

The 11 points was a miracle of over performance.

Look how many players Van Gaal wants to out because they're not up to the job, Anderson, Hernandez,Cleverley, Young Smalling, Evans plus plus. That's without the two centre backs, the left back and Ryan Giggs who were all finished at the end of Fergies reign. For me Ferguson allowed his team to stagnate and that makes him as responsible as Moyes.
No way were last seasons squad worth more than 7th place, particularly with RvP injured for so long.
On top of that for Man U to give Rooney a long contract at 300K a week on top of RvP's 275K per week was absolute feckin madness!!!!!!

Yes, the 11 points probably was over performance. But that's my whole point. That's what Fergie could do - motivate players to over achieve.

I didn't say: "Last year's squad should have finished much higher up the table"
I did say:" That team would have finished much higher up the table had Sir Alex still been in charge"

There's a big difference and I've underlined the important bits for you