Who will win the world cup?

England squad announced:

Goalkeepers: Jack Butland, Jordan Pickford, Nick Pope.
Defenders / wing-backs: Trent Alexander-Arnold, Gary Cahill, Fabian Delph, Phil Jones, Harry Maguire, Danny Rose, John Stones, Kieran Trippier, Kyle Walker, Ashley Young.
Midfielders: Dele Alli, Eric Dier, Jordan Henderson, Jesse Lingard, Ruben Loftus-Cheek.
Forwards: Harry Kane, Marcus Rashford, Raheem Sterling, Jamie Vardy, Danny Welbeck.
Stand-by: Tom Heaton, James Tarkowski, Lewis Cook, Jake Livermore and Adam Lallana.
 
Less stench of failure in that group, but hardly awe inspiring either. Ashley Young's involvement is baffllng
 
Less stench of failure in that group, but hardly awe inspiring either. Ashley Young's involvement is baffllng

He's done alright this year. Delph, Jones, and Welbeck however? Heaton as backup GK, not having played in 7 months?
 
He's done alright this year. Delph, Jones, and Welbeck however? Heaton as backup GK, not having played in 7 months?

Delph just played in a team that got a hundred points, injuries held him up for a couple of years but he is actually a decent player.
 
He's done alright this year. Delph, Jones, and Welbeck however? Heaton as backup GK, not having played in 7 months?
Ashley Young definitely deserves his place,theres no better crosser of the ball
from the left and the fact he can play in several different positions is a bonus.
 
So you’re saying we’ll get out of the group stages then? Cool!

Is this the tournament Greg Dyke said we’d win or is it the next, once the Checkatrade transforms our country’s fortunes?
Checkatrade works in the Bundslegia/La Liga and our German/Spanish cousins have an exception track record esp considering their league wsnt formed unti 1963.
 
Checkatrade works in the Bundslegia/La Liga and our German/Spanish cousins have an exception track record esp considering their league wsnt formed unti 1963.

Depends whether we want to sacrifice the quality of the lower leagues, and the abundant support of many local teams at this level, for 4 weeks of (still not guaranteed) success every couple of years.
 
I agree ref Southgate. I think hes an intelligent bloke. If he plays tournament football, ie defensive, I think we might do OK. And why not QTRs. That would be a very good performance.
 
Depends whether we want to sacrifice the quality of the lower leagues, and the abundant support of many local teams at this level, for 4 weeks of (still not guaranteed) success every couple of years.
I guess thats the "rub". EPL bosses run the show. And having a strong national team, has had no bearing on TV deals.
 
Leagues without the depth and history of the English system, however.
Thats a really good point. So if we have some much depth etc...why cant we perform @ National level.

I feel its down to the chinless wonders @ the FA. I know BIG Sam was no saint but I was gutted when he got fired.
 
Short memories. There wasn’t much crap about the last World Cup in Brazil.

Spain 1 Netherlands 5, Brazil 1 Germany 7, the performances of Colombia and James Rodriguez, Costa Rica punching above their weight, Suarez getting his teeth into opponents again. Lots of memorable moments. Fans seem to judge World Cups based on England’s performance hence the misty-eyed opinion of the 1990 World Cup which was a turgid affair. I’ll agree that 2006 and 2010 weren’t the most memorable though.

My thoughts about the last World Cup was that the Group Stages were brilliant fun. Goals and upsets galore, with teams really going for it. Then we got to the knockouts, and everything tightened up and it was fairly dull (with the single exception of the Brazil/Germany semi-final which was obviously absolutely hilarious).

For me, the group stage is what a World Cup is all about anyway. Giants and minnows from across the world battling it out in a structure (four team groups) that works. Shame that they've decided to ruin them from 2026.

As to who's going to win this year? Anyone's guess....but I'd probably go for Brazil. Well balanced team who were excellent in qualifying. Won't be the most flamboyant Brazil team we've seen, but I think they're strong in defense and pragmatic enough to avoid a repeat of four years ago.

And Russia? You're having a laugh! Yes, they've got a suspiciously easy group, but they need that to give them a chance to even get into the knockouts. They're a very poor team.
 
Thats a really good point. So if we have some much depth etc...why cant we perform @ National level.

I feel its down to the chinless wonders @ the FA. I know BIG Sam was no saint but I was gutted when he got fired.

Not me. His only game in charge, he was asked how he was going to deal with 'the Rooney situation' (back when that was a major thing, where on earth do we play this ageing genius?), he pretty much said "Rooney knows where he plays best, I'm just going to put him on the pitch and let him work it out himself".

No wonder he was thinking of going to DC to escape Allardyce!
 
We don't have enough properly qualified coaches at grassroots level. Saying that, in recent years, England youth teams have been performing very well. Trouble is that the chances of these young English players getting minutes at their clubs isn't good enough for them to fulfill their potential, because there's too much pressure on PL managers to get results. I'm optimistic for the future, though, young players moving abroad to play and the strengthening of the Championship will benefit the national team.
 
Checkatrade works in the Bundslegia/La Liga and our German/Spanish cousins have an exception track record esp considering their league wsnt formed unti 1963.
Sorry, but there are many more factors that influence the quality of the national team than that ridiculous competition. Conflating the two (Checkatrade and international success) is just an illogical leap. And as Beyondthefourth rightly says, most of us fans who actually go to games all over the country every Saturday in the season are much more interested in the football we go to watch than something we will sit on the sofa for once every four years.
 
He's done alright this year. Delph, Jones, and Welbeck however? Heaton as backup GK, not having played in 7 months?
As a left back/wing back... Damn. He started at Man U in desperation and did ok for a period. Just not good enough for an international team when Bertrand is at home. Jones is always injured as is Welbeck. With Welbeck, who else is there? Abraham isn't ready, Austin is always injured and Walcott isn't a striker. The cupboard is bereft outside of Kane and Vardy. And despressingly so.
 
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