germany will 99% be ahead, and as i said further up, its about the money, FIFA wont do nothing about it while there wallet is getting bundles of millions each month since they have the best league, cant see how you can call a mixed race "ENGLISH" league good when every other non english person plays in it, personally i prefer to watch my home country italy play and there serie A & B, much more entertaining and you can guess who and who wont be in the world cup squad

another way of looking at it is this: we do have enough world class english players to make up a team, and you could argue that having the other world class foreigners in our league is good practice for us.

if the english players are playing against world cup standard players every week, surely this is a good thing? my view is that our starting 11 are as good as anyone. there's no excuses for how bad we were

anyway, the new rule has already been introduced for next season that makes sure every team has a particular number, i think it's 7 but not sure, of academy players on the pitch. however, this does not mean english. it means either english or a foreign player that has been in britain for 3 years before he is 21 lol so arsenal will still be able to not play any english players because they're all yung and been in the academy


EDIT: by the way, every league in the world had the opportunity to use the world cup ball for the last six months of last season, but only germany accepted it. so germany did have an advantage, but not an unfair one.

Edited at 12:49 Tue 06/07/10 (BST)

disagree there, its not good practice if all the english are scatterd about, dont give us time to play together does it, we play poor as we dont bond well as a team, they may say off the pitch they do, but on it they cant tell which way to pass etc etc.

And as for that rule, still doesn't help as they aren't correctly english, they have a visa or was born here but cant acctualy play for us, thus leaving the team performance down as they're still not together

The problem was a lot would've had pre-existing agreements (eg the Premier League) with other companies (Nike in this case) so actually didn't have the opportunity...

The problem was a lot would've had pre-existing agreements (eg the Premier League) with other companies (Nike in this case) so actually didn't have the opportunity



i assume you mean with the ball sponsors?

the ball itself would have been re-printed with logos and patterns of the existing sponsors. so it still would have been a WC ball, with nike on it because adidas didn't develop the ball, they only had the rights to it for the world cup

The Dutch are in the final. If Spain win tomorrow it will be the battle of the two teams that have "bottled it" the most. If the Germans win it could be an intense final, the Dutch and the Germans have a huge rivalry.

shame it wasn't England germany final, wouldve been a bit more intresting, i still blame green for his stupidity and capello for picking him, james wouldn't have made that mistake which would've ment we wouldn't have faced germany, and since germany smashed argentina we wouldn't have had more to worry about till the semi's, grrrr at green

i gave up hope with italy after winning the WC last time, its my home country but the team was usless, so supported my 2nd home

England couldn't beat the USA or Algeria, struggled to beat a very poor Slovenia side, before getting battered 4-1 by Germany...what makes you think they would have beaten Ghana, and gone on to make the semis? England got more than they deserved at the world cup by getting to the last 16, and overachieved in that sense...they are not a good team at all, don't know why I ever backed them, or why anyone ever believed in them.

Very true Niall.

I reckon a Germany vs Netherlands final would be much better than an England vs Germany one. The Germans and the Dutch have a proper rivalry, the English-German rivalry only goes one way, the same as the Scotland-England rivalry is only one way.

Added to that, the Dutch and Germans are much, much better than England.

That being said, I fancy Spain to beat Germany tonight. Spain, similar to the Dutch, have been doing just enough in each game to get through, and they are a much better team than either England or Argentina. I'm hoping the Germans realize just how tough this game will be, because all it takes is one goal and they'll be out.

Deutschland uber alles!

Lol you just made all of that up! I Adidas are the manufacturer and nobody else can stick their own logos on it! I checked and what you said isnt right at all.



England struggle to beat anybody and it wouldve been crap being in the final against Germany. Why you want to get hammered in the WC final. Face it, we were useless and the only bright point is that so were almost everybody else. The 3 teams left and Brazil were the only decent sides.

And Yoda I know you like popping at England football when you can but wouldnt you be better not talking football and talk about things the Scottish are good at.......

Can't think of anything. Oh yeah! talk about that game your women play on ice with targets and little broomsticks. You are good at that.

Edited at 13:00 Wed 07/07/10 (BST)

I'm not having a pop at England, I'm just stating the truth.

And I have no idea what you're talking about.

England couldn't beat the USA or Algeria
Didn't beat USA because of the Green error, Before that England had most of the momentum (although the US were slowly building up)
If you think that we wouldn't have won this game at 1-0 just before halftime with the momentum then you shouldn't be watching England
And the win in that game would've been the confidence to go on and win the others

before getting battered 4-1 by Germany
Again, we came back with the momentum at 2-2 would've been anyones game, to comeback from 2-0 down to 2-2 only to have a goal disallowed would've been deeply disheartening

what makes you think they would have beaten Ghana, and gone on to make the semis?
The fact that form means absolutely nothing in big games, anyone can beat anyone with that little bit of luck

England got more than they deserved at the world cup by getting to the last 16, and overachieved in that sense
We played better than the rest of the teams in our group, so how do we overachieve by getting through the group stage

they are not a good team at all, don't know why I ever backed them, or why anyone ever believed in them
Whether your country is good or bad, firm favourites or underdogs, successful or not, they're your country. Be proud to be a part of them or go to another country.

England till i die
No matter what

Lol you just made all of that up! I Adidas are the manufacturer and nobody else can stick their own logos on it! I checked and what you said isnt right at all.

by blufadoodle^^^


true, adidas manufacture the ball, but did not develop it. they don't have the rights to the ball it'self, just the rights print their name and logo on the world cup edition of it. the ball was actually developed at loughbrough uni, in leicester, england, and was made available. scotland used it in the cup final i believe

No wonder why everone's saying it's rubbish

Your patriotism is admirable, your straw-clutching...not so much.

England till i die

or at least untill it's taken over

well... completely

England till i die

or at least untill it's taken over

well... completely

England till i die

or at least untill it's taken over

well... completely

dint mean to post 3 times... :-S