Long ball is just one route for Sven

I am happy to defend "route one" footbal as a viable tactic. It makes a lot of sense if you lack creative midfielders, but have those that have bite.

Anyway, Svennie's right: mixing up the long and short is always better.

 
ESPNsoccernet.com World Cup 2002: Batistuta grabs hat-trick

"Argentina showed their formidable strength in depth when a virtual reserve side overwhelmed their hosts in the second half after eight changes at the interval."

Two words for England: "Oh bugger"

 
Spain given tough work-out

Does this point to yet another lacklustre tournament from them? I hope not!

 
Senegal boosted by narrow victory

And you know who I'll be rooting for in the Senegal-France game... ;)

 
Ljungberg in training fight with Mellberg

Ljunberg says "'Things like that happen, it's nothing to worry about. Such things happen when you play."

Good or bad? I think that any dissent between players can't be good for the team on the whole, but that this won't really affect their chances in the World Cup.

 
Sven tells England: Get organised

Sven says that the England team don't do well when switching tactics in mid-game.

Does that mean that the team will stick with whatever formation they start with against Sweden? Which is it: 4-4-2 or 4-3-3?

I think that if he can have a healthy defensive midfielder, he might go 4-3-3. That could mean Beckham or Butt in central midfield with (surprise, surprise) Danny Mills as right midfield and Wes Brown as right-back. Ideally Dyer would be in left midfield but I think Wayne Bridge could play the role too. The tactic would be to have Beckham spraying balls left and right into space with the option to use Scholes or Sheringham as the link man to Heskey and Owen.

If Murphy, Beckham and Butt are all still out, that it would have to be 4-4-2. Hargreaves would be called in, probably, with Scholes playing deeper. The tactic would be to try to advance up the wings playing one-twos with central midfield, with the occasional harassing foray by Heskey through the middle and the usual Scholsey forward runs.

 
Republic send Keane home

Really, really, really bad news for Ireland. Ireland without Roy Keane loses a lot of its edge and inspirational power, not to mention their influence in the midfield.

I suppose Matt Holland will have to try to play that role now.

 
Ahh, Adz... it's because the teams are taking it easy before the real competition begins.

As for Italy's early difficulties... man, they're used to it!

 
Hargreaves content to take centre stage

Hargreaves in the starting line-up? I haven't seen much of him, and wouldn't know whether he or Nicky Butt would be better in midfield.

My choice? Stick with experience and a Man Utd pairing in midfield.

 
Hiddink: S.Korea ready for World Cup
So, who will do better: S. Korea or Japan? I've always thought that Japan had the better side, but the recent run of positive results for South Korea look encouraging.

And I don't know a single player from their squad!

 
Puzzle could be solved by Macca

Another call for Macca to be included in the England squad.

Why doesn't Sven like Macca? Whatever his reasons, they must be good ones. There has been speculation that it's because somebody told him that Fowler and Macca together make an unhealthy disruptive pair, but that can't be the main reason.

Perhaps it's because Macca doesn't fit into his game plan. From early on, Sven has said that he preferred a counter-attacking style based on Owen, and maybe he considers the ousted player too languid for the team. But Real Madrid have played counter attacking football at times, so that can't be the only problem.

Perhaps he doesn't think Macmanaman has the right team spirit. Sven has been famous for picking 'positive' players who have a thirst for winning and maybe Steve just doesn't cut it attitude-wise.

 
Spaniards play down Raul row

Ahh... you should just get rid of prima donnas, eh?

 
Argentina squad has no number 10
In honour of Maradona, they say.

You know, any team that isn't sure if Gabriel Batistuta is good enough to make the first 11 should be a team good enough to win the World Cup. But, of course, it takes more than just a squad of talented players to do so.

The only thing against them (as with all South American teams) is that their key players are based overseas, which might make it difficult to adjust to a common style. The big thing about the current Argentinian squad is that they are more or less the same team that went through qualifying, so the teamwork should be there.

 
McCarthy unworried after Keane bust-up

But... surely there's something really wrong when your most inspirational and professional player wants to walk out!

 
Henry given Sunday fitness deadline

It's not only England who have injury woes.

 
Eriksson admits Dyer uncertainty

Also, Murphy also has an injured foot.

So, whaddya think? Should a nation include in its squad players who they think will only become fit in time for the group matches? I think Svennie has up to 30 May to swap players due to injury.