Predictions.

[apollo_creed]

So you're saying Lampard and Rooney are only near 'world class'.

Which is a stupid term btw - but if they're not world class then there must be only three 'world class' players in the world.

Oh and Ashley Cole?

The best/second best in his position in the world but apparently shit.

No. You're obviously not biased at all.

You probably rate the prolific man of substance David Silva as super world class.

England have three four weaknesses imo - a couple they can get away with, a couple will ultimately cost them.

1. keeper situation. no clearly defined number one - the best of the lot this season was probably joe hart but he's unproven at international level and still young. who knows?
2. no reasonably similar quality strike partner for Rooney - the next best striker England have is Defoe who isn't an effective partner for Rooney.
3. no left sided midfielder. if england had malouda they could probably win the world cup.
4. ferdinand's injury. if Carragher plays it will be a bigger joke than speed 2. it has to be king. england's central defence would be one of the slowest in history.

 

[RickSanchez]

England have three four weaknesses imo - a couple they can get away with, a couple will ultimately cost them.

1. keeper situation. no clearly defined number one - the best of the lot this season was probably joe hart but he's unproven at international level and still young. who knows?
2. no reasonably similar quality strike partner for Rooney - the next best striker England have is Defoe who isn't an effective partner for Rooney.
3. no left sided midfielder. if england had malouda they could probably win the world cup.
4. ferdinand's injury. if Carragher plays it will be a bigger joke than speed 2. it has to be king. england's central defence would be one of the slowest in history.

how dare you make me agree with you...all true....not sure if they had Malouda they'd simply win though, but they don't have a straight out left. Should've chosen Johnson.

 

[Hu$tler]

I went with Brazil to beat Argentina in the final, and i'm sticking with that. I may as well post it so I get credit if it happens

 

[Bourky23]

So you're saying Lampard and Rooney are only near 'world class'.

Which is a stupid term btw - but if they're not world class then there must be only three 'world class' players in the world.

Oh and Ashley Cole?

The best/second best in his position in the world but apparently shit.

No. You're obviously not biased at all.

You probably rate the prolific man of substance David Silva as super world class.

over-react much?

What i'm getting at is that Rooney and Lampard are the only blokes who you could use in discussions regarding the better players in the world at the moment.

I acknowledged that Ashley Cole was the best Left Back going around, but when you look at a team sheet the position Left Back and "Matchwinner" don't exactly go hand in hand.

What i'm trying to suggest is that although England has players who will do their job, they lack players (apart from Rooney and Lampard) with spark/X-Factor/amazing technical ability who can win games off their own boot..

Gerrard could arguably be thrown into the group as well but i'm of the opinion he's past it..

I know you don't agree with me, and you can call me biased, but I have never rated the Pom's as a top 5 international side and nothing has changed my mind.

That doesn't mean I think they're shite.

Just that they aren't as good as Spain/Brazil/Holland etc.

 

[Duncan Disorderly]

Kenny Sansom better than Cashley??!! No chance! Stevie G better than Ghod? Noooooo. England would of won the thing in 82 if ****in Greenwood had played Hoddle instead Graham bloody Rix! What a douche. If only the FA had of had the balls to appoint Brian Clough.

I would feel a lot better about our chances if Hargreaves was playing. He was our best player in 2006 and with Barry struggling to be fit it looks like it will be back to the dreaded Lampard/Gerrard thing. I agree with your sentiment, 2002 aside, this is the weakest England squad I can remember but we still have a shot at making the semis because of Capello and the way the draw could pan out for us.

I thought Kenny Sansom was immense for England in the mid eitghties, maybe i'm the only one who thinks that ?

I didn't see any of the 82 world cup matches, but I always thought Hoddle was phenominal at club level, but didn't have the same cutting edge for the NT- similar to Lampard and Stevie La.

England have three four weaknesses imo - a couple they can get away with, a couple will ultimately cost them.

1. keeper situation. no clearly defined number one - the best of the lot this season was probably joe hart but he's unproven at international level and still young. who knows?
2. no reasonably similar quality strike partner for Rooney - the next best striker England have is Defoe who isn't an effective partner for Rooney.
3. no left sided midfielder. if england had malouda they could probably win the world cup.
4. ferdinand's injury. if Carragher plays it will be a bigger joke than speed 2. it has to be king. england's central defence would be one of the slowest in history.

I hear what you're saying about the strike partner for Rooney, but I don't see why Defoe couldn't partner Rooney.

If Gary Lineker was still around for England, there wouldn't even be a debate about whether he and Rooney could form an effective partnership.

Now i'm not saying that Defoe is anywhere near the quality of Lineker, but in terms of style both were poachers who would stand on the shoulder of the last man and use their pace/nous to score.

 

[spookism]

1. Winning team and the teams involved in the final. Argentina def Brazil 4-3
2. Top scorer. Rooney 5
3. Tournament's MVP. Kaka
4. Teams who will surprise (if any). Ivory Coast
5. Teams who will disappoint (if any). Spain
6. Who will have the better tournament out of Messi/Ronaldo/Rooney. Messi

I stand by previous comments so far......

 

[RickSanchez]

Not sure about Kaka. He looked crap.

 

[RickSanchez]

*Subject to change*

1. Winning team and the teams involved in the final: Spain. Spain 2-1 England
2. Top scorer. Rooney 7
3. Tournament's MVP. Rooney or Fabregas
4. Teams who will surprise (if any). Serbia. Semi Finals, Denmark to do quite well.
5. Teams who will disappoint (if any). Germany - not a big fan of their forwards, out of all of them that Kiessling guy is probably the most dangerous. Argentina probably will fail to make a big impact also. Quality forwards, some good CM's and wingers coming through but sorry, don't rate the defence that highly.
6. Who will have the better tournament out of Messi/Ronaldo/Rooney. Messi probably won't advance far enough to have that much of an impact so probably Rooney (listed him for MVP)
7. Australia's results: 0. Lose 3-0 to Germany, 2-1 to Ghana and 1-0 to Serbia.
8. Best youngster - Bendtner to get 4 or 5 to get up their, Subotic to be a rock for Serbia. I gotta have a better look at this to be honest, when it gets closer i'll prob think of more and change my opinion.


Dammit Embers. Honestly didn't read your opinion until I gave my own., will also reckon Serbia will do well.

__________________

Despite being a poor excuse of an Aussie, i am failing so far. Subotic may get more games now but i don't see Serbia being the side I thought they could be, but they haven't totally been shit....just yet. Forgot to edit my predictions closer to the tournament

 

[Erek Shun]

Winner: Spain

Runner-Up: England

Golden Boot: Wayne Rooney

MVP: Lionel Messi

Biggest Surprise: Nigeria

Biggest Disappointment: Netherlands (out in final 16)

Socceroos Finish?: 3rd in Group Stage

Messi/Ronaldo/Rooney? Messi[/quote]

Runner-up England! What are you on?

 

[spookism]

Not sure about Kaka. He looked crap.

Was mainly trying to point out Spain's failings and my prediction of them, but eh 5 out 6 ain't bad!

 

[Yoda_]

Hi guys, not a real big Soccer fan but thought I would join the soccer WC discussions.

Was looking over some of the squads that I think will be near the world cup glory mark and I think I have found quite a liking for the even squad of Spain.

Have a very formidable attacking front line with plenty of options if others are falling around, with Fernando Torres coming back, David Villa pick up the slack for him, and is a proven goal scorer at the top elite level with 38 goals from 59 games as well as being the top goal scorer at euro 08.

The midfield is very evenly placed with plenty of flair with the ilk of Fabregas, Xabi Alonso and Xavi whilst the defence is made up of some elite and household names in Puyol, Sergio Ramos and Pique whilst they boast arguably 3 world class goal keepers in Cassilas, Reina and Valdes.

Overall they (despite them losing overnight) look like a very formidable squad. It could be a very interesting asignment for them to get over the line at the last hurdle without the main man (Torres) up front, but they have the cover for him IMO.

Go Spain for 2010

 

[Hu$tler]

Hi guys, not a real big Soccer fan but thought I would join the soccer WC discussions.

Was looking over some of the squads that I think will be near the world cup glory mark and I think I have found quite a liking for the even squad of Spain.

Have a very formidable attacking front line with plenty of options if others are falling around, with Fernando Torres coming back, David Villa pick up the slack for him, and is a proven goal scorer at the top elite level with 38 goals from 59 games as well as being the top goal scorer at euro 08.

The midfield is very evenly placed with plenty of flair with the ilk of Fabregas, Xabi Alonso and Xavi whilst the defence is made up of some elite and household names in Puyol, Sergio Ramos and Pique whilst they boast arguably 3 world class goal keepers in Cassilas, Reina and Valdes.

Overall they (despite them losing overnight) look like a very formidable squad. It could be a very interesting asignment for them to get over the line at the last hurdle without the main man (Torres) up front, but they have the cover for him IMO.

Go Spain for 2010

Very true, and we all know they have a very strong team.

As for whether they gel together when it matters, i'm not so sure.

 

[Yoda_]

Very true, and we all know they have a very strong team.

As for whether they gel together when it matters, i'm not so sure.

Yeah, I am also liking the well reknowned Brazillians or even the posh French side, I guess I am leaning towards three teams of: Brazil, Spain, Argentina, England , Germany to make the final 4 with the 4th spot to be made up of that rank outsider that always seems to pop up, if not, then one of the other remaining teams

 

[Scrumhalf]

1. Winning team and the teams involved in the final. Brazil 1-0 Argentina. Uruguay 3rd place.
2. Top scorer. Diego Forlan.
3. Tournament's MVP. Maicon.
4. Teams who will surprise (if any). Korea, North Korea, Japan, Switzerland.
5. Teams who will disappoint (if any). France, England, Spain, Netherlands.
6. Who will have the better tournament out of Messi/Ronaldo/Rooney. Messi.

 

[Bourky23]

1. Winning team and the teams involved in the final. Brazil 1-0 Argentina. Uruguay 3rd place.
2. Top scorer. Diego Forlan.
3. Tournament's MVP. Maicon.
4. Teams who will surprise (if any). Korea, North Korea, Japan, Switzerland.
5. Teams who will disappoint (if any). France, England, Spain, Netherlands.
6. Who will have the better tournament out of Messi/Ronaldo/Rooney. Messi.

hahaha 110% sure you wouldn't have had the same list before the first round started.

 

[RickSanchez]

Was mainly trying to point out Spain's failings and my prediction of them, but eh 5 out 6 ain't bad!

Haha yeah was pulling the piss, better than my 1/6

 

[Papa Juggs]

Winner = Spain

Final = Spain d. Brazil

3rd place = Argentina

Golden Ball = Messi

Golden Boot = Villa

 

[adelaidecrows]

bloody hard to predict based on the performances so far.

 

[SebastianVettel]

Spain will still win it.

That loss was the best thing for them.

 

[Yoda_]

Spain will still win it.

That loss was the best thing for them.

Yeah, agree

Actually said to a mate that most championship winning teams will nearly always have a loss in the tournament.

 

[r dub 19]

No idea who will win it tbh, the favourite changes everyday

 

[Crimson King]

Props to those who said Italy and France to disappoint

 

[Dagger5]

Most people did, it wasn't hard to see it coming from a mile away.

 

[Crimson King]

Most people did, it wasn't hard to see it coming from a mile away.

Not sure about that, going through the thread again, most people had one or the other but not both (yes, getting technical).

Italy, France, Spain and Portugal seemed to be the 'popular' choices for teams to disappoint.

 

[belfast_bomber]

Italy, France, Spain and Portugal seemed to be the 'popular' choices for teams to disappoint.

Popular as in likely, or popular as in accompanied by pictures of a man doing the fandango while a walrus plays the saxophone?

If the latter, you forgot England.