WCF: Group D: Costa Rica-England-Italy-Uruguay

[HatterDon]

Barkley looks like a useful player with a decent future ahead. Having said that, I don't know why he's in Brazil, never mind playing.

[Shredhead]

I think Costa Rica can get points against Italy and England. Mind you I'm probably in the minority as I don't think England will get out of the group

It's been a few days since I looked at FoF so I'm not sure if people have revisited their posts with the benefit of hindsight but I think you're are spot on.  Although the England players will know you just have blow at Bryan and he falls over.

[Sammyffc]

Not quite sure why my post has been moved to here when it wasn't about the group england are in for the world cup . Was a comparison of two players ...

[Sammyffc]

Great post. I think that much of the Rooney slating comes from our high expectations of him as we know what he is capable of, combined with our desperation to still be classed as a world-class team. When Rooney doesnt deliver the Suarez package for England the frustration grows.and he is targetted. You have to remember also that we live on a population who loves to moan as it gives you the most attention online - one of the reasons I hate twitter. Either way I wouldnt lose sleep on Rooney as he gets paid more than most earn in a decade, in a week!

Also, on the subject of Ross Barkley, is he overrated? Only time will tell really, I hope not.

thank you i appreciate it . And i agree, he is a great player but too many people are slating him without a solid reason. I also agree rooney doesn't deliver the suarez package , however is suarez playing his preferred position , he is ! . This is what the majority of people don't understand ( not you of course ) , they are forgetting rooney is a out and out striker and NOT playing in his position. Can you imagine the uproar in Uruguay if suarez was made to play on the wing to supplement another striker who has had a good season ? . Italy are a great example of this , Balotelli starts every game for italy as a striker as he scores for them . However, Immobile is Serie A's top goal scorer but sits on the bench. Should Balotelli now be made to change positions ?

[nose]

ruiz got a header for costa rica, more than he has ever done for us.
he never made a run into the penalty area or strained to get a ball like that for us either
i didn't ever think much of him to be honest and what i have seen of costa rica has not made me change my mind.
however i do like the look of the costa rica manager, getting the best from his squad.

How you like us now, once a hater always a hater, costa rica and ruiz have been quality all tournament and what do you have to show, not a damn thing

Costa rica are a revelation and I am greatly impressed by the team and if you read my [post you will see I totally praise the manager for getting the maximum from his team. I would love to have that situation here.

However Ruiz has not stood out, there is nothing in the two performances I have seen that makes me think he is a different player to that one that underachieved for over two season at Fulham. The header VItaly was not typical of what we saw in over two years. How often did we ever see him straining to get into the box to get on the end of anything? almost never. And I saw him play an awful lot of games in the flesh, he was honestly very underwhelming.

I hope costa rica progress much further, as a team they are very impresive, but for me to change my opinion of ruiz, I would need to see much more than what we have seen in the first two games.

[FFC1987]

Great post. I think that much of the Rooney slating comes from our high expectations of him as we know what he is capable of, combined with our desperation to still be classed as a world-class team. When Rooney doesnt deliver the Suarez package for England the frustration grows.and he is targetted. You have to remember also that we live on a population who loves to moan as it gives you the most attention online - one of the reasons I hate twitter. Either way I wouldnt lose sleep on Rooney as he gets paid more than most earn in a decade, in a week!

Also, on the subject of Ross Barkley, is he overrated? Only time will tell really, I hope not.

thank you i appreciate it . And i agree, he is a great player but too many people are slating him without a solid reason. I also agree rooney doesn't deliver the suarez package , however is suarez playing his preferred position , he is ! . This is what the majority of people don't understand ( not you of course ) , they are forgetting rooney is a out and out striker and NOT playing in his position. Can you imagine the uproar in Uruguay if suarez was made to play on the wing to supplement another striker who has had a good season ? . Italy are a great example of this , Balotelli starts every game for italy as a striker as he scores for them . However, Immobile is Serie A's top goal scorer but sits on the bench. Should Balotelli now be made to change positions ?

Could you do one for Stirling and Rooney? I think a lot of the Barkley over Rooney media coverage was misinformed whereas the majorty of people think Stirling had a good game in that role against Italy and should have had another go at it rather than pushing him wide and impacting his game. I imagine Rooney would still get the better score but Stirling over Rooney (in the CAM) role was an argument amongst people who know football and I thought was an interesting one. If Stirling wins this, is there not an argument for dropping Wayne over an actual left winger who knows the position? (I tried sqwarker but it doesn't work at work unfortunately)

[Craven Mad]

Damn, Ruiz looking so good against England. Just needs to be played properly. Hopefully he'll get another chance next year. If not, at least his value is going up every game!

[Neil D]

Italy, once again, were dreadful.  Prandelli has offered his resignation and Massimo Allegri is hovering in the background.