legov

I used to think that, but Mexico is better than any of the Asian sides for me and they struggled in qualifying. Plus North America has the US, Costa Rica and mexico in good position to get out of their group, while Asia, despite having its two best teams in weak groups, looks set to have none of their four and a half bids to the second round. They still qualified, didn't they? The rest of CONCACAF are rubbish (on paper, anyway)

Good lord. France were sooo good *droools*

France look goooood.

Classic English self-deprecation.

Nah, you just know Hodgson will put out the same team and set us up to try and nick a goal on the counter. There will probably be less pressure on them to win. Also, emphasis on the "might"

Adios, England. Think early elimination might actually make us play better in the last game, by the way.

If Costa Rica can beat Italy and Uruguay, then surely England will win the World Cup someday.

Suarez is just mental in that regard, I'm not sure there's a footballer in existence today who has a greater will to win than him.

I remember that game well. Sure, Holland didn't play flowing football or anything, but it was well-reffed. Melo was rightly sent off for stamping on Robben.

But as a man of the Sixties couldn't you argue that religion is just the kind critical thinking which Marcuse described as the 'great refusal' and that rather than disagreeing with religion, it should be praised as an essential contribution to the criticism of consumerism as a means of control? The whole counter-culture thing of the sixties and seventies was given intellectual credibility by Marcuse's book One-Dimensional Man (1964). Here Rick Roderick: You took philosophy at uni or something? I know next to nothing about all this mamby-pamby Enlightenment stuff.

Would love the Dutch to win the WC tbh.

because we overhype players from a certain club. If Henderson, Johnson, sterling played for villa they wouldn't be anyway near the England starting 11 - until we sort that we are competing with one hand tied behind our back Yep - i watched them narrowly beat us at VP - and even more fortunate to get a point at anfield. Sterling was out of the side when they were in there purple patch - Henderson is distinctly average..you have to include Gerrard for his experience - but hes often not performed at these tournaments - and has been very poor in both games however if you heard a sky commentator say they are scintillating......then on its goes... Did you even watch Liverpool last season? They were scintillating, and it wasn't all Suarez. Right, because we were the only team they played last season. All three (Gerrard, Sterling, Henderson) were terrific last season.

That works both ways though. The US have over 300 million people and they're no more than half decent. India and China have never even qualified for a World Cup and they have over a billion each. China has, oi.

because we overhype players from a certain club. If Henderson, Johnson, sterling played for villa they wouldn't be anyway near the England starting 11 - until we sort that we are competing with one hand tied behind our back Did you even watch Liverpool last season? They were scintillating, and it wasn't all Suarez.

Will make this point again, these two in particular had brilliant seasons. For some reason, neither can play at that level on the international stage. There's something seriously wrong with the coherence of the team, players are not in tandem with each other. The number of times Baines got into a good crossing position, only to check back because players weren't making the right runs! And for some reason, Henderson played so conservatively...which doesn't play to his strengths at all. I can't see them playing so ponderously for their club sides, at all.

Who's going to replace Xavi?

Hehe. We are. For the loss I blame Hodgson. No Suarez.

Harsh. Those three in particular had terrific seasons. I still wouldn't have taken them. I'm sure there are plenty of German older players who had great seasons before they were left out of the revamp to get younger players experienced. It's with the obvious hindsight I can say they can't have done any worse, but at least the next gen would have gotten some experience. It is a very young squad this time round though, most of the old guard are gone.

Harsh. Those three in particular had terrific seasons.

There never actually seems to be any coherence to England's play. These are players who can pass and move at the highest level week in week out, but on the international stage, it is totally different. Apart from the goal, everything was so slow and ponderous today.

Godin should have gone off.

Well, if the Chinese takeaways in Australia are anything to go by...

British Chinese food? More like diarrhoea 30 minutes after thinking you are full.

Nice stereotyping. Legov is Asian. That said, I'm Chinese.... No wonder I always fancy reading a Legov post half an hour after just reading one.