Thought I'd start a football blog, we might keep this going until 2010.....England doing well....did not see the match or even the goals....I'd like Michael owen back in the squad though....and I think Peter Crouch would make a very good substitute...remember against Argentina in Geneva a few years ago....with Michael Owen and some very good movements on and off the ball...they caused havoc.....did see Scotland's missed chance....that could be very costly losing those 2 points !.

Jamie Carragher? That,s your yellow card count xucked RF :o)

That brazilian defense is not as good as everybody thinks...
In fact to play them : you really have to have a go at them.....looks like it was either Wrights-Philips or Walcott.....anyway....thank god Joe Cole is there...he is so dangerous going forward.....
Tonight the Dutch have just beaten Ghana 4-1......the Brazil boys will not enjoy bumping into them in the quarters if that's the way it pans out, in fact I'm starting to think that Holland might overcome them.....it is possible that Ivory Coast take a point off one of the 2 big boys (Portugal or Brazil)...we shall see....
It is crucial to keep the yellow card down....England can go a long way this year....

It's a year too late imo rf .... centre of England's defence is a shadow of it's former self and no tidy right back either.

Wait to the competition starts.....I think that this year they will perform....

Cant see what the difference is between the side we will probably put out and that one that has let us down miserably in the last 4 big tournaments.

Take out Beckham and you have more or less the same team now as 10 year back.

And what kind of football did we play...... crab like with no penetration.

Exactly the same kind of stuff that we played against mexico and japan.

Ok we do have Lennon who does have pace but we have left the real speed merchant Walcott at home.

Im just kepping my fingers crossed that we get a lot of luck.

You do need luck in these competitions, the Germans and Brazilians have had loads of it, anyway.... If England go at teams : that is when they are at their best.....Walcott is not there but would he have played ?....Crouch would probably come on....what I'm hoping for is the Gerrard-Lampard-Cole midfield clicking, with neat 1-2's and little chips over defenders...that sort of play, coupled with sharp crosses across the face of goal from A. Cole......that is our best style...I think that Holland will shine at this year's event !. South Africa was once their country as well, let us not forget....

Hi RF,

not a big fan of the lampard gerrard pairing.

For me gerrard is wasted on the left and when both play in the centre they are constantly caught out of position.

Johnson on the left would have been a better option I reckon but hes not going.

Tend to think we will end up with a 5 man midfield with Rooney up front by himself like he plays for UTD in the big matches.

Cant wait for the kick off, all the ale gets delivered today and ive got some cheapo T shirts in the post.

Bring it on.

Up to now they haven't clicked that much, but to me Joe Cole is the man....we need short and varied passing with some good defending......not the stupid long ball up to the front players who can't get hold of it,....now and again a long ball can be dangerous...but I prefer the build up style of play ....will be a job to watch all the games...I'm bound to miss some of them....

Chelsea and Man Utd generally play better when the game is played at pace, but when those same players pull on the England shirt much of their game is slow, and the build up to attack is deliberate and consequently more often than not, easily nullified by the opposition. I was never a fan of Carrick but he has had a good season for Man U, and when he's on song his passing is second to none, he just needs to translate that at international level, imo he could be the surprise of the tournament, (he says, sticking his neck out).
2517

England have to play at pace....it suits them better.....not too warm in SA either...winter down there....

Climate wise its their best chance , going foward England will threaten anyone but going backwards ..... hmmmm.

I'm not too sure of France finishing top of their group....Mexico have beaten Italy in a friendly and are capable of a surprise....difficult group theirs....

George, don't know where you got Carrick having had a good season for Utd from, it's generally accpeted he's been very poor and continued that form for England. I really hope England on't play Rooney up front on his own, because if the midfield play crap, he'll get frustrated at not getting a good service and we all know how that will end. He plays a lot better for England when he has some close support.

RF agreed, England can play some wonderful one touch pass and move football when they're on song, lets hope they click early and get in the mood!

More chance of MDX being relisted than your shower winning it pt :-)

Off topic .... even the faithful are throwing the towel in and having a go at BM since last week pt , you seen it ?

Dil

Where the footy is concerned I remain the eternal long suffering optimist!!

From what I can gather MDX have lost the case against RT and will have to pay costs, although BM seemingly not coming clean (no surprise there then).

I could never see the sense in buying SLNs secured against a debateable tech, with an even more debateable value. I guess the question is, how is BM making money out of this, as I'm 100% certain that's always been the only game in town.

Ferdinand out of World Cup ...

Ferdinand injured....great start......England must play with an attacking style....it is so much easier to defend when you attack....the others risk losing the ball in midfield ....and another attack can develop....that's why Brazil are so good....they don't have very good defenses out there (though in recent years they have been better), because : they are always looking to go forward....put them on the backfoot and they are never happy...France demonstrated that at the last world cup when they went at them and the south americans could not play their usual way !.

What with Owen, Beckham and now Ferdinand....they are either fragile or it's a case for Hercule Poirot....

Think to much has been made of Ferdinand's absence, his replacement Michael Dawson (although not as experienced) had a storming season at Spurs so his confidence with be strong and he will have momentum on his side.

If Dawson can adapt quickly to the international game then he could actually improve England's distinctly shaky defence.. instead of going out in the quarter's we might now scrape through to the Semi's -):