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The Quadrennial Global Round-Ball Extravaganza
a pack of wolves:
--- Quote from: amok on 18 Jun 2010, 19:24 ---Still laffin' that Slovenia is gonna top the 'easiest group ever' for England.
--- End quote ---
That would be pretty fun. But England have a history of sucking at first, then not sucking quite so much and scraping through the group stage and first knockout then getting beaten by a good team. I think they'll beat Slovenia, which is a shame because Slovenian fans would probably be ecstatic just to top the group or go through let alone maybe get to the quarter finals, but England fans will bitch for years if they don't at least reach the semi finals.
amok:
While this is true, this doesn't look like a team that can shift through the gears in a hurry. Rooney looks out of form, freakin' Carragher is at CB and Gerrard should never be playing. England fans will bitch 24/7 anyway and they've started already. Really want Slovenia to go through on merit, not bothered which of England and USA join them.
the_pied_piper:
This England squad is probably one of the worst in a long time in proportion to the quality of the Premier League. Who other than Gerrard and Rooney can be considered world class? Lampard doesn't do major tournaments, Terry is good but I wouldn't call him fantastic and the rest are just pretty poor. The decisions made about who to take were wrong too; Barry is not good enough to play international football and was injured anyway yet managed to take a spot from the more deserving Huddlestone or Adam Johnson; Heskey does a job but what is the point of playing a forward who can't score?
--- Quote from: amok on 19 Jun 2010, 12:56 --- freakin' Carragher is at CB and Gerrard should never be playing.
--- End quote ---
Gerrard was easily the best England player against USA but his central position was usurped by the utterly dire Barry for the second game and he is wasted on the left wing. As captain he really should be used to his full potential at all times. As for Carragher, who is a better choice than him to play alongside Terry in the center of defence? He isn't the most technically brilliant player but he knows how to defend, reads a game brilliantly and doesn't fail to give everything to prevent goals.
amok:
Carragher is an absolute liability. The number of penalties he would give away at club level if he wasn't playing at the kop end with a weak ref is appalling. Back when he threw his toys of the pram for not being selected and retired was semi-ironically the only time at which he should ever have been considered for international duty, so really the notion of 'Jamie Carragher, England Defender' should have been moot from then on.
He's lost all of his pace, commits stupid fouls or lets people through as a result, and generally looks out of his depth against your average Burnley winger, let alone anyone England would face on the offchance they slithered out of their group. Better choices? Dawson, Upson, Shawcross, Rio on crutches, Ledley King with both of his legs amputated above the knees, a stationary foam training man.
As for Gerrard, he plays in a position where he gets noticed a lot but frankly he contributes nothing. His passing has been atrocious for awhile, constantly picks the wrong option, and his shooting has been dire even by Jabulani-era standards. Nevermind that he's a thug and a cheat, great choice of 2nd captain.
The only way to use him to his full potential would be to play a 4-5-1 with him behind the striker and hope he successfully dives for a penalty around the 85 min mark but that would make other parts of the field significantly less effective.
The only world class players in that team are Rooney and, much as it pains me to say it, probably Ashley Cole. There aren't many clubs or countries for whom he wouldn't walk into the starting position at LB.
edit: I'd have to disagree about Barry 'usurping' the midfield slot because that's where Barry plays where fit, and playing at the more defensive end of midfield isn't Gerrard's usual brief at all. Barry and Gerrard played in those positions throughout England's absurdly successful qualifying run, and the left-sided inside forward position is far closer to where Gerrard plays his best stuff for Liverpool. The problem is that accomodating him at all then unbalances the team as he's not a real winger. Barry had one of his worse games yesterday because England as a whole were so feckless that he kept wandering forward to try and start something, but as a whole he's one of the more assured starters. The way to rebalance the midfield IMO would be to drop Lampard or Gerrard, ideally both, keep Barry central and chuck an actual left winger out wide, or at least Joe Cole.
the_pied_piper:
--- Quote from: amok on 19 Jun 2010, 13:42 ---I hate Liverpool players.
--- End quote ---
Hahahahaha
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