Rooney to miss World Cup Group Matches...

[BritishPenguin]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/footbal ... 019094.stm

Ouch.

Looks as though England are going to have to make do with Crouch up front. Or Steven Gerrard.

[Rocco]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/world_cup_2006/teams/england/5019094.stm

Ouch.

Looks as though England are going to have to make do with Crouch up front. Or Steven Gerrard.

England would be better off with the Inanimate Carbon Rod up front than Crouch. And I'm a Liverpool fan, so you'd think I would be propping up the kid. It's a shame Sven doesn't believe in anything other than a 4-4-2; then he might actually find a way to take advantage of the talent on the team. Even if Rooney gets back in time for the knockout stages, I don't know how useful he can be after the layoff. At least Owen was able to avoid hurting himself yesterday.

It could be worse- the US lost another defender. And unlike Frankie Hejduk, Gibbs is actually useful. Hopefully we can avoid being the worst team in the WC...again.

[jmh470]

England's midfield should be able to drag them out of the group stage. After that, I can't see them getting past the quarter finals without a fit and sharp Rooney.

The USA situation is getting worse by the day. If they don't impress tonight, I will have to write off their chances of advancing.

[BritishPenguin]

Crouch actually scored a hat-trick today Against Jamaica, however. He could have scored four had he not blasted a penalty over the crossbar.

Only six days until it all starts - I think Brazil will win, with the USA and the Ivory Coast being teams to watch...

[Vanbiesbrouck]

Anybody intested in doing the Yahoo world cup fantasy thing and making a LGP group?

[Rocco]

Crouch actually scored a hat-trick today Against Jamaica, however. He could have scored four had he not blasted a penalty over the crossbar.

Only six days until it all starts - I think Brazil will win, with the USA and the Ivory Coast being teams to watch...

It's nice to see Crouchie light up someone, even if it's just the Jamaicans. It would be even nicer if Sven could settle on a formation on his "middle finger to England" tour. After running through three options for a holding midfielder (one of which was Jamie Carragher, which makes perfect sense since Carragher's excelled as a center-half and would be a good fit at CB next to Terry), he's back to a 4-4-2. At least until he gets bored and sends on David James as a third striker. England's going to be entertaining this year, either in victory or in a meltdown. If/when Owen gets hurt, the media should really start savaging Sven for not taking another striker. Then again, if Owen catches fire, and if Beckham is motivated, and if Lampard/Gerrard work well together, and if Joe Cole shows up, and if Paul Robinson is solid...why can't they win it all?

I think the US is a casualty of their group- Italy and the Czechs (even banged-up) are better, and while they may be better than Ghana, the best player on the pitch (if he's not suspended for being the dirty thug that he is) is Michael Essien. If they get past their group, Brazil likely awaits. I think I can beat the Brazilians on Championship Manager if I can reset 4 times and try different formations, but you can't do that in the WC.