Cornish Steve Posted June 1, 2014 Report Share Posted June 1, 2014 brilliant name Where? (take your time...) Matt 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cornish Steve Posted June 1, 2014 Report Share Posted June 1, 2014 I'm thinking of having one bet for the World Cup this summer and it will probably trying to predict the two countries that will qualify from each group. Thought I'd show you what I'm thinking and see if users on here agree/disagree with my selections. Maybe some of you will have more information about certain countries than me so any advice will be welcome. Here are mine..... (selections in bold) Group A Group B Group C Group D Brazil Spain Colombia Italy Mexico Netherlands Greece England Croatia Chile Ivory Coast Uruguay Cameroon Australia Japan Costa Rica Group E Group F Group G Group H Switzerland Argentina Germany Belgium Ecuador Bosnia- Herzegovina Portugal Algeria France Iran Ghana Russia Honduras Nigeria USA South Korea I know it's very difficult to predict but it's a bit of fun. Which do you disagree with? I'm a bit slow off the mark, sorry, but here are my predictions (more weighted towards LA). My predicted surprise teams of the tournament are Japan and Chile. Group A Group B Group C Group D Brazil Spain Colombia Italy Mexico Netherlands Greece England Croatia Chile Ivory Coast Uruguay Cameroon Australia Japan Costa Rica Group E Group F Group G Group H Switzerland Argentina Germany Belgium Ecuador Bosnia- Herzegovina Portugal Algeria France Iran Ghana Russia Honduras Nigeria USA South Korea Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Nikica Posted June 1, 2014 Report Share Posted June 1, 2014 (edited) Watching Germany night now - they're not very convincing. TBH I have felt for a while that they're sort of overrated. Should still top their group. Edit: Cameroon just equalised. Edited June 1, 2014 by Nikica Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted June 1, 2014 Report Share Posted June 1, 2014 I'm looking forward to group B the most, I think Spain and Chile will be great. It used to make me laugh when mugs said Spain (and Barcelona) were boring to watch they still are Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Nikica Posted June 1, 2014 Report Share Posted June 1, 2014 (edited) they still are Spain is less controversial, but I really don't know how anyone could say Barca 2008-2012 were boring. Their pass and move football was fantastic. Tbh an anti-Barca backlash emerged and people jumped on the bandwagon. I've noticed that the people who didn't enjoy watching them wer eimpatient types who enjoyed faster, technique-less, mistake-riddled athletic football (think for example of Man United, who can't control games but use pace and the wings to get goals). It's very rare I would be condescending in regards to football understanding, but I was baffled by anyone who found Barca boring in that period. Most of their 'boring' games were a result of opponents acknowledging their inferiority and putting ten men behind the ball, hence resulting in very little space. It's easier to look flashy when you're Real Madrid or Man U and play counter-attacking football running into masses of empty/vacated space. The thing that made Barca so good and entertaining was their passing/movement/dribbling in tight spaces, which is always far more impressive than doing it in masses of space. I even saw a few Dutch people call Barca boring. They should be ashamed of themselves given the Dutch influence on the Catalan club and its style of play. I watched Barca practically every week in that period and they were the most entertaining club side I've seen in over twenty years of following football. As for Spain, people became jealous of their success (similar to Barcelona) and a similar backlash against them emerged. What made me laugh most during the last World Cup was everyone slating Spain and talking about the 'young, progressive Germany'. What happened when the two teams met in the semi-final? The 'young, progressive team' sat every man behind the ball The hipsters seem to love Germany, and thought it was a foregone conclusion they'd win the Euros, before Italy destroyed them. Another example of hipster German love is the claim that Bayern's treble winners were better than Barca of 2009 or 2011. No chance. You finding Barcelona and Spain boring is probably just your bias for PL style football coming to the fore. You'll hate watching your own club under Martinez. Edited June 1, 2014 by Nikica Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rubecula Posted June 1, 2014 Report Share Posted June 1, 2014 I would go for Nigeria over Bosnia Geth, but I think you are being as sensible as you can be with your choices apart from that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Nikica Posted June 1, 2014 Report Share Posted June 1, 2014 As I've said before, not sure about Ecuador. Not sure playing in South America is an advantage for them as most of their positive results are at height in Quito. The death of Benitez has hit them hard too, but may spur them on in the tournament. As Mike says, some of these teams are pretty close in ability so it's often like picking almost at random. On the subject of group E, France just scored. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cornish Steve Posted June 2, 2014 Report Share Posted June 2, 2014 What if... ...a second-team player from Ecuador or Honduras, in order to better his team's chances, decided to take out Rooney, for example, in an upcoming WC preparation match? Isn't it a little unwise to be playing other WC teams so close to the tournament? I realize I'm not being very flattering about human nature, but, with the increasing influence of international betting syndicates, why not? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markjazzbassist Posted June 2, 2014 Report Share Posted June 2, 2014 Group A Group B Group C Group D Brazil Spain Colombia Italy Mexico Netherlands Greece England Croatia Chile Ivory Coast Uruguay Cameroon Australia Japan Costa Rica Group E Group F Group G Group H Switzerland Argentina Germany Belgium Ecuador Bosnia- Herzegovina Portugal Algeria France Iran Ghana Russia Honduras Nigeria USA South Korea final 4 will be brazil, spain, argentina, germany. 1 - Brazil, 2 - Argentina, 3 - Germany 4 - Spain those are my picks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted June 2, 2014 Report Share Posted June 2, 2014 (edited) Spain is less controversial, but I really don't know how anyone could say Barca 2008-2012 were boring. Their pass and move football was fantastic. Tbh an anti-Barca backlash emerged and people jumped on the bandwagon. I've noticed that the people who didn't enjoy watching them wer eimpatient types who enjoyed faster, technique-less, mistake-riddled athletic football (think for example of Man United, who can't control games but use pace and the wings to get goals). It's very rare I would be condescending in regards to football understanding, but I was baffled by anyone who found Barca boring in that period. Most of their 'boring' games were a result of opponents acknowledging their inferiority and putting ten men behind the ball, hence resulting in very little space. It's easier to look flashy when you're Real Madrid or Man U and play counter-attacking football running into masses of empty/vacated space. The thing that made Barca so good and entertaining was their passing/movement/dribbling in tight spaces, which is always far more impressive than doing it in masses of space. I even saw a few Dutch people call Barca boring. They should be ashamed of themselves given the Dutch influence on the Catalan club and its style of play. I watched Barca practically every week in that period and they were the most entertaining club side I've seen in over twenty years of following football. As for Spain, people became jealous of their success (similar to Barcelona) and a similar backlash against them emerged. What made me laugh most during the last World Cup was everyone slating Spain and talking about the 'young, progressive Germany'. What happened when the two teams met in the semi-final? The 'young, progressive team' sat every man behind the ball The hipsters seem to love Germany, and thought it was a foregone conclusion they'd win the Euros, before Italy destroyed them. Another example of hipster German love is the claim that Bayern's treble winners were better than Barca of 2009 or 2011. No chance. You finding Barcelona and Spain boring is probably just your bias for PL style football coming to the fore. You'll hate watching your own club under Martinez. I've made no secret of my frustration with the pissing about passing that we saw a lot of at the beginning of the season, less so in the latter games. It's got nothing to do with jealously or bias, I find it tedious. I accept it's a method that's been widely successful but that doesn't make it exciting. Also, I think the tactic will have to evolve quickly as it's been proven in a few games this season that it can be quite easily beaten (this counter attack you mock). What I like is a balance between direct football (meaning people taking others on rather than long balls) and delicate passing. Barca had that to a large degree but still, you would see 70 mins of pointless passing before a few moments of genius. That for me is just boring. Winning the World Cup with 8 goals, is boring. Winning 2012 with 10 (for of which in the final, so can't argue there) was mostly boring. Also, hate the attitude and rolling around bullshit, but that's not just Spain. Bet you my life savings that if you bumped into one of them in a bar and knocked their drink over them, they wouldn't drop to the floor and roll about.... Giving someone else a hard time about being condescending and then posting that is a little out of order... Edited June 3, 2014 by Matt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted June 3, 2014 Report Share Posted June 3, 2014 Marco, you'll be pleased to know that this time round its pandas 11:20 Want to know the World Cup scores before the matches are played? You are in luck - well if if you live in China - as a crack team of baby pandas are used to show off their soothsaying skills. The success of Paul the Octopus at predicting what would happen in Germany 2010 is well known but, with him now deceased, China believe they have found his equal. During the group stages in Brazil this month, pandas aged between one and two years old at the country's foremost panda breeding base in the southwestern province of Sichuan, will select food from three bamboo baskets representing either a win, loss or draw, Xinhua news agency said. Paul the Octopus successfully predicted the outcome of eight matches four years ago, can these cuddly bears do better? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mirallas Posted June 3, 2014 Report Share Posted June 3, 2014 (edited) England has the 9th youngest squad of 32 countries: 26 years and 207 days on average. Not having Terry or Ferdinand and including Shaw, Barkley and Sterling did the trick I suppose. Belgium has the youngest (25y 241d) and Argentina the oldest squad (28y 336d). Edited June 3, 2014 by Mirallas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Romey 1878 Posted June 4, 2014 Report Share Posted June 4, 2014 http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/jun/03/roy-keane-pulls-out-world-cup-brazil-2014-itv-pundit Great, now Adrian Chiles will have free reign to be a complete idiot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Nikica Posted June 4, 2014 Report Share Posted June 4, 2014 (edited) Watched the 2014 iteration of WC's top 50 moments on BBC iplayer. Pretty decent, although Olly Murs and Rio Ferdinand is a chronic hosting pair. Edited June 4, 2014 by Nikica Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markjazzbassist Posted June 7, 2014 Report Share Posted June 7, 2014 portugal without ronaldo looks terrible. they are getting owned by a bad mexico team. i really fancy the US chances if Ronaldo stays injured or plays unfit. they don't know who to pass to, and Nani is horrible. my gosh, i think the US could really get out of the group now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BronzeBeater Posted June 7, 2014 Report Share Posted June 7, 2014 Brazil vs Spain in the finals. IMO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sibdane Posted June 7, 2014 Report Share Posted June 7, 2014 portugal without ronaldo looks terrible. they are getting owned by a bad mexico team. i really fancy the US chances if Ronaldo stays injured or plays unfit. they don't know who to pass to, and Nani is horrible. my gosh, i think the US could really get out of the group now. If we can beat Ghana and draw Portugal, then I see us getting out fit sure. Toffee_in_LA 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markjazzbassist Posted June 7, 2014 Report Share Posted June 7, 2014 If we can beat Ghana and draw Portugal, then I see us getting out fit sure. yeah portugal won in added time, but they looked rough. i could honestly see us beating them if ronaldo stays injured. he is their game plan, when he was not there tonight, they looked like a ship without a captain. i'm cautiously optimistic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sibdane Posted June 7, 2014 Report Share Posted June 7, 2014 i'm cautiously optimistic. Likewise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve_E Posted June 7, 2014 Report Share Posted June 7, 2014 (edited) Marco Reus is being replaced in Germany's squad by none other than Shkodran Mustafi. Edited June 7, 2014 by Steve_E Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Romey 1878 Posted June 7, 2014 Report Share Posted June 7, 2014 Marco Reus is being replaced in Germany's squad by none other than Shkodran Mustafi. Can't help but have a chuckle at that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markjazzbassist Posted June 8, 2014 Report Share Posted June 8, 2014 the us with a great victory over nigeria, 3-0 in the run up to the WC, i like that record i really liked the lineup tonight, beasley on the left, and with jones on the left as well, really like that formation. i think that will be it. beckerman gives nice defensive cover, jones as well, like a 442 in attack and 4141 in defense. here we go yanks england 0- 0 honduras. for all you USA haters out there now you know the competition we play. and they play that dirty or worse every match, except in san pedro sula (capital city of honduras) they throw bags of piss, batteries, etc. at the US team in addition to late tackles, elbows, etc. we don't qualify while playing in monaco or vienna, we play in the hood. welcome to our world. Bailey 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cornish Steve Posted June 8, 2014 Report Share Posted June 8, 2014 Brazil vs Spain in the finals. IMO Two South American teams in the final, but not Brazil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Romey 1878 Posted June 8, 2014 Report Share Posted June 8, 2014 http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/27750996 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Romey 1878 Posted June 8, 2014 Report Share Posted June 8, 2014 the us with a great victory over nigeria And Altidore scored twice . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markjazzbassist Posted June 8, 2014 Report Share Posted June 8, 2014 And Altidore scored twice . Yeah he always does really well for the national teAm. I think (I mean I know really) Sunderland sucks and he wasn't getting any service so they just used him as a scapegoat. He had 31 goals in the eredivise the year prior so it's not like he can't score. He's a better Vic, great holdup player with his back to goal and doesn't go to ground easy at all, very strong. To be honest if we could get him on the cheap for a couple mil, I'd have him here, I think he'd be able to put some in and would be a nice change of pace. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EFC-Paul Posted June 8, 2014 Report Share Posted June 8, 2014 I really wouldn't want to spend a penny on him let alone a few million, he's a Championship player for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sibdane Posted June 8, 2014 Report Share Posted June 8, 2014 Yeah he always does really well for the national teAm. I think (I mean I know really) Sunderland sucks and he wasn't getting any service so they just used him as a scapegoat. He had 31 goals in the eredivise the year prior so it's not like he can't score. He's a better Vic, great holdup player with his back to goal and doesn't go to ground easy at all, very strong. To be honest if we could get him on the cheap for a couple mil, I'd have him here, I think he'd be able to put some in and would be a nice change of pace. I agree. Say what you want about Altidore, but he's had no service at Sunderland. When he gets service for the USA, he scores. He wrongly had a goal chalked off against Arsenal, and it would've been a good goal. Plus, he's still only 25. That said, he did miss a couple of sitters (none worse than Kone's), but I believe he'll have a good season. Poyet seems to rate him highly, which is a good sign. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EFC-Paul Posted June 8, 2014 Report Share Posted June 8, 2014 (edited) Don't get me wrong you guys know the lad much better than most on here but nearly every time I've seen him play he just looks so poor and not a striker that's good enough for this league but that's just my opinion. I could be proven wrong this season but he's not someone I'd ever want us to pursue going off what I have seen. What do you guys think of Jóhannsson? From the very little I've seen he looks a useful player? Edited June 8, 2014 by EFC-Paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sibdane Posted June 8, 2014 Report Share Posted June 8, 2014 Don't get me wrong you guys know the lad much better than most on here but nearly every time I've seen him play he just looks so poor and not a striker that's good enough for this league but that's just my opinion. I could be proven wrong this season but he's not someone I'd ever want us to pursue going off what I have seen. What do you guys think of Jóhannsson? From the very little I've seen he looks a useful player? Jóhannson looks like he's going to be a great player. He has a great trap/touch -- he can stop the ball dead. He also seems to get in great positions. I'm very happy we managed to snag him for the US. I do think Altidore has gotten more stick than he's deserved, but i definitely wouldn't put our hopes on him if we signed him. He still has a lot to prove, but I really believe next season he'll prove a lot of others wrong. A striker thrives on confidence, and you can tell he's a different player for the US. His body language is completely different. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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