The Official World Cup 2018 Megathread

[GLASGOWOLF]

Southgate says that Dier and Henderson are competing for the same spot and only one will play. Good news, honestly thought he would be playing them both together.

Agree, I was really worried we would be bereft of creativity.

So what do you think the first game would be ?


---------------------Pickford-----------------------
------Walker----Stones----------Maguire---------
--------------------Dier--------------------------
Trippier----------Lingard--------------------Rose
---------Sterling------------Dele---------------
------------------Kane-------------------------

Thats not a bad team with cover for Dier,Trippier, Lingard and Kane.
It's outwith those that we are struggling

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

I think Rose has to put on a good show tonight, I'd always take him over Young (principally as Young is shit) but Southgate evidently needs some convincing.

 

[GLASGOWOLF]

I think Rose has to put on a good show tonight, I'd always take him over Young (principally as Young is shit) but Southgate evidently needs some convincing.

Starting to get excited now, I have St George Flags all over my desk, and next to my desk the big window is covered in one.
Just want something to make us proud again, and I think this team can deliver that, not win it but repair the damage done by previous managers and players. No matter how good some of the previous players were they did not give a fuck.
These players do care and are a team.

 

[east-coast-wolves]

Given the options we've brought, I'd actually he rather did play Dier and Henderson in a two (except against Tunisia and Panama). If he plays one plus Alli against decent teams then I see us being totally dominated in the middle. When you're only playing a midfield two, the focus has to be solidity and rely on creativity from elsewhere. Obviously we don't have that either, but that's a fault of the damn system we've decided to play without the right players.

 

[MARKakaJIM]

Starting to get excited now, I have St George Flags all over my desk, and next to my desk the big window is covered in one.
Just want something to make us proud again, and I think this team can deliver that, not win it but repair the damage done by previous managers and players. No matter how good some of the previous players were they did not give a fuck.
These players do care and are a team.

I can't believe anyone genuinely cares this much. :icon_lol:

 

[GLASGOWOLF]

I can't believe anyone genuinely cares this much. :icon_lol:

Some of us do care yet, I guess it's difficult for some when their country is not involved.
Guys I work with don't care.
I have friends heading to the World cup, and i am joining the travel club ready for Euro Qualifiers

 

[Langers]

I can't believe anyone genuinely cares this much. :icon_lol:

Nowt wrong with that. I wish I could muster the same enthusiasm for England - I'm really looking forward to the tournament mind you.

 

[Alan]

Personally I find the English ambivalence toward international games to be absolutely mystifying.

 

[Trips]

I'm looking forward to the World Cup as a whole, and while England really do not excite me in any way, I will be watching the games and obviously hoping we go far.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

Personally I find the English ambivalence toward international games to be absolutely mystifying.

I'd say up to and including 2006 I was as much an England fan as I was a Wolves fan.

They lost me then by effectively sacking Sven in advance of the tournament (with the end result that he didn't really give much of a fuck when we got there), and followed it by insisting we had to have a British manager despite the talent pool being miniscule, and ending up with Steve bloody McClaren. It's never been quite the same since.

I still care, but when we get knocked out this/next month it isn't going to bother me for very long. Whereas if Wolves had failed this year - not that it ever looked very likely - then it would genuinely have wrecked my summer.

 

[Langers]

I'm in the same boat. Of course I want England to do well and I'll be cheering them on as I always do but I'm not as bothered as I once was.

And I'll still get pissed off with the England updates during half time in every other game that has nothing to do with England.

 

[SLA]

I'd be looking forward to it a lot more if it wasn't in bloody Russia, but I'm sure I'll get into it once it's started.

In recent tournaments it's almost been a relief when England have gone out, so painful has it been to watch them.

 

[Del Woppio]

We haven't picked a manager that got me remotely excited since Sven. Harry Kane is probably the only player we've had since Becks retired that was a: bloody good *and* b: not a complete cunt. The football we've played for the last dozen years has been slow paced, one dimensional binge. I'll watch the games, get maybe even a bit nervous before them, and turn into a rabid twat during them quite potentially. But then a couple of hours after the exit I'll be fine. Half a lifetime ago it would have ruined summer.

 

[Tony Towner]

Personally I find the English ambivalence toward international games to be absolutely mystifying.

It's not ambivalence more resignation to inevitable failure due to countless tournament under performances. I think that the last World Cup and Euros were the final nails for many. If I can I will watch the England games, but won't be arranging my diary like I would have in the past to ensure I will.

 

[Langers]

I'd be looking forward to it a lot more if it wasn't in bloody Russia, but I'm sure I'll get into it once it's started.

There is this.

It's more than likely that something twattish will happen off the pitch that will take the shine off the tournament. Be it racism, violence etc.

 

[PPB]

I'm looking forward to the World Cup as a whole, and while England really do not excite me in any way, I will be watching the games and obviously hoping we go far.

Agree with this. I love the World Cup and can't wait for it to start. Love the whole Tournament. When l watch the England matches I will probably get the same goose bumps and excitement before KO as usual, but really have no expectations of them getting any further than they usually do. But, there's always hope. I've picked Portugal out the hat, at least it wasn't Tunisia!

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

It's not ambivalence more resignation to inevitable failure due to countless tournament under performances. I think that the last World Cup and Euros were the final nails for many. If I can I will watch the England games, but won't be arranging my diary like I would have in the past to ensure I will.

Hard to argue we've played well in any tournament since 2004. We probably made the best of a bad lot in 2012, in 2014 we got a bit unlucky with the draw and we certainly were unfortunate to lose both games vs Italy and Uruguay (a pair of draws would have been about right, or you might nick a win in one and lose the other, to lose both was harsh) but that's about it.

2006 was so ridiculously anodyne from such a talented group - accepting that we basically didn't have a strikeforce, but then that's what having a demob-happy manager does to you - 2010 was appalling on every level and 2016 looked muddled throughout, we threw away everything we'd built up and just threw in all our attacking players. And then there was Iceland, which was just incomprehensible. So much stuff in that game that you wouldn't have off your mates in the park.

Before that, I'd say we did well in 2002 considering it was a developing team, although you can have a go at Sven for not attacking a poor Nigeria team, we could have done with winning the group ahead of Sweden. 2000 was shocking, us and Germany stank out what was otherwise a superb tournament. Fancy a left hand side of Phil Neville and Dennis Wise, anyone? 1998 is rose-tinted because we played well against Argentina with 10 men, why were we playing them, because Hoddle fucked us with his stupid team vs Romania. 1996 I've been over many, many times as to how it's a myth that we were a great team there. 1992 was as bad as 2000 or 2010. Even 1990 wasn't that special if you look at it objectively, Cameroon really should have put us away for one thing.

There aren't too many highlights to look back on.

 

[Langers]

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

Interesting.

Worth noting that Tunisia are only as low down on the average caps front as they've recently brought in a few Frenchies with Tunisian ancestry who hadn't played before.

 

[Keef]

Just to warn everybody,Ricky Wilson from the kaiser Chiefs and Andrew flintoff are releasing a version of Boney m's Rasputin dedicated to Harry Kane!