Football 2013-2014

[pink_triangle]

Would be good for me if they only manage playoffs as that's extra income for work seeing as I work in the bar trade...also a Scot I'd laugh my ass off.Yes,I'm a bitter Scot.

[Essex_George]

so ... we're gonna lose tonight.

Discuss.

[PDAD]

It will be an incredibly tight game where somehow England, despite a very lackluster performance, will come through and win 2-1 or something. Then we'll convince ourselves that it was a brave, plucky performance and we have a chance, due to a win over Poland, of winning in Brasil.

[Bobs]

If its me saying that with Wales away to Belgium then thats defintely accurate.

England will win today, they are one of the most consistent teams in world football in the way they generally beat teams worse than them, but lose to teams who are better. That consistency will always get them through to tournament knockout stages but lose to the first good side they play.

Play offs could be interested with France unlikely to be seeded, as i said before there should be no seeding at all for these runner up play offs.

[eFestivals]

there's a lot of desperate hope being expressed here.

You all know they're gonna blow it really.

[PDAD]

Of all the teams to do it, i have more faith in England than anyone else. Fuck it up, i mean...

[kaosmark2]

Christ.... you know, i thought i was up to date with my Internationals. France need a big win tonight, to follow up their 6-0 to Australia. That could help them above Sweden, perhaps! At the same time, Ukraine will be hoping for both to slip up. Seriously though? How are Greece 12th in the world rankings, they are just not very good at all. I'd doubt Greece would beat Portugal, France or Sweden on neutral venue, yet they are ranked higher than the latter two

[eFestivals]

When England do well in the qualies, they always have a shit tournament.

When England scrape thru the qualies, they do better at the tournament.

(true facts!).

[TheGayTent]

I think England will qualify fairly comfortably. Has anyone actually watched Poland?

This is a side that has beaten only San Marino and Moldova in qualifying and have recently lost to Ireland in a friendly.

San Marino aside they don't score more than a goal a game on average and I think they will have to play very well to stop England scoring more than once.

[TheGayTent]

When England do well in the qualies, they always have a shit tournament.

When England scrape thru the qualies, they do better at the tournament.

(true facts!).

[kaosmark2]

This is a side that has beaten only San Marino and Moldova in qualifying

Edited October 15, 2013 by kaosmark2

[eFestivals]

I don't think they're facts at all.

They are ... tho perhaps only at the level of a generalisation, rather than being absolute on all occasions.

[TheGayTent]

They are ... tho perhaps only at the level of a generalisation, rather than being absolute on all occasions.

[eFestivals]

Na, not having that because it isn't true.

Yeah, I remember that you wouldn't accept the mathematically analysed facts once before when this came up.

(I said 'tournaments' and not just WC's, btw).

[TheGayTent]

They also scrapped through the qualifiers for the 1998 World Cup - remember the 0-0 draw in Italy that was celebrated as a win?

England went on to go out in the 2nd round.

So no, your theory is somewhat flawed.

[eFestivals]

They also scrapped through the qualifiers for the 1998 World Cup - remember the 0-0 draw in Italy that was celebrated as a win?

England went on to go out in the 2nd round.

So no, your theory is somewhat flawed.

it does help if you analyse what i actually said, rather than what you'd like me to have said.

It helps for arriving at the right answer, for instance.

[TheGayTent]

it does help if you analyse what i actually said, rather than what you'd like me to have said.

It helps for arriving at the right answer, for instance.

[TheGayTent]

England scraped through to the 2000 Euros by beating Scotland in a 2 legged play off. Remember? They finished 9 points behind winners of the qualifying group Sweden and level on points with tonight's opponents Poland.

All in all, a terrible qualifying campaign, one they "scraped through".

Did they go on to win the Euros? Or did they not even reach the knock out stages and finish 3rd in their group behind Romania and Portugal losing 2 of their 3 games...?

You're wrong as usual.

[eFestivals]

You like being proved wrong on the same subject more than once??

Nope.

From '72 to 2007 England had a winning percentage of 65.8%. Broken down into four year periods, it stays between 64% and 68% - England are very consistent.

To be that consistent, it gets to mean that if they do well in the qualies then they have to do worse in the tournament.

Because its averages it gets to hide some exceptions within it - as I said, it's not absolute - but them's the stats, rather than just being a wrong perception that I have in my head from the bits and pieces I'm able to bring to mind.

(I could bore you with much much more until you are forced to agree with me in light of the facts, but I'd much rather save my fingertips).

Edited October 15, 2013 by eFestivals

[TheGayTent]

Nope.

From '72 to 2007 England had a winning percentage of 65.8%. Broken down into four year periods, it stays between 64% and 68% - England are very consistent.

To be that consistent, it gets to mean that if they do well in the qualies then they have to do worse in the tournament.

Because its averages it gets to hide some exceptions within it - as I said, it's not absolute - but them's the stats, rather than just being a wrong perception that I have in my head from the bits and pieces I'm able to bring to mind.

(I could bore you with much much more until you are forced to agree with me in light of the facts, but I'd much rather save my fingertips).

[TheGayTent]

Going back to your brilliant win percentage statistics....

In the 1982 World Cup Finals England returned home with a win percentage of 60%. In the 1990 World Cup Finals England returned home with a win percentage of 43%. Which tournament did England perform best in, 1982 or 1990?

[LondonTom]

Lack of seeding in Euro groups. That'd make them tense.

[kaosmark2]

European play-offs aren't exclusive to the Euro group and ditto Africa, they get stuck in an unseeded mix along with the play-off entrants from South America, Asia, Oceania, North America and Africa. All play-offs are conducted worldwide, without seeding.

That'd make play-offs MUCH more scary, meaning the groups themselves would involve teams chasing top spot harder rather than cautiously guaranteeing 2nd and aiming for top, along with making play-offs seriously exciting.

[eFestivals]

Going back to your brilliant win percentage statistics....

In the 1982 World Cup Finals England returned home with a win percentage of 60%. In the 1990 World Cup Finals England returned home with a win percentage of 43%. Which tournament did England perform best in, 1982 or 1990?

and in '74 we got knocked out in the qualies with a better win percentage than many times when we've gone thru.

England's performance is pretty constant as the stats get to prove, but what varies are the opposition.

And the whole bleedin' point with stats - as it appears to be passing you by - is that you can't just pull out the individual bits that suit your argument. That's not how it works, funnily enough.

[kaosmark2]

And the whole bleedin' point with stats - as it appears to be passing you by - is that you can't just pull out the individual bits that suit your argument. That's not how it works, funnily enough.