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Sweepstake Results

by sheps 11:15, 13 July 2010 | ?, (0 votes) 1 1279016127

So the World Cup is done and to be honest I was bored out of my mind by that final and by Spain throughout.

Anyway, Roger picked Spain so will enjoy his £100, and Mr Mulvihill Senior just grabs the top goalscorer as his guess of 157 is closer than Lenny's 177. Their two players were Villa and Forlan. No-one had Muller or Sneijder, besides it was always top goalscorer not the golden boot winner.

Please can everyone else who entered get me their entrance fees asap via paypal (ss@the6yardbox.com) or in cash to either me, Sim or Jack.

Thank you all hope it made the tournament a little bit more exciting for everyone!

Spain play the least entertaining football of anyone

by Gunner10 14:05, 12 July 2010 | ?, (0 votes) 39 1278939919

Spain won the wold cup. Cue the football pundits: 

"It was a result for the football purists"

"Total football wins all"

"They are a joy to watch"

Are they? I don't think so. They were described by Lineker as "wearing teams down with their constant pass/move". I don't find anything entertaining about watching one person pass it 10 yards along the ground and then turn to the next person and pass it 10 yeards along the ground. I've had to put up with this being an Arsenal fan but Spain seem to take it to the extreme. They pass pass pass get to the defence (which is well organised as they pass it so much it gives the defence TIME to organise itself) decide they can't get through and then pass it all the way back to the defence and start again. They remind me of a fly constantly trying to fly through a window, realsing it can't, doing a quick circuit around the room and then trying again.

I'm not debating whether their style of play is effective, it just annoys...

England's Problems and How to Fix Them

by sheps 15:28, 22 June 2010 | ?, (0 votes) 1 1277216928

England are in a real muddle. The tactics are in my opinion wrong, especially against 3 centre backs and defensive formations, and the players are down mentally.

The latter problem is easy. The pathetic overpaid twats are too used to having everything their way. They know from past World Cups that they will be crucified if, for instance, they miss in a penalty shoot out. They need to stop for a second to allow their testes to descend; and the press need to take a long look at themselves and ask - would they rather England progress further in the World Cup or would they like to massage their own careers a little?

The tactics, to be honest, aren't hard either. Let's just copy Brazil...

Brazil have been playing with two defensive-minded midfielders. This has two advantages - firstly the full backs can get forward (see Maicon); both of England's full backs are good down the pitch. Secondly they allow you to control the midfield and distribute the ball back and forward....

Campaign for Real Football Hall of Shame: Kader Keita

by sheps 23:08, 20 June 2010 | 5, (1 vote) 1 1277071728

Hall of Shame #2: Kader Keita

Dear Mr Abdul Kader Keita,

Tonight, as you know, you played in a World Cup group game versus Brazil. You got, to be honest, played off the park. And you lost. 3-1 was a let off to be honest.

But that's not why I'm writing to you. Towards the end of the game, you had, shall we say, an altercation with Kaka. Now, everyone kind of dislikes him. He has this annoying self righteousness about him, and apart from one Champions League campaign, he hasn't really done anything of note.

However, in response to his moving of an arm slowly towards you, you fell down as though in jealously that he has a more stupid name than you, clutching your silly little face in the process. Which was nowhere near his hand.

I wonder how you would respond if you were in a boxing ring and your opponent smacked you in the face?

You need reminding that the game that you are paid inane amounts of money to play is called "football". That means, you kick a football...

World Cup Odds: Halfway Through the Groups

by sheps 14:59, 18 June 2010 | ?, (0 votes) 1 1276869542

Halfway Through the Group Stages

Below are the two graphs to date. This first is 18th June, just before the USA vs Slovenia game:

Here's the first graph from 20th May, before the warm up friendlies:

Explaining the Changes

The most drastic change comes in group A. Look at France's pathetic little bar now compared with their group dominating odds of the blue graph. This is of course due to their failure to even score a goal with players such as Anelka, Malouda, Ribery and Henry at their disposal. Pathetic.

Argentina's impressive attacking performances and only conceding through one howler have catapulted them to favourite status.

England have dipped a little with their failure to beat the USA; of more concern probably was their failure to dominate the game and even deserve a victory.

The Germans have taken a hit with their loss early this afternoon. Australia's heavy defeat has hit their odds hugely with a 2nd place highly likely to be decided

England's Starting Line Up Revealed: EXCLUSIVE!

by sheps 13:27, 18 June 2010 | ?, (0 votes) 1 1276864021

http://www.the6yardbox.com/article/englands-inevitable-world-cup-tactics (13th May 2010)

Now we have Barry back from injury, and Green revealed to be shit in goal, we're back to square one (see above link).

Of course Carragher will be in rather than the injured Ferdinand.

The only doubt is Heskey or Defoe or Joe Cole in behind Rooney. I prefer the third option to force Rooney to play up top, if not let's not play Defoe. Rooney will just drop back into midfield, frustrated, and get booked.

I'm still sticking with a draw - and a score one at that, perhaps 2-2.

Uruguay are Revolting Cheats

by sheps 23:05, 16 June 2010 | 5, (1 vote) 1 1276725943

The title of the post pretty much says it all.

Uruguay turned up today and took every opportunity to dive, extort the referee, and generally to behave like petulant children.

Luis Suarez must really like the feel of grass against his body. The pathetic petulant little whinging woofter spent most of the time there, throwing himself around. Even when he won a penalty, (which WAS offside the BBC - when the original shot was deflected by the Uruguayan number 7) he was well on the way to the ground when contact was made.

I really hope they lose to Mexico and don't progress. They are the polar opposite of North Korea in this tournament.

They did incidentally play much better football than the boys the boys, but not in the correct spirit of the game. Poor show.

As an aside, does anyone else fancy a Brazil vs Spain second round game?

All 32 Sweepstake Picks

by sheps 19:11, 14 June 2010 | ?, (0 votes) 1 1276539070

Revealing them in a slightly less dramatic way... search for your pick below! The new ones are in bold.

Spain / Cacau : Roger W
Brazil / Luis Suarez : Doug P
Argentina / Niklas Bendtner : Matt R
England / Jermain Defoe : Dan T
Netherlands / Humberto Suazo : Mark W
Germany / Thierry Henry : Ben J
Italy / Samuel Eto'o : Sam T
France / Arjen Robben : Fran F
Portugal / Sergio Aguero : Tom S
Ivory Coast / Klaas-Jan Huntelaar : David S
Serbia / Nilmar : Ken L
Chile / Frank Lampard : Ioan O
Mexico / Diego Forlan : Lenny
USA / Nicolas Anelka : Jan S
Paraguay / Didier Drogba : Addison B
Cameroon / Lukas Podolski : Ella W
Uruguay / Antonio Di Natale : Eddy M
South Africa / Peter Crouch : Jack S
Ghana / Alberto Gilardino : Mike B
Australia / Carlos Tevez : Paul S
Denmark / Miroslav Klose : Mike H
Nigeria / Kaka : Simon R
Greece / Diego Milito : Sally W
South Korea / Robinho : James H
Switzerland / Cristiano Ronaldo :...

First 22 Sweepstake Picks and What's Left

by sheps 22:00, 10 June 2010 | ?, (0 votes) 1 1276203600

I hope you've enjoyed the draw throughout the day (I actually am writing this on Thursday evening - I'm probably a little tipsy on the Isle of Wight right now!). The full picks are below. If you want to get involved when the last 10 are drawn on Monday just comment below.

Spain / Cacau : FREE!
Brazil / Luis Suarez : Doug P
Argentina / Niklas Bendtner : FREE!
England / Jermain Defoe : Dan T
Netherlands / Humberto Suazo : Mark W
Germany / Thierry Henry : Ben J
Italy / Samuel Eto'o : Sam T
France / Arjen Robben : Fran F
Portugal / Sergio Aguero : Tom S
Ivory Coast / Klaas-Jan Huntelaar : David S
Serbia / Nilmar : FREE!
Chile / Frank Lampard : Ioan O
Mexico / Diego Forlan : FREE!
USA / Nicolas Anelka : Jan S
Paraguay / Didier Drogba : Addison B
Cameroon / Lukas Podolski : FREE!
Uruguay / Antonio Di Natale : Eddy M
South Africa / Peter Crouch : Jack S
Ghana / Alberto Gilardino : David B
Australia / Carlos Tevez : Paul S
Denmark / Miroslav...