Master Fox Posted 23 June 2006 Posted 23 June 2006 Former England striker Peter Beardsley fears Ecuador could pull off a shock in Sunday's World Cup second round against Sven-Goran Eriksson's side. Beardsley, part of the England side which reached the 1990 semis, says he is unconvinced by the current squad. "Ecuador could beat us - they will be confident and have nothing to lose," Beardsley told BBC Sport. "If we beat them, people will say we should beat them but if England lose there will be hell." England meet Ecuador in Stuttgart in the last 16 of the tournament on the back of three unconvincing displays. Ecuador qualified behind Germany as runners-up in Group A after resting some key players in their final group game against the hosts on Tuesday, when they lost 3-0. But they produced one of the best displays of the World Cup in their second group game against Costa Rica, running out 3-0 winners. Beardsley added: "If Ecuador play like they did then and we continue to play like we have been, it will be a really tough game. We have struggled against all the teams so far and it's only going to get tougher "The third goal they scored was the goal of the World Cup for me for its build-up. "I know Argentina's goal against Serbia was good but the Ecuador one was outstanding." England went to Germany as one of the favourites to win the World Cup, but have so far produced little evidence that they are capable of being crowned champions. And Beardsley, who was also in the England side that reached the quarter-finals in 1986, added: "They have got to play 100% better. They haven't been great and we can't keep saying they will be better. "I'm not convinced how many world class players we have got. You look at that 11 and how many would get in the Brazilian team? "People talk about the defence but Roberto Carlos would get in ahead of Ashley Cole, Cafu ahead of Jamie Carragher and neither of the centre-halves would get in ahead of Lucio. "John Terry is a great Premiership player but I'm not sure he's an international player - I think he lacks a bit of pace to be a top player. "Rio Ferdinand takes too many chances for me - he's not my cup of tea. "We have got to get in the real world. We may well win the World Cup and nobody would be more delighted than me, but being honest they are not one of the top six teams at the moment. "We lost to Northern Ireland and were the worst team in the world and then we beat Argentina and all of a sudden we're going to win the World Cup. "We have struggled against all the teams so far and it's only going to get tougher. "It's happened before when we have been poor in the early stages and got better. "If we beat Ecuador hopefully they'll get a bit of confidence. But I'm being realistic, too many people are saying we are going to do this and do that."
Head Honcho Posted 23 June 2006 Posted 23 June 2006 So all of a sudden Ecuador's 3-0 hammering of football giants Costa Rica is the benchmark for world football :laugh:
Master Fox Posted 23 June 2006 Author Posted 23 June 2006 So all of a sudden Ecuador's 3-0 hammering of football giants Costa Rica is the benchmark for world football :laugh: Well you can hardly say that England is can you?
Head Honcho Posted 23 June 2006 Posted 23 June 2006 Well you can hardly say that England is can you? No one mentioned England being the benchmark. You have to put it into perspective they were expected to beat Costa Rica and beat them they did it wasn't a shock I thought they did well against Poland but after seeing Poland's other games, well poland were just poor. Beardsley is not doing anyone any favours by big upping Ecuador, they have a chance as have every team in the 2nd round but lets not kid ourselves England should qualify.
Master Fox Posted 23 June 2006 Author Posted 23 June 2006 No one mentioned England being the benchmark. You have to put it into perspective they were expected to beat Costa Rica and beat them they did it wasn't a shock I thought they did well against Poland but after seeing Poland's other games, well poland were just poor. Beardsley is not doing anyone any favours by big upping Ecuador, they have a chance as have every team in the 2nd round but lets not kid ourselves England should qualify. Yes I agree with you and England should qualify. But I'm not very optimistic they will go any further if they do manage to beat Ecuador
Daggers Posted 23 June 2006 Posted 23 June 2006 Outside of jingo-land, most people fancy Ecuador to turn us over. Surprisingly, it seems that only the Germans have faith in us progressing.
Master Fox Posted 23 June 2006 Author Posted 23 June 2006 Outside of jingo-land, most people fancy Ecuador to turn us over. Surprisingly, it seems that only the Germans have faith in us progressing. More or less the whole footballing World think England is sh1t, and I'm afraid I think they're right!
Daggers Posted 23 June 2006 Posted 23 June 2006 More or less the whole footballing World think England is sh1t, and I'm afraid I think they're right! which could mean the biggest shock of the tourno is us beating Ecuador
Master Fox Posted 23 June 2006 Author Posted 23 June 2006 which could mean the biggest shock of the tourno is us beating Ecuador Exactly !!!!
Ric Flair Posted 23 June 2006 Posted 23 June 2006 Did Beardsley type that? because he sure as hell wouldn't have been able to say it!! ****in ****. John Terry not international class? I'm going to leave this thread before I try a virtual pole axe on beardsley on uglyfootballers.com Did Beardsley forget the turgid football he was part of in Italia 90 before we finally played well against the Germans and still lost, yet they came home as hero's? Would Butcher or Mark Wright of got in to the Brazil team back then? Would they ****. If we have only got players who prove themselves at premiership level and aren't good enough for international football then i'll ask you one thing beardsley. Why have premiership teams been involved in 3 out of the past 4 european finals? Remember slobberer, these England players ply their trade in this league against teams that house your so called 'world class' players from other countries and we have players such as John Terry who has established himself as one of the best players as has Steven Gerrard.
Master Fox Posted 23 June 2006 Author Posted 23 June 2006 Did Beardsley type that? because he sure as hell wouldn't have been able to say it!! ****in ****. John Terry not international class? I'm going to leave this thread before I try a virtual pole axe on beardsley on uglyfootballers.com Did Beardsley forget the turgid football he was part of in Italia 90 before we finally played well against the Germans and still lost, yet they came home as hero's? Would Butcher or Mark Wright of got in to the Brazil team back then? Would they ****. If we have only got players who prove themselves at premiership level and aren't good enough for international football then i'll ask you one thing beardsley. Why have premiership teams been involved in 3 out of the past 4 european finals? Remember slobberer, these England players ply their trade in this league against teams that house your so called 'world class' players from other countries and we have players such as John Terry who has established himself as one of the best players as has Steven Gerrard. :laugh: Absolutely hilarious, Ric that is funniest thing I’ve read in a long time! Brilliant!!! Oh, that analysis came from Beardsley on the BBC website
BartonFox Posted 23 June 2006 Posted 23 June 2006 Did Beardsley type that? because he sure as hell wouldn't have been able to say it!! ****in ****. John Terry not international class? I'm going to leave this thread before I try a virtual pole axe on beardsley on uglyfootballers.com Did Beardsley forget the turgid football he was part of in Italia 90 before we finally played well against the Germans and still lost, yet they came home as hero's? Would Butcher or Mark Wright of got in to the Brazil team back then? Would they ****. If we have only got players who prove themselves at premiership level and aren't good enough for international football then i'll ask you one thing beardsley. Why have premiership teams been involved in 3 out of the past 4 european finals? Remember slobberer, these England players ply their trade in this league against teams that house your so called 'world class' players from other countries and we have players such as John Terry who has established himself as one of the best players as has Steven Gerrard. To be fair Ric, Beardsley is 100% spot on.
Head Honcho Posted 23 June 2006 Posted 23 June 2006 To be fair Ric, Beardsley is 100% spot on. .........and that's his impartial opinion
Fez of Mahrez Posted 23 June 2006 Posted 23 June 2006 I've seen Daily Mail readers whose opinions I'd value more than Peter Beardsley.
dandannieldanok Posted 23 June 2006 Posted 23 June 2006 We should have no problems beating Ecuador but perhaps the pressure may be too much for us. However if Ecuador played all of their home games in qualifying at sea level and not at altitude then I personally don't think they would have qualified.
BartonFox Posted 23 June 2006 Posted 23 June 2006 We should have no problems beating Ecuador Typical, and why should England have no problems in beating Ecuador?
Nationwider Posted 23 June 2006 Posted 23 June 2006 I think we're a dead cert to conceed against Equador. Now Sven's on to Plan G, I'm not sure the players have much faith in him either. Thankfully we're blessed with a lot of fire power which will probably see us squeak through by the odd goal.
Daggers Posted 23 June 2006 Posted 23 June 2006 Now Sven's on to Plan G, I'm not sure the players have much faith in him either. Tonight, it is going to be 4-1-2-2-1 ~ which means playing at least three players out of their normal position and playing [as a team] in a totally untried formation. I am practicing the mantra 'it's only a game - it's only a game'.
Stevosevic Posted 24 June 2006 Posted 24 June 2006 I've seen Daily Mail readers whose opinions I'd value more than Peter Beardsley. Whats wrong with the dailymail? i dont read it but nor is it a crap paper.
dandannieldanok Posted 24 June 2006 Posted 24 June 2006 Typical, and why should England have no problems in beating Ecuador? Because on paper we are much, much better but it took us 83 minutes to break down the smallest nation at the tournament and we can't seem to cope in the heat or cope defending set-pieces which is normally our strong point so.........................................
Benji Posted 24 June 2006 Posted 24 June 2006 "I'm not convinced how many world class players we have got. You look at that 11 and how many would get in the Brazilian team? "People talk about the defence but Roberto Carlos would get in ahead of Ashley Cole, Cafu ahead of Jamie Carragher and neither of the centre-halves would get in ahead of Lucio. "John Terry is a great Premiership player but I'm not sure he's an international player - I think he lacks a bit of pace to be a top player. "Rio Ferdinand takes too many chances for me - he's not my cup of tea. Possibly the biggest woff of horsesh1t i have ever heard. How can that sort of an opinion evre be justified, yes people have the right to their own opinion, but that sort of comment is one of someone who just wants to make the news! Roberto Carlos is passed it, his free-kicks were what made him and now they are shabby, he's been made to look a fool more than once over the past year or so. Similar with Cafu, this guy is well past his best, teams look at him as the weak link and a way to attack at Brazil, I don't see many people feel the same about Carragher (although granted at right back he is not as good as centre half). I have no argument with Lucio... however i believe Terry is the best defender currently in the world.
shen Posted 24 June 2006 Posted 24 June 2006 Possibly the biggest woff of horsesh1t i have ever heard. How can that sort of an opinion evre be justified, yes people have the right to their own opinion, but that sort of comment is one of someone who just wants to make the news! Roberto Carlos is passed it, his free-kicks were what made him and now they are shabby, he's been made to look a fool more than once over the past year or so. Similar with Cafu, this guy is well past his best, teams look at him as the weak link and a way to attack at Brazil, I don't see many people feel the same about Carragher (although granted at right back he is not as good as centre half). I have no argument with Lucio... however i believe Terry is the best defender currently in the world. Those are pretty silly comments, I agree. Your assessment of Carlos and Cafu are a bit harsh though I feel. It speaks volumes that they can both run themselves to the ground on the flanks for a team like Brazil in their mid-30's. I actually feel Cafu had a second wind and he was amazing for Milan when they won the Champions League most recently and made it to the final the year after. Neither of them have made a name from defending, but rather their raids down the flanks. Carlos has a venomous shot on top of that, but to reduce him to a free-kick specialist and nothing else is derogatory. Croatia employed interesting tactics in overloading Cafu's flank, but that's really just a smart way of exploiting Brazil's formation. I also find it funny how Beardsley highlights Lucio when he's been totally outshone by his partner Juan during this tournament While I feel England and Brazil are more or less on par, player for player, in the first XI, Brazil's real strength lies in their squad depth. No team, possibly with the exception of Argentina and Holland, can boast such a list of fantastic attacking power on the bench.
BartonFox Posted 24 June 2006 Posted 24 June 2006 Possibly the biggest woff of horsesh1t i have ever heard. How can that sort of an opinion evre be justified, yes people have the right to their own opinion, but that sort of comment is one of someone who just wants to make the news! Roberto Carlos is passed it, his free-kicks were what made him and now they are shabby, he's been made to look a fool more than once over the past year or so. Similar with Cafu, this guy is well past his best, teams look at him as the weak link and a way to attack at Brazil, I don't see many people feel the same about Carragher (although granted at right back he is not as good as centre half). I have no argument with Lucio... however i believe Terry is the best defender currently in the world. lol lol lol Oh stop it please lol
Benji Posted 24 June 2006 Posted 24 June 2006 lol lol lol Oh stop it please lol Soz Miss Pessimist UK
Tommeh Posted 24 June 2006 Posted 24 June 2006 Typical, and why should England have no problems in beating Ecuador? Look at the fooking teams for crying out loud
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