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The 2010 World Cup

Interesting that neither keepers or strikers like this new ball. I assume the keepers don't like it because it's unpredictable in flight, so will lead to more goals, and the strikers don't like it because it's unpredictable in flight, so will lead to less goals 😕
 
Clearly, we're going to end up with lots more accidental goals, and more and more players are going to end up looking like buffoons. Ace.

The thing is with all the speculation about England's final 23 is that the fringe players we're all looking at are the ones most likely not to get a game at all, unless we suffer a serious spate of injuries and suspensions...
 
1600: Breaking news: The seven England players to miss out on a World Cup place are: Leighton Baines, Michael Dawson, Tom Huddlestone, Scott Parker, Adam Johnson, Theo Walcott, Darren Bent.
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Worst kept secret in FA history?

Re. The ball, does this mean Heskey might have more of a chance of scoring, or simply that even more of the magic 5 England players will miss penalites in the quarters? 😉
 
ENGLAND'S 2010 WORLD CUP SQUAD:

Goalkeepers: Joe Hart, David James, Robert Green.

Defenders: Jamie Carragher, Ashley Cole, Rio Ferdinand, Glen Johnson, Ledley King, John Terry, Matthew Upson, Stephen Warnock

Midfielders: Gareth Barry, Michael Carrick, Joe Cole, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Aaron Lennon, James Milner, Shaun Wright-Phillips.

Forwards: Peter Crouch, Jermain Defoe, Emile Heskey, Wayne Rooney
 
Very interesting...Walcott goes to WC as a teenager...and 4 years later can't make the squad...😱

-J.-
 
No squad numbers yet. By my reckoning there are 7 that are obvious:
2- Glen Johnson
3- Ashley Young
4- Steven Gerrard
5- Rio Ferdinand
6- John Terry
8- Frank Lampard
10- Wayne Rooney

Also, probably 3 more:
7- Aaron Lennon
9- Emile Heskey
11-Gareth Barry

And, based on their club squad number you could imagine the following:
15-Crouch
16-Carrick
18-Defoe
23-Carrigher

I would also guess that 1, 13, and 22 will be the three goalkeepers.

That leaves 12, 14, 17, 19, 20, and 21 for Ledley King, Matthew Upson, Stephen Warnock, Joe Cole, James Milner, and SWP. If I had to guess: Warnock will be 21, Joe Cole will the 19, SWP will be 17, Milner will be 14, and King/Upson will be 12/20.
 
theITGuy said:
Very interesting...Walcott goes to WC as a teenager...and 4 years later can't make the squad...😱

-J.-
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Let's face it, he should have never have been in that squad anyway. Even when we lost 2 strikers through injury he couldn't even get on the pitch and Eriksson himself said he chose him without even seeing him play.

Former England captain Alan Shearer: "Fabio Capello said some months ago that, to make it into his World Cup squad, players would have to be in form and playing regularly for for their clubs. Joe Cole and Emile Heskey are not, but I can understand why he has picked them because he has gone for tried and trusted players in his squad. What are our prospects? We've got a decent chance. Any team who wins this World Cup will need a bit of luck - England will need a little bit more. But if decisions go our way, and we keep our main XI fit, then we will have a decent chance."
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No kidding Al! And I still don't understand why we haven't taken our only naturally left sided attacking player, even just as a squad player
 
It depends if he goes for a 'traditional' approach to the 1-11 and numbers them as per a 4-4-2. Barry could be handed the '4' (as he has under Capello), Gerrard could end up with the '7' and Joe Cole with '11'.

'9' will be either Heskey or Crouch one would suspect – although Gerrard has worn that number recently too, if I remember rightly.

Of course, Capello can be a bit more flexible with his numbering than he is permitted to be normally. Anticipation is building, and shirt printers the length of the land are on tenterhooks...
 
FYI: USA-based players in USA Squad by World Cup:

1990 - 19
1994 - 15
1998 - 16
2002 - 11
2006 - 11
2010 - 4
 
Jaffa Cake said:
It depends if he goes for a 'traditional' approach to the 1-11 and numbers them as per a 4-4-2. Barry could be handed the '4' (as he has under Capello), Gerrard could end up with the '7' and Joe Cole with '11'.

'9' will be either Heskey or Crouch one would suspect – although Gerrard has worn that number recently too, if I remember rightly.

Of course, Capello can be a bit more flexible with his numbering than he is permitted to be normally. Anticipation is building, and shirt printers the length of the land are on tenterhooks...
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I looked at games when Barry and Gerrard started, and Gerrard always wore 4 and Barry 11. But, who knows. It would be weird if I got all the numbers right.
 
swiftaw said:
FYI: USA-based players in USA Squad by World Cup:

1990 - 19
1994 - 15
1998 - 16
2002 - 11
2006 - 11
2010 - 4
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A testament to how the US players have improved, how the MLS has failed to take off as expected, or a mix of both perhaps?
 
I'm glad that Theo didn't make the team, and I'm an Arsenal fan. I hope that this will be a wake up call to him, that he can't just expect to play well because he's 'pacy'. Speed is great, but once he gets into the area he has no idea how to finish.




*waits for snickering to die down*



OK, carrying on. Since he's been at Arsenal he's scored a couple of impressive goals (against Barca this year, for example), but generally I think he's viewed as an underachieving disappointment. If this gets him working more on crossing technique from a wide position, or able to actually get a ball on target, I think that Arsenal will benefit.
 
swiftaw said:
I looked at games when Barry and Gerrard started, and Gerrard always wore 4 and Barry 11. But, who knows. It would be weird if I got all the numbers right.
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I'm a bit muddled again with my Scouser-based numbering. It was the 10 shirt Gerrard wore on the occasion I'm thinking of, although he's worn 11 too as well, if I recall.

But I think that on some recent occasions when both Gerrard and Barry have started the latter has worn 4. I may be mistaken of course.

Rooney has flitted between 9 and 10 of late, although he's worn the double digits in the last two warm up matches – Crouch wore 9 against Mexico while Bent took over that number against Japan. All this is clear indication of why the squad number announcement is far more exciting than the naming of the players themselves. 😛

I'm going to be bold, and predict Barry will get 4 and Gerrard 11. There we go. Now watch Capello issue the numbers alphabetically...
 
I seem to remember years ago the Italians would give all the first three numbers to their keepers, the lowest following numbers to their defenders, the middling numbers to their midfielders, and the high numbers to the forwards (with one or two exceptions for key players).

Get your World Cup squad number trivia in now folks, there's never been a better chance. Anyone who mentions Cruyff's famous number 14 shirt has to do a forfeit, mind. 😛
 
+ Graham's Number re Adam Johnson.

Carrick; so much for form. Want him to do well, but it'll take a big turnaround.

Numbers; Capello should number based on best player, 1, to worst player, 23 - being the last player picked in the playground.
 
The England and Germany squads contain only players who play in their home country. IF Rossi doesn't make the final Italy squad, so will Italy.
 
swiftaw said:
The England and Germany squads contain only players who play in their home country. IF Rossi doesn't make the final Italy squad, so will Italy.
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Interesting... and in Germany's case, that's only because Ballack was injured. Never a huge demand from overseas clubs for English players, and I don't suppose many of them would go anyway when they can earn a fortune easily enough over here.
 
I had a weird run-in at the brewpub last night...I overheard a drunken Scotsman pontificating about single malts, and we got to talking football. He was a Kilmarnock supporter ("No, I'm a Kilmarnock sufferer"), and a (gulp) Man U supporter. First thing he did when I told him I supported Leeverrpooool - he patted his back pocket to reassure himself that his wallet was still there ("Those Scouse bastards will steal your soul!"). We engaged in some pretty good banter. He was at least firmly behind the USA squad, as an ABE fan.

Fizzoid said:
A testament to how the US players have improved, how the MLS has failed to take off as expected, or a mix of both perhaps?
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The former. MLS is improving, but the USA is also exporting more players these days. No matter how good the MLS is, it's probably not going to be a top tier league, so for the forseeable future our WC squads are going to consist primarily of players based in Europe.
 
Fizzoid said:
Interesting that neither keepers or strikers like this new ball. I assume the keepers don't like it because it's unpredictable in flight, so will lead to more goals, and the strikers don't like it because it's unpredictable in flight, so will lead to less goals 😕
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In that case, it's time to call out the MythBusters Build Team of Grant Imahara and Tory Belleci to build a football-kicking robot that can simulate various styles of football kicking. That way, we can determine if the Teamgeist and Jabulani ball travels far and unpredictably as many players claim. 🙂
 
gauchogolfer said:
I'm glad that Theo didn't make the team, and I'm an Arsenal fan. I hope that this will be a wake up call to him, that he can't just expect to play well because he's 'pacy'. Speed is great, but once he gets into the area he has no idea how to finish.
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I'm an Arsenal fan too and I agree with this (more or less).
 
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