Looks like Becks is going to be fit

[The PIT]

Good news for us bad news for the Swedes now all we need is a defence.

[DentyCracker]

England will be very lucky to get out of their group. With Beckham at least they have a glimmer of hope

[The PIT]

The problem has been the defence it's looked shakey for sometime so far we've pulled out the mire by Owen and Beckham.
I wonder how long it will be before someone jumps on his foot.

[Indiana]

Originally posted by The PIT
I wonder how long it will be before someone jumps on his foot.

This is very true, unfortunately - and it's one of the saddest things in soccer.
The referees would do better protecting the good players that are constantly deliberately attacked / fouled this way (sometimes you can easily see that there are two or three players of the opponents team "set" on doing this to avoid cards..) instead of showing yellow or even red cards to someone who put off his shirt or who complained about some decision...

[The PIT]

Well if you look how he got injured in the first place. In Europe got hit on the leg in the first leg and got hit again 2nd leg which caused the break. Make your own conclussions.

[Novdid]

Sad indeed, I agree that it seems they deliberately try to hurt good players, the fact that the guy was Argentinian makes things more suspicious...but it could have just been an accident.

Good news for England though, he is the best footballer in the world if you ask me.

Sadly though the swedish midfielders have been dissapointingly bad the last few months, but if you look on the bright side our attackers are amongst the best in the world. Allbäck and Henrik Larsson have an excellent understanding of each other on the pitch and one of them almost always score in every game, and then offcourse we have Zlatan Ibrahimovic to throw in if things happen get stalled, he can do everything imaginable with the ball, when he's in the mood there is no defender in the world who can stop him(they can however injure him ).

And remember Sweden haven't lost against England since 1967, I just hope they can extend that suite a bit longer.

Can't wait until sunday!

[edit] Sorry, it's 1968, not 1967.

[RedRed]

Larsson is an excellent player..... One of the best....
we lost Keane.... but you gotta stand by your manager! His temper blew that for him! Let him rot....

RedRed

[Novdid]

Keane is a very good player, but it seems the guy has an attitude problem though.

[Edit] BTW, I like your avatar RedRed. I see you kept your old design!

[RichL]

England havent had much of a defense since Euro 96 when Tony Adams ran the show. Campbell and Ferdinand are both superb when on form, I just hope they sort it out before Saturday.

So far the odds on the Argies deliberately stamping on Beckhams foot are very short indeed. Its the way the scumbags play. Its not like they're all crap footballers and have to cheat and foul to win a game either. At least we've got baldy slaphead Pierre-Luigi Collina as a referee, hopefully he'll keep things under control.

Originally posted by Novdid
Sadly though the swedish midfielders have been dissapointingly bad the last few months,

Are you kidding? Freddie Ljunberg has been in fantastic form for Arsenal, although news this morning was that he had a sore leg but expected to be fit for the England match.

Now where did I leave that voodoo doll and pins?

Anyway, whatever happens, we all know England have the best world cup songs!

[Novdid]

One player does not make a midfield. And another point is that the only game Ljungberg has done well in the Yellow dress, was his first against England 3,5 years ago.

He's not very popular over here really, but he is very important to the team non the less. The problem is that the 3 other, midfielders except maybe Anders Svensson, aren't good enough to play at the level they have to do, to ensure that Sweden atleast put up a fight against England. Anders Svensson is the only player in the swedish team that can distribute the balls from a central position, and that's weakness of the Swedish team. These issues forces Ljungberg to play a very different role in the national team than he does in Arsenal. You can maybe even say that Ljungbergs succes depends on Anders Svensson...

Well that's my take on the issue, but don't quote me.

[Novdid]

Hehe...Smokie anyone???

[The PIT]

Well the swedish Goal Keeper will find out when he's picking the ball out of the net.

[Novdid]

We should have won the game, sadly we didn't.

And as I said, Anders Svensson is a very, very, very good player!

[The PIT]

Originally posted by Novdid
We should have won the game, sadly we didn't.

And as I said, Anders Svensson is a very, very, very good player!

I agree with that.

[Pace]

Just thought of a new use for DualHead - watching football! Think of the possibilities...watching different games, different angles, replays! All I need now is digital TV receiver (or maybe 2?).

P.