World Cup 2014 Brazil

[mojolicious]

Word of the street is Sturridge up front with Welbeck/Rooney/Sterling behind. England may not get far in the tournament, but they obviously intend to do so with a bit of style!

Welbeck should offer greater support to the left back, but when your only options are Baines and Shaw then you know you've got problems in the position (at this level). Right-back isn't a whole lot better. Or central defence. Or goalie. And I suspect England are stuck with Henderson and Gerrard for the remainder of the tournament, too.

Ugh.

Bring the lads home, now!

 

[oscillatewildly]

And Sturridge? He was our best player against Italy IMO.

The bench, to come on if Rooney doesn't do it/tires or for '65 minutes' Lallana - Rooney moving back. Alternatively, Sturridge the sub for Rooney, Barkley for Lallana. I think at least Welbeck and Sterling were better than Sturridge - didn't seem to be there/first in the box enough. Though that may be the tipple.

takao,

Milner:

He was poor at right back - hopefully the position rather than form, but did the midfield job for Manchester City when asked - much the same when in England's midfield. Boring but can do it - fans tend to go for glamour.

Rooney:

He did get caught out a couple of times when he could've been wider, but most of the time he was having to come inside and trust the defence to handle the wide player. The player(s) he went to weren't already covered, he was the one. Gerrard and Henderson aren't good enough to deal with the occasions when they are outnumbered - the former was the weakest and also seemed to struggle when it was even. What happened when Rooney moved and Welbeck went left?

So Gerrard:

Is there someone who can better deal with being outnumbered in a 2? If not then, as you say, Milner and the like come into the equation - to 433? Then is Hodgson happy with the pace of 2 from Welbeck/Sterling/Oxlade-Chamberlain, or will he go for more over some finishing - Sturridge v Rooney.

nebo1ss - Cole:

I don't see him any better defensively than Baines - they both get caught out. Cole had his pace to help him in the past. re the praise he received for the Atletico Madrid game - think how easily he was beaten is laughable.

Cheers,
OW

 

[takao]

The bench, to come on if Rooney doesn't do it/tires or for '65 minutes' Lallana - Rooney moving back. Alternatively, Sturridge the sub for Rooney, Barkley for Lallana. I think at least Welbeck and Sterling were better than Sturridge - didn't seem to be there/first in the box enough. Though that may be the tipple.

agree there: Sterling and Welbeck should be guaranteed:
Welbeck is blazing fast, has an great work rate, can hold up a ball with the back to the goal and also is good with headers
Sterling: a constant threat to the opposition with his good 1on1 dribblings on either side, and variable position IMHO the best of the italy game

Milner:

He was poor at right back - hopefully the position rather than form, but did the midfield job for Manchester City when asked - much the same when in England's midfield. Boring but can do it - fans tend to go for glamour.

i'm not a fan either, but he is OK crosser and a safe passer, and as said works hard and is flexible in the midfield.(apart of right back ... that is a stupid idea)
not flashy but if you want to go far in a tournament you need more than just flashy attackers,as argentina learned in 2010, but also stable dependably midfielders when backtracking

Gerrard and Henderson aren't good enough to deal with the occasions when they are outnumbered - the former was the weakest and also seemed to struggle when it was even. What happened when Rooney moved and Welbeck went left?

So Gerrard:
Is there someone who can better deal with being outnumbered in a 2? If not then, as you say, Milner and the like come into the equation - to 433?

i wouldn't put much blame on Henderson and Gerrard in the central midfield. After all they were facing Pirlo, Marchisio and de Rossi who are all world class players on their positions (with veratti and candreva thrown in additionally)

Gerrard would be a world class deep lying playmaker today if he had converted to that role 6-8 years ago.
playing him as an attacker for that long despite his talents being a perfect fit for another position was hilarious. Even the Liverpool fans i know personally agreed to it years ago.
Everybody could see it and every 2 years you could read the english press and comments after an international cup "why don't we have such good defensive midfielders as Pirlo/Schweinsteiger/XYZ"

 

[Apple fanboy]

or leave Rooney out and add James Milner.

i don't like Milner very much but for a winger he is hard working on the defense and he covers a lot of ground.
the english left side was constantly exposed because of Rooney's defensive weakness.

with attacking players like Sturridge, Sterling and Welbeck, having at least 1 winger who work more defensivly makes sense. Especially since it perhaps enables those in the center to play more activly as well in a possesion game.

Glen Johnson can sometimes go missing as well when it comes to defensive duties. Alright going forward, but when we lose the ball he is out of position.

 

[m4v3r1ck]

HUP HOLLAND! Enjoy the game all!

 

[mojolicious]

Glen Johnson can sometimes go missing as well when it comes to defensive duties. Alright going forward, but when we lose the ball he is out of position.

The whole set-up suddenly reeks of the "we're gonna score one more than you" philosophy. On another day it could have worked against a decent Italy – I think England deserved at least a draw from that match – but if we manage to escape the group as runners-up then our first knock-out match will most likely be The Netherlands.

I appreciate that absolutely everything went right for the Oranje against Spain, but even so the prospect of facing Robben, Judas and Sneijder is terrifying. It could make Bloemfontein 2010 look like a fair contest.

 

[twietee]

Why so negative, mojo!? England wasn't that bad at all (although I think Italy deserved that win). Italy's one of the toughest opponents, although they always lure you to think otherwise. So a close loss, which could have easily be a draw as well, ain't no armageddon. They can make the best teams look like fools. Good for you this was only the group stage.

The run n' gun style aka shoot one more than you concede is the wrong strategy for a tournament, especially if it's in SA, so that's that, but people tend to forget that this was only the first GW, two weeks ago Netherlands were pereiceved as being rather poor, Germany was only so-so...England was always seen as quite bad, I'll give you this.

 

[mojolicious]

two weeks ago Netherlands were pereiceved as being rather poor, Germany was only so-so...England was always seen as quite bad, I'll give you this.

You may be right. Not much was expected of the Netherlands, although Germany were always considered to be contenders. Both of their wins – while impressive – were achieved against opponents having a *very* bad day at the office.

I still don't fancy the prospect of Jagielka and Cahill versus Judas and Robben, though.

 

[twietee]

You may be right. Not much was expected of the Netherlands, although Germany were always considered to be contenders. Both of their wins – while impressive – were achieved against opponents having a *very* bad day at the office.

I still don't fancy the prospect of Jagielka and Cahill versus Judas and Robben, though.

Agreed. Both, Germany and Netherlands, did not only face opponents having a bad day but also had a good chunk of luck / refs (Germany was extremely lucky here imho) on their side too.

Robben - one of the best players on the planet at the moment imho, probably the best when it comes to counter attacking. He can't be stopped with only one player - but he can be stopped - even with an inferior squad. Look at Dortmund multiple times, etc pp. If Hodgson continues or even increases on the all out attacking game it could get entertaining though.

Germans weren't all that optimistic about their team before.

 

[Happybunny]

The whole set-up suddenly reeks of the "we're gonna score one more than you" philosophy. On another day it could have worked against a decent Italy – I think England deserved at least a draw from that match – but if we manage to escape the group as runners-up then our first knock-out match will most likely be The Netherlands.

I appreciate that absolutely everything went right for the Oranje against Spain, but even so the prospect of facing Robben, Judas and Sneijder is terrifying. It could make Bloemfontein 2010 look like a fair contest.

I really do think that you are selling the English team a bit to short.

I do think that some of the media in the UK, goes from one extreme to another.

It has been said before, but I’ll say it again Italy are a world class team and to lose to them is no shame.

As to the Netherlands, we are only as good as our last result, against Spain everything went 100% right. But we will have a match or two were it goes against us, and it is how we handle those events that makes you a great team.
I still stand by my first assessment, this team has to many old players prone to injury, RvP Robben, and far to many inexperenced players in defense. But it has shown on the pitch that it can play good football.
Also this group of players have shown more team spirit, than the whole team did in 2012, which is a huge plus.

 

[twietee]

As to the Netherlands, we are only as good as our last result, against Spain everything went 100% right. But we will have a match or two were it goes against us, and it is how we handle those events that makes you a great team.

True. Teamspirit above everything. I strongly dislike Oliver Kahn, but he did have a point yesterday when pointing out that the Brasilian team could ultimately improve because of the draw / getting some backlash now. The same as (I hope!) Belgium will learn a thing or two from their last match. I don't trust a 4:0 against poor Portugal one bit.

Spain didn't go guns blazing into the tournament 2012 (lost against Switzerland, right?) In the end they won the tourney ridiculously easy against Italy, who 'destroyed' Germany before while Switzerland didn't even pass the group stage.

 

[takao]

True. Teamspirit above everything. I strongly dislike Oliver Kahn, but he did have a point yesterday when pointing out that the Brasilian team could ultimately improve because of the draw / getting some backlash now. The same as (I hope!) Belgium will learn a thing or two from their last match. I don't trust a 4:0 against poor Portugal one bit.

Spain didn't go guns blazing into the tournament 2012 (lost against Switzerland, right?) In the end they won the tourney ridiculously easy against Italy, who 'destroyed' Germany before while Switzerland didn't even pass the group stage.

agree.. i think it's still to early to tell every team can screw up one game

Spain 2010 was the first time a team won the WC while loosing the first since a long time.
looking through the wiki Italy 1982 had a 0-0 draw ... until 2010 it was all victories

Belgium will improve for sure, as will Bosnia , for both sides the players were very nervous.

Brazil i think might have deeper problems ... had they scored a late winning goal they would have really been pumped up. Sadly they didn't.
They problem might be more of a tactical one: they really depend on Marcelho and Danny Alves running up and down the pitch to provide attacking width. Both really had quite some mistakes against Croatia and Mexico on the defense , especially later in the game with low energy levels. apart of those two it's pretty much Neymar on his own.

the first opponent in the knock out phase will be from the Holland,Spain,Chile,Australia group ... they will have to step up their game really fast.

Personally i'm not so sure about Fred and Jo as the single striker up front ... just compare them to the brasilian strikers from 15-20 years ago ... they aren't remotely as good

 

[mojolicious]

this group of players have shown more team spirit, than the whole team did in 2012, which is a huge plus.

Judas didn't look at all happy about Robben's goal: are the cracks starting to appear?!?



Lovely goal by Cahill, and a shame that this is almost certainly his last World Cup Finals game.

 

[cambookpro]

Is it me, or have there been more penalties than usual? Maybe it's just watching three games a day has made them more noticeable than one game a week!

7 already from memory, perhaps even more as I haven't watched every single match.

Australia the latest to benefit!

 

[jbachandouris]

Obviously I don't watch too often, but the ball hits your hand and you get a foul? Wow, that sucks.

Australia up 2-1. Honestly, I don't get excited about a goal 'earned' that way.

 

[Don't panic]

The whole set-up suddenly reeks of the "we're gonna score one more than you" philosophy. On another day it could have worked against a decent Italy – I think England deserved at least a draw from that match – but if we manage to escape the group as runners-up then our first knock-out match will most likely be The Netherlands.

I appreciate that absolutely everything went right for the Oranje against Spain, but even so the prospect of facing Robben, Judas and Sneijder is terrifying. It could make Bloemfontein 2010 look like a fair contest.

this is incorrect.
if england ends up second in their group, they will be facing the winner of group C (colombia/greece/japan ivory coast). which is not that bad.
if they were to win that tie, than they would play the winner between first placed in the brazil group (likely brazil) and the second in group b (prob spain).

if holland end up winning today (3-2 now) they pretty much won the group, so they would only play a second-place england in the final.
you can rest peacefully

----------

like in the ecuador-switzerland game, a missed goal on one side transformed on a scored goal on the other side in the immediate next play

and why are the dutch not playing in orange?

 

[mojolicious]

this is incorrect.

I was just testing. Alternatively I was looking at a photograph of The Daily Mirror's super double page World Cup spread at about 800px wide, and somehow got my Groups B and C confused. You decide.

Must admit I was a bit surprised to suddenly discover we were playing The Netherlands in the first knock-out round, because pre-tournament I'd already decided that the last eight was very do-able!

So farewell then, Timmy Cahill. I wonder who'll be the next Australian to reach five goals in World Cup Finals?

 

[Apple fanboy]

Anybody enjoying the Australia v Holland game. It's been one of the most entertaining so far. I think Australia really deserve a point, but think it won't happen now.

 

[LadyX]

...and why are the dutch not playing in orange?

I was curious when they played their first game against Spain. Both teams were wear wearing their Away shirts. So I "googled" and this is what I got:

The key rule that caused the cascade of uniform changes is FIFA’s rule against having both teams wearing their light kits or dark kits, rather than one in each.

Spain was the first team listed on FIFA’s site, giving them uniform selection rights similar to being the home team. They chose their usual all-red uniform.

But the Netherlands' usual uniform is orange, which is too close to red and could cause confusion.

The Netherlands' away uniform is blue. But if the Netherlands played in blue, both countries would be wearing their dark kit.

Spain’s alternative kit is all black, which would return the teams to the same issue of similar colours.

So Spain had a third uniform designed in the lead up to the game.

FIFA has extensive uniform guidelines, designed to “enhance the sport through aesthetic creativity and design” that are set out in a 92-page Equipment Regulations booklet.

The guidelines lay out rules on everything from a four colour limit to the length of the sleeve free zone and the approval process for uniform changes.

 

[Nabooly]

Anybody enjoying the Australia v Holland game. It's been one of the most entertaining so far. I think Australia really deserve a point, but think it won't happen now.

Yep! I think this game has officially got me into the world cup spirit,,,although I was rooting for AUS, great game though!

Side note: Is anyone watching using ESPN's live stream on their site? Every 10-15 mins the video just stops and exits fullscreen. I then have to reload it. Not sure if it's an issue with ESPN, flash, or my MBP.

 

[Happybunny]

Australia 2 Netherlands 3


I do think I aged a good few years in the last 45 minutes.

My granddaughters wanted to know why I was shouting at the TV, they told me that the men on the TV can’t hear you.

Boy did we make hard work of it, Australia played well, and never gave up, hats off.

Wesley Snijder played like a bag of jelly.

 

[Don't panic]

I was curious when they played their first game against Spain. Both teams were wear wearing their Away shirts. So I "googled" and this is what I got:

that's hilarious.
what a bunch of idiots.

i agree the red/orang mix would be bad,
but red/blue? or black/orange?

 

[m4v3r1ck]

Referee 1.0 ;( HUP HOLLAND

----------

Australia 2 Netherlands 3





I do think I aged a good few years in the last 45 minutes.



My granddaughters wanted to know why I was shouting at the TV, they told me that the men on the TV can’t hear you.



Boy did we make hard work of it, Australia played well, and never gave up, hats off.



Wesley Snijder played like a bag of jelly.

Aussies never give up! RESPECT !!!!!

 

[mel823]

Damn! Seems like i missed a good match.

 

[Apple fanboy]

Damn! Seems like i missed a good match.

Yes but that's the good thing about the World Cup, there will be another one along in 16 minutes.