Get Ready For Some Football

[perdue3]

sorry thought this thread was about the World Cup.

England vs USA  who will win ?   

and can you beat the Welsh!!   

The plan is to win the group by running at Harry Maguire and Ben Davies in space. It will be tough go for us, but I think 7 points is possible, and 6 is almost expected.

Objectively, I have no idea how England expect to go very far with that back line. Stones and Dier? Maguire? Coady? Midfield is a bit soft, too. Kalvin Phillips has played a single match in 6 months, Jordan Henderson is a laughable addition, Mount and Gallagher are in woeful form. No problems going forward with the likes of Saka, Sterling, and Rashford. Truth be told, Grealish is lucky to make the squad and I'd have taken Toney over Grealish and probably Wilson, too.

My favorites to win are Brazil and France.

[Bruv119]

some interesting observations perdweeb.

I had all but given up on southgate and his softly softly defensive approach.   We do have some fantastic players all around but he sticks to his regulars and the bigger clubs.  How Sterling is in the squad I don't know. 

I hope he doesn't start with Pickford in goal, whilst he did ok in the Euros he never fills me with confidence, Nick Pope is a proper big old school goalkeeper and could keep us in games.

Slabhead (maguire) will have a point to prove, should have fresh legs and is good at attacking corners.   

The heat won't help but a mid season tournament may be an advantage because come the end of season they are usually all knackered.  Inspired by our women's team they know it can be done.   

Excuse my ignorance for not knowing any American players or their manager.   Good luck to them and may the best team win.   I hope they get 3 points over Iran because the whole of the middle east will be cheering for them 

[perdue3]

Maguire is a joke. Saka should start over Sterling on the right. I'm biased to Ramsdale, but Pope is in good form. Pickford plays for relegation side Everton, so I wouldn't pick him unless it was an emergency. But, like you said, Southgate goes with his regulars. Nearly the entire England squad save Stones, Kane, Saka, and Trippier are in fairly bad form right now. Which, will play a part in the mid-season world cup. I'm excited and can't wait.

USA have many Premier League starters:

Pulisic - Chelsea
McKennie - Juventus
Dest - Barcelona
Adam's- Leeds
Aaronson - Leeds
Robinson - Fulham
Ream - Fulham
Turner - Arsenal
Reyna - Borussia Dortmund
Sargent - Norwich

In all, I think we are more talented than Wales and all African/Asian squads in the competiton. Wales basically has a Premier League side, which may be a problem. Daniel James is super pacey on the wing and may prove problematic.

[Brooke]

Arg.  Tennessee lost to South Carolina.   

It was a wild weekend of games.

#1 Georgia won against unranked Kentucky, but only 16-6
#2 Ohio State won against unranked Maryland, but it was a close game for a long time, and 36 to 30, Maryland ball, with 42 seconds left.
#3 Michigan won against unranked Illinois, but on a field goal in the last 10 seconds to make it 19-17; and lost starting RB to injury.
#4 TCU won against unranked Baylor, but on a last-second field goal.

Vanderbilt beat Florida!  (Man -- last week, they beat Kentucky.  Commodores are energized!)

[MiloMorai]

Arg.  Tennessee lost to South Carolina.   

It was a wild weekend of games.

63 - 38 is more than a loss.

USC vs UCLA (48-46) was a tight one as was Oregon and Utah (20-17).

[Brooke]

63 - 38 is more than a loss.

Yes.    And it was even worse than that.

The Vols lost Hendon Hooker (the star QB and Heisman candidate) to injury in the last moments when the game was already long decided.

USC vs UCLA (48-46) was a tight one as was Oregon and Utah (20-17).

I watched the USC/UCLA game.  That was a good game, although I was hoping for a UCLA win.

[oakranger]

Maryland is overlooked a lot.  They have great coaching staff and players.  And they can be dangerous team to play against.  The way they play against buckeyes, they should have been playing against Mich, Wic, PSU.  They are not consistent ever game.

Tennessee; what the hell happen?  Few weeks ago they were on top of the world after beating bama.  Then here comes SC to let everybody know that Tennessee are not that great. 

TCU; how the bloody hell did they pull that off.  I thought it was over but Baylor just gave that opportunity away to beat them.  Piss poor call by the coach.

Michigan;  got me worried there.  To pull it off but not as dramatic as TCU.  Good that Mich has #1 field gold punter in the nation. 

Georgia; Kent state, Missouri and Kentucky.  Three unranked teams that UGA play and won but not like #1 ranked team.  I still question if they are that strong.  We will see when LSU comes to town.

Next week.  The game.  As you know I am a buckeye fan and always enjoy the match up.  It’s hard to say who will win this year.  But I do hope it will be one hell of a game.  Go buckeyes!  Go blue!

[Brooke]

Maryland is overlooked a lot.  They have great coaching staff and players.  And they can be dangerous team to play against.  The way they play against buckeyes, they should have been playing against Mich, Wic, PSU.  They are not consistent ever game.

I, too, think Maryland can be quite good but is very inconsistent.  When they play well -- look out.  They can surprise you.

Next week.  The game.  As you know I am a buckeye fan and always enjoy the match up.  It’s hard to say who will win this year.  But I do hope it will be one hell of a game.  Go buckeyes!  Go blue!

Michigan is down its #1 and #2 RB's (Corum and Edwards), its #1 TE (Schoony), its #1 edge rusher (Morris), its #1 returner (Henning), its #1 LG (Keegan).  I'm hoping those guys are healthy enough for The Game.  After the Illinois game, Michigan fans' worry level increased greatly.

[oakranger]

Another fantastic win for Michigan.  McCarthy will have OSU balls in the next few years.
After todays game, they should get to the NC, maybe win or lose to a close game.

As for my Buckeyes.  They are done.  No chance to get in the playoff.  And they should not be in the playoffs.  It took me a while to see the problem; Ryan Day.  He just another John Cooper.    OSU has great players that coaching staff do not know what to do with. 

Day needs to go.  As long as he still head coach, they will never beat Michigan or win NC.  I am calling it now, buckeyes will lose three games in 23’ (Michigan, ND, and maybe PSU, Maryland or Purdue).

[Spikes]

Another fantastic win for Michigan.  McCarthy will have OSU balls in the next few years.
After todays game, they should get to the NC, maybe win or lose to a close game.

As for my Buckeyes.  They are done.  No chance to get in the playoff.  And they should not be in the playoffs.  It took me a while to see the problem; Ryan Day.  He just another John Cooper.    OSU has great players that coaching staff do not know what to do with. 

Day needs to go.  As long as he still head coach, they will never beat Michigan or win NC.  I am calling it now, buckeyes will lose three games in 23’ (Michigan, ND, and maybe PSU, Maryland or Purdue).

lol

was waiting all day for this, thanks. 

[perdue3]

Another fantastic win for Michigan.  McCarthy will have OSU balls in the next few years.
After todays game, they should get to the NC, maybe win or lose to a close game.

As for my Buckeyes.  They are done.  No chance to get in the playoff.  And they should not be in the playoffs.  It took me a while to see the problem; Ryan Day.  He just another John Cooper.    OSU has great players that coaching staff do not know what to do with. 

Day needs to go.  As long as he still head coach, they will never beat Michigan or win NC.  I am calling it now, buckeyes will lose three games in 23’ (Michigan, ND, and maybe PSU, Maryland or Purdue).

Lol

[Brooke]

Another fantastic win for Michigan.  McCarthy will have OSU balls in the next few years.
After todays game, they should get to the NC, maybe win or lose to a close game.

As for my Buckeyes.  They are done.  No chance to get in the playoff.  And they should not be in the playoffs.  It took me a while to see the problem; Ryan Day.  He just another John Cooper.    OSU has great players that coaching staff do not know what to do with. 

Day needs to go.  As long as he still head coach, they will never beat Michigan or win NC.  I am calling it now, buckeyes will lose three games in 23’ (Michigan, ND, and maybe PSU, Maryland or Purdue).

Ohio State is a great team, with an amazing roster of players.

And Ryan Day is a very good coach.

We can see this because -- even after a loss in The Game -- the football world judges Ohio State to be #5.  And I think many people would bet that Ohio State would beat #4 USC and #3 TCU.  Day's OSU record so far is 45-5 (9:1).  Saban's Alabama record is 7:1.  Dabo Swinney's Clemson record is 4.2:1.  Lincoln Riley's Oklahoma record is 5.5:1.  Urban Meyer's OSU record is 9.3:1, but includes the years Michigan was having enormous problems.

The thing we are seeing in these past two years is that Harbaugh has built Michigan into a program that is competitive with Ohio State again.  It feels drastic because of the total domination Ohio State enjoyed for so long.

As some teams in the Big 10 become better, there might be years of upsets.  And the Big10 is gaining USC, probably UCLA, and maybe others.

But Ohio State and Day are formidable.  No team in college football can play them and take it lightly.

[LNG15]

I do have some sad news to report. I do keep an eye on Twitter, and got confirmation that Luke Fickell is leaving UC for Wisconsin. I was in utter shock of this happening.

[oakranger]

Ohio State is a great team, with an amazing roster of players.

And Ryan Day is a very good coach.

We can see this because -- even after a loss in The Game -- the football world judges Ohio State to be #5.  And I think many people would bet that Ohio State would beat #4 USC and #3 TCU.  Day's OSU record so far is 45-5 (9:1).  Saban's Alabama record is 7:1.  Dabo Swinney's Clemson record is 4.2:1.  Lincoln Riley's Oklahoma record is 5.5:1.  Urban Meyer's OSU record is 9.3:1, but includes the years Michigan was having enormous problems.

The thing we are seeing in these past two years is that Harbaugh has built Michigan into a program that is competitive with Ohio State again.  It feels drastic because of the total domination Ohio State enjoyed for so long.

As some teams in the Big 10 become better, there might be years of upsets.  And the Big10 is gaining USC, probably UCLA, and maybe others.

But Ohio State and Day are formidable.  No team in college football can play them and take it lightly.

Here is issue with Day.  45-5 record might be impressive on the surface but what dose it look under water.  Most of the wins are against weak teams.  When he faces teams that are close to or equal talent he loses. Only one big game at 4 years as head coach was against Clemson in 2020.
He has massive talent players yet he never maximize that talent.  He just like John Cooper; too conservative, can’t make adjustments and routinely gets out coached, relaxed when they have the lead then panics when loosing it and team are indiscipline on the field. 
Day is a good coach but not head coach material.  Especially for a power house team like OSU.  He would be better off coaching Rutgers or Purdue where he could average 7-8 wins a year.

I do recall Harbaugh got a lot of flack for a while.  MU fans wanted him out.  Even I question how he was still head coach when buckeyes kept beating them. He stood his ground making his argument why he still head coach.  He brought back Michigan, which I am glad.  It brings the excrement in Big10.  I hope they keep that momentum in the playoff and win NC.  Georgia not that impressive this year neither is SEC.


Why USC and UCLA want joined the Big10.  It’s silly to me.  Yes, it does bring in more strong teams into the Big10 but they are better off in the PAC 10. 

The Big10 western division teams needs to do better.  Wisconsin and Iowa always a favor and threat to OSU, Mich, PSU and MSU.   But lately they have been weak.  Sometimes illions and Purdue have their years.  Then there is Nebraska.  The one only team in the far west that gets ignore; like they do not fit in.  Still dreaming of the Tom Osborn days.  Huge fan base,  lots of talent but just can not get the right coach for the job.  Maybe Urban Meyers should take that job and change that program around.

[oakranger]

I do have some sad news to report. I do keep an eye on Twitter, and got confirmation that Luke Fickell is leaving UC for Wisconsin. I was in utter shock of this happening.

Dam.  He put UC on the spot light last year and had one hell of a season.  Sorry to see him go, if true.  Wish him the best of luck at Wisconsin and we will see how things are going in three years times.