# England vs USA



## Miya (Jun 12, 2010)

After watching this match i can conclude England will not win the World Cup, at this stage i have a gut feeling they may not even qualify for the next stage.

There are 2 reasons to my theory.

1. Emile Heskey- A player who cannot put the ball away should not be playing IMO, you can  have all the possesion in the world, but if that ball does not cross the white line it means nothing. Never rated him. England should have won that game.

2. English squad is not deep, if a few players got injured then we do not have the quality on the bench to play against teams like Argentina or Brazil.

I am English, but i must admit after today's game I will write them off. And as for the goal keeper, well he will be at West Ham for a long time coming.

Lampard and Rooney do not perform on big stages they are club players not national players.


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## Tom Urtis (Jun 13, 2010)

England probably won't win the World Cup but they will get out of their group and play into the next round. Algeria and Slovenia are not strong enough to play with England, and the United States has a well-deserved reputation for choking in World Cup play.

Regarding England's problems, who really needs to get smart real fast is their coach Fabio Capello. His errors on Saturday vs the US almost cost England the match even before it started, including:
• Waiting too late to name the goal keeper, a distraction and mystery to team mates.
• James Milner should never have started, still suffering from a virus and innefective, had to be replaced.
• Same with Ledley King, should not have started, not in shape with the groin injury, had to be replaced.
• The squad is almost a who's who of the Premier League, but they are playing like allstars not accustomed to being on the same team. This in my opinion is Capello's biggest problem.

Green's gaffe happens...it's not supposed to happen in the World Cup or on the sand lot but every player makes mistakes. Altidore never should have sprinted around Carragher for that post-hitting near-goal but Carragher misjudged Altidore's speed and it happens.

Don't worry about Wayne Rooney; he can turn it on anytime and will be heard from. England has a good team, they just need to play more cohesively, not easy for all stars to do, and Capello needs to take a crash course in common sense football decisions.


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## xld (Jun 13, 2010)

England clearly will not win the world cup, they are not in the best 4 teams here, but they will qualify, even with all of their faults and problems, Slovenia and Algeria are just not good enough.

I must admit I was very disappointed with the USA, they have absolutely nothing up front. The England defence were awul yesterday, giving them unchallenged headers and being slow on the turn, but USA had nothing to take advantage of this. No wonder Hull don't want Altidore (incidentally, I see he has just been fined £3,500 for driving over the speed limit with no insurance, he is as smart as he is a good striker!).

To my mind, England have to drop the big striker dogma, play Rooney up-front on his own, with Gerrard roaming freely behind him (look what he can do), and Barry in the holding position (maybe even two, Barry and Carrick). Gerrard hasn't had a great season, but he is still one of England's two best players. I certainly woudn't bother with Wright-Phillips again, and therein lies the problem as Miya said, England have no depth. Who fills in for Terry and King? Upson and Carragher aren't up to it, Dawson may be but he is far too slow. Who fills in for Cole (Ashley) and Johnson, even there Johnson is a poor defender? Who fills in for Gerrard and Rooney, there is no-one. Lampard is ineffectual, and has been for a long time, and should be dropped, but who would you replace him with?

In a better group, England would struggle to qualify, but not this one.


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## xld (Jun 13, 2010)

Tom Urtis said:


> England probably won't win the World Cup but they will get out of their group and play into the next round. Algeria and Slovenia are not strong enough to play with England, and the United States has a well-deserved reputation for choking in World Cup play.



Their problem might be that they ease off thinking they have done enough.


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## xlHammer (Jun 14, 2010)

The England team's main problem is that the players are acutely aware that if they make even the slightest error (real or perceived) the English media will utterly crucify them. So we have a team of players who are terrified of using any flair or individuality, no one wants to be the one who makes the mistake.

That's what I think anyway.


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## xld (Jun 14, 2010)

xlHammer said:


> ... So we have a team of players who are terrified of using any flair or individuality ...



It might also be that they haven't actually got much of either.


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## Miya (Jun 15, 2010)

xlHammer said:


> The England team's main problem is that the players are acutely aware that if they make even the slightest error (real or perceived) the English media will utterly crucify them. So we have a team of players who are terrified of using any flair or individuality, no one wants to be the one who makes the mistake.
> 
> That's what I think anyway.


 
Apart from Gerrard, i dont think anyone has any flair, Rooney is a club player not a national player so we can count him out, and why do they keep playing Heskey he is awful, we need people who can score goals. I think it will take a generation before we can produce a Messi for England, i cant see it happening anytime soon.

IMO they should have picked Wallcot, he is young and has pace, we need to bring in some young uns.


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## Thorin (Jun 15, 2010)

Couldn't agree more with the comments above, although I would personally add Joe Cole to the list (very small list) of quality players for England, he can at times produce some real flair for the side.

Shame that more youngsters were'nt included, what a about Adam Johnson ? Plenty of pace and flair, and a natural left footed player ! Something England seem to miss.


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## xlHammer (Jun 15, 2010)

My point is this, serial killers get an easier ride in the British press than England footballers, you're not trying to tell me that's not going to affect their performance on the pitch?


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## xld (Jun 15, 2010)

xlHammer said:


> My point is this, serial killers get an easier ride in the British press than England footballers, you're not trying to tell me that's not going to affect their performance on the pitch?



At £150,00pw for an idiot like John Terry, I don't care how rough a ride they get. If they can't take it, take a job as a cabbie, where he really belongs.


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## xlHammer (Jun 15, 2010)

Actually I think John Terry is one of the few who can take it, given the amount of stick he's had this season and still won the title. It's Chelsea's £150kpw and I don't expect they're complaining. He's still an idiot though.


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## WaterGypsy (Jun 15, 2010)

Come off it .... 

England were all over USA like a rash ... just that Howard played a blinder after getting kicked in the side 

Rooney is WORLD class and will show his true colours once he's settled in

Gerrard has the makings of a good captain

Admittedly Heskey & Crouch aren't as good but they are potential game changers


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## Miya (Jun 15, 2010)

England were ordinary against USA, it was 50/50 for both sides. Possesion counts for nothing if you cant't score goals.

Rooney is only a good player for Man Utd, he doesnt perform the same level for England the same can be said about Lampard. So IMO a world class player is someone who can play at the same level for both club and country.

They should not complain about the ball also, they had plenty of time to prepare for it, why didnt the premier league introduce the football during the season like the German domestic league did.

There are bo excuses England must win against their next 2 opponents.





WaterGypsy said:


> Come off it ....
> 
> England were all over USA like a rash ... just that Howard played a blinder after getting kicked in the side
> 
> ...


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## xld (Jun 15, 2010)

Miya said:


> England were ordinary against USA, it was 50/50 for both sides. Possesion counts for nothing if you cant't score goals.



To be honest, USA looked a better footballing side, they just had absolutely nothing up front.



Miya said:


> Rooney is only a good player for Man Utd, he doesnt perform the same level for England the same can be said about Lampard. So IMO a world class player is someone who can play at the same level for both club and country.



Agree about Lampard and the criteria. But not so sure I agree about Rooney. He needs support, and donkeys like Heskey and Crouch will never be good enough. I think Gerrard would be a better option, but their is still an overall lack of footballers in the team to take advantage of his ability. 



Miya said:


> They should not complain about the ball also, they had plenty of time to prepare for it, why didnt the premier league introduce the football during the season like the German domestic league did.



Because the premier league is about making money now, not supporting the national team.



Miya said:


> There are bo excuses England must win against their next 2 opponents.



They will, remember that group C is a very weak group. But it will not make them a good team, and their flaws will be exposed later in the tournament. Before the first games I expected Serbia to finish second in group D, and I think they may have given England some trouble, but Ghana will probably be an easier bet.


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## RoryA (Jun 16, 2010)

Miya said:


> IMO they should have picked Wallcot, he is young and has pace



You need more than that in international football (witness the USA strikers), and he's provided little evidence recently.

I actually thought Heskey was one of England's best players in that match, but you can't afford to carry him as a striker who can't score. Gerrard up front off Rooney has to be worth a go, especially if Barry is fit again.

It's early days and frankly few teams have looked that good so far, but I expect lots of them will improve as the tournament goes on. Hopefully not France though.


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## Norie (Jun 16, 2010)

Miya

The English Premier League/FA or whoever couldn't introduce the ball earlier - they aren't sponsored by Adidas.

The Bundesliga is, so Germany had a whole season with the ball - nobody else did.

England weren't even allowed to use the ball in there lead-up friendlies.


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## SuperFerret (Jun 16, 2010)

rorya said:


> Hopefully not France though.


 
My best friend is a France supporter, invited her to come watch the England match and she turned up in a France shirt! girl is gonna get me linched one of these days!

The world cup always brings back memories, I was in France on a school trip for the end of France 98, we wanted to stay around and watch all the celebrations but they ferried us all back to our boring hostel to listen to one of the 'mentors' playing guitar and trying to get us to sing. Yawn


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## xld (Jun 16, 2010)

rorya said:


> It's early days and frankly few teams have looked that good so far, but I expect lots of them will improve as the tournament goes on. Hopefully not France though.



I don't think there is much fear of that, more likely the opposite. Apparently, they are coming pretty close to punch-ups with the coach - what sort of imbecile behaves like that. The French team are silly prima-donnas at the moment. Whoever would have thought that Anelka could look like a model of moderation and rationality?


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## xld (Jun 16, 2010)

SuperFerret said:


> My best friend is a France supporter, invited her to come watch the England match and she turned up in a France shirt! girl is gonna get me linched one of these days!



Never mind that, did she look good in it?


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## RoryA (Jun 16, 2010)

xld said:


> Whoever would have thought that Anelka could look like a model of moderation and rationality?



Rod Serling, maybe.


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## SuperFerret (Jun 16, 2010)

> Never mind that, did she look good in it?


 
She always does! I think that may be why we've not been linched yet


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## WaterGypsy (Jun 16, 2010)

Talking about good looking girls and sport ..... does anyone else feel FIFA are too big for their boots (sorry) in throwing the Dutch supporters out for wearing their team's colours? .... and in having two of them arrested ?


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## xld (Jun 16, 2010)

WaterGypsy said:


> Talking about good looking girls and sport ..... does anyone else feel FIFA are too big for their boots (sorry) in throwing the Dutch supporters out for wearing their team's colours? .... and in having two of them arrested ?



Tell us more?

Talk about looking good http://www.totalprosports.com/2010/06/15/the-best-part-of-the-world-cup-so-far-pic/. Apparently, she isn't a particular football fan, she is a model seeking exposure (sic!), but hey!


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## xld (Jun 16, 2010)

rorya said:


> Rod Serling, maybe.



That one passed over me?


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## RoryA (Jun 16, 2010)

I'm guessing watergypsy was referring to this.

Rod Serling - of Twilight Zone fame (or not).


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## xld (Jun 16, 2010)

rorya said:


> I'm guessing watergypsy was referring to this.



That's dumb. Fifa are so such money-grabbers!

Rod Serling - of Twilight Zone fame (or not).[/QUOTE]

Never heard of him, never seen it.


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## Miya (Jun 16, 2010)

Norie said:


> Miya
> 
> The English Premier League/FA or whoever couldn't introduce the ball earlier - they aren't sponsored by Adidas.
> 
> ...


 
Norie, the german league is not the only league in the world that used the ball, both USA and Argentina have used it aswell.


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## Oaktree (Jun 16, 2010)

I'm surprised none of my American colleagues referenced Jon Stewart's recap (http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-june-14-2010/world-cup-2010--into-africa---us-ties-england) in this thread yet:

"No one is better at not beating America than England"


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## xld (Jun 17, 2010)

I know draws are anathema to Americans, but this is going a tad too far http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3013091/USA-beats-England-1-1.html?OTC-RSS&ATTR=News


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## Norie (Jun 17, 2010)

Miya

As far as I'm aware the Bundesliga is the only league actually sponsored to use the ball.

I think other nations could use the ball if they wanted to but none of them really bothered.

Mind you with all the rubbish you hear/see on/in the TV/Radio/Papers who knows the exact truth.

Yesterday the main debate seemed to be whether or not this has been the most boring start to a World Cup ever.

Today it's apparently the most open World Cup ever and anyone can win it.

Go North Korea!!!


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## xld (Jun 20, 2010)

xld said:


> Whoever would have thought that Anelka could look like a model of moderation and rationality?



Looks like I got Mr Anelka wrong ... not the first I guess.


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## RobMatthews (Jun 21, 2010)

Norie said:


> Go North Korea!!!


 
Well, they certainly went... home early?


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