I think their best bet would be speed on both flanks with Rooney up top. Imagine if Boca is left back and Walcott is played on the right flank
There will be nothing to worry about. Walcott will run the ball out of play over and over again. Sol is much more deserving of a WC spot than Walcott. Unfortunately someone like Dawson will go, when he has never played in such high pressure games before.
I remember listening to a Dempsey interview where he said we have to keep it tight in the MF against England and then hit them up on the counter. Looks like Bradley has our team brainwashed into playing the Allardyce brand of soccer, which is a friggin' shame. I hope he has the guts to put out an attacking 4-3-3 or 4-2-2 with Donovan/Dempsey and Jozy on top. As much as I like Charlie Davies, I do not think he should be included. He is young and he will get his chance. It would be nice to see an African or Asian country win the WC. Ivory Coast has a strong squad if they can pull it together. I see them as a legit 1/2 final threat. England is the new Spain. They will bow out after 1/4 finals. I think Italy, France and Germany are all full of players past their prime. I'd like to see Holland and Spain do well. I cannot root against Argentina, but Brazil will play to win it with Dunga at helm. I expect the boys in Yellow and Blue do it again.
spain have never won a world cup so how can we be the new spain? england have a good chance, unlike usa who have only a 'good chance' at progressing from the group wouldn't be suprised if the other teams beat u after the tonking england will give u
England has a chance, but not much of one. Way too many question marks in their squad. I have no idea what their starting XI is going to look like, and i doubt that Capello does either.
I agree. Their best bet I think would be a 4-2-3-1, something like ------------Green Brown Ferdinand Terry Cole -------Barry---Lampard Lennon----Gerrard-----Cole -----------Rooney ...but I know Capello is in love with having a target man, ala Heskey or Crouch for Rooney to play off of, so who knows.
I am not sure how much faith I would put into it, but there are some pretty interesting and long-running statistics that would indicate that the winner will be Brazil or Argentina. One of the two has won every other world cup for more than four decades. Europeans have never won away from Europe - which is largely why the South Americans win every other world cup. Just because Europeans never win away from europe doesn't mean they can't, obviously. However, for it to remain so constant over so long there might be something to it. This year seems an odd case though. I wouldn't pick Argentina to win for various reasons. For one, their manager is insane. Two, their defense is an absurd construction of four centerbacks. Three, Xavi is Spanish (otherwise known as they don't get half as much out of Messi as Barca does; rule applies for Tevez as well). Brazil could easily win, but without Kaka the team isn't quite the same. He isn't healthy, so I don't know what the situation would be for them. If he is healthy, though, they can probably win. It won't be pretty or "samba," but they can win.
was my post deleted? argentina won't win it, regardless of the immense ability their squad has in attack! maradonna is a crackhead brazil play a starange formation, maybe they can grind it out but i think they are very beatable france and italy are past it, france have an awful manager too germany could suprise everyone again, i see them as underdogs spain may be without xavi, which greatly reduces their chances, iniesta is injured too right? torres also has constant niggles...they have to be favorites with brazil england have a good chance, a world class manager getting the best out of our players i want hart in goal personally as he can be a game winner where as james sucks and green is just solid at best ...................hart johnson.....terry...rio.....cole ...............barry..lampard lennon.............rooney........gerrard ......................heskey isnt bad, people don't rate heskey, but he is very important at chesting down and winning the hollywood passes we like to spray lol rooney can also lead the line if needed and move young/milner wide left giving gerrard a central role
Didn't everyone say that Italy and France were past it last world cup? That's what I recall, and they both made it the finals. Germany only could surprise the really ignorant. They are a world powerhouse, and they have international records to prove it. I never see them as underdogs.
One of the nice benefits of having a nearly all-French team at the Arse! I was really bummed when Sol knocked Dempsey on his ass yesterday..was worried he was hurt...we're gonna need Clint in these games.
Exactly. They're the meisters of these things, playing very cagy and keeping games tight. They're like Italians except their trains run on time.
Exactly...that was my prediction to a half-interested person yesterday. Argies or Brasil. But you gotta like Spain's chances too.
Cesc can't run a game the way Xavi can, and most of his time with Spain has been in an advanced role. Villa may be the best striker in the world, but Torres is a perfect partner for him, and Spain just won't be nearly as potent with Villa up top on his own, or with mediocre second strikers like Guiza or Llorente.
Germany have major issues this year, but some very nice players if Loew picks them In my view, having lived in both England and Germany for many years now, Germany has an advantage in tournament play because they have no particular hangups about how they play. Typically germans go for flat management structures and a more collaborative approach than england which remains fairly hierarchical. They also favour simplicity with a focus on execution. What was interesting in 2006 where England got a lot of flack for 'only' winning ugly from Beckham's boot, is that Germany don't care as long as it works. In this campaign germany seem to have lots of internal problems. We'll see if that irons out with time in camp.....
I disagree about Cesc, but he probably will play more forward. You're most likely looking at: ----------Casillas Ramos Pique Puyol Capdevila -Busquets/Senna-Alonso Iniesta----Fabregas---Silva -----------Villa I'd take that in a heartbeat over any first XI to be honest. I'm not sure Spain was ever going to play with two CF's anyway. I know they did in Euro 2008 but I think Cesc has always been destined to play in their first XI.