Official HEXUS World Cup Discussion Thread!

[Moonshade]

Lol, you call him Zlatan instead of Ibrahimovic eh? I have a German friend whos obsessed with Sweden and she calls him Zlatan but i thought that was only because of the obsession Do you also call Larsson "henke" and Ljungberg "freddie"? lol Sounds weird if we all referred to Rooney as Wayne.

Hm..I don't know, it's not that I'm obsessed or anything...I just call Zlatan, zlatan . I guess I call Larsson Henke too at times. But I often call Freddie Ljungberg . Yeah, referring to Rooney as Wayne sounds odd/wierd .

Argh, 1-0 to England...I hope Sweden plays better...I want them to win . At least the English fans are going at it on the grandstand singing God Save The Queen all the time. Well, we'll see how it goes...



Whoooooo, as I'm writing SWEDEN GOES 1-1 *go sweden*
-- Moon

[streetster]

another unconvincing performance from england methinks...

[Nick F]

Another shocking performance in my books. That last goal should have been cleared.

At least we are through now, lets just hope Owen gets better ASAP.

[Moonshade]

Yes!!! that looked so awful i couldn't help feel tears well up

Yeah, that indeed looked really nasty
Feel sorry for him actually, must have hurt as hell, I've done something similar..but I bet it wasn't as bad as that one..but still *ouch*.

So...2-2 against England... I guess that's okay, it was a good game and both team played really good. Although I didn't like the referee on the other hand he didn't seem to like Sweden either

So next issue; Germany, can be tough..Ecuador would have been better. We'll see how long Sweden can last this time, I'll keep my fingers crossed!

-- Moon

[shelley bda]

I'll keep my fingers crossed!

-- Moon

Hehe!!! you keep your fingers crossed for me ( England ) and i'll keep my fingers crossed for you ( Sweden )










'

[frumpet]

A real shame about Owen but it was another disappointing England performance in my opinion.

Joe Cole was definitely the man of the match for me. His goal was sensational and his cross to Gerrard was the only measured pass i could recollect in the 2nd half. He and Rooney in particular moved well and really created some chances for England.

Hargreaves was also IMO excellent and really did a good job at pressuring the Swedish with good tackling, blocking and cleaning up loose balls. Gerrard did his usual and almost won the match.

For me they were the only positives about England. Defensively we looked extremely shaky. The match stats show how we conceded 13 corners, which at this level is about double what we should be conceding. Set-pieces, both defensively and offensively, need working on. We paid for the shambolic marking and inability to clear the ball.

For me the worst player on the pitch was Carragher. He was abysmal through the entire match. He gave the ball away far too cheaply, didn't tackle well, failed to clear the ball well and as a consequence made his team mates do twice the work. The only times he went forward was to take throw-ins and this meant that Beckham had literally nothing to do all match. IMO he really shouldn't be playing RB. Danny Mills did a better job!

I felt Sweden really deserved their goals, mainly to punish England's sloppiness, and to come out of the game with a draw.

Rant over!!

Still, we're group winners and in the last 16!!

ENG-ER-LAND!!!!!

[johnny02004976]

Agreed mate worst player by far was Jamie Carragher imo, he was poor at breaking players down, he wasnt attacking the ball like gary neville does when the players went down to our corner flag, he was too busy getting on top of Sol Campbell when he came on

Gutted about Owen as well but tbh he's had a bad world cup and hopefully change will be good - however it means we have to play Crouch up front now which is just terrible for england, we mite as well go home now. I just cant understand why he plays him he really is crap.

Robinson was very unconvincing in goal as well

[Steve A]

First half we played well, gutted about Owen but hey sh1t happens, there were 4 positives out of last nights game ::

1. Rooney getting some match fitness ..

2. Scoring 2 goals not from set pieces

3. Owen Hargreaves - i always give him a hard time, but hes was excellent last night

4. Joe Cole - again Englands best performer, class goal and good assist ..

that being said, the negatives were as follows ::

1, Owens injury although we hasnt played that well, we now have 2 strikers and 1 unknown, bit short now tbh

2, defending set pieces, absolutely shocking, although sweden are probably one of the better set piecers, i really didnt see us struggling that much but we did,

3, Sol Campbell, apart from 1 decent tackle he was god dam awfull, well past his sell by date, does more damage that good now,

4, Fitness - although we are apparently 13% fitter than last tourny you wouldnt think so, another crap 2nd half performance which all the players looked really tired, yet most the sweden team looked fine and the play in the same dam country,

that all i can think of for now, im sure i will think of more later ..

[frumpet]

The problem with Owen's injury is that now we don't have an established 'Out and Out' striker. Rooney is more of a playmaker, and so comes deep for the ball and Crouch, likewise, likes to come deep to gather possession.

At some stages last night we seemed to have a 6 man midfield and no-one upfront. This results in the other team being able to push up on England without the worry of leaving a striker like Owen behind them.

For me there needs to be a real change now. Crouch IMO just does not work as starting striker for England, he even began to look jaded last night as the game wore on. He's more dangerous when used as a 'super-sub' once the opposition Defence has tired and can't adapt to his height. (Argentina game)

Sven will probably stick with 4-4-2 as it's all he's ever really played successfully, so IMO its time to use Theo Walcott and not Crouch against Ecuador simply for his pace. If he can get past some of their Defenders then theres no telling what damage can be done.

If Neville isn't fit by Sunday then i would play Beckham as right back. Due to being out of position Carragher didn't defend particularly well and didn't attack either so Beckham at least could provide some passing and movement down the right flank even if he's not naturally a defender. Playing Beckham in this position would obviously give the opportunity to play Lennon and inject some pace into the right flank.

Anyway, enough armchair managing

[Lee H]

Sorry Frumpet - I have to disagree with sticking Beckham in Defense.

Last night was a prime example. The first goal he was running all over the box screaming at every other player to rally them up and what happens, it was him that got beat to the header which lead to the first goal.

Keep Beckham in Midfield and just pray Gary Nevilles fit instead

[Grey M@a]

You should see the sheer amount of press outside St James Park to speak to the Chairmen and Manager/Coaches of Newcastle. I can see the stadium from my office and I am 2 minutes walk away, the sheer amount of vans, dishes, reporters, camera crews outside here is rediculous. I can see Newcastle having a right go at Owens injury. THats 4 times in 2 years he's done his knee. I can see his career taking a dive tbh. That knee is far to weak, they've rushed him by the looks of it.

As for the game, we can kis the World Cup goodbye. At this rate we are out of it come Sunday evening.

Frumpet, somehow I don't think Erikson has any intention of playing Theo, he's taken him across, had rooney and owen off the field at one point or another and then sticks the likes of Hargreaves in his position. That theo must be sitting there thinking of just packing up and going home, why bring him and never play him. If he was the striker they make him out to be, he should be there getting the place over Owen/Rooney but he's yet to play. As we've all known for years, Sven could organise a piss up in a brewery if he tried.

[Melynda]

Im sooooooo disappointed with englands performance, I mean these guys are earning zillions... and I expected more from bekham ...

Gerrard was good, but then we need more than one good player. half the team are injured : (

[johnny02004976]

anyone catch tonights game, Argentina v Holland was very disappointing, there both going to have to raise there games if they want to lift the cup. I was delighted with the Ivory Coast game though, they really deserved to win and a good boost for African football.

[htid]

thanks for telling me the ivory coast score johnny, ive recorded it and was gonna watch it later, didnt wanna know what the score was nah jk my fault, i should have thought about it before i came on this thread.

I dont really agree about Arg having to lift their game, they played pretty well and a few players were obviously on the bench. The 2nd half they didnt play as well i agree, but both sides still looked pretty good defensively and tbh, who IS playing amazing football at this comp? Id say Arg and Spain have been the best so far, so Arg dont really have much competition imo (from what ive seen so far)

[johnny02004976]

thanks for telling me the ivory coast score johnny, ive recorded it and was gonna watch it later, didnt wanna know what the score was nah jk my fault, i should have thought about it before i came on this thread.

I dont really agree about Arg having to lift their game, they played pretty well and a few players were obviously on the bench. The 2nd half they didnt play as well i agree, but both sides still looked pretty good defensively and tbh, who IS playing amazing football at this comp? Id say Arg and Spain have been the best so far, so Arg dont really have much competition imo (from what ive seen so far)

sorry mate - although i havnt posted the score and its a great match to watch

with the argies they have alot to offer, depends if they decide to perform, there very much in the same position as brazil, they seem to do just enough and look lazy and lathargic at times

[johnny02004976]

Ghana are through