How far do you think England will progress in The World Cup? A lot probably depends on the group draw, in which I think we will be in Pot 2. This means we could, if the draw is unkind, be in the same group as Brazil or Argentina. I reckon we'll finish 2nd in our group and go out in Round Two
lets hope were the lucky ones who get in a group with Switzerland, I think everyone wants them as oppose to the other seeds! quarter finals for me
Why are English people so pessimistic?! After the Poland game on Tuesday, the Polish manager tipped England to be up there challenging for the World Cup title. Most fans of other countries can only dream of having a squad as good as yours. To be fair, about three/four years ago, the future of English football looked bleak, when there were no young players, and all you had was Bobby Zamora and Owen Hargreaves to look forward to returning to the side! Now, the amount of excitin young talent is excellent. You've got Barkley, Jenkinson (who I rate highly- it's a shame he didn't keep his Scandinavian roots and play for Finland- I'd never turn my back on my country! But he's going to be a hugee player for England in the future, and he'll easily solve your right back dilemmas) Wilshere, Sturridge, Welbeck, Gibbs, Jones, Smalling, Ravel Morrison, Walcott, Oxlade Chamberlain, Townsend, Cleverley, Saido Berahino, Sterling, Zaha, Jack Butland, .. You know, I could just go on and on. You got out of what I'd say was a mediocre group quite difficulty, but then World Cup qualification isn't supposed to be easy! It is the reason why many people think the English are arrogant, as most other top nations respect their opponents more, and don't take them lightly, and don't expect to win at least 4-0 every game etc. You had the perfect manager for you before (Fabio Capello), however Hodgson is doing far better than I ever thought he'd do with England, so well done to him. His last two team selections were first class- and he got what he deserved with the two victories. As for the World Cup .. well! You'll come at least second in the group. I think you can make it to the semi-finals. As we've seen with Chelsea in the Champions League, anything can happen at that stage, with a bit of luck. I'm quite confident you could beat Brazil or Italy- they're both very overrated if you ask me (Plus you've beaten them both in the past year, so you've proven you can beat them). Argentina cannot defend, and are lacking in international quality in midfielders and goal keepers. Once you play Spain or Germany though, I'm afraid that's it. Spain could beat you 2/3-1, whilst Germany could seriosuly beat you 5-0, if they get their team selection and mentality right. (Sorry!). So I'd say you'll get as far into the World Cup as you can, until you meet one of those two nations. Good luck England, I'll be supporting you now Norway and Israel are out!
Hi Guys, who knows is the answer. I think England are quite good but have some areas of deficiencies especially holding midfielders. We have so many great left backs when we had none 10 years ago, however back then we had a dearth of centre backs whereas in contrast we have few options now. However, watching England in the last few games reminds me of the team in 2002, not great but gave teams a good game: Trevor Sinclair and Wayne Bridge played in the side that beat Argentina and Sol Campbell was in the team of the tournament. We were not seeded then either and it was a great tournament.
Let's make some assumptions - dangerous I know. Let's assume Uruguay will beat Jordan and Mexico beat New Zealand in the intercontinental play offs. Let's assume in Africa the five team to progress are: Ivory Coast, Ghana, Cameroon, Nigeria and Burkina Faso Then pick the four European extra qualifiers (a bit of a guess): let's go for France, Portugal, Sweden and Greece, why not! That gives us Pot one: Brazil, Spain, Germany, Argentina, Colombia, Belgium, Uruguay and Switzerland. Leaving nine European teams in Pot two: Italy, Netherlands, England, Bosnia, Russia, France, Portugal, Sweden and Greece It will be a stipulation that the ninth European team goes in either Brazil, Argentina, Colombia or Uruguay's group (it would be a lot easier for FIFA is Jordan won!) So pot three has seven teams in it, maybe: Chile, Ecuador (probably not with Brazil, Argentina, Colombia or Uruguay) and the five African teams e.g. Ivory Coast, Ghana, Cameroon, Nigeria and Burkina Faso Pot four would then be Asia and North plus Central America: Costa Rica, USA, Honduras, Mexico, Japan, South Korea, Australia and Iran. This could lead to an example England group such as Argentina, Cameroon and Australia which you would feel England could escape. Worst case scenario could be: Germany, Chile and USA - all ranked in the top 13. Best case scenario, perhaps: Uruguay, Burkina Faso and Honduras. Probably somewhere inbetween. Anyway I will stop there, getting too carried away...
Great analysis Odds, I was watching some of the old footage from 86. We had some team then you know, if the Sun had let Bobby get on with it he could have made that team even better.
Long time no see Pompeymeowth .I am not sure it is analysis so much as guess work and even though I know how cynical FIFA and their marketing is there is always something great about World Cups and their build up. Do you think you will make it to this one with your Brazil roots? Cannot remember 86 bit too long ago for me, first real memory is the 94 final shoot out and then the 98 tournament.
I'd love to go, it will be interesting to see which cities England are playing in. With 16 different stadiums in all, fans are going to have to buy multi trip plane tickets as the vast distances to be covered (especially if it's Manaus), are not feasible by road. If I make it I'd probably just watch the games in BH, I don't mind who is playing really just to be there would be good.
I think that used to be Upper Volta when I was a lad. It has the one of the best Capital city names I know of, Ouagadougou.
All depends on the draw. I think we'll make it out of the group stage, but whilst our players seem strong against the likes of Moldova and Poland, we won't be playing them in Brazil. There won't be any so called weak teams there. I've heard people saying the likes of Switzerland will be an easy 3 points, clearly forgetting the likes of Xhaka, Stocker and of course Shaqiri, who not only has an awesome sounding name, is absolute class. If Townsend in the so called new Ronaldo, what does that make Shaqiri?
Just so long as we avoid Spain and Germany, oh and Brazil and Argentina, Italy , and.......................Oh dear I think this may end up being a waste of £10,000, the more I think about it!..................
Calm down all of you. At least you qualified for the World Cup! With all of the talk going on in England at the moment about Roy Hodgson's half time joke, and your FA's plan for more good English players, you'd have thought Poland won that game! If you went to the World Cup without placing all this expectation on the player's shoulders, they might actually have a good tournament and give you something to celebrate .. EDIT: Oh and Pot 2 isn't all that bad- the Netherlands and Portugal (if they win their World CUp play-off) will also be in pot 2. If they weren't hosting the world cup, even Brazil would be in pot 2 (they're ranked 12th in the world, England are 10th). I think France, ranked 21st, and Russia, Ivory Coast and Croatia are all in pot 2/3 as well. So in pot 2, you're avoiding many other good teams, as the quality in international football is so high these days.
Let's have a bit of late night music to set the mood. [video=youtube;3YvlqFiFOJw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YvlqFiFOJw[/video]
Out in the quarters on penalties, with Hodgson inexplicably failing to bring Lambert on for the shootout.
