3 major key players that will win the world cup for brazil.
ronaldinho, kaka and adriano.
they are they key.
for england winning it, they will need rooney more than ever. gerrard HAS to play in his right position, if not then why bother playing him?
lennon and walcott could be surprise stars for england, not many teams know much about those two whippits
Originally posted by Deano
3 major key players that will win the world cup for brazil.ronaldinho, kaka and adriano.
they are they key.
for england winning it, they will need rooney more than ever. gerrard HAS to play in his right position, if not then why bother playing him?
lennon and walcott could be surprise stars for england, not many teams know much about those two whippits
The whole "magic quartet" thing was exposed by Argentina when they scored 3 goals against them. So for me, I think the holding midfielders are the real key. Ze Roberto and Emerson have to be on their game if Brazil plan to lift the trophy again.
Originally posted by Df02
i agree Argentina will win it however... the sheer strength of their squad is incredible... especially in defence.could see an Argentina v Italy final for me... i know people here think Italy underacheive, but im betting for them to do well... their strikers have been stepped up a notch.
That's what I've been saying. Italy have a very strong all-round squad, including three excellent strikers to go with their usual defensive supremacy. If I had to pick the top three favorites, I'd definitely go with Italy, Argentina and Brazil.
I honestly can't see Netherlands winning, at all. In fact, I wouldn't be all that suprised if Ivory Coast go through with Argentina, there's always an African team that exceeds expectations in the World Cup, and Ivory Coast have the team to do it this year. They're certainly as strong as Senegal were in 02.
I agree with what you've said about Ivory Coast and Argentina, but Italy will struggle to make it out of their group. They really are shit. Their defence is OK, but their midfield is pedestrian and their strikers - with perhaps the exception of Mr. Tap-Inzaghi - only really score goals in Serie A. From their group, I'd say the USA and Czech Republic are more likely to qualifiy for the second round.
Originally posted by Deano
in a way yes. because he is that important.
He's a very good footballer from Northern England. He's not the lord Jesus Christ. As Brian Reade said, to paraphrase: Is it healthy to reduce a squad that includes some great players, to nothing more than nearly men, just because one man- who hasn't even scored for England in their last however many games - is injured? No.
-AC
Originally posted by Deano
we need him though. gerrard and lampard can only carry us so far. he will be a massive loss. as would brazil without ronaldinho. teams woudnt be as scared of brazil without him in.''with wayne rooney in your team you have a great chance of winning the world cup..without him you have a chance.''
It's nothing like Brazil losing Ronaldinho, because Rooney isn't as good and I think it's stupid to claim otherwise, though you have the right to your opinion there.
Brazil lose Ronaldinho, ok, fine. So what? You've still got Kaka, Cafu, Juninho, Ronaldo, Adriano, Nilmar, Fabiano, Carlos, Robinho etc to deal with. It's not as if teams would go "Phew, Ronaldinho is gone. We're not worried about Brazil now."
One thing I have to ask; Why do England fans assume that every team is out there shitting themselves over Wayne Rooney?
Brazil aren't going to be sitting in the dressing room with the greatest team at the tournament, fearing a very good 20 year old football player who hasn't even scored in the last few games, despite one of them being Paraguay.
Also, what's all this Gerrard and Lampard? What happened to Robinson (you know, the guy who stops the goals), Ferdinand, Terry etc? That's what I hate about a bulk of the English supporters. They claim to love the team, but they don't. It's Rooney/Beckham and friends.
-AC
rooney can be just as dangerous as ronaldinho, depending what form he is in. and im not saying he is better than ronaldinho.
and he's much more than very good. saying rooney is very good is like saying the antarctica is a bit nippy.
Plus i woudnt say people are shitting themselves over rooney, but teams wont be happy playing agaisnt him. he can tear anyone apart when he wants to. in eiro 2004, thuram tryed to be cocky and play rooney down, but during the game rooney just took him apart.
bottom line is, england have more chance of winning with him in the team
Originally posted by Deano
and he's much more than very good. saying rooney is very good is like saying the antarctica is a bit nippy.
No, that would be comedic understatement. I think Rooney is very good, I don't think he's this messiah of football that people would believe.
Originally posted by Deano
Plus i woudnt say people are shitting themselves over rooney, but teams wont be happy playing agaisnt him. he can tear anyone apart when he wants to. in eiro 2004, thuram tryed to be cocky and play rooney down, but during the game rooney just took him apart.
I must express puzzlement at the continuing use of "When he wants to." So, Deano, would I be well within justifiable parameters to assume that his inability to score for a while for England, and in many Man Utd games also, is subsequent to his desire to not want to score? Because the implication there is that he can do this at will.
It's not about when he wants to. He goes out there to play, to win and to score. When he doesn't do those latter two, it's because he couldn't. Not because he didn't want to.
-AC