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Group B: England, Iran, USA, Wales

By Mark, in General Football and Sport

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marbles

marbles

Posted
Posted (edited)
1 hour ago, Fox92 said:

Another laugh emoji and no response @marbles what's so funny with my post?

Sorry, I just don’t think the US is decent or have that many good players.  Would be nice to be proven wrong, but I think once the WC starts, I’ll be watching them play with 10 behind the ball against England and Wales, hoping they get an opportunity.

 

 

Edited by marbles
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foxes1988

foxes1988

Posted
Posted (edited)

With the talent at our disposal even with a dodgy defence it should be 3 wins.

 

But with our regression last 12 months I struggle to see us winning 2 games which we should be doing 99 times out of a 100.

 

Average Fifa ranking wise this is the group of death.  Although that is Fifa rankings.  If you go by ELO ratings its one of the weaker groups which appears a little more accurate.

 

GROUP TEAMS AVG. ELO
G Brazil, Switzerland, Serbia, Cameroon 1901
E Spain, Germany, Japan, Costa Rica 1885
F Belgium, Croatia, Canada, Morocco 1868
C Argentina, Mexico, Poland, Saudi Arabia 1849
D France, Denmark, Australia, Tunisia 1846
B England, Iran, United States, Wales 1831
H Portugal, Uruguay, South Korea, Ghana 1816
A Netherlands, Ecuador, Senegal, Qatar 1808
Edited by foxes1988
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foxes1988

foxes1988

Posted
Posted (edited)

I think we did in Spain 82

 

edit.  Just checked and we did indeed win all three games against France, Czechoslovakia and Kuwait.  Then ended up getting knocked out in the second group stage where we remained the only other unbeaten team other then Winners Italy. lol

Edited by foxes1988
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Fox92

Fox92

Posted
Posted
17 minutes ago, Dan LCFC said:

Have England ever taken maximum points in a group stage? I've no recollection of it happening.

I am sure I've read before it happened in 1982 but it doesn't seem to happen anyway, whether it be England or not.

 

I was just looking back at some old World Cup winners I had to go back to 2002 to find where the winners had taken maximum points in their group (Brazil). Italy, Spain or Germany didn't win their group with 9 points.

 

Once you've got 6 points the third game seems to be a sort of rotation for the fringe players. Probably when we'll see Maddison lol

 

 

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foxes1988

foxes1988

Posted
Posted
26 minutes ago, Dan LCFC said:

Have England ever taken maximum points in a group stage? I've no recollection of it happening.

Just to add even if we were in great form I wouldn't think that we would win all 3 games just that on paper we looking at each game we should beat all 3 teams.  It goes without saying that football isn't as straight forward as that.

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Iran

Iran

Posted
Posted
4 hours ago, hackenbacker said:

I have a ticket to Eng v Iran. Also going to Wales V Iran with my wife (and 2 boys) who is Iranian (from Shiraz)

Haha, nice! :) I've been to Shiraz before and I have only great things to say about the city, (one my favourite Iranian dishes called Kalam Polo is from there) an ancient city with a plethora of history and many historical sights that are based there (Bagh e Eram, Hafezieh, Saadieh, and Masjed e Surati to name a few).

 

May I ask are you cheering for England or Iran or both? lol

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hackenbacker

hackenbacker

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, Iran said:

Haha, nice! :) I've been to Shiraz before and I have only great things to say about the city, (one my favourite Iranian dishes called Kalam Polo is from there) an ancient city with a plethora of history and many historical sights that are based there (Bagh e Eram, Hafezieh, Saadieh, and Masjed e Surati to name a few).

 

May I ask are you cheering for England or Iran or both? lol

Neither I'm Australian (although I was born in Leicester but my parents moved to Oz when I was 5). I have lived in the Middle East since 2004. The last 6 years in Qatar. 

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Tommy G

Tommy G

Posted
Posted
34 minutes ago, hackenbacker said:

Neither I'm Australian (although I was born in Leicester but my parents moved to Oz when I was 5). I have lived in the Middle East since 2004. The last 6 years in Qatar. 

How do you see the locals accepting Gaz from Luton, shirtless with a can of Stella singing 10 German Bombers? 

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Jordan

Jordan

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Posted

I will be delighted if the USA can manage to scrape together 4 points somehow and come out of this group. I’m really just hoping we battle hard and learn a lot, though.

 

I don’t think us American fans can look at Wales man for man and say convincingly that we are the better team, and it’s impossible for us as fans to know just how prepared the team and coaching staff is to face Iran. 


We also play a slow and deliberate style that might be smart if we were playing in scorching desert heat, but probably won’t lead to a lot of offense at night against teams that can play at a faster pace. I don’t think a week is enough time for our team to learn how to move the ball past lines of fast pressing.

 

We are obviously building towards 2026 and the huge opportunity waiting for us then, which I completely understand.

 

Our squad is so young. If it weren’t for Tim Ream (who probably won’t start), Sean Johnson (who probably won’t play at all), and Ricardo Pepi’s surprise exclusion, it would be even younger still.
 

I think our young midfield is pretty good (Musuh-Adams-McKennie tend to always play well together, de la Torre plays a feistier game with the USA, and Aaronson playing more of a CM role with Leeds lately as opposed to the winger role he usually gets with the national team gives us yet another option). But I can also see Berhalter going conservative and giving Acosta and Roldan ample playing time (especially vs England if we play for the draw).

 

Pulisic gets the hype but if Gio Reyna is indeed fit, he could easily steal that spotlight. But a problem we have that many other teams at our level have is that nobody is quite good enough to grab that “number 9” position and make it their own.

 

Jesus Ferreira (who is still 21 and has a long way to go) is the front runner to start and probably the best option anyway. Haji Wright is a real wild card as he’s played the least with us, and Josh Sargent is finally playing well … now that he’s dropped down to the Championship and has been moved mostly to the wing. I’m surprised Berhalter called both up instead of Pepi, especially if Sargent is below Morris in the pecking order for wide forwards/second strikers (and that’s with Pulisic, Aaronson, Reyna, and Weah as winger options in a one-striker formation), but Berhalter has his reasons and I’ve got to accept them.

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