Kaizero

<snip> Look at that f***ing dragon, man. Wales Dragon > Buthan Dragon Bhutan Dragon looks like a bad comic book dragon, it's class. Wales dragon just look gay.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/91/Flag_of_Bhutan.svg/800px-Flag_of_Bhutan.svg.png Look at that fucking dragon, man. Whilst not being a fancy flag, kudos goes to Mozambique for including an AK-47 in their flag. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d0/Flag_of_Mozambique.svg/800px-Flag_of_Mozambique.svg.png

Fudgepackers.

I've got nothing against the away/third shirts. But if the home one is the one pictured, I'll be dissapointed. Purely because it shouldn't be that fucking hard to not manage making black and white stripes look good, just look at some of the mock-ups in here. You'd think professional designers could do better than amateurs, that is all.

Hodgson is ruthless, man. He looks like a big cuddly bear, but he doesn't take shit from any of his players. "There are three categories of players. The first one are top class. You admire them. They will win you trophies. In the middle you find normal players. Sometimes good, sometimes bad. In the last category you find players you really dislike. They are shit and don't give you anything. And you Bjørn Berland, you are in the last category." Bjørn Berland was released straight after that, one of the most loved players at Viking by the fans as well having played eight years for them. Obviously not the greatest comparison since he's well bigger than Norwegian clubs/players, but I can't imagine he's any different today, especially after how he put Riise completely out of the team for weeks after his comments about Duff, only a few weeks after buying him for £2.5m

Intersting post. But should Eng players really need motivating at a WC? Not really, no. But your current generation is, as you've said, over paid and over hyped. They need a manager that first will bring them down to earth, make them ignore the media, and then start from square one to motivate the players. A manager like Hodgson wouldn't let his players make comments to the media that "even on a bad day we can beat Algeria", that kind of attitude just invites a bad performance when the players don't even think they need to try to beat someone. You just know Hodgson would knock that attitude out of the players, or drop the ones that has it. As an example of just that, look at Bjørn Helge Riise at Fulham, he went out and said he thought he was a better choice than Duff. Didn't see the pitch for ages and got fined wages by Hodgson. During his time at Viking in Norway, he put players out of the side for cup games against shit sides when they looked like they thought they'd win by just showing up. It's been showed throughout his managerial career tbh, he makes the players believe they can beat anyone, but that they have to give it their all no matter how bad an opposition look on paper.

Capello's proven what I always thought, that he's not an International manager. Just a great club manager. I also don't think Mourinho would cut it managing a national side, no matter how good he is on club level.

I could see this going tits up under Capello since he was hired tbh. He's a class club manager, and is a great tactician, but he can't motivate players for shit just tell how to approach a game down to the great details for how to win it. But International management is so much about motivating your players, as you can see in the "lesser" nations playing with their hearts on their sleeve to do well. England just look like they want to go on holiday. This will be a shit example since Norway obviously isn't a great footballing nation, but it will illustrate what I mean about motivation. During the 90s when we were actually good we had a manager that was both a great tactician and a great motivator, and we played some good stuff. Then we went to a half-decent tactician and a boring manager, and started fluttering even with better players (on paper) than during the 90s. And then we went to a great tactician, but a shit shit motivator, and we played our worst football in decades as the players just didn't believe in themselves. Now, we are back to Drillo, and we're starting to do well again and playing good football, and the players look like they want to play for Norway, not just look like they've been selected and can't say no. The players have said it as well, there's a whole new glow during their training sessions and they believe they play great football and beat "better" footballing nations if they follow Drillo's tactics. You need a great motivator and a great tactician in one person, which is exactly what Hodgson is, and what Sir Bobby was.

Hodgson is already proven as an International manager.

Now, if you had Hodgson as your manager, I'd actually think you'd be capable to win something with your current players.

The fuck is with the ref pointing like that, thought it was a pen.

Half-time, apparently. Ah, my bad. Still.

Anelka to Domenech after the Mexico game: "Va te faire enculer, sale fils de pute!" Or, in English, "Go screw yourself, you dirty son of a whore!"

Media has really underestimated Maradon'a coaching abilities based on some eccentric press conferences and off-pitch comments. I mean, what does that even have to do with the actual football? Looking at some of the Argentina training footage, it looks just like your normal training session. Also, Maradona is a damned good motivator according to the players. And for the WC, that's all you really need if you are a good team, motivation. Which is where England falls short, as for all his tactical nous, Capello is a shit motivator and International tournaments are over so few games in total that motivation plays a much bigger part than in club football.

I have very little doubts that the Yanks won't pull through to be honest, purely down to their "never give up, we believe in fairytales" attitude. What they don't have in ability they make up for in pure 100% concentrated power of will.

Playing for their lives will probably mean events of panic if there's no early goal, which will work to the Slovenians advantage if they stay on the backfoot most of the game as they actually know how to counter, which was seen throughout their qualifying campaign. It'll be quite interesting for a neutral, though. I'm looking forward to it and hoping the England pull through for the people on here.

USA will comfortably beat Algeria, IMO. Slovenia is a better side than people think, it will be tough for England if they continue to underestimate their opponents (which tbf it really looks like they've done in their two first matches) as Slovenia is actually capable of punishing them for it. Still think England will scrape through though, but I'd be more worried than some people on here seem to be about just how strong Slovenia is if I was English.

If he was committed to England he would have retired from international football when he decided to play third rate football in the states in exchange for large wads of cash. Instead he hung around picking up underserved caps and depriving other players the opportunity to gain experience. Clueless So what does he do? Provides more class crosses and breakthrough passes than any of the current squad manages. His pace may be gone, but f*** me you would be a totally different team with the option of a Beckham sub after 60 minutes if you needed that pass to break through a defence, which you do. From the bench in his marks and spencers suit! It might have passed you by but he didnt make the final 23, so what is his doing on the bench, what does he do? Who cares, man? It's a total non-issue. Look at the real problems we've got, ffs. But it is an issue. His presence says a lot about the FAs priorities, how focused the campaign is. Capellos confidence in his motivational skills, not to mention those of Stuart Pearces and the senior members of the playing squad. In pure footballing terms Beckham shouldnt be on the bench. That he is says a lot about the priorities of the FA and the general trend for players to be celebrities and footballers who believe their own hype. Do you know for a fact what Beckham is doing and if it is to the benefit of the team or not? No? Shut the f*** up then and look at the players out there instead, he wouldn't be there if Capello and his coaching staff did not think it was needed. For whatever reason they may or may not have, they think it's better to use Beckham in the way they are doing (which we know nothing about). It's not even possible to critizise it, because you don't even know what you are critiquing. You're just grasping for straws after seeing England play s***. If the players wanted him there, they'd have a reason. If the coaching staff wanted him there, they'd have a reason. If the players didn't want him there, he'd not be there. If the coaching staff didn't want him there, he'd not be there. Simples. Judging by the performances so far it’s safe to say whatever he’s supposed to be doing isn’t beneficial. The team could hardly have been worse. You don't know that for a fact, so you have no argument whatsoever as it's just as likely they could have been worse.

If he was committed to England he would have retired from international football when he decided to play third rate football in the states in exchange for large wads of cash. Instead he hung around picking up underserved caps and depriving other players the opportunity to gain experience. Clueless So what does he do? Provides more class crosses and breakthrough passes than any of the current squad manages. His pace may be gone, but f*** me you would be a totally different team with the option of a Beckham sub after 60 minutes if you needed that pass to break through a defence, which you do. From the bench in his marks and spencer’s suit! It might have passed you by but he didn’t make the final 23, so what is his doing on the bench, what does he do? Who cares, man? It's a total non-issue. Look at the real problems we've got, ffs. But it is an issue. His presence says a lot about the FA’s priorities, how focused the campaign is. Capello’s confidence in his motivational skills, not to mention those of Stuart Pearce’s and the senior members of the playing squad. In pure footballing terms Beckham shouldn’t be on the bench. That he is says a lot about the priorities of the FA and the general trend for players to be celebrities and footballers who believe their own hype. Do you know for a fact what Beckham is doing and if it is to the benefit of the team or not? No? Shut the fuck up then and look at the players out there instead, he wouldn't be there if Capello and his coaching staff did not think it was needed. For whatever reason they may or may not have, they think it's better to use Beckham in the way they are doing (which we know nothing about). It's not even possible to critizise it, because you don't even know what you are critiquing. You're just grasping for straws after seeing England play shit. If the players wanted him there, they'd have a reason. If the coaching staff wanted him there, they'd have a reason. If the players didn't want him there, he'd not be there. If the coaching staff didn't want him there, he'd not be there. Simples.

If he was committed to England he would have retired from international football when he decided to play third rate football in the states in exchange for large wads of cash. Instead he hung around picking up underserved caps and depriving other players the opportunity to gain experience. Clueless So what does he do? Provides more class crosses and breakthrough passes than any of the current squad manages. His pace may be gone, but f*** me you would be a totally different team with the option of a Beckham sub after 60 minutes if you needed that pass to break through a defence, which you do. From the bench in his marks and spencer’s suit! It might have passed you by but he didn’t make the final 23, so what is his doing on the bench, what does he do? Who cares, man? It's a total non-issue. Look at the real problems we've got, ffs. Nah man, he'd rather blame someone he doesn't actually know what does.

If he was committed to England he would have retired from international football when he decided to play third rate football in the states in exchange for large wads of cash. Instead he hung around picking up underserved caps and depriving other players the opportunity to gain experience. Clueless So what does he do? Provides more class crosses and breakthrough passes than any of the current squad manages. His pace may be gone, but f*** me you would be a totally different team with the option of a Beckham sub after 60 minutes if you needed that pass to break through a defence, which you do. From the bench in his marks and spencer’s suit! It might have passed you by but he didn’t make the final 23, so what is his doing on the bench, what does he do? He's an experienced English international with clear leadership skills and has been commended for his motivational talks by many a former teammate. He's exactly what it looks like England needs right now to get motivated. He's not a coach, but he creates a calm around the player group through his experience and way of acting which is needed more than ever for you now. In my opinion he's very good manager/coach material, so for him being around the English coaching team is not a bad way to repay him for years and years of quality service for his nation if he doesn't actually do something.

Slovenia is very underrated tbh. I think it will be close, but England will nail it 1-0 or 2-1.

If he was committed to England he would have retired from international football when he decided to play third rate football in the states in exchange for large wads of cash. Instead he hung around picking up underserved caps and depriving other players the opportunity to gain experience. Clueless So what does he do? Provides more class crosses and breakthrough passes than any of the current squad manages. His pace may be gone, but fuck me you would be a totally different team with the option of a Beckham sub after 60 minutes if you needed that pass to break through a defence, which you do.

If he was committed to England he would have retired from international football when he decided to play third rate football in the states in exchange for large wads of cash. Instead he hung around picking up underserved caps and depriving other players the opportunity to gain experience. Clueless More than clueless tbh.

If Beckham was playing I'd hands down want England to win this WC. Absolutely love him. Without him there's not a player on England I have any time for, but with him the time I have for him more than makes up for how much I think certain players are cunts.