Also, I may well still be stuck on a train when the deadline hits as I'm at job interviews all day in the Midlands.
Therefore, if anyone changes their predictions before the deadline, you must make a new post telling me that or I will go with the predictions I have entered into the spreadsheet.
Unless I am without phone signal, I should be able to give a deadline post.
So you have until 20:00 GMT tonight to submit predictions for tonight's game as well as for the Total Goals and Golden Boot competitions
"You want to take my city of Troll%ng? Go ahead and try."
(June 11th, 2014, 10:12)Gustaran Wrote: Golden boot: Miroslav Klose (GER)
Isn't he like 50 years old? I liked Gaspar's Götze pick (he was my second choice after Suarez) but there are at least three players on the German team I'd pick before Klose (Özil and Müller as well). The more I look at Germany, the more certain I am that the "home continent always wins" streak is over.
Darrell
Actually if Colombia's Faryd Mondragon plays he'll become officially the oldest player to play at the world cup (nobody actually believes Roger Milla's (he of the sexy corner flag loving) stated date of birth but it's what's used for official purposes).
Travelling on a mote of dust, suspended in a sunbeam.
Ok I'll make one change to my predictions so far, Goals Scored
Considering that penalty shoot-outs are included, I'll increase my number of goals scored from 137 to 156. Still much lower than everybody else, but the thing is we don't really top 145 at the moment in milder climates, and hot games will make defending easier.
Two more days of matches:
Saturday 14th June 2014
17:00 World Cup – Group C Colombia vs Greece
20:00 World Cup – Group D Uruguay vs Costa Rica
23:00 World Cup – Group D England vs Italy
Sunday 15th June 2014
02:00 World Cup – Group C Ivory Coast vs Japan
17:00 World Cup – Group E Switzerland vs Ecuador
20:00 World Cup – Group E France vs Honduras
23:00 World Cup – Group F Argentina vs Bosnia
Colombia 1; Greece 0. Colombia will find it hard to break down the wooden wall (kudos if you get the reference), but Greece can't score for love nor money, so if Colombia are patient they should win/
Uruguay 3; Costa Rica 0. Uruguay are too good, they should win. And with that forward line they'll score goals.
England 0; Italy 1. England have two problems, 1) they are a very ordinary team with no world class players, 2) their style of play (kick it in the air and run as fast as you can in a random direction) will kill them inside of ten minutes. Italy can and should win by more, but this is Italy, they'll score early and leave it at that.
Ivory Coast 2 Japan 1. This is a tricky one, upside down Ireland are an ageing team, and Japan a bit of an unknown quantity. I'll go with the Cote d'Ivoire because it's the closest thing I'll have to patriotism this world cup.
Switzerland 3; Equador 1. Switzerland should win, but I'm not so sure about the score.
France 4; Honduras 0. Mismatch, need I say more.
Argentina 4; Bosnia & Herzegovina 2. Two very attacking teams. Unfortunately for Bosnia, Argentina have a stellar attack (while Bosnia's front four would walk into most teams at the WC, Messi and co are the best attacking line in the game at the moment), and a better defence (both defences are suspect). I expect goals here.
Travelling on a mote of dust, suspended in a sunbeam.
I was going to do predictionsguesses day of match because I find that more entertaining myself, if that's going to be irritating for you TT then let me know and I'll do a batch at once
(June 11th, 2014, 10:12)Gustaran Wrote: Golden boot: Miroslav Klose (GER)
Isn't he like 50 years old? I liked Gaspar's Götze pick (he was my second choice after Suarez) but there are at least three players on the German team I'd pick before Klose (Özil and Müller as well).
Darrell
With Mario Gomez injured, Miroslav Klose is the only forward on the German team which means he will get to play a lot. German offensive midfield players are Götze, Özil, Müller, Kroos, Podolski, Schürrle for only 3 spots if we assume a 4-2-3-1, so a guess like Özil is risky because he may not see a lot of play.
He was so good last World Cup I have to think they'll find a way to get him on, but then again your superior knowledge of the German team over me is only surpassed by your superior skill at chess over me .
(June 12th, 2014, 07:14)Gustaran Wrote: With Mario Gomez injured, Miroslav Klose is the only forward on the German team which means he will get to play a lot. German offensive midfield players are Götze, Özil, Müller, Kroos, Podolski, Schürrle for only 3 spots if we assume a 4-2-3-1, so a guess like Özil is risky because he may not see a lot of play.
I think they're likely to use Götze as a forward - they've done it before. And I can't imagine a scenario where Özil doesn't play more than Klose.
I've been wrong before, though. And I assume you're getting fresher news on the matter than me.
I've got some dirt on my shoulder, can you brush it off for me?
(June 12th, 2014, 07:14)Gustaran Wrote: With Mario Gomez injured, Miroslav Klose is the only forward on the German team which means he will get to play a lot. German offensive midfield players are Götze, Özil, Müller, Kroos, Podolski, Schürrle for only 3 spots if we assume a 4-2-3-1, so a guess like Özil is risky because he may not see a lot of play.
I think they're likely to use Götze as a forward - they've done it before. And I can't imagine a scenario where Özil doesn't play more than Klose.
I've been wrong before, though. And I assume you're getting fresher news on the matter than me.
There have been two exhibiton matches against Cameroon (2-2) and against Armenia (6-1) recently and at the moment Özil is being criticized heavily for his lackluster performances. As a matter of fact, today's headline in "Bild" (Germany's largest newspaper) is "Özil - first match, last chance?" with a poll that suggested 57% of all readers do not want to see him play. That doesn't mean anything of course, but it goes to show that Özil is not regarded very highly in comparison to the other players at the moment.
And yes, Götze has been playing as a forward (false 9 style), but against Armenia playing Müller as forward did not work very well during the first half and the majority opinion was that Germany needs a "real" forward. But I guess we all know how it goes: If Özil scores two assists and a goal in the first match he will be a hero, so who knows. ;-)
If I had to bet money, I probably wouldn't choose Klose as Golden boot winner. I think Christiano Ronaldo has a good chance if Portugal makes it through the group stage as well as Brazil's Neymar. Messi probably not so much, I feel his performance for Argentina is inferior to his play at Barcelona.
