Group B: England, Paraguay, Trinidad & Tobago, Sweden

[Matteh]

Originally Posted by steds

The Defoe who managed a staggering 9 goals in 39 games for Tottenham this season?

Still 9 goals in 39 games more than Theo

[steds]

Where did I say I was advocating Walcott?

[Matteh]

Originally Posted by steds

Where did I say I was advocating Walcott?

Think we could find an amazing player that plays abroad, could choose to play for Canada and also in a few years could play for Germany but really wants to play for England instead?

[Craig]

Originally Posted by marc71178

I can see the thought process - at the time said to my brother he's looking at 5 across the midfield.

If that's the case, then I'd say Crouch is more suited to being on his own upfront than Owen.

What is with the 5 man midfield obsession?

[Simon]

I was disapointed with Sweden, they did play pretty well but they didnt change their system early enough to find a goal. Kallstrom made a massive difference when he came on but he didnt have enough time.
Allback knows to how stuff a chance doesnt he?! If Sweden miss out on qualyifying they will only have themselves to blame.

England i thought were ok, they were never really gonna concede a goal, Terry played great and Crouch played well up front, i thought the ref was very hard on him and England, they didnt seem to be able to buy a free kick.

[marc71178]

Originally Posted by Craig

What is with the 5 man midfield obsession?

It's not an obsession.

What it was in theory yesterday was to try and stifle the midfield and keep the ball as much as possible in order to get the win, which is all the group is about really.

[marc71178]

Originally Posted by broncoman

England i thought were ok, they were never really gonna concede a goal

I was concerned they'd get a penalty courtesy of the number 13 - the biggest cheat I've seen in a long time.

[luckyeddie]

Originally Posted by BoyBrumby

Finally got back from the local hostelry where I've been watching today's games & consuming more beer than is strictly necessary and/or wise.

It's rude to count

[luckyeddie]

Originally Posted by marc71178

I can see the thought process - at the time said to my brother he's looking at 5 across the midfield.

If that's the case, then I'd say Crouch is more suited to being on his own upfront than Owen.

... but only if (say) Gerrard is your advanced midfield player looking to bridge the gap between midfield and Crouch.

Joe Cole's an amazingly skilful player, but he's more suited to running with the ball than trying to play off a target man.

During the second haf, the number of players we had in midfield seemed to become a barrier - an obstacle for the back four to launch balls across. Beckham seemed to drop even deeper (because it was so crowded?) and hit aimless seventy-yard crossfield bombs instead of the usual aimless () fifty-yard crossfield bombs.

[luckyeddie]

Originally Posted by marc71178

I was concerned they'd get a penalty courtesy of the number 13 - the biggest cheat I've seen in a long time.

He tried his hardest to get Gerrard sent off.

Still, let's hope that game was the potential banana-skin and we've got away with it (as opposed to de Trini Posse match)

[marc71178]

A lot of pundits have said that, but as usual the media vendetta will overlook that.

To put it into context, Paraguay played Argentina and Brazil home and away in qualifying, and lost only 1 of those 4 games, whilst only conceding 1 goal in total.

[JASON]

Bit of a lacklustre performance by England. While I cannot profess to know much on soccer, the great start should've resulted in a 3-0 or 4-0 result , but for 87 minutes of failure to score is a bit odd.

I hope they can raise their game as they progress thru the opening round of group matches .

[Simon]

Originally Posted by marc71178

I was concerned they'd get a penalty courtesy of the number 13 - the biggest cheat I've seen in a long time.

yeh for sure, i think he knew he was gonna get away with murder out there as it was obvioius the ref wasnt going to call fouls against them...

[Simon]

Originally Posted by JASON

Bit of a lacklustre performance by England. While I cannot profess to know much on soccer, the great start should've resulted in a 3-0 or 4-0 result , but for 87 minutes of failure to score is a bit odd.

I hope they can raise their game as they progress thru the opening round of group matches .

I'm pretty sure they settled for 1-0 pretty early on, in saying that i dont think they stop trying to score goals but they knew they could rely on the defence to keep a clean sheet, imo England will warm to it in the tournament and a slow start as long as they win will prolly wont bother Sven.

[TT Boy]

Originally Posted by marc71178

A lot of pundits have said that, but as usual the media vendetta will overlook that.

To put it into context, Paraguay played Argentina and Brazil home and away in qualifying, and lost only 1 of those 4 games, whilst only conceding 1 goal in total.

Correct me if I am wrong but Brazil beat Paraguay 4-1, last year. Whilst Argentina lost in Asunción last September in a game which was nothing more than a farce, Argentina had already qualified and it is pretty well known that both teams were going to **** over Uruguay from the outset.

Also bringing up such scores is rather redundant do you not think?
England lost to Northern Ireland, what is the meaning of such a defeat and what are the connotations if anyone beats Northern Ireland, not many.