The Official *England's Journey to Brazil 2014* Thread

by Duty281 Thu 09 Aug 2012, 6:51 pm

First topic message reminder :

"There is a forgotten, nay almost forbidden word, which means more to me than any other. That word is England."
Sir Winston Churchill

Yes, it's nearly that time. Time for England to begin their Qualifying Campaign for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. Those promising, encouraging, and brave displays witnessed during Euro 2012 will have to be built on as the long road to Brazil starts. Along the way, they will play in London, Podgorica, Kiev, Warsaw, Chisinau and Serravale. The aim is simply to top the group and make it to Brazil with a minimum of fuss.

"Ask any man what nationality he would prefer to be, and ninety nine out of a hundred will tell you that they would prefer to be Englishmen."
Cecil John Rhodes

England have been drawn in Group H with Montengro, Ukraine, Poland, Moldova and San Marino. I don't even need to be insanely optimistic this time round. England will top that group. Moldova and San Marino will be the whipping boys. Montengro, Ukraine and Poland will only prove a challenge in their own ground. Wembley will be deemed a fortress.

"Remember that you are an Englishman, and have consequently won first place in the lottery of life."
Cecil John Rhodes

The fixture list for those Qualifiers is the following:

Moldova v England (7th September 2012)
England v Ukraine (11th September 2012)
England v San Marino (12th October 2012)
Poland v England (16th October 2012)
San Marino v England (22nd March 2013)
Montenegro v England (26th March 2013)
England v Moldova (6th September 2013)
Ukraine v England (10th September 2013)
England v Montenegro (11th October 2013)
England v Poland (15th October 2013)

Lovely, simple, finishing with a Wembley double-header. I predict we'll get 28 out of 30 points, perhaps getting a draw in either Warsaw or Kiev.

"Follow your spirit; and upon this charge,
Cry "God for Harry! England and Saint George"."
William Shakespeare

Of course, while England's fate will be defined by those 10 games, the ever important International Friendly will hone the team against more quality opposition. The friendlies currently scheduled are:

Italy v England (15th August 2012)
Sweden v England (14th November 2012)
England v Scotland (14th August 2013)

So let's get the England train rolling, starting on Wednesday, build up momentum before landing in Brazil in nearly 2 years time. Come on England!

“The English are so filled with their own greatness and have won so many big victories that they have come to believe they cannot lose. In battle they are the most confident nation in the world."
Unknown

by mystiroakey Wed 16 Oct 2013, 7:26 pm

So ravel pushes zaha and its Zaha's fault..

And it isn't Zaha with the previous is it..

Why are so biased on this Nick?

by NickisBHAFC Wed 16 Oct 2013, 7:29 pm

You can clearly see Zaha getting in his face, Rave pushes him to away to get out of his face, and starts to jog off, but Zaha starts on him.

I have said in all the games i have seen Zaha play, he loves to yell at his team mates all the time. Ravel took exception to this, good on him.

Also Ravel comes across as a lovely young man, Zaha most certainly doesn't.

by mystiroakey Wed 16 Oct 2013, 7:37 pm

Your talking nonsense nick. Total nonsense.

I don't want to get into a ravel v zaha thing because irate them both and both are young. But it's sadly ravel that is the one that needs to sort himself out.

Good luck to him and I wish him well. But I am not in any shape or form worried about Zaha's attitude or ability.

by mystiroakey Wed 16 Oct 2013, 7:41 pm

Every single palace player, employee , broad member , manager only has great things to say about zaha.. Ravel got kicked out of united for robbing them and drug dealing.

But as I said I didn't want to put a downer on ravel. Fingers crossed he can deal with his issues.. He deserves another chance. But you are not right about zaha.

by Guest Wed 16 Oct 2013, 7:43 pm

Pretty sure ravel got in a hissy fit because berahino is the penalty taker and denied ravel the hattrick. Embarrassing stuff, little spoilt brat. You can take him out the ghetto but you can't take it out the boy. Zaha done nothing wrong, just tried sorting him out, get him refocused on the job, instead of moping around, crying over the penalty denial.

Agree with alot Owen says on here. Without doubt Roy will revert to negative tactics, its in his DNA as a manager & over in Brazil won't feel so much of the English public pressure/anger towards the team n its style, if things go wrong.

by TopoftheChops Wed 16 Oct 2013, 7:44 pm

NickisBHAFC wrote:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ziY8lT5T9XU

Nice to see Zaha has grown up and put his poor attitude problems behind. Wan*er, is he jealous that Morrison is a much better player?!

Apparently Zaha was having a go at Morrison because Morrison kept moaning about not being allowed to take the penalty even though he was on a hat-trick.

by mystiroakey Wed 16 Oct 2013, 7:48 pm

That makes sense..

by **Good Golly I'm Olly** Wed 16 Oct 2013, 8:46 pm

Nick you are clearly talking a load of tosh about Zaha here dude, I sincerely hope it's you trying to get a "bite"

by JamesLincs Wed 16 Oct 2013, 10:07 pm

the penalty taker is the penalty taker, i dont give a f*ck whos on a hatrick, you play for the team and ravel needs to realise that otherwise he will never play for england

by Duty281 Wed 16 Oct 2013, 10:11 pm

Ravel Morrison is a nice young man? Laugh

by **Dolphin Ziggler** Wed 16 Oct 2013, 10:44 pm

Ffs, really blowing this up that much? Ravel was annoyed he didnt get the penalty. However, he spoke to his coach right after and high-fived Berahino as he went off. Morrison continued to be eager to take any free kick, as I am happy for him to be eager to do, as he on a hattrick. Do you know who it reminded me of? Gazza.

Zaha clearly says something to him about it. Probably due to Ravel being annoying. I do think Zaha presents himself reasonably aggressively (not physically so), but its enough to put up Ravel's back who has a short fuse. Ravel pushes him off, but isnt really looking for a fight or even that fussed. If he was, he'd have done something, everything ive heard of him suggests so. Its been a bit blown out of proportion. Both of them have been silly buggers, Zaha clearly isnt innocent in it.

Personally, I think Morrison should have been given the penalty considering the shape of the game, and thats probably what wound him up, but hes young and he'll learn. Probably good for this to come up now and just bring him down a notch, give him that media focus for the bad things that actually hasnt followed him around at the time these events happened.

Do I think its all a fuss over nothing? Yes. I think they both look like prats from it, cos Zaha clearly isnt being the experienced old pro about it, however you want to paint it. But its nothing, I bet they werent bothered in the changing room.

Its why players are in the u21 squad and are managed. Ravel is the talent from that u21 side to be pushing on right now, I really do think if he can carry on playing games then he should make the World Cup squad, and thats not just bias, the boy is quality and has a footballing brain to go with wonderful technique and pace of foot and thought. But if he doesnt its no drama.

All this pathetic biteyness is what none of them need.

by mystiroakey Wed 16 Oct 2013, 10:53 pm

Blimy you seem to have sprung in to life over this. Nick posts it up as 100% zaha, and totally absolves Morrison.. people tell him the facts and you get that defensive!!!!

And don't taint Zahas character . My family knows one of the owners at palace and everyone loved him there. Leave the hysteria out of it.

by **Dolphin Ziggler** Wed 16 Oct 2013, 10:55 pm

I wasnt doing anything Mysti. No hysteria. Morrison was wrong as was Zaha too, in my opinion. Its all nothing. I dont think Zaha is an angel in it is all. I dont think it matters much. Which I said, if you read it. I'm not even that defensive, i'm just surprised its been such a big deal.

I think theres one person being overly defensive now...

by mystiroakey Wed 16 Oct 2013, 10:56 pm

On a lighter note. Someone compared Morrison to gazza.

Morrison didn't even know who he was!!!!!!

Jesus that makes me feel old!

by mystiroakey Wed 16 Oct 2013, 11:01 pm

Yeah well tbh mate players argue all the time. You don't put your hand on the face of another and push.. maybe zaha was abit annoying over it but that doesn't excuse Morrison.

Fingers crossed he will learn. But we can't call it a 50-50.

Both players were the best on the day and they linked up well. So if this isn't sorted it's a massive shame!!!

by **Dolphin Ziggler** Wed 16 Oct 2013, 11:05 pm

Oh, Ravel shouldnt do it, its daft, he ends up completely the wrong, but Zaha wasnt innocent as such. Just felt worth stepping in to say its not exactly Morrison chasing a choirboy across the pitch to give him a slap.

I still think its a storm in a teacup really. He seems to have learned at West Ham and they've got him into the squad togetherness. But hes got a fuse, weirdly only with people he plays with though. Doesnt react in the slightest to opposition, although I can feel that that might get tested soon in the Prem. Someone will target him to test his temper fully.

by mystiroakey Wed 16 Oct 2013, 11:09 pm

Yes that's a point. He will get targeted..

by **Dolphin Ziggler** Wed 16 Oct 2013, 11:09 pm

Its all fine Mysti, they're friends now

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2013/oct/16/ravel-morrison-wilfried-zaha-under-21-bust-up?CMP=twt_gu

by mystiroakey Wed 16 Oct 2013, 11:16 pm

It seems Like they are all still kids doesn't it lol.. why didn't you pass to me. Why didn't you give me the pen.. yeah your probally right..

But these little things will allways be escalated in regards to Morrison.

by CFCNick Thu 17 Oct 2013, 9:42 am

Baiting a Tottenham fan on twitter with my usual "the media hate Chelsea" tweets about the Hodgson thing. As much as I'm ion the wind up a small part of me feels if he was connected to Chelsea he'd be under more scrutiny.

by mystiroakey Thu 17 Oct 2013, 10:01 am

This one is beyond crazy-

by Duty281 Thu 17 Oct 2013, 10:11 am

England definitely unseeded for the World Cup.

We could have any of Brazil, Argentina, Germany, Spain, Colombia, Uruguay, Switzerland or Belgium in our group.

I'm hoping we get the Argies - I would love a challenge!

by Stella Thu 17 Oct 2013, 10:21 am

Switzerland? Bring em on.

by MIG Thu 17 Oct 2013, 10:33 am

Would like us to get either Uruguay or Belgium.

by Duty281 Thu 17 Oct 2013, 10:37 am

I forgot to mention, Uruguay have to beat Jordan to make it to the World Cup - which they should. If they don't, the Netherlands will be top seeded.

by mystiroakey Thu 17 Oct 2013, 11:03 am

Ok then 10th place isn't to bad but no cigar and no seed as predicted!

holland or italy aren't going to be a seed either. Nice team to miss-

It would be nice to meet either the swiss . Hodgson knows all about them!!

edit. I see uruguay haven't qualified yet as above!!

by mystiroakey Thu 17 Oct 2013, 11:12 am

We can't meet france,portugal,holland,italy

TBH there isn't much in it between being a seed or the next euro nation..

Trying to work out who would be the other euro nation that we could meet.

I think it will be possibly romania or iceland- but really dependant on who wins the PLO's

by Stella Thu 17 Oct 2013, 11:17 am

If you wanna beat the best then ya gotta beat the best thumbsup

Looking forward to it already.

by mystiroakey Thu 17 Oct 2013, 11:35 am

Aye..

by **Good Golly I'm Olly** Thu 17 Oct 2013, 12:08 pm

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/england-starlets-must-force-take-2460416?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

Appears Redmond, Berahino and Morrison may be called up to the senior squad for the November friendlies. Good to see

by Duty281 Thu 17 Oct 2013, 12:27 pm

Squad competition, the hunger of youth, and depth in lots of positions.

Just 3 reasons, for why this is England's greatest chance since 1966!

by Duty281 Thu 17 Oct 2013, 12:36 pm

It appears Roy Hodgson has made a bit of an error by telling a joke in his half-time team talk about a space monkey, and it somehow involved getting the ball to Andros Townsend more. The PC brigade are on to him now.

Can't see how's it racist. Unless of course you associate a black person with a monkey - which is surely racism in itself?

by Stella Thu 17 Oct 2013, 12:37 pm

Duty281 wrote:Squad competition, the hunger of youth, and depth in lots of positions.

Just 3 reasons, for why this is England's greatest chance since 1966!

Similar to 1998. Scholes, Becks, Owen were on the rise, plus we had some good players as back up.

by **Good Golly I'm Olly** Thu 17 Oct 2013, 12:38 pm

I've never seen such a non story in my life. Even Townsend has tweeted it's not even newsworthy.

by super_realist Thu 17 Oct 2013, 1:01 pm

Duty281 wrote:Squad competition, the hunger of youth, and depth in lots of positions.

Just 3 reasons, for why this is England's greatest chance since 1966!

by Duty281 Thu 17 Oct 2013, 1:03 pm

Stella wrote:
Duty281 wrote:Squad competition, the hunger of youth, and depth in lots of positions.

Just 3 reasons, for why this is England's greatest chance since 1966!
Similar to 1998. Scholes, Becks, Owen were on the rise, plus we had some good players as back up.

Agreed. This'll be the closing of one generation - Cole, Lampard, Gerrard, Carrick, Defoe - and the beginning of another generation - Barkley, Townsend, Sturridge, Wilshere, Redmond, and possibly Berahino.

by super_realist Thu 17 Oct 2013, 1:04 pm

Duty281 wrote:
Stella wrote:
Duty281 wrote:Squad competition, the hunger of youth, and depth in lots of positions.

Just 3 reasons, for why this is England's greatest chance since 1966!
Similar to 1998. Scholes, Becks, Owen were on the rise, plus we had some good players as back up.
Agreed. This'll be the closing of one generation - Cole, Lampard, Gerrard, Carrick, Defoe - and the beginning of another generation - Barkley, Townsend, Sturridge, Wilshere, Redmond, and possibly Berahino.

also incapable of becoming challengers

by Duty281 Thu 17 Oct 2013, 1:04 pm

super_realist wrote:
Duty281 wrote:Squad competition, the hunger of youth, and depth in lots of positions.

Just 3 reasons, for why this is England's greatest chance since 1966!

You may laugh, but I retain hope until June at the very least. #believe

by super_realist Thu 17 Oct 2013, 1:08 pm

Of course I laugh.

Do you "believe" when a Nigerian emails you with promise of a million pounds?

Depends how you define "chance" I suppose though. I think it's in the same bracket as "a snowballs chance in hell" or "more chance of dumping in the queens handbag" rather than chance of rolling a six.

by CFCNick Thu 17 Oct 2013, 1:36 pm

super_realist wrote:Of course I laugh.

Do you "believe" when a Nigerian emails you with promise of a million pounds?

Depends how you define "chance" I suppose though. I think it's in the same bracket as "a snowballs chance in hell" or "more chance of dumping in the queens handbag" rather than chance of rolling a six.

You mean there aren't loads of hot singles in my area dying to talk to me??? Crying or Very sad

by Guest Thu 17 Oct 2013, 1:40 pm

Actually looking at the top seeds, think we'll be relatively okay until second round knockout. I mean, we can't face Holland, France, Portugal, Russia I would assume from pot 2 either cos were in it.

Worst case
Spain/Germany
England
Ivory Coast ( pot 3?)
Australia e.g. ( pot 4)

Best case
Switzerland
England
South Korea
Honduras

Would that be rightish? Not too worried really. Getting the top side from africa is probably the only worry from pot 3 if that's where Nigeria/ivory coast are placed. All a bit of a guessing game but still interesting.

by Stella Thu 17 Oct 2013, 1:50 pm

So, being seeded isn't the be all and end all.

Anyone think Spain will do a France, and go home early?

by super_realist Thu 17 Oct 2013, 1:50 pm

I fine the whole "England miss out on being 2014 seeds" story rather amusing.

There isn't any justification for them being so, so why the shock?

It's like saying Vanessa Feltz misses out on being crowned Miss World.

by mystiroakey Thu 17 Oct 2013, 1:56 pm

SR they was a chance on england getting a seed placement- its all based on rankings.

there is no shock it was obvious we would miss out on them(well 95% sure) anyway..

but we missed out by a couple of places only as was allways going to be the case- All it would have taken was one more win in the campaign to have got in to the seedings..

Its not about deserving or not- its just maths..

And some teams with really easy groups are actually in a worse position because they can gain as many points.. Its only a snapshot of the rankings..

If we talk about who deserve the seed spots- then holland and italy would certainly but switzerland or belgium wouldnt.

Its just a media headline but to be honest it certainly didn't come across as if we deserved it or that it was a shock!!

by Duty281 Thu 17 Oct 2013, 2:02 pm

I don't think it would be good for England to have the easiest group possible. England need a challenging team, one that is beatable, but one that would give a massive confidence boost should England triumph. Kind of like Argentina and 2002.

And it would be good for England to have Argentina again, because they are a team that England can get the better of. With regards to the top seeds, I would say in order of preference, from top to bottom:

Argentina
Belgium
Uruguay
Colombia
Switzerland
Spain
Germany
Brazil

by super_realist Thu 17 Oct 2013, 2:02 pm

Well precisely Oakey, as if it wasn't being held in Brazil, then they wouldn't be seeded either, given that England are ranked ahead of them.

I don't think you should under-estimate Belgium and even Switzerland though. Belgium are crammed full of quality players and Switzerland are very well organised.
Do they deserve to be seeded? Maybe, maybe not, but it's hard to make a case for England replacing them.
No shame in England being in the second tier though, they'll make it through the group I expect.

by mystiroakey Thu 17 Oct 2013, 2:04 pm

John wrote:Actually looking at the top seeds, think we'll be relatively okay until second round knockout. I mean, we can't face Holland, France, Portugal, Russia I would assume from pot 2 either cos were in it.

Worst case
Spain/Germany
England
Ivory Coast ( pot 3?)
Australia e.g. ( pot 4)

Best case
Switzerland
England
South Korea
Honduras

Would that be rightish? Not too worried really. Getting the top side from africa is probably the only worry from pot 3 if that's where Nigeria/ivory coast are placed. All a bit of a guessing game but still interesting.

If australia is in the worst case then things are looking pretty decent thats all i can say- and makes a bit of a mockery of the world cup!

by mystiroakey Thu 17 Oct 2013, 2:05 pm

\I haven't underestimated them- just that they are not justifiable seeds in form ,quality AND previous CUP form(which is factored into many sports seedings but not in football)

The only case for england replacing them would be if they had won an extra game or so and then they would have replaced them.

If we are looking att he reality then yes italy and holland would replace them and i am 100% certain of that

The seedings are fair- but not factual.

by mystiroakey Thu 17 Oct 2013, 2:08 pm

And in regards to what seed i would want as an england fan- well its one of those two.. I would put money on topping a group with one of those teams- I would not back us to top a group if it included holland or italy!(real wc sides)

by J.Benson II Thu 17 Oct 2013, 2:25 pm

I think a challenging group would be more beneficial for England then an easier group. Players will be more prepared and will go into the games with more concentration. Everyone thought England would cruise the 2010 group and it turned out a struggle.
Whatever happens, I hope England go into the tournament with a positive outlook and play some good football which they have proved over the past week that they are capable off.
Even if England get knocked out, I rather prefer see England lose a 3-2 thriller then see them get knocked out on penalties after a toothless 0-0 draw.
Belguim appear to be everyone's dark horses. I think they might struggle against non-europeon opposition and have a disappointing tournament.
Dark horses for me are Columbia and Russia.

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