So... no World Cup thread yet? (also featuring TTLG fantasy world cup game)

Paz on 15/6/2006 at 21:04

Haha, how pleased are you? (originally to Dave - but also all you Swedes out there!) :D

Bad news for Shevs though, because I think it was Allback with that assist; David Pleat was a bit confused.

I think if you're comparing '06 and '90 versions of England, the best side can surely be achieved via a delicate blend of both. As ever, the current crop will be defined by how well they perform in the quarter finals (attendance permitting). The last two games have stunk the place out, but England tend to irritatingly pull some BRAVE BOYS ON THE BEACHES THREE LIONS CRY GOD FOR HARRY SPIRIT HEART GUTS bullshit against better sides.

Just think, if England happen to meet Holland in the quarters and it goes to penalties the game may never finish.

pakmannen on 15/6/2006 at 21:24

Oh Allbäck is a good enough finisher. He scores much more frequently than Ibrahimovic, and usually don't miss the chances he's given. Bad fucking luck today and against Trinidad (guess that goes for the whole team, until the 89th minute of todays game).

And on the subject of Trinidad, they almost deserved the draw against England for sheer will. And they did have the better chances in the first half.

Shevers on 15/6/2006 at 21:28

Quote Posted by Paz

Bad news for Shevs though, because I think it was Allback with that assist; David Pleat was a bit confused.

I took ajare's word for Larsson getting the assist. If it was Allback then that's double the blow to my last post :p :laff:

As for the quarters - if I've figured it out right then if England and Argentina top their groups and get through round 2 then they meet in the quarter-finals. It's like fate demands the Argies to beat England on penalties in the quarters :ebil:

D'Arcy on 15/6/2006 at 21:49

There's still a good chance of a Germany vs. England in the next round...

SD on 15/6/2006 at 21:49

Quote Posted by zacharias

i wouldn't have taken Crouch. That mis-hit volley was comical and i'm afraid for mine, bless him, he simply isn't good enough at this level.

How can you say that with any credibility when he has 6 goals in 9 international appearances?

Clearly a 0.67 gpg average isn't sufficient for you, so what does he need to do to prove himself "good enough at this level"?

Quote Posted by D'Arcy

There's still a good chance of a Germany vs. England in the next round...

It all depends on whether Germany manage to beat Ecuador or not.

If Germany finish second, you can bet your life Sweden will be playing for a draw against England, and England will be playing to lose ;)

D'Arcy on 15/6/2006 at 21:55

Okay, but you have to take into account that three of those goals were against Jamaica. It's like Pauleta being the best portuguese goalscorer ever, managing to outscore Eusébio: the man scores handfulls of goals against the likes of Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, or Malta. There isn't a lot of merit in that.

SD on 15/6/2006 at 21:58

You can only score against the opponents you come up against.

If you want to look at it another way, Michael Owen has fewer than 6 goals in those same 9 matches that Crouch has played for England ;)

And while I would agree that Crouch has yet to face a really challenging opponent at international level, it's surely premature at the very least to say that he's not good enough for England?

D'Arcy on 15/6/2006 at 22:10

Don't take me wrong, I'm not attacking Crouch. As I've said before, he's not exactly the type of player that I usually admire, but the man has his utility, as it was proven today. There aren't many players with his rather unique characteristics. I just meant to say that those numbers shouldn't be used lightly as some irrefutable evidence of his quality, that's all.

Headphones on 15/6/2006 at 23:52

6/6 is great std, of course!

but it's irrelevant when there are at least a billion teams left in the tournament who you have no chance in fuck of beating

england's football at euro 2000 was better than this

of course it's important to get out of the group, but it's also important for a team, at some stage in its life, to perform at a level higher than the 2nd division

england have yet to do this

zacharias on 16/6/2006 at 08:14

>How can you say that with any credibility when he has 6 goals in 9 international appearances?

Because scoring in friendly games against second tier teams (whilst having lots of quality service from midfield) and scoring against top tier teams in a world cup, with limited service and chances (as will surely be required at some stage) is quite a different thing.

If you're happy with him at world cup level after that game, good luck to you.
But the comparisons with Owen recently are useless cause everyone can see Owen's struggling, and should probably be dropped. That leaves you with few options frankly due to (imo) poor squad selection.