The final England game, will they go out with a win?
Following their miserable two defeats, England face all conquering Costa Rica in their final World Cup game. Although it's a dead rubber, there is still the interest of our prediction competition and one of our new away shirts signed by the whole Shrewsbury Town squad. To be honest, that's all that's kept me interested in England's games and I've spent the last few days trying to decide which country I'll support. In the end I've decided to become Dutch because my great, great, great grandmother was half Dutch. Yes, I'll admit that this is a rather tenuous link to hang an allegiance upon, but I also like the colour orange, which is enough for me to jump ship.
In a way I'm quite pleased to see England go home earlier than anticipated because it saves me from anxious evenings in front of the telly, trying to mitigate my worry for the national side with various alcoholic beverages. So this time, all my support for Roy’s boys has brought me is a headache the next morning and a mild case of periodic depression.
But this is no time for alcohol induced misery, Roy has promised a new look England team! Out goes our best player and Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney with Daniel Sturridge as the lone striker. Ben Foster will replace Joe Hart in goal (not sure what Joe has done to deserve being dropped!) and James Milner, Frank Lampard, Ross Barkley, Jack Wilshere and Adam Lallana will be brought into midfield. Phil Jones, Chris Smalling and Luke Shaw come into defence with centre-back Gary Cahill.
Personally, I've no idea why James Milner is even in the squad, he seems to lose the ball in important areas of the pitch but I guess someone had to replace the lacklustre captain and his vital errors. Maybe I'm being harsh on Steven Gerrard, but this season his high profile mistakes seem to have cost his club and country and for me, he's the last link to the so called “golden generation” that failed so spectacularly in international competition. I very much hope he retires because his ability as a captain is for me, one of the biggest factors in our dismal showing. He's light years away from being an inspirational leader and I wonder if a smile may do his face irreparable damage!
But enough criticism! We have a prediction competition to finish! So how do you think we will do? I'm wondering if some of the pressure that the players apparently feel may be lifted and we may end up watching our only win in our very last World cup game for four years. Also, during a normal season, my predictions are never negative for the “home” team, so I'll predict a win for England on the basis of the previously mentioned reduction in pressure and possibility of the Costa Rica manager resting some of his better player, ready for the next round. So with all things considered, I will predict a 2-1 win for England!
Micky Mellon’s prediction is a 2-1 win for England.
Ian Whitfield’s prediction is 2-1 win for England, so we are all either right or all wrong.
Prediction Competition
Do you want to make a prediction and be in with a chance to WIN one of the new SHREWSBURY TOWN AWAY SHIRT? Just go to www.facebook.com/groups/shrewschat/ , join the group and add your prediction to the “World Cup prediction competition” discussion that will be pinned to the top of the discussion board or pop your prediction on ShrewsWallif your not on Facebook.
The rules
If you guess the correct scoreline you get three points, if you predict the correct result only, you get 1 point. A running total will be calculated for each player based on their predictions for the England group games and any subsequent England games. In the event of a tied score, a tiebreaker will be set.