The Official *England's Journey to Brazil 2014* Thread

[mystiroakey]

Thats my Team GSC

I would be inclined to play Barkley instead of Ox if he isn't fit over sterling tbh. Both strong- both run at the opposition. Sterling does off course do this but isn't quite as physically imposing- all 3 have great feet but the former two are just stronger. Sterling is the better overall player though and perhaps would be the best option v costa rica and italy but against uruguay at the least I would rather have strength in the shape of ox or barkley.

I am surprised hearing many others saying wilshire had no impact. I thought it was his best game for yonks. Nothing spectacular but he played the way CM's should play- bright , alert, took the odd player on, was forward passing on the whole. Ok he got taken down a few too many times- but 70% of the time it results in retaining possession in a free kick.

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Word on The Ox is he's out 10 days- 3 weeks so will definitely miss the opener but might be able to play other group games.

Phew!

[Duty281]

If that is the case, he might be functioning in time for the knockout games at the very least.

Lallana right, Welbeck left it shall have to be!

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Yeah its not like right wing is a place where we are bare of players, got Lallana, Sterling, Milner who can all play well there.

[NickisBHAFC]

Wilshere did well last night. Made himself available, distributed well, got England going forward better than Henderson. Also had to carry Lampard who ran out of legs after about 10 minutes.

If you think Wilshere played well last night, there is something not right with you.

[GSC]

Wow Nick, theres no place for Racism on this board or anywhere.

Mods please remove him.

[NickisBHAFC]

How in anyway is that racist?

Im just gob smacked you thought he played well?!!

[GSC]

Nick, its 2014, theres no place for ignorance anymore.

Except Boston

[NickisBHAFC]

Can you just answer my question?

Why do you think Wilshere played well? His fantastic over hit passes? His lack of strength? His poor marking? Needlessly getting involved in the Sterling incident?

Admittedly life was made difficult for him, by playing alongside Lampard who looked shattered from the get go, but even so he was awful. Barkley ran the midfield on his own. Gerrard and Henderson simply have to start now against Italy.

[Duty281]

I'm gobsmacked that you thought Barkley was man of the match, or ran the midfield.

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Wilshere drove the team forward on attacks well I thought, he did the running of two men and he won us a lot of free kicks releasing the pressure on the defence

He wasn't amazing, but he was one of the better performers I thought.

[NickisBHAFC]

Well judging by twitter and newspaper reports im not the only one.

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Barkley was good in flashes, showed why he will be a great weapon coming off the bench in the last 25 mins

[Duty281]

They gobsmack me as well, particularly Phil McNulty of the BBC who is incredibly sub-standard as a journalist.

I mean, McNulty mentioned Barkley's "perfect pass" for the second goal.
It was a underhit pass, far from being perfect.

Oxlade was MOTM for me. Barkley ran a lot, beat a few players on his travels, but struggled to pick the right pass at key moments, often owing to a lack of vision and concentration.

Now who does that remind me of...oh yeah, Theo Walcott. Only without the looks.

[NickisBHAFC]

Can't knock you for saying OX MOTM. But Barkley for me 100%. That skill for the 2nd goal was worth it alone!!!

[Dolphin Ziggler]

Needlessly getting involved in the Sterling incident. Lulz

Thought Wilshere looked about as good as Henderson, but played in a harder game in a worse team in hotter conditions.

[skyeman]

Italy have drawn their last six games: Denmark, Armenia, Germany, Nigeria, Republic of Ireland and Luxembourg after having lost 1-0 to world champions Spain.

A few tough games but also a few easy games although freindlies.

Should we really be too worried? My money is on a draw  But a bit of positivity, and who knows.

[Guest]

My only issue with Wilshere is his constant falling on the floor really. He played reasonably well but that's it. He also tries to play like he does with Arsenal, looking for a one-two, except with England it doesn't happen. That's why he ends up holding onto the ball, inviting pressure/tackles & then he inevitably falls over clutching his ankle everytime he's tackled. Yeah, he wins free-kicks but can see in the WC, referees will fathom him out & then instead of winning a free kick, the opposition are countering. Wilshere just needs to man-up & prove his fitness, before he can overtake Henderson for me.

Also, what is it with the media creaming themselves over everything Barkley does. Getting embarrassing.

[Liam]

For me, unless Ox can miraculously pull through in time for the first game, i'd put allot of money on this being the team as I think Roy has already decided what is his 1st 11 for the Italy game:

Hart
Johnson
Cahill
Jags
Baines

Gerrard
Henderson

Milner (Would have been Ox)
Rooney
Welbeck

Sturridge

[Dolphin Ziggler]

Referees give freekicks for fouls, John, it won't be "oh its Wilshere fouled, who cares". Especially in a, well probably 5 game tournament for England.

[GSC]

Referees give freekicks for fouls, John, it won't be "oh its Wilshere fouled, who cares".

This lol

[mystiroakey]

The fitter wilshire is the quicker he gets and the less he gets fouled and falls to the floor.

but look he retains possession more than Henderson who seems to crab about for England before going backwards

[Guest]

Referees give freekicks for fouls, John, it won't be "oh its Wilshere fouled, who cares".

This lol

You know what I`m eluding too though. Doesn't take long for referees to fathom out a player who`s looking for it& continuously on the floor. Referees want to keep play flowing, Wilshere`s antics will be viewed as an irritant & a ploy to buy time, especially if we are struggling for possession or able to retain it for long periods. Some of the free kicks he does get, even last night, were questionable. Anyway, that's my only real issue with him. At the minute its Henderson/Gerrard unquestionably for me.

@Liam, bang on with that squad, in terms of what Roy will want. Now we've lost Ox, can see Roy very happily relying on Milner & Welbeck to keep it tight & protect those full backs in trying to achieve the first game draw. I think we will be more expansive in the second/third games.

[Dolphin Ziggler]

I don't think its a major worry.

I would suggest anyone who wants a good read should try get hold of the Racing Post's World Cup pullout today, probably available online as your best bet. Incredible work.

Theres a really good diagram showing the air miles teams will coer in the group stage (based on their base and the location of their fixtures). England cover 4,424 miles, whilst the other three in our group go: Costa Rica - 6,208, Uruguay - 6,466 and Italy 8,490. Incidentally, Belgium cover the least with 1,268 and USA the most with 10,188 (and that'll take them ages as they are travelling by balloon due to all the hot air coming out of Southern California )

[Duty281]

England's opening games at major tournaments in recent years follow the same pattern: score first, fall back and hope for the best. Over the last twelve years:

England 1-1 France
England 1-1 USA
England 1-0 Paraguay
England 1-2 France
England 1-1 Sweden

Same again?

[compelling and rich]

very late into this one but thought id throw my views on last nights games.

thought rooney was poor, seen people on here syaing he played well. didnt see it myself, thought he did nothing and was lucky to get the tap in that was handball. others who were poor were lampard, who was non existent. smalling obviously foster as well and milner.

good points were barkley and ox, shame about the injury as i would have been playing them both. wilshere didnt do much for me so theres still a spot at cm for the taking

still cant see us doing much in this tournament so be nice to throw caution a side and give the youngsters a chance. rooneys played poorly since december yet is still a certain place which is wrong. were never going to keep the ball very well against other sides so if all avaiable i would like to see a front line of

ox-----barkley----sterling
-------sturridge-----------

loads and loads of pace which would terrify the italians, looks like ox wont be available for that though even if it is ten days. i know it wont happen but still be a dam sight better than the likes of milner playing wide, rooney in the ten position which he cant play and has regressed in the last ten years. rooney of 04 was a much better player than he is now, how ox and barkley played is how rooney played all the time ten years ago. now dont think he has half of there pace

[Hammersmith harrier]

Shocking performance all round yesterday and fully understand why Valencia reacted the way he did, no place for tackles like that in a friendly, both deserved red. Makes a change I must say to see an actual altercation rather than a feigned headbutt and the resultant dive.

As for Barkley, I think the decent runs he had mask how bad his final ball was, totally shocking and cost us numerous chances on goal, far from the finished article.

It also raised the question of why Lampard is going, a shell of the player he never was in the first place, will offer nothing other than a poor penalty in the shoot out.

Then my real bug bear of Ashley Cole, you don't build for the future at a world cup, you take your best available players and he is still our best left back. I have complete faith in Cole's ability but can't say I do in Baines, defensively not good enough and knowing that we will play conservatively you take your best defenders.

[mystiroakey]

Shocking performance!!! Blimey mate.. It was a cracking game of footie for me. Riddled with errors but high tempo attacking from both teams. I loved it. I would rather watch and enjoy us play like that and go out earlier than do the usual backs to the wall bland style that sends everyone but us fans to sleep.

[Duty281]

Personally, I though England's defence was shocking, going forward though they looked good, albeit with the lack of a decent final ball on many occasions.

I thought Sterling's challenge was fair, certainly no worse than Wilshere getting kicked in the face and trodden on the ankle when he was floored, or the two cheap kicks at Oxlade - one of which when he was on the floor.

The Ecuador team were cowards; perfectly shown by Valencia (their captain, I believe) attacking Sterling from behind (real brave) and then retreating hastily when Sterling turned around.

Absolute cowards, but then they are Latin Americans and descended from the Spanish so you can't expect too much.

[compelling and rich]

Shocking performance!!! Blimey mate.. It was a cracking game of footie for me. Riddled with errors but high tempo attacking from both teams. I loved it. I would rather watch and enjoy us play like that and go out earlier than do the usual backs to the wall bland style that sends everyone but us fans to sleep.

i agree it was a good game for the neutral, but it was very poor by majority of the english players. should be beating the likes of Ecuador easy enough no matter what team england put out. the only reason Ecuador are at the world cup is the altitude at there home games

[Hammersmith harrier]

A performance riddled with errors is shocking.

[Hammersmith harrier]

Personally, I though England's defence was shocking, going forward though they looked good, albeit with the lack of a decent final ball on many occasions.

I thought Sterling's challenge was fair, certainly no worse than Wilshere getting kicked in the face and trodden on the ankle when he was floored, or the two cheap kicks at Oxlade - one of which when he was on the floor.

The Ecuador team were cowards; perfectly shown by Valencia (their captain, I believe) attacking Sterling from behind (real brave) and then retreating hastily when Sterling turned around.

Absolute cowards, but then they are Latin Americans and descended from the Spanish so you can't expect too much.

I bet Sterling turning around made Toni crap himself Duty, your blind optimism is starting to grate a bit now, we're crap and everybody knows it.

[compelling and rich]

it was a reckless challenge that went over the top of the ball, if tonys leg was planted could have really hurt. dont recall tony running away when sterling turned around either, he grabbed him by the throat

not sure why im defending him because his reaction was OTT. perhaps its my inability to defend a liverpool player over a united player  

[Stella]

On first viewing, Sterling's sending off looked harsh, but I changed my mind after seeing the replay.

For what it's worth, I'd have a tenner on Valencia knocking Sterling out in a punch up.

[Hammersmith harrier]

I let Toni off because he's not the kind of person to lose his cool, usually the calmest player we have on the pitch, his reaction was over the top but so close to the world cup completely understandable for me.

[mystiroakey]

Not understandable at all. If Rooney did that what would the majority of people have said, including England fans

[Hammersmith harrier]

I'd be saying the exact same thing Mysti, in a meaningless friendly I will be backing my club players over an English substitute who could have broken his leg.

[skyeman]

Not crap HH, just not has good as we would like them to be  

Ranked 12 in the World, but unfortunately, Italy and Uruguay are ranked higher.

Still, you never know.

[Duty281]

Personally, I though England's defence was shocking, going forward though they looked good, albeit with the lack of a decent final ball on many occasions.

I thought Sterling's challenge was fair, certainly no worse than Wilshere getting kicked in the face and trodden on the ankle when he was floored, or the two cheap kicks at Oxlade - one of which when he was on the floor.

The Ecuador team were cowards; perfectly shown by Valencia (their captain, I believe) attacking Sterling from behind (real brave) and then retreating hastily when Sterling turned around.

Absolute cowards, but then they are Latin Americans and descended from the Spanish so you can't expect too much.

I bet Sterling turning around made Toni crap himself Duty, your blind optimism is starting to grate a bit now, we're crap and everybody knows it.

It must have made him crap himself, otherwise why walk away?

Grabs his throat from behind, Sterling turns around, Valencia walks away - I'm just saying what happened.

And this blind optimism is based on logic. England are better than Uruguay and Costa Rica. England are on a par ability-wise with Italy, but I imagine England's mental strength is slightly higher given how Italy are struggling for wins and can't beat Luxembourg.

England should top the group, defeat the Ivory Coast/Japan and then..who knows? This is a golden chance for England, though, make no mistake.

[mystiroakey]

I'd be saying the exact same thing Mysti, in a meaningless friendly I will be backing my club players over an English substitute who could have broken his leg.

Are you keeping that player?

I tell you what though if I was a united fan I would be gutted and want rid. He showed immense passion. Something he has never done for you lot.

[Hammersmith harrier]

Of course he hasn't Mysti, I must have imagined him working his balls off every single time he's played, you seem to be mistaking a lack of application with a lack of passion.

You're remembering it wrong Duty, Sterling turns around then Toni grabs him by the throat, realises what he's doing then walks away.

[mystiroakey]

Updated rankings

England 10th
Italy 9th
Uraguay 7th

[mystiroakey]

Of course he hasn't Mysti, I must have imagined him working his balls off every single time he's played, you seem to be mistaking a lack of application with a lack of passion.

You're remembering it wrong Duty, Sterling turns around then Toni grabs him by the throat, realises what he's doing then walks away.

Ok I will give him credit during that game when he got a swollen eye recently and played though it. Anyway I thought he was leaving..

[Hammersmith harrier]

As long as he's a current United player i'll be backing him over an England substitute who dived in over the top of the ball two footed.

[Duty281]

Nah just saw it again.

Valencia clearly rushes Sterling from behind, grabs him by the throat, Sterling turns around in amusement, Valencia walks away.

Coward.

[Hammersmith harrier]

You're an actual moron Duty, so blinded you can't even see things for what they are, just blindly defend dear old England like a child.

[GSC]

The game was physical enough before that.

Thought the tackle was reckless, no excuse for Valencia though. He's the captain, should be setting a better example than losing his temper over an OTT tackle in a friendly on the eve of a WC

[Duty281]

It's on Youtube, HH, have a look yourself. Sterling quite clearly has his back to Valencia when he grabs his throat.

You're an actual moron, HH, so blinded you can't even see things for what they are, just blindly defend dear old Manchester United like a child.

[Hammersmith harrier]

I've seen it plenty of times Duty and know exactly what happened, you carry on defending England blindly all you want, all I can say is come on Italy and Uruguay.

[mystiroakey]

Why are you saying that HH?

You can still back England mate. It's our team. Can't we forget club rivalries for a month!!!

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