Similar price. Spain are fives.
There was nothing that made me think I'll have a go at that.
The Argies were 9/2
The all-in-one consolidatory football thread Page 123
They've got some fantastic players but Maradonnas a worse manager than Bobby Charlton.
Quote: Steve Sunshine @ June 5 2010, 10:14 PM BSTIt is possibly the worst squad we've sent to a major tournament in a long while.
They're not that bad but we've had better.
No I've seen much worse, infact I'd say it's probably one of the best on paper, apart from Goalkeeper, we've usually got a world class goalie, but not at the mo. Apart from the 1970 and 1990 ones I cannot think of a more talented looking England squad. Ooh look, there's an omen, next in the sequence is 2010.
I think the first team is potentially the best in a while, but the squad itself doesn't have enough quality back up.
Quote: Alfred J Kipper @ June 6 2010, 2:22 AM BSTNo I've seen much worse, infact I'd say it's probably one of the best on paper, apart from Goalkeeper, we've usually got a world class goalie, but not at the mo. Apart from the 1970 and 1990 ones I cannot think of a more talented looking England squad. Ooh look, there's an omen, next in the sequence is 2010.
We had a golden opportunity to win the trophy in 2002. All the big teams, apart from Brazil, either underperformed or were robbed by terrible (or bent?) referees. Yes, Germany made it to the final, but they were really mediocre, and only got there because they got really lucky with the teams they came up against in the earlier rounds. And before anyone says we were never going to beat Brazil, don't forget, we were missing Paul Scholes, Steven Gerrard and Gary Neville, and still only ended up being beaten by that freak Ronaldinho goal, after Seaman went wandering off his line.
Yeah what a time to go and buy a pint of milk. My memory of that game is that we looked very flat, exhausted even - I thought England battled bravely but it was only a matter time before Brazil got the winner. So if we'd managed to drag it to penalties, they'd have still won. But we were looking good until they scored, then we somehow crumbled under the pressure.
I'd love us to get Brazil again, I think we could meet them in the QF. I do fancy us this time, if we don't have any big players missing.
Quote: Oldrocker @ June 6 2010, 12:04 AM BSThttp://www.oddschecker.com/football/internationals/world-cup/win-market
On those prices I'd go for Germany. Or Portugal.
My bet for dark horses of the tournament: Serbia
There's a pretty impressive linear regression analysis (rsquared value 0.72) knocking around that has been used to determine all the game results and it puts them as losing to Brazil in the final. Some of the variables include population, GDP/head, footballing 'experience' (although not sure how they came up with this metric) and home advantage in SA's case.
I am slightly wary of Germany still, not Italy, not Brazil, not France but Germany, Spain and maybe Argentina. I'll go for a Spain v England final.
You can anything between 10/1 and 15/1 on that.
Those are very good odds, England are far better than many people say.
Quote: Alfred J Kipper @ June 6 2010, 12:42 PM BSTThose are very good odds, England are far better than many people say.
I think England are far worse than people say. We're pretty much a one-man team now that Gerrard's form has gone AWOL. God help us if/when Rooney gets sent off in the knockout stages, we'll be pretty much screwed.
Quote: Alfred J Kipper @ June 6 2010, 12:42 PM BSTEngland are far better than many people say.
No, I think England's big flaw is that they need a big challenge to really come to life. Their best matches are always against the Germanies and Argentinas and they can look poor against weaker teams. They are not as pretty to watch as Brazil but have been involved in some of the most exciting matches at the world cup. This time we have quite a bit more skill as well. It's not just about Rooney, we have several great players. Forget the strange form of the two friendlies and go back to the form we showed against Croatia - when the tournament begins England will be back in that competitive groove. I say they'll reach the final.