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As the dust settles and all the teams have played their first games at this year’s World Cup I look back at the early talking points of the tournament. England’s performance was not the best but it also wasn’t the worst. Rob Greens howler will live long in the memory of English football now. He will get hounded at every away ground next season just like James, Carson and Robinson have gone through. I think England will learn a lot from the USA game, and I truly think that Joe Cole has to be on the pitch. I would play him behind Rooney which means dropping Heskey even though he did play well on Saturday. My team on Friday would be,

Green (One more chance to save his England career), Johnson, Terry, Dawson, A. Cole, Barry, Lennon, Lampard, Gerrard, J. Cole and Rooney.
The most impressive team so far have been Germany. They walked all over Australia and with a very young side they could go a long way. Spain suffered the first World Cup shock when Switzerland beat them 1-0. Spain were the tournament favourites but David Villa didn’t show up and they could not break down a harden Switzerland defence. Brazil beat North Korea but it wasn’t as easy as many fought it would be. North Korea’s weapons of mass defending caused Brazil to struggle against the lowest ranked team in the tournament. The ball has come in for a lot of slack, but I feel that’s harsh. It may take a bit of getting use too, but good players will make it work and score some sensational goals. The player of the tournament so far for me is Diego Forlan. He was good against France and Class against South Africa where he scored two and had a hand in the first.
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  1. Anonymous17 June 2010 at 11:59

    I agree with the team selection although i'd rather play Stevie G behind Rooney and sling Joey out on the left. Barry holding mid with Lamps just in front and Lennon on the right.

    I have to say i think that the organisation of the so-called 'lesser teams' are really effective. Most of the big boys have been stifled in their first games due to the mourinho-esque tactics being used by the likes of USA, Denmark, Korea Rep and the Swiss.

    Whether this is a good thing though, i'm not too sure. Most managers will tell you football is about winning, while most neutrals will be more in favour of the 'beautiful game'. Personally I don't think the ball is to blame for the slow start of the World Cup. I think it's because the smaller teams are a lot fitter, more tactically astute and have more players plying their trade in prominent leagues around the world.

    I think its time for the big boys to step up now. The likes of England, Spain, Brazil and Holland have a lot of questions to answer...

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