EN World World Cup blog

[drothgery]

That's why you look at games before, but around the time of the World Cup. Teams play international games relatively often.

... but the rosters usually change a lot between everything but the last handful of pre-Cup friendlies (or even non-"must win" qualifiers) and the actual tournament, so they're not a great model either.

I'd suggest that the 8 pools->16 team single-elimination tournament model is really problematic. I think I'd go back to 16 teams in the Cup (even if it might very well keep us Yanks at home), do two 8 team pools, and then two rounds of best-of-3. And ditch the silly third place game.

 

[Keith Robinson]

I don't know if its just coincidence or a lot of practice playing a man down, but every game I've seen England play a man short, they've won or tied, with the exception of this last match.

Perhaps they need to play a little cleaner football, but its clear to me (at least) that you can't count them out when they're playing short one.

Portugal were poor and if England had been prepared to take a risk or two at half time, I think they would have won it. I was hoping to see Crouch come on for Lampard (who had a terrible world cup) and Lennon come on for Beckham, reverting to 4-4-2. Rooney could have then dropped back into the hole and England could have gone on the offensive. It was very noticable that from the moment England reverted to 4-5-1, Joe Cole almost vanished from the games.

Oh well. Eriksson would not take the chance and the rest is history. Of course, they may well have lost anyway, but we'll never know.

As for cleaner football - they pump too many long balls to the strikers, who all too often lose it and then they find themselves under attack. It's why they all too often find it difficult to hold onto 1-0 leads at the end of important games. Rather than keep the ball and just pass it around at the back, they just constantly give it away and in the end pay the price for it.

Edit: Just my opinion, of course

 

[Keith Robinson]

In the penalty shootout I think a little too much has been made of the English strikers failing; the Portuguese keeper, Ricardo, saved three of the penalties. He also got a bt lucky guessing where the English strikers would shoot. The portuguese strikers actually missed the goal completely twice--The English goalie Robinson didn't make a single save.

Ricardo was remarkable. There really isn't anything anyone can do about that and you just have to applaud his efforts, lucky or otherwise.

 

[Keith Robinson]

Wasn't Ricardo the goalkeeper that scored a penalty in the Euro 2004 against England?

Yep. And if I remember correctly, it was the winner too! He's been quite a thorn in England's side.

 

[Morrus]

In the penalty shootout I think a little too much has been made of the English strikers failing; the Portuguese keeper, Ricardo, saved three of the penalties. He also got a bt lucky guessing where the English strikers would shoot. The portuguese strikers actually missed the goal completely twice--The English goalie Robinson didn't make a single save.

None of the English penalty takers were strikers. Owen was injured and sent home, Rooney had been sent off, Beckham was injured (but he's not a striker anyway, although certainly one of England's penalty takers), Walcott didn't play, which only leaves Crouch as England's entire striker repertoire - who, presumably, isn't a good penalty taker.

 

[Keith Robinson]

Okay, here are my predictions for the semi-finals. Given that I managed only 1 out of 4 for the quarters, don't go placing your bets just yet...

Italy v Germany - another tight one. I believe the Italians are a little rattled at some comments made about Italians in general in a German newspaper, so that should add a little spice. The Germans are also without Frings. Dare I say it? The Italians to beat the hosts 1-0?

France v Portugal - lets hope that portugal are better than they were against England. With Deco back in the side, that's more than likely, but Zidane was awesome and if he keeps playing like that I don't think the Portuguesse will be able to stop them. 2-1 to France.

 

[johnsemlak]

None of the English penalty takers were strikers. Owen was injured and sent home, Rooney had been sent off, Beckham was injured (but he's not a striker anyway, although certainly one of England's penalty takers), Walcott didn't play, which only leaves Crouch as England's entire striker repertoire - who, presumably, isn't a good penalty taker.

Oh yeah, England definitely didn't have their top strikers there. I'm just saying it's not the only factor. There is skill in taking penalties and blocking them, but luck is also a huge factor.

 

[Klaus]

Okay, here are my predictions for the semi-finals. Given that I managed only 1 out of 4 for the quarters, don't go placing your bets just yet...

Italy v Germany - another tight one. I believe the Italians are a little rattled at some comments made about Italians in general in a German newspaper, so that should add a little spice. The Germans are also without Frings. Dare I say it? The Italians to beat the hosts 1-0?

France v Portugal - lets hope that portugal are better than they were against England. With Deco back in the side, that's more than likely, but Zidane was awesome and if he keeps playing like that I don't think the Portuguesse will be able to stop them. 2-1 to France.

One thing is for sure: Scolari, unlike Brazil's Parreira, *will* set aside a player to shadow Zidane the entire match, or at least a rotating system to nullify him. Parreira, Cafu and a couple of others in the Brazilian Team said that Zidane required no special attention.

Sh'yeah, right...

 

[Keith Robinson]

One thing is for sure: Scolari, unlike Brazil's Parreira, *will* set aside a player to shadow Zidane the entire match, or at least a rotating system to nullify him. Parreira, Cafu and a couple of others in the Brazilian Team said that Zidane required no special attention.

Sh'yeah, right...

Yes, that's a very good point I highly rate Scolari, despite some strange subs in the England game, so you're probably correct in what you say. Still think France will win, though...

 

[Ruavel]

Sven was the weak link in the English side. He's gone now.

I just hope that Steve McClaren has learned from someone other than Eriksson, and learns from the former head's mistakes. I'd love to see England rebuild and climb the rankings again... as long as they're not too far ahead of Australia.

As for Beckham resigning... I don't agree. The role of the English Captain (and this is different for other teams, but not all) is to be the "face" of the team. He was better at that then Sven was.

So true. He's like Kewell for the Socceroos. He's been a talisman, a source of confidence and drive for the team. I'm not sure who could fill that role from the regular squad members, if there is anyone at all...