Saturday 19 June 2010

Not Good Enough

I had decent hopes for England in the 2010 World Cup. Don't get me wrong, at no point did I think we could win the tournament - eventually we would play, and be beaten by, a far better side. However, last 8 was possible and if we played to our maximum and the draw was kind, then last 4 could happen - that would be a wonderful achievement and a wonderful summer. In fact, my prediction spreadsheet (which I filled in as honestly as I could) had us knocked out by Brazil in the semi-finals.

I watched the draw with the USA last Saturday and thought we looked rusty but we were the better side, had more possession and more chances - Tim Howard was man of the match for a reason. A point was far from a disaster against a more than decent side, and I fully expected us to take control of the group with a 2-0 win over Algeria, not because I'm arrogant, but because we have some very good players and a very good manager. How wrong was I...

Last night was embarrassing. Not just the fact we drew, but the fact there was no fight, no passion, we lost every 50-50, players looked tired/unfit, and Algeria probably deserved to win the game. Make no mistake, that is as bad as I've seen England play for an extremely long time. I can't remember the players stringing more than 4 or 5 passes together all night, there was no movement off the ball, we looked slow, lacking ideas and the whole thing looked disjointed.

I've always had huge respect for Capello - he's achieved a lot in club football and obviously I was hugely grateful for what he did when taking the England job...back to basics, making the players remember who the boss was (unlike McClaren who was overshadowed by "JT and the crew"), what the shirt meant, got the belief back, got us looking solid, scoring goals and winning games. Yet in the past week he has made some really strange decisions.

1. Starting with Robert Green in goal, who was most peoples least favoured goalkeeper of the 3 selected in the squad. As I quoted on my Facebook page last week, BBC revealed OPTA stats has Green down as making more mistakes leading to goals then any other Premier League player last season.
2. Starting James Milner when he was clearly not even 50% fit after the flu.
3. Bringing on Wright-Phillips instead of Joe Cole for Milner

That was just the USA game, but last night I became far more concerned. None of the team were playing well, but on the 4 occasions Aaron Lennon had the ball in attacking positions he played 4 decent balls in to the box. So why the hell was he withdrawn for a player who is slower, has poorer delivery and is unable to get in to Manchester City's starting XI? Why was he telling Gerrard to drift in to centre midfield, leaving Ashley Cole to defend the whole of the left side? Why were the players not pressing? Why was Rooney kept on the pitch when he clearly wasn't right after 45 minutes, displaying the first touch I display in a Sunday League game after 10 pints on the Saturday night? Why did he bring Joe Cole to the World Cup if he cannot get on the pitch when we're that bad, clearly crying out for a spark? Why is our only tactic to lump a long ball up to Heskey/Crouch?

I'm losing my faith very quickly...it's easy to call me fickle but as I've already mentioned, last night was the worst I've seen the team play for years, including McClaren's reign. I watched the game with a group of mates and we all said the feeling afterwards was like Euro 2000, when we were so bad that we weren't even that bothered when Romania beat us to stop us getting out of our group, because we knew that scraping through would have meant a better side giving us a battering. If we do sneak past Slovenia (and it's a big IF), surely Serbia/Germany/Ghana will hammer this England side? I'm not sure I can handle that.

I'll save my final point for Wayne Rooney - he was England's worst player last night and must be carrying some sort of illness or injury to play that poorly. Aside from that, his comments to the cameras at the end of the game as he trudged off the pitch were a disgrace. They were along the lines of "Nice to see your home fans boo you. That's what loyal support is". I'm sorry? Loyal support is saving your hard earned money for years to afford a flight to South Africa, a ticket to an England game, so you can see your heroes represent your country, and cheering them for 90 minutes. Last night every player wearing the 3 lions was awful, but the fans supported them throughout, singing the anthem and drowning out all other noise, including the vuvuzela. At the final whistle, I feel the fans who paid their money have every right to boo that performance, and for Wayne Rooney to say what he said is unbelievable. He earns more in one week at Manchester United then many of those loyal fans will earn in 10 years, and he should never ever forget that. He always seemed fairly grounded despite his success, but he went down in my estimation last night.

Anyway, I've ranted enough. I hope from reading this you get a feel for how much this means to me. I was so excited about this World Cup - I really thought we could make an impact and give our country a summer to remember, but my bubble has been well and truly burst. I will of course be supporting the team on Wednesday, along with 100,000 other fans watching the game on the big screens at the Glastonbury Pyramid Stage, even though I have little hope of it getting much better.

But despite everything I've written, I do still have a "little hope", and that will never leave me. It's time for Fabio Capello to earn the £6 million he'll earn this year, and it's time for these England player to earn our respect back.

Cheers,
AM

50 comments:

Birty said...

never ever boo a football team.
what good does that do?
They know they played badly.

AdmiraLord Nelson said...

I understand your Frustration! Too bad Rooney is acting like a little kid and a far cry from the man who humiliated Arsenal at home and AC Milan in the Champions League...I think that England will definitely beat Slovenia, the question is...how badly?

Slovenia is terrible, they have no depth, once their starters tire out the whole team flames out! The USA being a well conditioned team of athletes made that blatantly obvious and the Slovenes could do no more than grab and hug the USA players as clandestinely as possible and lucky for them it paid off! Why the hell is there a Ref from Mali in the WC anyways? Mali?

Anonymous said...

It pains me to say it, but I agree with every word. Poor display all round from the players and strange decisions from Fabio. Lets not forget that Rooney is a man with the St Georges Cross flag tattooed on his arm, few men have the heart, soul, drive and determination of Rooney. But that was not the Rooney that came to Cape Town last night. I am baffled, dissapointed and let down.

Ellie
FC UnitedAlbionRovers

Alex said...

A_M - Mexico 86, Italia 90, we always start very badly, gutted as you but we will progress from the group and then hopefully pick up.

I do think Capello will ditch 442 after last night (god I hope he does)

Anonymous said...

Considering how Steve McClaren has rebuilt his career in Holland you do have to wonder if the country was too qucik to blame him for the failure to qualify for Euro 2008 rather than face the fact that the team isn't good enough.

Anonymous said...

3 LIONS ?

LIONS.... ONLY WHEN THEY PLAY EACH OTHER !

C*****KHOOR

Ian Sanderson said...

Well said AM, although you're a bit biased regarding Lennon.
Some of the girls in my 12 year old daughter's team had better touches than Rooney, it truly was awful to watch.
It cannot get any worse - can it?

E said...

AM you're completely right. It really was a shambles. Surely if the majority of England attacks end up on the wings and a cross comes in, who better to be there than Peter Crouch? Joe Cole can run, shoot and cross. I just don't understand why he's not making the first team ahead of Lennon let alone coming on as a substitute. Capello has a high estimation of SWP which I think is misplaced at the moment. I don't doubt he'll develop into a good player in time, but not now.

It's like England enjoy a holiday when they go off to these tournaments.

Anonymous said...

SWP (born 25 October 1981)
Hmm....he can develop as did Peter Shilton in WC'90.

C****khoor

E said...

Haha, you know I just assumed SWP was young because my girlfriend thought he was. She said "Oh I hope he scores. His Mum would be so proud."

Bojan said...

AM you're completely right, but i think that England still have good chance to do good in this WC, but Capello has to get formation and starting 11 + subs right...

no one can't win WC with unbalanced team...

look at this teams:

France is almost out because of that... No attack, 2 players are finishing counter attack, players playing on places where they didnt play 10 times in their lives(Abidal,Ribery), very badly chossen staring 11 and few players left at home...

Argentina is playing good but tevez and higuain(ask pelegrini) will do nothing in big match, thier gk will have 2 saves in whole wc, demichelis will give 2 more goals in this wc... with slow midfield they are depending all on Messi...maradona will loose 1st game against well organized oposition that can score... btw, i am biggest fan in the world of Argentina,Maradona and Veron...

germany was lucky in 1st game but they are really mediocre team... their defence is just ok, and forward line is moody... they will have a lot of problems with Ghana and they could go out also...

Dutchs are in next round and have 6 points but they play so bad and boring... they have joker in Robben and i cant wait to see who will make space De jong or Kuyt(van der vaart)... with rooben they are good offensivly but they are just ok team in defence with heitinga,van der wiel,mathijasen and van bronchorst in their lineup...denmark was better then them and they if there wasnt wierd own goal it would end 0:0... lucky goal got them past japan also...

italy has no talent at all but they are getting best from this players that are on wc... i would only get pazzini in and he would be my first choice striker before gilardino andf iaquinta...

brazil could easily go out in group stage imo... they are scoring very hard and they have to play portugal an ivory coast... with 2 draws in this games and 2+ goal wins for portugal an ivory coast againt north korea brazil is out... they have melo, gilberto silva and elano in their midfield and out of form fabiano and kaka in attack... they ahve to make space for dani alves if they want to be good... he could sub bastos or elano...

porugal is bad as france with coach bad as domenech but they have ronaldo, not elk, who can score...

and finally spain... they will beat honduras 6:0 but if del bosque starts again same 11 players against Chile like he did against swiss they are out from this wc also... their bench against swiss was better then staring 11... xavi is waste of space if he have to give the ball to silva or unfit iniesta... del bosque must play cesc,navas and torres if he want to win this wc...

england has 14 players to do good on this wc... carra is out so if dawson do good against slovenia he is new engalnds central defender... barry will play, lennon is good but changed formation will give him more space, joe cole must go in, gerrard is here to stay and capello must decide will he play with lampard or with 2nd striker with defoe and crouch fighting for that spot... you have milner as super sub, defoe/croch/lampard for changing the style of play and some other sub defensive/offensive to pick if game ask that... biggest englands problem is that gerrard plays gerrards way last 15 years in just one club, lampard is playing his way for 15 years - they never had to change anything in they style in their carriers and that is big problem for this team... imo lampard is not such a good player at all... he had 1 or 2 great seasons 4-5 years ago when he scored a lot of big goals from 20+ meters but last 2 years he is very bad... he got 20 goals this season also but he scored 10 from pks and scored 7 goals in 7:1 and 8:0 wins against villa and wigan... for me that is 0 goals in that 2 games... he is slower, he shoots bad and not so good at set-pieces like he was 3 years ago...

i think that no one will read such a stupid and long post but...

sorry to all readers...

gman26 said...

Bojan - Wow. Every team apparently sucks in this WC and is going out in group stage. Who will be left to play if everyone is out? I think Brazil will be just fine.

Anonymous said...

Hail the modern day NOSTRADAMUS !

C****khoor

Anonymous said...

Just as I posted in predictions, no European team has ever won outside of Europe. This parity doesn't really surprise me.

The thing with England is they just can't play together. They have a lot of talent. I feel like they need to sit either Gerrard or Lampard, they can't play together. It's not always the most talented players that make the best teams. I'd rather have a team that is obviously bad, than a bullshit call that negates a potential game winner. Though, we can't keep a clean sheet, so we easily coulda won 2-0. Just imagine how good we could be if we didn't concede in the first couple of minutes.

I'll be pissed about that call til Wednesday's game. England's lackluster performance calmed me down a little bit, since we still have control of our destiny. But in the end I am rooting for both England and US wins, so we both get out.

Then again, this controversy is what makes the sport. And, from a neutral perspective, you do kind of like it. So, instead of being a hypocrite, I'll just be glad with my 1 point and the fact that we can still advance.

Good luck England, I know you guys can beat Slovenia. I really hate them now, plus their dance after each goal is just fucking stupid. Same old celebration every fucking time? Seriously?!?!?!?!?

I'd be shocked if US doesn't beat Algeria, being that they haven't scored yet. Then again it won't surprise me if there are 2 draws on Wednesday either. All, I know is that it's going to be a very tense 2 hours.

Anonymous said...

I actually think England can play Lampard and Gerrard Capello just needs to change the formation. I was hoping for something similar to the diamond formation that chelsea played earlier in the season. With Johnson and A. Cole as fullbacks, I don't see why you wouldn't. Here is the formation I would go with.

Hart
Johnson Dawson Terry A.Cole

Barry
Lennon Lampard

Gerrard

Crouch Rooney/Defoe(if rooney keeps this garbage up)


On a cool note Japan have looked good(if a bit boring) and wouldn't be surprised if they made it through the group. :)
saitofall

Bojan said...

@gman26 - did i missed any good football from this teams, and you saw it?

argentina played good 7 minutes in first game and good 2nd game, and germany is playing good in both games but they need a win against Ghana to go trough, and this is a hell of a job to do... and spain played good 30 minutes when torres and navas came in...

Anonymous said...

Guys, need your opinion for tomorrow match,

Should i replace Assou Ekotto with Zambrotta or Maicon? and i have DiMaria with 4 points, should i replace him with Hamsil vs Paraguay?

Thanks in advance

Anonymous said...

I feel your pain and disappointment AM. As a South African, I never expected Bafana Bafana to get past round 1 with 3 top 20 teams in our group - yet after the great result against Mexico, it was so disappointing to lose 3:0 to Uruguay, we were never in it. Hopefully we can go out with a bang by beating lacklustre France.

I was at the Netherlands-Japan game today in Durban - a very boring 1st half and a slightly better 2nd. Was hoping for a better game - RVP did little and the Japanese goalie gave it away.

Overall Africa is having a poor tournament - Cameroon and Nigeria out, SA going out, Algeria might sneak through but not inspiring, Ghana and Ivory Coast look our best bet to maybe reach quarters.

Phil, South Africa

chrism said...

Bojan-wow too. But no mention of the USA, their 2nd half against Slovenia was the best half played by any team in the tournament so far. They were completely robbed and should have had the 3 pts. I think they will easily beat Algeria and go through. Bradley has figured out the Oneywu isn't fit and that he has to attack to win.

@Phil I hope too South Africa beats France. It will be a fitting ended to Domenech who has ruined French football.

And England. Sorry mates I think you are going home. I am thinking 1-0 Slovenia with a howler from David James providing the entertainment. Capello doesn't have the stones to bench Rooney who was useless. He won't put in Dawson instead of Carragher or whoever. Lampard and Gerrard can't play together but he won't touch that either. He refuses to face facts and is proving to be inflexible and England will be on the plane home.

I am still predicting the Netherlands will win even though they haven't looked stellar.

But go USA!

chris m velvet underground allstars

Bojan said...

i think that uruguay,mexico,usa,chile,switzerland are playing very good football, but i was talking about "big" teams... i was trying to say that i could be very open wc and that big teams have a big problems with choosing starting 11, and that no big team will play in 1/16 finals with same staring 11 like in 1st game of tournament...

and my question is what did they do in a last month or so? cameroon had Kameni on goal in last 7 years, and in all preworld cup games and he was left out in the tournament... le guen started 1st game w/o geremi,r song,a song,emana and etto almost played as midfielder... why did capello choosed green when we all thought he would be third gk for england... what is joe cole doing at wc if he stays on bench in 0:0 game against algeria... why did domenech playing abidal as central defender? who will play holding midfielder for argentina when mascherano get yc in 1/8 finals and in 1/4 finals or 1/2 finals?

Mike B said...

I have almost lost faith in Fabio Capello.

First of all like already stated, the starting 11 was wrong for the USA game. Everyone could see it. I can forgive playing Green, as i don't think any of our keepers are much good. What i can't forgive is playing a semi fit, and always fairly slow James Milner on the left wing. What a waste of a substitution. Then to replace him with the rubbish SWP, playing on the left wing??? I just find this unbelievable.

At the end of that game i breathed a sigh of relief to see it end 1-1. I don't think USA played any better than us, we were just bad.

I had higher hopes for the Algeria match, Barry was back, and i thought Capello might see the error of his ways and play Joe Cole on the left, and give Rooney a chance to play in the position he has all season for his club. Alas we ended up with the same old 4-4-2, with players playing out of position.

When will England managers try playing all of our players in their correct positions? I just don't understand it.

I also noticed that players were running around and swapping positions, i saw Lennon (who looks terrified everytime he gets the ball) popping up on the left etc. This was confusing our players more than it was Algeria.

James
Johnson - Dawson - Terry - Cole
Lennon - Gerrard - Barry - Lampard - Cole
Rooney

This would be my starting team, and although i'm no manager, i think this would be more effective than playing your most effective players in positions where they are uneffective.

Rant over!

Besides, we're gonna thrash Slovenia and still come top of the group!

(ps - it's not all doom and gloom, as an Englishman currently living in Mexico, the atmosphere out here is amazing! Football is everywhere at all times of the day, needless to say my in-laws and myself were very happy on Thursday. Vamos Mexico.)

bean said...

maybe this is what England needs to propel them through and do well in 1/16 (if they make it). as opposed to playing halfway decent now and easily advancing and getting hammered first match of next stage. and I agree Rooney was a disgrace, but i think it's because he cares so much. think about how most of you as fans felt, he probably was so pissed, disappointed, ashamed that he could plead insanity.. no excuse, it was still a drogba moment (when will someone do a rap version of Rooney's camera time?)

I posted this in previous blog post:
who would be the preferred England lineup? I would start Crouchy up front with Rooney, or switch to a formation with two attacking midfield spots for Gerrard and Lampard, which maybe means Rooney as loan striker, but still two wingers.. fake an injury somewhere to allow Adam Johnson back. I like Joe Cole as the realistic option, but i'm sure Capello knows he's been out with long term injury and is only just coming back. start Upson or Dawson, and finally start F'in Hart already.

the looks on England players faces was telling.

for USA, i was finally impressed with Bradley Sr.'s tactics in the Slovenia match going to a 4-3-3. Great match, even though we were robbed. Should hopefully give us confidence to tear into Algeria, just hope we don't underestimate them.. Need to get our backline in order.. Great writeup at Jeremy & Neals blog about US tactics.

Don't get me wrong, i'm still having fun with the FIFA WC fantasy game, but according to FFScout the rules have changed yet again midstream.. the transfer window is like 5 minutes long since the last game of a round was the same day as the first game of the next round.

@Admiral - I disagree that Slovenia is terrible, i think they've clearly shown they are not.

@Bojan - i always enjoy your "stupid and long post" :) I kind of agree with alot of your points actually, as hypotheticals.. but did seems quite negative overall. i disagree mostly with your assessment of the Dutch. I watched them a bit in qualifying and they looked lively and dangerous.. I actually liked Afellay, so very fast. and everyone on their team has a dangerous shot. and Xavi is a waste of space!? I rate him as one of the best players in the world, with or without Iniesta.
But it's true overall, anyone can be eliminated in this tournament (obviously, but especially this one) i'm loving the surprise matches with all the big teams and i think that was kind of your point. Cameroon is out, which is disappointing (though I was rooting for the Danes;girlfriend is Danish).

@STLRam - that celebration drove me nuts, i wanted to break their hands.

how about this lineup for USA:
Howard
Cherundolo DeMerit Gooch Blackmouth
edu bradley torres
donovan altidore dempsey

and this for England:
Hart
Johnson Terry Dawson A.Cole
Barry
J.Cole Lennon
Lampard Gerrard
Defoe(Rooney)

bean said...

that england lineup should have looked more like a 4-5-1 ish, but the spaces disappeared

bean said...

check this out, we're 5th best!

http://en.mcdonalds.fantasy.fifa.com/M/stats.mc?stat=bestleagues

thanks AM!

Bojan said...

holland scored very,very lucky own goal and today it was very bad mistake from japanese gk... they have 1 or 2 chances at 0:0 results in both games combined... van der vaart is always injured and 7th midfielder in real madrid, kuyt is kuyt and rvp was out for 5 months... sneijder is fantastic and with robben dutch team will be better...

and xavi and spain... they are by far the best squad in the tournament and xavi is one of the best players in the world in last 5 years... but spain 5 man midfield with busquets,xabi,xavi,silva and iniesta wouldn't score against good team in 10 days playing... and with this loss against swiss they will have to play very good game against chile to go to next round and i bet my balls that del bosque will change formation for next game and admit that he was wrong playing that players in first game...

bean said...

yeah, good points Bojan. but i think it's only two matches for everyone. they'll either turn it around and play like they "should", or flop and go home. i just think a lot of the big teams have shown that they can play well together in with some version of their current squads (England,Netherlands,Spain,Brazil). I just think a lot of times people say how some of these players "can't" play together. Though that seems completely true for France.

AdmiraLord Nelson said...

Now that Cameroon is eliminated the Dutch can really get ready for the Round of 16! Though they must win to ensure the top seed, I feel like they can play more subs than normal...Cameroon will be playing hard for respect and dignity but the Dutch should surely continue their dominance!

Ian Sanderson said...

OXO have brought a new flavoured cube out in support of England.....it's the Laughing Stock.

Anonymous said...

Who should i captain?

1) Fabiano
2) Maicon
3) Hamsik
4) Mucha
5) Hamsik

Thx

Anonymous said...

Oh sorry for no 5, Zambrotta

Bojan said...

today zambrotta, villa tomorow imo

Kavedas said...

Dont Despair , England still have a chance to lead the Group and continue there way to the Semi Final , they will not face a big team if they lead the group ... i still think they will make it to the Semi Finals , and when they reach that every think could happen .... Just wait and give them a chance , bad performance will disappear
Cheers ALL

Bojan said...

italy will go trough with 3 points and GD 3:3, a new zealand will be 3rd with 3 points and GD 2:2...

Ian Sanderson said...

Had Kaka as Captain...went from 24 points to 16.

So, stick or twist with Villa tomorrow.

DeviLxDeviL said...

I read it somewhere someone posted in this blog about Fabiano 2 goals against Ivory Coast. Yeah he did it.

Ok, no need to move captain band to D.Villa ;-D

95 points so far with Mucha and RVP need to be replaced by Casillas and Villa.

Ok recommendation, i got Hamsik with 3 points, should i replace him with North Korea Yun NaM?

Thanks.

Kellz said...

@DevilxDeviL: It might have been me, I was discussing the absent game of Fabiano against North Korea and the fantastic +7 attacking bonus of Robinho. I was thinking of transferring Robinho in for Fabiano, so I went for it. Of course my last remarks were "Watch Fabiano score 2". Sure enough!

Ian Sanderson said...

Forget the above, can't change captain as Kaka was sent off.

DeviLxDeviL said...

Kellz, Oh yea it was you Kellz. Hope you got Fabiano too :-)

Ian - Too bad you cannot change captain as Kaka was sent off.. but who know as Mcdonadls always change the rules.

Move to 48th in AM group with 95 points. Gonna sub Mucha, Hamsik and RVP with Casillas, Yun Nam and Villa. Villa to score 3 ! ;-D

Lets hope England and USA go to the next round !

AdmiraLord Nelson said...

I am in the same boat as you Ian!!!

I had Kaka as my captain, but I also had Julio Cesar in goal, he went from getting 11 or 12 pts to only 5, with the late Drogba goal!!

now I have Xavi and Villa going tomm, since I can change my captaincy because of red card from Kaka, I figure its pretty much the same thing as if he didnt get the red bc in that case I prob would not change the captain anyways. But in the end I lose about 8 pts or so!! whatever...

Anonymous said...

There many "NAM" in North Korea squad.. the question Ji Yun Nam (midfield), will he play against Portugal. If im not mistaken he was the goal scorer against Brazil.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/jun/20/team-news-portugal-north-korea

cap.1940 said...

The deficiencies in the scoring system for this fantasy game is revealed by Lampard earning 7 points for almost a no-show and Messi 7 points for running the whole show!!! So quit being nervy with your team selections, go with your hunches and RELAX because the game is obviously flawed (but still fun).

AdmiraLord Nelson said...

I love this game, I again almost scratched the top 1000! at the 75th minute of Brazil and Ivory Coast everything seemed to be falling into place. Then there was the Drogba goal and the Kaka Red Card! I lost my Julio Cesar CS and Kaka's points took a 4-5 point hit (Kaka was my captain)...altogether I lost about 15 points in the last 15 minutes of that match!!!

All I can hope for (again) is for Xavi and Villa to pile in some points!!!

P.S. I heard that FIFA may rescind the Kaka Red! If this is true what would happen to my points and players for Round 3?

Anonymous said...

Drogba the bane of my life this year, that last goal cost my two Brazil defenders... Maicon and Bastos.

And bloody Paston (New Zealand keeper) I was sure Id pick up some more points from Montolivo.

Oh well, shouldnt complain, still 12th overall (after lucking in with Higuin) and will prob sub out Montolivo's 5 pointer for Xavi.

Come on a Xavi hattrick and getting back into the top 10.

Dont forget we get our free Transfer soon....

Worzel

Maxer said...

these last games usually gives me headache..

should i sub Messi(7) and Rvp(6) to Villa and Ronaldo?.. and should i change captain from Maicon(6) to either one of them?.. any suggestions?.. i got a feeling spain n portugal are playing harder tonight to keep their WC dream alive.. but am i subbing the right players?.. decision decision.. :p

Asher_MaXTeN

AdmiraLord Nelson said...

you should definitely make those subs Maxer, as I feel you have no choice! I have already subbed Messi for Villa myself...AND I had a revelation in AM's last post; I think CRonaldo could get a hattrick!

AdmiraLord Nelson said...

@ Worzel

Good Luck! How does 12th place feel?

I cannot help but give you the credit you deserve the picks you have made have been brilliant!!!!

Anonymous said...

Thanks AdmiraLord Nelson.

Seems that the balanced squad approach was the way to go as you effectively get "two bites at the cherry" with the players. If they score 6+ keep, under 6 rotate when necessary...

Still thinking about the extra $5 of money and transfers to set up for the 2nd round onwards...I think its going to be important to get 75% of the squad that will play at least 2nd round and Qtrs, with preference that a big chunk get to the semis. These games are normally won by making sure you have the max number of players playing.

Later on Qtrs/Semis I'm anticpating potentially having to pay for transfers. The cost differential for transfer vs minimum points if a player plays (generally 3) is small so no point getting a donut might as well pay and get the potential upside.

I do think I need to look a bit closer at the Paraguayans now (I know nothing about them at all) They will likely top the group and the Italians will prob face Holland.... and depending on tonight Spain to meet Brazil?? Not to mention England meeting the Germans...

Going to be tough to pick players that will last through....

AdmiraLord Nelson said...

I totally agree, in the knockouts its all about having players that will actually play! I think you are right that paying for it might be your only option to ensure a full roster! Paraguay is great, I have the Paraguayan that does all the throw-ins, it is his third World Cup, Go ahead Carlos Bonet with your 6 points!

Anonymous said...

Anyone know why Spain doesn't feature Fabregas, I think he could help them out, and I still own him unfortunately!

Barnyard

bean said...

you will have unlimited transfers before round 16 (after r3), then 4 transfers each stage thereafter

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