Of course the other way of looking at the possibility of England winning

[Sir C]

He lives near me Sir C, that in itself makes him OK in my book

Yes, I can imagine Gareth spending his leisure time striding across the moors/dales/fells/whatever, breathing God's clean air to purify his precious bodily fluids.

[SWv2]

the world cup, aside from the unfortunate Tottenhamness of the thing, is to consider the amount of píss that would be boiled by the Jockanese, Irishers and Jorge-like self-hating lefties.

Come on Ingerlund!

England won’t win the World Cup and from the outside the enjoyable thing is to sit back and watch as you slowly but surely, both fans and media, perversely convince yourself more and more that it is actually ON and indeed that it is “coming home”.

By all means be a little patriotic and go for it but with a sense of realism. By the way our media is as bad, and we are proper shíte.

Consider the facts, and then question from where this almost ridiculous sense of optimism has come – Tunisia (W), Panama (W), Belgium (L) – yet somehow based on this sequence of results, the absolutely bizarre and borderline idiotic English media have changed tack from being reasonably calm pre-tournament to doing the same as they have always done and building it all up again.

Yes I know Colombia and then Switzerland/Sweden is not the most difficult run of matches but as winnable as they are they are also as easy to lose. I have no idea really why Colombia are being dismissed int he way they are, well I do, they have Ospina in goal. Then there is Croatia and then there is France or Brazil.

Pickford. Walker. Maguire. Henderson. Jordan Fúcking Henderson. Lingaard. Alli.

It just won’t happen. Would there ever in the history of football been a more average collective of players to have won the World Cup?

[Sir C]

England won’t win the World Cup and from the outside the enjoyable thing is to sit back and watch as you slowly but surely, both fans and media, perversely convince yourself more and more that it is actually ON and indeed that it is “coming home”.

By all means be a little patriotic and go for it but with a sense of realism. By the way our media is as bad, and we are proper shíte.

Consider the facts, and then question from where this almost ridiculous sense of optimism has come – Tunisia (W), Panama (W), Belgium (L) – yet somehow based on this sequence of results, the absolutely bizarre and borderline idiotic English media have changed tack from being reasonably calm pre-tournament to doing the same as they have always done and building it all up again.

Yes I know Colombia and then Switzerland/Sweden is not the most difficult run of matches but as winnable as they are they are also as easy to lose. I have no idea really why Colombia are being dismissed int he way they are, well I do, they have Ospina in goal. Then there is Croatia and then there is France or Brazil.

Pickford. Walker. Maguire. Henderson. Jordan Fúcking Henderson. Lingaard. Alli.

It just won’t happen. Would there ever in the history of football been a more average collective of players to have won the World Cup?

I'm not speaking from a sense of optimism at all. I hate the idea of Tottenham winning the world cup.

I'm pretty sure that every nation left in it has watched Germany, Argentina and Spain go out, coupled with the absence of Italy and Holland, and thought, 'With only two big, big teams left in it, anything is possible...'

[SWv2]

I'm not speaking from a sense of optimism at all. I hate the idea of Tottenham winning the world cup.

I'm pretty sure that every nation left in it has watched Germany, Argentina and Spain go out, coupled with the absence of Italy and Holland, and thought, 'With only two big, big teams left in it, anything is possible...'

Oh don’t get me wrong, it is not impossible that England win it as it is after all a cup competition and the nature of said event, with the slight imbalance between the sides on both sides of the draw, means any team could triumph. Denmark in 1992, Greece in 2004.

However my point was more around the hype which has been created, to a degree understandable as that is what the media do, but equally it is a madness. There has been nothing about England’s performances in Russia to date to justify the escalation in expectancy.

At various points we will have seen Croatia and then France put together a performance which does make you sit up and take notes in your tactics notebook, Spain even in the first game v Portugal.

There are 4 teams on the other side of the draw whom I think we most would accept that 3 of whom would beat England, there is Croatia on this side and as before Colombia are being written off quite bizarrely despite pre-tournament being recognised as a potentially very tough last 16 opponent.

Still, cup competition. Who knows.

I am not even coming at it from an angle of hating the English as many are. Just logic, and hope.

[Sir C]

Oh don’t get me wrong, it is not impossible that England win it as it is after all a cup competition and the nature of said event, with the slight imbalance between the sides on both sides of the draw, means any team could triumph. Denmark in 1992, Greece in 2004.

However my point was more around the hype which has been created, to a degree understandable as that is what the media do, but equally it is a madness. There has been nothing about England’s performances in Russia to date to justify the escalation in expectancy.

At various points we will have seen Croatia and then France put together a performance which does make you sit up and take notes in your tactics notebook, Spain even in the first game v Portugal.

There are 4 teams on the other side of the draw whom I think we most would accept that 3 of whom would beat England, there is Croatia on this side and as before Colombia are being written off quite bizarrely despite pre-tournament being recognised as a potentially very tough last 16 opponent.

Still, cup competition. Who knows.

I am not even coming at it from an angle of hating the English as many are. Just logic, and hope.

The thing is, there isn't any hype though. There are people on twitter saying, 'It's coming home', of course, but that's all a bit tongue in cheek.

[Luis Anaconda]

Oh don’t get me wrong, it is not impossible that England win it as it is after all a cup competition and the nature of said event, with the slight imbalance between the sides on both sides of the draw, means any team could triumph. Denmark in 1992, Greece in 2004.

However my point was more around the hype which has been created, to a degree understandable as that is what the media do, but equally it is a madness. There has been nothing about England’s performances in Russia to date to justify the escalation in expectancy.

At various points we will have seen Croatia and then France put together a performance which does make you sit up and take notes in your tactics notebook, Spain even in the first game v Portugal.

There are 4 teams on the other side of the draw whom I think we most would accept that 3 of whom would beat England, there is Croatia on this side and as before Colombia are being written off quite bizarrely despite pre-tournament being recognised as a potentially very tough last 16 opponent.

Still, cup competition. Who knows.

I am not even coming at it from an angle of hating the English as many are. Just logic, and hope.

Deviancy, sw, of the highest level

[Ash]

At various points we will have seen Croatia and then France put together a performance which does make you sit up and take notes in your tactics notebook, Spain even in the first game v Portugal.

Spain certainly caught the eye against Portugal but against Russia the words 'sterile possession' sprung to mind. It was eerily like watching The Arsenal in recent years as they struggled to translate their technical superiority into decent chances against a well-organised, disciplined and far less expensive group of players.

Croatia and France both played well against Argentina but rather more meh against Denmark. Though Denmark, tbf, could probably suck all the joy out of any foootball match.

Columbia were, I thought, excellent in their second match, except that they were playing Poland who turned out to be ****e, while England thrashed a pub team in their second and showed in the third that their second XI are not as good as Belgium's seconds. Could go either way.

I keep telling people at work who are getting over-excited that England usually lose to the first decent team they play against. If it's not Columbia it could easily be Sweden or Croatia.

[SWv2]

Spain certainly caught the eye against Portugal but against Russia the words 'sterile possession' sprung to mind. It was eerily like watching The Arsenal in recent years as they struggled to translate their technical superiority into decent chances against a well-organised, disciplined and far less expensive group of players.

Croatia and France both played well against Argentina but rather more meh against Denmark. Though Denmark, tbf, could probably suck all the joy out of any foootball match.

Columbia were, I thought, excellent in their second match, except that they were playing Poland who turned out to be ****e, while England thrashed a pub team in their second and showed in the third that their second XI are not as good as Belgium's seconds. Could go either way.

I keep telling people at work who are getting over-excited that England usually lose to the first decent team they play against. If it's not Columbia it could easily be Sweden or Croatia.

Wise words A though your dislike for Swiss and Swiss Albanians shines through.

I am secretly doing that little hand thing with my thumbs locked and eagle's wings etc.

[Ash]

Wise words A though your dislike for Swiss and Swiss Albanians shines through.

I am secretly doing that little hand thing with my thumbs locked and eagle's wings etc.

I'm off to buy a little Swedish flag to wave as we speak.

[Viva Prat Vegas]

I will be playing with my IKEA Allen keys and thinking of meatballs