England World Cup Squad

[Glad2BeAPie]

Anyone else that couldn't give a toss

[irishpete]

Anyone else that couldn't give a toss

Same here, don't even know what day or time England's 1st game is. We will see Salt n vinegar, Wrighty et all saying we can win this. The usual waffle. No wonder we get the pi$s taken out of us. Any bets as to how long it takes them to go on about 66?

[Elite_Pie]

I take so little interest in the Premier League these days that when the squad is announced, I doubt I'll know which club half of them play for.

[upthemaggies]

This will be the last World Cup with a sensible format before it expands to a ridiculous number of teams and becomes virtually impossible for any half-decent nation not to qualify, making the group stage a total bore fest to sit through.

What a pity this one is at such a stupid time and stupid place. Will be very strange having a huge international tournament going on whilst Notts are playing league fixtures.
I suspect though, with it being winter, the viewing figures will be very high and we may end up with some people calling for the WC finals and Euros to be permanently moved to Nov/Dec.

International football is ruined for me. There's just too many games now and not enough jeopardy until the knock out stage. Qualifiers are a total non-event. I take no interest in those at all anymore.
Champions League is going the same way.

[SwalePie]

Langstaff omitted. Schoolboy error Gareth.

[rorylee]

Anyone else that couldn't give a toss

I've loved every World Cup since '86 and religiously booked time off work/swapped shifts with colleagues and thrown the odd sickie to watch as many games as possible on TV. I've collected Panini sticker albums for every World Cup also despite now being mid 40s.....something to do with the romance of the memories of doing it as a kid.

I can't accept this years in Qatar as a proper World Cup......whether that's my issue alone or the same as others I don't know.

Whether it be the clear corruption FIFA has shown over the years and their inability to get (or want) their house in order or the questionable (at best) human rights practices shown by Qatar, I'm really struggling to find any joy or excitement in this years tournament.

I fell out of love watching England many years ago and only had that reignited in recent years when we began to adopt an attacking philosophy and blooded younger players. I'd honestly prefer us to stay at home in protest. I know sport isn't meant to be political - mainly said by politicians and the upper echelons of sporting bodies trying to convince us that their financial goals aren't intertwined.

I'm sure I'll still be checking the scores and filling in my Excel tracker after every match. Just not sure I give a s*** about the whole circus this time around. I think FIFA pushed it too far this time.

[uysapie]

Couldn't give a monkeys.

[wiseoldmagpie]

Couldn't give a monkeys.

But the cricket is very exciting!

[laddo]

Personally I'm not bothered about the squad selection but I know quite a few mates who are , they debate it on our WhatsApp group whenever England play. It appears Gareth has plenty of talent to choose from except in central defence and between the sticks.

Saying that I like watching top football. So love watching Premier League , love watching the Champions League, love watching the Euros and yes love watching the World Cup even in a joke country, which should never been awarded such a massive event blah blah blah. But it's still watching almost all of the best countries in the world, with almost all of the best players condensed into a month.

[nw6pie]

I'm all for taking the World Cup to new and exciting places, but Qatar is beyond the pale. I'm sure I'll watch the evening games and England/Wales games that are on at strange hours, because I've watched every World Cup since I was a kid (my earliest football memory is the 74 World Cup in West Germany and the greatest team to never win the tournament - Holland), and still find something special about these tournaments - despite FIFA's best efforts to destroy them.

If I had a spare month's holiday, though, I'd opt for the Women's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand next summer.