Happy World Cup Day

The big day has finally arrived, the greatest show on earth begins today, but not only is it a world cup but a world cup in Brazil.  So what can we expect?  Passion?  Yes, colour?  Yes, Brazil or Argentina winning it? Yes.  It is obviously going to be a great tournament and the atmosphere is going to be exceptional and probably the icing on the cake will be when the two best teams meet in the final and although a ball hasn't been kicked yet, I cant see past those two, but hopefully we will see a few surprises on the way but if not I would settle for that final outcome come July 13th.

Anyway enough about the really good teams, lets talk about England.

I have always been the eternal optimist but for the last few tournaments my expectations along with many others have been on a steady decline.  It is hardly surprising though after all those years of seeing your team come so close and lose on penalties, but also I look back at South Africa where we just didn't turn up at all,and I can't help but think we cannot be that poor again, can we?

I really do believe we can get out of this group and maybe top it, everybody seems to be going on about how important the first game against Italy is and how if we allow Pirlo to get the ball how much he will hurt us, just like he did the last time we met in Euro 2012, were apparently he tore us a new one with his passing and his killer balls.  Hang on the game finished 0-0 how many killer balls did he really play, the Italians won on penalties for fuck sake anyone would have thought they thumped us by 5 or 6, granted he had a good game and was rightly named man of the match, but please stop hyping him up so much.  Anyway he is retiring after this tournament because he is 35 years old so the easiest thing to do is to put him under pressure then he can't play his passes, Its not as if he can  run its going to be too hot, so if he turns up being man of the match at the end of the game then England will not be getting out of the group let alone getting to a quarter final.  To be fair it will be a tough game but one that will probably end in a cagey 0-0 draw, although we may just nick a 1-0 win with a bit of magic from someone like Barkley, Sterling or Lallana.

The big difference this year and with this squad is that we have more attacking options.  The actual squad that Roy has picked is probably the best he could with the options he had.  It must have been a bit like packing for a month's holiday, he went to the wardrobe and just put all his clean and ironed stuff into the suitcase.  He was obviously disappointed he couldn't take his stained Theo Walcott chinos, and had to leave behind his Kyle Walker tracksuit top which he replaced  with his lightweight Chris Smalling summer jacket with hood instead.  To be fair although he didn't have a great deal to choose from he has probably picked the best, well balanced squad that England has taken to a major tournament in many a year.

Our biggest worry is probably in defence though, not the two central defenders but definitely at right back. Glenn Johnson is a bit of a liability, in his defence he is always hungry and wants to be given the ball, but you would think it gets on his team-mates nerves a bit especially when he you look up in the middle of the pitch and old Johno is standing on your boot laces going give it to me, give it to me, I'm in space, give it to me, so you give it to him and he turns the first player and loses the ball  , he doesn't just lose it up the pitch but he loses it so often in his own half and it puts his team under pressure, sometimes in a move he appears to be the furthest player forward, if I was Steven Gerrard I'd be saying Oi Johnners be a good chappy and stay over on the right hand side please, and if that failed I would do my bollocks at him.  The other concern is if Cahil or Jagielka get injured we only have Phil (Steptoe) Jones or Chris Smalling as back up, the funny thing is they both play for the same club but when they actually play together it is like they have never met.  I do think Steptoe is the better of the two and he is a good squad member to have because he is able to play in a variety of positions but when it comes down to it I would much rather see him doing some of his now infamous gurning faces on the bench than on the pitch.

Harrrrrrrollllld!!

So finally on England for now I can see us springing a few surprises and as I said earlier we may well win the group if we win one of the games against either Italy or Uruguay, after that who knows.

I'm off now to watch Mike Bassett, before Adrian Chiles welcomes me to the world cup tonight and tells me how much  he feels like a kid at Christmas.  Happy Christmas Adrian!!!