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 !.

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 -):

Stan....I think you might be right...it will wake England up....our defense is too slow at times...this is where the Germans are very strong on last ditch defending.....I really think England can get to the semis this year....further than that is just guesswork because you always meet a big team in the semis (except that time with South Korea)..Without getting ahead of ourselves, I'm starting to doubt whether France will be the opponents in the quarters...not in form that side at all...Losing Ferdinand is perhaps a bit like a sending off for a good team...the player less galvanises them and they play better....it happens many a time....Milan AC...a few years back went down to 10 men...can't remember the game now....they won 4-1....;...Don't know much about Dawson.....If Joe Cole signs for Spurs...they will be formidable next season...!...

Think the Ferdinand injury may prove to be a blessing in disguise for you guys as him and Terry have looked bloody awful together for a while now.

It's the Chelsea curse : Drogba, Ballack, Essien and now Robben injured......we might need an accompanying exorcist to deal with this....

Think it was the first time I've ever seen Drogba roll around in real pain ....

I think Jammie Theakston should be one of our goal keepers :-)

Caught a few minutes of that.....full stadium by the look of it....

Yes - very entertaining. I think both celeb goalkeepers did well - especially Patrick Kielty, against the likes of Shearer and Sheringham.

Taking into consideration some of the recent comments made by our lot + the amount of injury concerns, I'm beginning to doubt our ability to even qualify for the knock out stages now.

Well....here we go....

France as a team have not looked that impressive, but the Henri-Ribery combination is quite good.....Argentina look formidable up front with a leaky back four.....they might come a cropper with that shortfall in defense, but should make the second round without any problem.....South Korea doing well....good luck to our lads.....120 quid says they will win.....(gulp !...)....