steviedeluxe

Well it looks like England will be missing Rooney for the first three games. But to be honest, if we're that reliant on just one player, perhaps we don't stand much of a chance anyway?
It took a while, but Spain are starting to look over-confident.

http://iberosphere.com/2011/10/why-s...nish-news/3834

I think that either France or Italy are due a return to top form. But yes, Spain should remain strong contenders.

Dick Dasterdly

Can't disagree with that.
Nor can I understand why England are so high up in the World ratings.
They certainly aren't anything special at the present time.

I see the special one was up to his tricks again a while back poking that guy in the eye.
My Spanish neighbour is a Real fan and he thought it was bloody hilarious.
We still have a good laugh about it now.

cricketman

Santi Cazorla is a top bloke and from my OH's home town so I cant disagree with him

Everyone in the world knows Spain are the favourites in the summer, there's no problem admitting it. Spain have 5 or 6 of the best midfielders in the worl. Think Fabregas who normally isnt in the starting 11 or Arteta who has never won a cap

The defence will be key. Need to keep Piqué and Puyol fit and together. The second line of centre backs in Spain are rubbish

Domino

thats part of the English Malaise - we hype up individuals.
Beckham this, Beckham that, then when he has a bruise on the inside of an ankle and can't play the whole team goes to pot.
they cannot be a team if they can't come together when they lose one man, and its not as if they sent out a short side.

my money is still on Spain. They have a pace, they maintain it. England can only play for the first half, after the orange they come out as if they are doing everyone a favour. Until they can emulate sides like Spain and play for 3 halves they will never get very far - unless one of the other nations feels sorry for them and rolls over.

Dick Dasterdly

...and to think at one time England used to be the team who could run everyone else of the park through sheer fitness and workrate.

Everyone else caught us up, most of them having the extra skill factorl to go with it.

Right enough about the over-hype, although we still do have a few half decent players.

For me Beckham was always over-hyped and over-rated.

No doubt he was very good at some things, but unfortunately totally useless at others, and a million miles away from being a complete footballer such as Bobby Charlton or Pele.

cricketman

I think that is a myth. England have never had a very good national team

They won in 1966, probably with the best team they ever had, but then they were at home and home advantage counts for a lot.

But there have been 22 tournaments since then and England havent got to the final even once, and only 2 semi-finals, one of which they had home advantage for again (Euro 96)

Dick Dasterdly

Wrong in 66 they won because IMHO they were the best team, though home advantage no doubt helped.
Without doubt at that time they were also by far the fittest team with the highest work-rate.
They had a decent side going into the next two tournaments but lady luck who any top coach will tell you plays a big part in knock-out cup competions deserted them.

Remember even Spain were beaten by a very average side during the last competition, fortunately for them, not in the knock out stage

England played no part in the first two World Cups because even back then they considered FIFA to be a very dodgy organisation.

Had they entered at that time they would have been strong favourites, as most of the football world trailed way behind them at that time.

It was not uncommon back then for even minor English amateur sides to go abroad and thrash the biggest and best that Europe had to offer.

Domino

English malaise - living off the reflected glory of something that happened 45 years ago, when some of those who took part are no longer with us.

Until the FA, FL etc etc start to come out of this time warp and look forward, bringing on youngsters for the future, until they come out of their feather bedded existance basking in the glory of the last century and they are all replaced for the good of the sport and the country England will never become a major player. If they can't beat countries like Montenegro they can't ever hope to even draw against Spain, France, Germany, Italy - before going on to meet the rest of the world.

Now take what i said above and relate it to Olympics and sport in general. Still part of the English malaise. We won that medal 25 yrs ago so it must always be ours.!! So many of our athletes cannot compete at the top level, again because in for example the 100m they can only run that far, when they should be going for the target at 125m, rather than faltering at 85m.

Sorry guys, big thing with me, all the teeth gnashing, hand wringing, £millions spent on freebies, Erikson being paid £1m pa for what ?? Seb Coe, paid about the same, pontificating because he was a winning athlete 30 years ago.

We would be better not competing, the results would be the same.

Domino

but since then ?
what about now ?
what about next year or the next decade ?

skip a generation, start now for the future.

Dick Dasterdly

Obviously you didn't follow the last Olympics where we punched way above our weight.

Having said that I'm no great fan myself, as most of the results are down to how much money is poured into the kitty of each country or else how good they are at cheating

cricketman

Yes millions are thrown around British sport like confetti, but mainly to pay for the middle managers

Great Britian has a budget for developing young tennis players that is 5 times bigger than the budget Spain has.

Yet Spain has 12 players in the top 100, and GB has one. And to top that Andy Murray had to come to Spain to finish his tennis education because he said the ATP didnt have a clue!

Dick Dasterdly

Of course its a different world these days with many,many more countries taking football much more seriously and professionally just as we did back then.
No doubt many of them in third world countries much more dedicated whether they start off playing with a tin can or a pigs bladder, it is a great opportunity to make something of their lives.

Basically I am saying that teams now have to be exceptionally good to succeed in view of ever increasing competition.

Whether our lot are still as dedicated as some others is very questionable, as in footballs case it's not only about how much money is ploughed into it.

Many of our kids now spend nearly all their time sitting in front of video screens, unlike years ago when they would be out in every single back street in the country kicking everything from a tin can to a dogs bollox.

However in the backstreets and slums of Brazil and similar countries they still do as we did all those years ago, many having little or no access to the mass of electronic toys ruling the lives of our lot.

cricketman

Plenty of electronic gadgets in Spain, yet Spain are world and European champions. Plenty of fat kids here too

And the most succesful football school in the world is in Catalunya which is also the most business-like area of Spain

The key? Football and tennis coaching in Spanish is excellent, cheap and accessible

But I should also say that many of the Spanish players and sportsman do not come from poor backgrounds. Pique, Xabi Alonso and Rafa Nadal are from rich, sporting families. Fabregás and Xavi are from a middle class family whos fathers are succesful businessmen. The Gasols' parents are Drs. David Villa, Jesus Navas and Pedro are more of the stereotype, coming from small villages and humble families

Dick Dasterdly

Mostly true, though I think the next couple of generations may see some surprising changes in footballs world order.

Domino

That is what I am saying - and on current performance we don't cut the mustard. OK so Rooney threw his toys out of the pram when they lost the cut at the world cup and the fans started chanting against them. But they were c.rap. Its fine being paid £200k per week, but when fans have given up their annual holidays and £3-4k to follow the team and be served up with rubbish it is about time someone did something about it instead of just saying "we wuz robbed guv".

in the UK you can't kick a tin can down the street, you will get done for Anti Social Behaviour, making a noise nuisance and have your can thrown in the recycling bin.