ponsaelius

Beautiful timing. Brilliant I know. He's so past his former self it's not funny. As is Zambrotta.

BAM!!! There we go.

Here we go again. Nothing happening.

I know. I'll be pissed off if he goes there. If we could sell Yak and buy Miccoli for half the price then that would do nicely. That would be such good business it's crazy. £4.5 million for Miccoli even at 30 is a bargain. If he hits it off in England he will be great.

They'll win this here like, but Iaquinta out wide and Di Natale on the bench? Fucking hell

I hope Italy get beat here just to show up Lippi for being an idiot with his selections. Only on an internet forum could somebody put down the acumen of a WC winner. I still think he's got it all wrong though.

Lippi is a naive old fool. He's starting Iaquinta wide by the looks of it, insane, absolutely insane.

That M'bia shot off the post was the first accurate, powerful, long range shot that went towards goal aswell - and we're what, 10 games in?

Another thing is how narrow all the teams have been. Wing-play has been almost non-existant for the most part, althought that could be teams compensating for the floaty nature of crosses...

Think I've mentioned this before, but I very nearly put a bet on him to be top scorer in January when he was 2000/1, before he got his Paraguayan citizenship (Parky!!?!). Since he switched allegiances he's scored 3 in 3 and his odds have dropped to 100/1. If he goes and does an Oleg Salenko against New Zealand I'm gonna be grossly pissed off with my self.

Whey that's what I'm telling myself. Never this bad though I'm sure, the goal average is currently lower than all the World Cups at the same stage - including Italia 90' which was regarded as one of the dullest WCs (in terms of overall goals/entertainment) ever. Euro 2008 had me gripped by this point.

What's with this Miccoli to Birmingham rumour? S urely not ffs, Miccoli is far too good for Birmingham - and for £4.5 million?

I've played with the ball and it's not that bad. It plays like normal. I mean, due to the rules there is only a 2oz window for ball weight anyway. It must be the altitude then, because the amount of overhit crosses and passes is just obscene. I'm sounding like a broken record here but it's genuinely annoying me. Could be any number of things that don't really include the actual ball. They could honestly think that the people will be in those positions because at their club the person in that position would've been there or whatever. Lots of mis-communication on the field as well. That could be the horns? Nerves? Who knows. Either way it will hopefully get better after every team plays their first match. Man I hope so, because for the most part this World Cup has been a colossol dull-fest. There hasn't been a good goal since Tshtshabalalalalalalas.

I've played with the ball and it's not that bad. It plays like normal. I mean, due to the rules there is only a 2oz window for ball weight anyway. It must be the altitude then, because the amount of overhit crosses and passes is just obscene. I'm sounding like a broken record here but it's genuinely annoying me.

Italy 1 G. Buffon 5 F. Cannavaro 19 G. Zambrotta 4 G. Chiellini 6 D. De Rossi 22 R. Montolivo 7 S. Pepe 3 D. Criscito 15 C. Marchisio 11 A. Gilardino 9 V. Iaquinta Paraguay 1 J. Villar 14 P. da Silva 17 A. Torres 21 A. Alcáraz 6 C. Bonet 3 C. Morel 16 C. Riveros 13 E. Vera 15 V. Cáceres 18 N. Valdez 19 L. Barrios I just hope something worthwhile happens in this one. I'm starting to believe more and more it's the ball that is ruining this World Cup - it's impossible for any rhythm or tempo to be created in these games.

Italian players are s****, that's why Inter don't have any. Only Chiellini, De Rossi and possibly Di Natale are good enough for the Inter team, and 2 of them are just out of reach. Balotelli and Santon will be national teamers in a couple of years though, and the likelyhood is Inter will be buying one of Bonucci (in the squad) or Ranocchia this transfer window.

I've said it before but Zambrotta, Cannavaro and Iaquinta just aren't up to scratch.

Not far off the mark tbh, there's been very little to shout about.

Geremi's pace

Moving abroad early. Unlike in South America where it's probably beneficial to stay at home for a few years before comig to Europe, staying in Japanese football just hinders the players.

It has to be the ball, surely.

I'm sorry, but what the fuck is it with them corners.

All their best players are defensive midfielders and then Eto'o. The problem is Eto'o is the type of striker who needs service to be effective. Cameroon not only lack creative central midfielders, but they also have no real wingers either. Therefore, although a lot of their players are recognisable they are actually a terribly balanced team, who are terribly deficient in key areas. Yeah Le Guen is managing to do what alot of managers have done so far and manage to produce a team that is less than the sum of it's parts.

Cameroon are just as shit as they were when I saw them in the ACoN. Couldn't believe it when some people tipped them to go all the way.

I've noticed this aswell. Not only does ITVv transition between HD and SD seemingly regularly when their HD is on it's not anywhere near as clear as the beeb's/