looking at the groups seems an easy route to round two, we just need to beat colombia or poland and 1/4 final is next stop.
From there we have as good a chance as anyone of winning it .
The average age of the so called bigger teams appears to be around 48 year old, so we have youth on our side too.

Nah. Mind you if the average age of the favourites is 48 then who knows.

Another “we can win the WC thread” please delete as completely delusional

I agree 100%, we could win if somehow
France, Peru, Denmark, Australia, Argentina, Croatia, Iceland, Nigeria, Brazil, Switzerland, Costa Rica, Serbia, Germany, Mexico, Sweden, South Korea, Belgium,Tunisia, Panama,Poland, Colombia, Senegal, Japan are all denied entry and Russia are banned

This summer is going to be magical.....and even if it doesn't turn out that way, I still had the time when I imagined it was.

I looked at the possible route a while back and I still can't see us making it past the Quarter Finals.

the biggest battles are usually fighting the way through group phase matches, as we have nobody to beat i there, qualification is all but guaranteed.
the 1/4 finals are big pressure games for anyone, and england will be through the embarrassing exit stage by then too.
so, confidence will be sky high.

Wile E Coyote wrote:the biggest battles are usually fighting the way through group phase matches, as we have nobody to beat i there, qualification is all but guaranteed.
the 1/4 finals are big pressure games for anyone, and england will be through the embarrassing exit stage by then too.
so, confidence will be sky high.

it’s a cracker.

Wile E Coyote wrote:the biggest battles are usually fighting the way through group phase matches, as we have nobody to beat i there, qualification is all but guaranteed.
the 1/4 finals are big pressure games for anyone, and england will be through the embarrassing exit stage by then too.
so, confidence will be sky high.

Are we not in the same group as Belgium? England have only won 6 knockout games in 50 years at major tournaments.....

Wile E Coyote wrote:the biggest battles are usually fighting the way through group phase matches, as we have nobody to beat i there, qualification is all but guaranteed.
the 1/4 finals are big pressure games for anyone, and england will be through the embarrassing exit stage by then too.
so, confidence will be sky high.

Have you forgotten how abysmal England have been in our recent group matches in the World Cup? I wouldn't take progression to the knock out phase for granted

no i havent forgotten belgium, but as two teams go through, then I considered both us and them, hence the either or games with colombia or poland in the second phase.

Can I be the first to nominate WEC as optimistic of the year 2018.

if i understood betting odds, I would be tempted, but I had a look and it was a jumble of meaningless fractions , I hadn't a clue.

If Harry Kane plays to his potential then who knows, the problem is, is that he will be shite.

Wile E Coyote wrote:if i understood betting odds, I would be tempted, but I had a look and it was a jumble of meaningless fractions , I hadn't a clue.

In a way that’s good as I wouldn’t like to see anyone on here loose money.

Wile E Coyote wrote:if i understood betting odds, I would be tempted, but I had a look and it was a jumble of meaningless fractions , I hadn't a clue.

I can explain. You can get 18/1 on England to win, that means if you put a tenner on it, you'll lose a tenner.

Tall Paul wrote:I can explain. You can get 18/1 on England to win, that means if you put a tenner on it, you'll lose a tenner.

Another cracker

Haha !

KRBFC wrote:Are we not in the same group as Belgium? England have only won 6 knockout games in 50 years at major tournaments.....

As you are being statistical how many have we lost? Excluding penalty shoot outs.

I don’t understand the negativity about England. I fancy us to get it the quarters and then it’s a lottery.

They are good players and Southgate appears to have them playing in a system that means they can grind out results, although I wouldn’t expect us to spank anyone, equally I can’t see us getting spanked.

We’ve got that ingredient that all teams need - a goal scorer and it’s a month of football, anything can happen.

Wile E Coyote wrote:if i understood betting odds, I would be tempted, but I had a look and it was a jumble of meaningless fractions , I hadn't a clue.

The last time I looked we were 12-1. Which means if you bet £100, you'll lose £100.

we only have to play poland or columbia he says. ICELAND beat us end of conversation

bartonscigar wrote:we only have to play poland or columbia he says. ICELAND beat us end of conversation

Based on that, why is anyone bothering? The cup should just be given to Germany as they won it last time. Would save a lot of effort all round

That is not what im getting at. I think its pretty obvious what im saying with my remark.

piston broke wrote:As you are being statistical how many have we lost? Excluding penalty shoot outs.

3 without penalties

8 in total

iceland beat another england , not this current crop of internationals.

Wile E Coyote wrote:iceland beat another england , not this current crop of internationals.

1Hart
2Walker
5Cahill
6Smalling
3Rose
20Alli
17DierSubstituted forWilshereat 45'minutes
10RooneySubstituted forRashfordat 86'minutes
15SturridgeBooked at 47mins
9Kane
7SterlingSubstituted forVardyat 60'minutes

Not a massive difference

Wile E Coyote wrote:looking at the groups seems an easy route to round two, we just need to beat colombia or poland and 1/4 final is next stop.
From there we have as good a chance as anyone of winning it .
The average age of the so called bigger teams appears to be around 48 year old, so we have youth on our side too.

No, no we don't.

Wile E Coyote wrote:no i havent forgotten belgium, but as two teams go through, then I considered both us and them, hence the either or games with colombia or poland in the second phase.

Tunisia may not be a pushover. Looked very good against Turkey and Portugal.

Naim Sliti and Wahbi Khazri could cause us real problems but the loss of their talisman Youssef Msakni with a cruciate injury is a huge blow for them.

I don't think our defence is good enough to come close to winning it. They all have a game-losing mistake in them against better sides.

Looks like Trippier is going to play a big part, his obvious threat from crosses aside, looks like he's on all deadball duties which straight away is a massive improvement on the last tournament where Kane was trying to get on the end of his own corners.

I'm hopefully optimistic, would have been more so had our Tom not been injured and made the goalkeeper position his own as I believe he is the best, most consistent English keeper since David Seaman.

FactualFrank wrote:I don't think our defence is good enough to come close to winning it. They all have a game-losing mistake in them against better sides.

Have to agree but considering we have one of the youngest squads and youth who have winning experience coming through I'll be far more optimistic in 4/8 years time.

tunisia definately wont be the team causing problems for england, they're on a par with accy stanley internationally.

Wile E Coyote wrote:tunisia definately wont be the team causing problems for england, they're on a par with accy stanley internationally.

Nigeria caused problems for England and they are one to the lowest ranked African teams.

Why would the highest ranked African team also not cause us problems?

barba wrote:Nigeria caused problems for England and they are one to the lowest ranked African teams.

Why would the highest ranked African team also not cause us problems?

because the nigerian game was a lacklustre friendly.

Our defence has never been tested - are they up to the task? (not sure about Walker and Pickford, and Stones can blow hot and cold).
Our midfield is mediocre - no-one stands out as a 'midfield general' a la Gerrard, Lampard, Scholes (should Shelvey have been there?)
Our strike force looks really good though.

Opinions, opinions, opinions

And my gran could rise from the grave

IN CHANCE A NOT HELLS CAT.

Lincoln beat Burnley.England can beat anyone on the day.trotting out losing to Iceland is ludicrous.

As we dont have slow witted Joe Hart between the posts, that in itself is a bonus, the addition of tripps in the squad gives the team and added dimension they were lacking previously. Kane is bang on form and a real threat. I wouldnt like to face england if I were a german manager or brazilian. No Italy to bother about this time around either.spain are a spent force, as to are france. I think this could be the year .

The idea that it's a lottery in the knockout states is just not true.
It's the midfield I see being a problem, even with scholes, lampard, Beckham, Gerrard etc we could never control a game. We will be looking to a combination of dier and or Henderson, and we simply won't have enough of the ball. Look at France or Germany's midfield options, it's an embarrassment of riches.
But I'm not being too critical, I like what Southgate is doing and how he's set us up. I'll be delighted if get to the quarters. Just looking forward to a world cup summer!

Quarters would be great.

Lose to Germany on penalties, just how we like it.

if southgate can improve on his predecessors (and that won't take much) then the team will be confident, just do enough to keep the rabid, illiterate , **** , vermin, tabloid hacks off his back, and they can begin to play with flair a bit more. england can be dangerous, players like vardy wont be put off by reputations of german team, he couldnt care less. This will be his one chance to shine on this stage, he and others will relish it.

Eeeee I remember watching the '66 final and thinking England would rule the world forever. Had they beaten Germany in Mexico (2-0 became 2-3) they may have shown more against Brazil than Italy did and made it even greater than it was.

Brazil will win this world cup IMO.

Wile E Coyote wrote:if southgate can improve on his predecessors (and that won't take much) then the team will be confident, just do enough to keep the rabid, illiterate , **** , vermin, tabloid hacks off his back, and they can begin to play with flair a bit more. england can be dangerous, players like vardy wont be put off by reputations of german team, he couldnt care less. This will be his one chance to shine on this stage, he and others will relish it.

I think rashford is key. His lack of playing time this season has worked in England's favour. He's the freshest player in the squad.

brazil, the samba kings eh ? 7-1 versus germany , and on brazilian home turf. Embarrassing beyond belief.

Wile E Coyote wrote:brazil, the samba kings eh ? 7-1 versus germany , and on brazilian home turf. Embarrassing beyond belief.

Its amazing how quick they can turn around from poor to brilliant. They've done it before.

They are my tip anyway.

Wile E Coyote wrote:As we dont have slow witted Joe Hart between the posts, that in itself is a bonus, the addition of tripps in the squad gives the team and added dimension they were lacking previously. Kane is bang on form and a real threat. I wouldnt like to face england if I were a german manager or brazilian. No Italy to bother about this time around either.spain are a spent force, as to are france. I think this could be the year .

France are a spent force? they have a scary young side, quality allover the place they even left Lacazette and Martial at home. The current England side is the worst group of players I've ever seen play for England.

Apart from Kyle Walker and Kane I don't think there's a single English player who would start for France.

Southgate isn't stupid, watch him use Rashford and Loftus-Cheek as the tournament progresses, this is a bit thick and perhaps why I only managed at championship level but I would have taken Peter Crouch for 'that' option.