*Official* World Cup 2014 - Group B England v Uruguay 19/06

Originally Posted by Lok

The most bizarre thing is that we still have a chance of qualifying.

Italy are likely to beat Costa Rica with relative ease and should beat Uruguay.

That would mean we only have to beat Costa Rica by a couple of goals to go through.

Has a team ever qualified with 3pts?

Indeed. This is a poor Uruguay side. Italy should keep the ball against them all day and won't be as bad defensively.

The only problem is that a draw would be enough for Italy to win the group. Danger of a mutually beneficial point each there.

Originally Posted by Harri Jaffa

Uraguay won't lose to Italy

Uruguay are shit.

Originally Posted by S/Side.Red

Indeed. This is a poor Uruguay side. Italy should keep the ball against them all day and won't be as bad defensively.

The only problem is that a draw would be enough for Italy to win the group. Danger of a mutually beneficial point each there.

Uruguay can't play for the draw in case Costa Rica draw or beat us. They'd be out.

Going forward the only man for the England job is mourinho.. The fa should be on their knees begging him to take the job..

Originally Posted by Lok

Uruguay can't play for the draw in case Costa Rica draw or beat us. They'd be out.

Yep, but if they get to the last 20-30 mins and England are a couple of goals up () they could take a point each.

Originally Posted by dodger

Top punditry

yep - all good points

hindsight, but much as I dislike the £#%&!er..... Ashley Cole... and although I applaud the decision not to take the @#%&! because he's a @#%&!...John Terry, not so sure about Rio but I really don't think we'd've leaked at least two of x3 conceded with them in the team. The whole back four was a £#%&!ing shambles and the two fullbacks; never mind not defending but they didn't even support the attack apart from the one time Johnson did, and we scored.

Midfield was so ponderous I just don't know where to start and can't even be arsed - embarrassing.

Forwards played like strangers

not as rabidly anti-England as some but £#%&! me, the whole circus is £#%&!ing chaotic. wtf do the media think they're achieving in scapegoating? It goes back to Bobby Robson in Italy when the press got on his case because their beloved el Tel didn't get the gig despite being a perennial failure himself. The squad just £#%&!ed the cockney fleet street @#%&!s off and then thrived up until a deflected free kick saw the krauts beat them in the semis. You couldn't imagine a more loathsome bunch of @#%&!s. Can't wait for LVG to get the ball rolling again and win another title.

Originally Posted by Lok

The most bizarre thing is that we still have a chance of qualifying.

Italy are likely to beat Costa Rica with relative ease and should beat Uruguay.

That would mean we only have to beat Costa Rica by a couple of goals to go through.

Has a team ever qualified with 3pts?

Italy and Uruguay will play out a mutually beneficial draw

It might work to England's advantage if Italy play a number of 2nd choice players who will be looking to impress but I realistically I can't see it happening

I actually don't even think England will beat Costa Rica :shakehead:

Originally Posted by ZiggyStardust

Italy and Uruguay will play out a mutually beneficial draw

It might work to England's advantage if Italy play a number of 2nd choice players who will be looking to impress but I realistically I can't see it happening

I actually don't even think England will beat Costa Rica :shakehead:

You have to think Italy will want to win the group. You'd rather avoid Colombia. So they'll take the game seriously. It's just that they don't need to win. But I agree with Lok about this Uruguay side - they've poor in the main. The Italian midfield should run rings around them.

Originally Posted by ZiggyStardust

Italy and Uruguay will play out a mutually beneficial draw

It might work to England's advantage if Italy play a number of 2nd choice players who will be looking to impress but I realistically I can't see it happening

I actually don't even think England will beat Costa Rica :shakehead:

This is what is likely to happen. Results will go in England's favour and they will still £#%&! it up

Italy have the best midfield in the competition.

Could win the cup if Balo plays well.

football is £#%&!ed in england from the fa to the education system that has more or less given up on sport, the closure of amenities and fields, the couldn't give a £#%&! attitude of the clubs developing the game in the community, the concentration of the money in the game in the pl and media interests, the whole thing is set up to be nothing more then a spectator sport these days.

When I was involved in youth football, our club had a tie up with a club in Dortmund, by no means a big outfit, bringing teams back and forth each year and so on. The difference in the quality of everything was astounding.

Someone here (can't remember who) wrote that the England teams problem was the manager picking a formation to shoe horn players in. Personally I think the problem is the exact opposite.

Every England manager in recent times goes into the job with a formation in his head and tries to make the players fit around it. We need a manager that will look at the pool of players and work out what formation suits them. As in the past trying to use a flat 4 man midfield with Beckham, Gerrard, Lampard and Scholes as the options now we have a formation using two holding midfielders choosing from Gerrard, Milner, Wilshere and Henderson. None of those 4 are holding midfielders, you could argue the mistake was not taking Carrick who is a holding midfielder, but that would still have only been one, and he had a shocking season.

England should have taken Terry and Cole. They are both past their best and if Hodgson had left them out to give the future a chance then fair play, but to leave them out in favour of close to 30 year olds Jagielka and Baines was a bad decision.

Forgetting for a minute that England have a teeny tiny chance of qualifying Hodgson needs to think about the future, thats not the Euro qualifiers but the Euro's themselves. Any player that is not going to be up to it in two years should be binned directly after the World Cup.

He should then look at the players he has a find a formation that suits. There will still be a shortage of holding midfielders, so Hodgson needs to either find the best up and coming option and stick with him despite not being ready or pick the best 'average' option available. Personally I think he should play a 4-3-3, pick the best players for the formation not just the best players.

Originally Posted by ziggyman17

Going forward the only man for the England job is mourinho.. The fa should be on their knees begging him to take the job..

Cheers for that, now back to the studio.

Originally Posted by Marvel7

England should have taken Terry and Cole. They are both past their best and if Hodgson had left them out to give the future a chance then fair play, but to leave them out in favour of close to 30 year olds Jagielka and Baines was a bad decision.

Spot on. When I first heard he'd left them out I thought great, he's giving some young players a go.

Oh no, hang on. He's picking brain-numbingly average £#%&!ing Everton players.

Good point.

Originally Posted by andyroo

I think so once or twice when you had three teams each on one win and one with three. However nobody's ever done it having lost the first two games.

Qualifying with 3 points has happened once in the WC, Chile in 1998 with 3 draws. Never with 2 defeats in either the WC or Euros (Senegal once did it in the African Nations, apparently)

Originally Posted by ziggyman17

Going forward the only man for the England job is mourinho.. The fa should be on their knees begging him to take the job..

turned it down in 2007 didn't he?

he's one of the few managers who could have shit@#%&!ed his way into the knockouts with this lot.