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

[Scaly piscine]

Sounds like I didn't miss much when I was playing cricket today.

 

[roseboy64]

That T&T v Sweden game today reminded me of Man Utd vs Sunderland. Domination but no goals.

 

[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.

The first fifteen minutes aside we were shocking. No cutting edge up front (WTF was Sven playing at taking off Owen for Downing?!? It's patently obvious to all & sundry he's dropped a bollock selecting Walcott, but that confirmed the fact that now Sven realises it too), Fat Frank & Stevie G played like total strangers & we gifted a desperately mediocre team the lion's share of second half possession.

I suppose it's kinda nice to be moaning about an England win rather than a draw/defeat tho.

Hats off to T&T. Absolutely top drawer stuff. Shaka was immense, but credit to Carlos Edwards too, who was a complete Trojan at the back. Sweden looked fairly ordinary for mine tho, Ibrahimovic performing his usual trick of going missing when it matters. Sending off was a farce too, the lad clearly took the ball. If we're going to caution any robust challenge we might as well all eff off & play basketball!

 

[roseboy64]

Apparently any two footed challenge is a yellow.

 

[BoyBrumby]

Apparently any two footed challenge is a yellow.

That may be the FIFA directive, but if so the law is a donkey (if I said "***" the filter would ping me! ). If a player takes the ball cleanly before the man all bets should be off. Strikers get enough protection nowadays as it is.

 

[roseboy64]

Well things work differently in the WC. The refs are more stringent. Should be the same across the borad in all the leagues but meh...

 

[33/3from3.3]

England win
and TT draw that'll do

 

[steds]

more reason why Sven should have gone for a safer bet & picked Defoe..

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

 

[marc71178]

Crouch MoM by a mile - only player who performed for 90 minutes.
Joe Cole second, just for his first-half display, but that's down to Sven. The decision to take Owen off was baffling, to say the least.

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.

 

[marc71178]

good 1st half, poor second half. Sven decision making was poor i don't understand why Owen was subbed after 55 minutes & even so, why Walcott wasn't brought on.

Probably because Walcott wouldn't fit into the new system he wanted?

 

[Matteh]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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)