Official 2014 Brazil World Cup thread

[Itse]

Originally Posted by rubecube

And the "scores in qualifying" argument shows up. Rooney is a beast in qualifying, he's just useless when the games actually matter.

Considering that about 1 in 4 qualification rounds have proven too tough for England, that's funny

[The Big Chill]

Hodgson hasn't done enough to get the best out of his players. The top managers understand their players strengths and weaknesses and set up the team in such a way to hide those weaknesses.

Gerrard doesn't have the legs he once did, and it's no coincidence that he had his best form this season with 2 midfield runners in front of him. Henderson is also at his best in a midfield 3 when he has someone behind him spraying passes, and a creative force in front of him.

Roy should just copy Rodgers and play the 4-4-2 diamond. Lallana, Sterling, and Ox all play really well in that #10 role, and that way both Sturridge and Rooney can play in their favoured positions.

[Burke Salad]

I have never understood why England doesnt study the German Football model more. From development to training to tactics, they have a great model to follow.

[GirlySports]

Cause they're English

[jofillips]

as a lower league club supporter in england I am so so afraid of what kneejerk reaction the FA will go for if england continue to fail here...

Anyone follow Greg Dykes ideas for Arsenal/Man Utd B teams to compete with real clubs in the lower divisions?? Unbelievable something that dumb could be considered.....hang on a minute, im talking about the FA here tho.

[Sgrath]

Originally Posted by Burke Salad

I have never understood why England doesnt study the German Football model more. From development to training to tactics, they have a great model to follow.

Simple, following the German model would require that the Premier League transfer a huge amount of power and control to the FA, and that isn't going to happen.

[cam_wmh]

(Out of thanks). Rube/chill etc;
I like the diamond suggestion but leaves a lot of the ball holding with the CBs and Gerrard.
Cahill again concerns me. It appeases Rooney. Keeps all of other best performers on the pitch too. Johnson criticism seem unwarranted and I've readily dumped on him in the past.
Watching again, and the Baines for Shaw argument is valid. And Gerrard for Henderson at 65.

[Ironhorse]

Anyone know of any good pubs open at 10:00am for the first games of the day?

[d_phaneuf]

plus it's not like the German model currently has been around forever

they changed it something like 11 years ago and are seeing the fruits of it now

the FA have made huge investments the last few years in to development and coaching, they opened St. George's park which is a state of the art training facility and are essentially following the clairefontaine model

[d_phaneuf]

Shaw is better than Baines defensively, Baines is better going forward

if they are going to play with a forward on the left side (either Welbeck or Rooney) Baines is going to get toasted

I thought Johnson was fine defensively but he needs to stop cutting in and taking shots on his left foot, put in an effing cross every once in awhile

[Trumbull]

http://www.tsn.ca/soccer/story/?id=455121

Ronaldo's doctor wants him to pull out from the tourny.

[Addick]

Originally Posted by Ironhorse

Anyone know of any good pubs open at 10:00am for the first games of the day?

I'm pretty sure the Pig & Duke is opening at 10 for the matches. They update their Twitter feed so you should be able to check the evening before.

Originally Posted by diane_phaneuf

the FA have made huge investments the last few years in to development and coaching, they opened St. George's park which is a state of the art training facility and are essentially following the clairefontaine model

If I remember correctly, it will be a bit different than Clairefontaine as it will focus more on coaching development/learning and won't even have a youth residency program.

[SebC]

How to choose a World Cup team if you're Canadian:

Spoiler!

Obviously created before Spain started playing though...

[Ark2]

How is Brazil the team to cheer for if you don't like diving? They are the worst ones!

[Bagor]

Originally Posted by diane_phaneuf

the FA have made huge investments the last few years in to development and coaching,

I suppose the question then is have these numbers changed much from four years ago?

Three years ago an official report concluded that coaching is the "golden thread" leading to international success, but new Uefa data shows that there are only 2,769 English coaches holding Uefa's B, A and Pro badges, its top qualifications. Spain has produced 23,995, Italy 29,420, Germany 34,970 and France 17,588.Between them those four nations have provided eight of the 12 finalists at all the World Cups and European Championships since 1998. England, meanwhile, have not appeared in a tournament final in 44 years.

http://www.theguardian.com/football/...ortage-england

[darklord700]

The Spanish players looked simply tired and were a step and a half slower than necessary. This is probably the first time the reigning champ is out before the third group game. Oh well, that's why this tournament is fantastic.

[nik-]

Originally Posted by darklord700

The Spanish players looked simply tired and were a step and a half slower than necessary. This is probably the first time the reigning champ is out before the third group game. Oh well, that's why this tournament is fantastic.

It's an older team. That's a pretty damn good run though, Euro, World Cup, Euro. France's golden generation only got the World Cup and Euro. Some golden generations don't win anything.

[Itse]

Yup. Spain circa 2008-2012 goes down in history as one of the greatest and most dominant teams of all time. But all reigns must end.

[Bagor]

[darklord700]

Originally Posted by Itse

Yup. Spain circa 2008-2012 goes down in history as one of the greatest and most dominant teams of all time. But all reigns must end.

That was a great run. I think Iker Cassilla shouldn't have started at goal. He punched out the free kick weak and let to the first Chille goal. You have to punch the ball out of the box if you were to punch out.

And subbing in Torres was just hoping for yesterday once more. They didn't put up a good fight in the second half when the Chillean were sitting back a little.

These Spanish players have done enough for their country and it's time for the next generation to take over.