The Ultimate England Thread II

Kenan and Kel

Current squad

Spoiler

(edited 9 years ago)

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Reply 1

Valyrian

England are going to get wiped eventually after these group matches and everyone knows it :colonhash:

Reply 2

sr90

Volunteer Team

Thanks for putting the squad in the OP. No doubt in a couple of years people will look at it and wonder how on earth some of those players went to the World Cup. Exactly who remains to be seen :P

Reply 3

jam278

So, calling swift QF exit.

Reply 4

Midlander

Original post by jam278

So, calling swift QF exit.

I would be happy with that.

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 5

Kenan and Kel

This line-up would take us all the way:

Reply 6

Midlander

Original post by Kenan and Kel

This line-up would take us all the way:

Top 8 in the world is the limit for this team, and a ranking nobody here would turn their noses up at.

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 7

Alex Doran

I'm calling it now, on the first page of this thread;
England to get to the final of the 2014 World cup with Rooney and Sturridge tied for the golden boot, mock me now but wait and see, this will happen.
Seriously though, be positive people, Italy are on terrible form, Suarez won't be at his best if he plays at all and Costa Rica are really bad. The best team we could get in the round of 16 is Columbia so I really believe that we will at least get to the quarters. Admittedly the quarter final would almost definitely be against Spain or Brazil (or Holland if they top group) so that would be tough.
I reckon this is the year a European team in win it in South America, England win on penalties, the two favourites (holders and hosts) are both out before the semis and the year an Englishman scores a hattrick in the world cup final for just the second time ever.
(If none of this happens I can just edit the post, no one needs to know.)

Reply 8

jam278

Original post by Alex Doran

Quoted for future reference.

Reply 9

username1315644

The Arsenal winger was not wearing a brace on the knee as he again undertook running drills.

Read it on this article.

Danny Welbeck’s participation in England’s opening World Cup game against Italy has been left in considerable doubt after he limped out of the squad’s training session on Tuesday, with Raheem Sterling’s chances of starting in Manaus enhanced as a result.

But interestingly

Sterling was heavily involved in Tuesday’s session, employed for long periods in the central role of the trident just behind Sturridge, with Wayne Rooney, Adam Lallana and James Milner interchanging in the wider positions.

So perhaps Hodgson is considering playing him there, bit late on to be doing something you have no intention of trying.

The blackout attack could be a reality. Perhaps let Barkely have a few mins, he's got Nigerian pedigree.

Sturridge
Welbeck Sterling Ox

Get rid of Johnson and we a segregated team. :tongue:

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 10

jam278

Original post by Fizzel

Sturridge
Welbeck Sterling Ox

Get rid of Johnson and we a segregated team. :tongue:

Loving that attack. Could upgrade on the Ox though. It's a shame Victor Moses decided to play for Nigeria.

Reply 11

manchesterunited15

Original post by Fizzel

Good to see the Ox, should be back for the second game against Uruguay. I don't think I'm a pessimist but I think England will lose to Italy, a draw if we are lucky. The Uruguay game is where it will be decided, that or whoever slips up against Costa Rica.

Read it on this article.

But interestingly

So perhaps Hodgson is considering playing him there, bit late on to be doing something you have no intention of trying.

The blackout attack could be a reality. Perhaps let Barkely have a few mins, he's got Nigerian pedigree.

Sturridge
Welbeck Sterling Ox

Get rid of Johnson and we a segregated team. :tongue:

Sterling in the hole sounds good. He'll be better at pressing Pirlo than Rooney

Reply 12

Kutta

Does anyone else think the Lallana is not as good as the media are hyping him? They speak like he's some next Iniesta typed player who is a two footed genius....No doubt he's a decent player but people need to calm their tits when speaking about him lol

Anyway's for the WC I would play this team:

Formation: 4-2-3-1

GK - Joe Hart

RB - Johnson - I would have liked Walker
CB - G. Cahill
CB - Smalling / Jagielka - Smalling is actually a decent CB against average teams
LB - Baines

CDM - Gerrard
CDM - Wilshere / Jones - Depending on opposition

LM - Rooney
CAM - Barkley
RM - Sterling

CF - Sturidge

Reply 13

Kutta

Original post by manchesterunited15

Sterling in the hole sounds good. He'll be better at pressing Pirlo than Rooney

They better be watching tapes of Park Ji Sung, when he man marked Pirlo out of the game :biggrin:

Reply 14

Kenan and Kel

Literally zero chance of Sterling being the man to mark Pirlo after his brainless challenge on Valencia

Reply 15

cBay

Why are people talking about Pirlo like he's some sort of super-human. Sure he's a great passer, but people are over-hyping the importance of 'marking him out of the game'.

We should be selecting our forwards on their offensive merit. We have some great attacking players capable of causing damage ourselves... just a bit of a shame that we haven't seen them all play at the same time in a suitable formation.

Screw 4-2-3-1, IT DOES NOT SUIT OUR PLAYERS (except Rooney). Why can nobody see this?

Reply 16

jam278

Original post by cBay

Pirlo ain't super human, but we saw what happened last time when he wasn't marked out of the game. I don't think England are going to be stupid enough this time to not bother with that threat. His poor games usually coincide with Italy playing badly. Although they have Verratti now who can do Pirlo's job.

I wouldn't say great attacking players either. Englands attack also haven't gelled and I doubt it will have in time for that game. We aren't the greatest on the counter attack, our tactic in the last few games of qualification was pass to Townsend, we aren't the greatest in possession either and we've been relying on a lot of individual brilliance.

Rooney, Sturridge, Ox and Sterling come into that category, potentially Lallana but it's nothing amazing, Italy probably are similar attack wise with Balotelli, Immobile, Cerci and Cassano, bar Balotelli 3 of the 4 have had good seasons.

Reply 17

Alex Doran

Personally I don't think we should bother about Pirlo as much as we do, I think he is massively overrated. Last time (in 2012) the game was 0-0 and no-one mentioned Pirlo in the full time analysis but he scored the panenka penalty and everyone went mad. If England would have won on penalties then I don't think our obsession with Pirlo would have happened. He is a brilliant passer, I am not denying that but Gerrard isn't bad either. Also Italy have absolutely no width so there is only limited space he can pass into. We do not need to stop the supply as if it isn't Pirlo, it is someone else. We need to stop the receivers which should be easy enough given they are all down the middle. I do think we should attempt to close him down but being honest, he isn't going to decide the game. Italy have other players and England have some decent attackers to. He is good but he doesn't decide the result.
The good news is that defensively, England are very weak at the full backs (especially Johnson) and Italy never play out wide so Johnson and Baines can spend time bombing forwards which is when they are at their best. Gerrard and Henderson can work hard defending and spraying the ball out wide and I would play a third CM in Wilshere to keep a lid on where they are most dangerous (the middle.) If we play the diamond like Rodgers did, we basically have the same players with Gerrard at the base, Sterling at the tip and Henderson on one side. Wilshere is more than good enough to fill in for Allen compared to Liverpool so it will be a strong midfield.

Reply 18

jam278

Original post by Alex Doran

From 60mins onwards Pirlo was clearly MOTM. That's nonsense what you're putting here.

If England would have won on penalties then I don't think our obsession with Pirlo would have happened. He is a brilliant passer, I am not denying that but Gerrard isn't bad either. Also Italy have absolutely no width so there is only limited space he can pass into.

Italy do not always play 4-4-2 diamond, they play 4-3-3 and 3-5-2 which are formations that provide more width.

Gerrard's passing is inferior to Pirlo's, Gerrard is similar to Alonso passing wise. In terms of long range passing there is nobody better than those two, but Pirlo can dictate a game with short and long passing, Gerrard likes to move the ball as quickly as possible, Pirlo is capable of this but when he needs to shut a game down with slow short passing he can do that as well, he's like a hybrid of Alonso and Xavi, that's not to say he's better than them, but that is his game.

We do not need to stop the supply as if it isn't Pirlo, it is someone else. We need to stop the receivers which should be easy enough given they are all down the middle.

But they don't always play down the middle, they play other formations which can provide width. It's not so easy to stop receivers when your midfield duo is Henderson and Gerrard, considering the way Liverpool ship goals game after game, I think it's not really a good idea having to rely on those two stopping receivers.

I do think we should attempt to close him down but being honest, he isn't going to decide the game. Italy have other players and England have some decent attackers to. He is good but he doesn't decide the result.
The good news is that defensively, England are very weak at the full backs (especially Johnson) and Italy never play out wide so Johnson and Baines can spend time bombing forwards which is when they are at their best. Gerrard and Henderson can work hard defending and spraying the ball out wide and I would play a third CM in Wilshere to keep a lid on where they are most dangerous (the middle.) If we play the diamond like Rodgers did, we basically have the same players with Gerrard at the base, Sterling at the tip and Henderson on one side. Wilshere is more than good enough to fill in for Allen compared to Liverpool so it will be a strong midfield.

I'd play a 4-3-3 but I'd attempt to close Pirlo down, Either by getting the striker to drop deep, or by getting both wingers to tuck in, this then gives him no space to pass to.

There's the final option of pushing up and playing a 4-5-1.