Viking Supporters Co-operative
Viking Chat => Viking Chat => Topic started by: Pancho Regan on June 06, 2026, 11:16:49 pm
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Honestly, is that the best we’ve got beyond Harry Kane?
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If he's better than Billy Sharp, I'll show my b*llocks on the Mansion House steps.
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More like Ivan Pony!
Dreadful football. Yes, it was a friendly but show us that we’ve got an idea at least.
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That was poor.
Hopefully we’ll up our game when the tournament starts but honestly, Ivan Toney?!
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I think it might be a case of it doesn't matter if the performance hurts the fans, as long as the players gain fitness without getting injured.
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Glorified training session. Some of the NZ players wouldn't get in our team, and we were playing in the heat on a crap pitch. I can see why we never got out of third gear, get some minutes into the legs, get the win, get out. Job done.
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Toney is there as a goal scorer to throw on if we need a late goal.
Would you rather a last minute chance fell to Dominic Calvert-Lewin to miss?
Who would you pick ?
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I didn't even know England played yesterday until just now.
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Toney has only been taken as he’s trusted on penalties not to bottle it.
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I disagree with a couple in his squad but he’s explained the reasoning behind most of his inclusions and it sounds fair enough to me.
A lot is said about certain players but let’s be honest, most aren’t getting any minutes at all. Calvert-Lewin has just had his luckiest season in terms of injuries in a lot of years, he needs a rest or he will break down soon. Taking him to go train every day in that heat when he won’t be playing would be the wrong thing to do.
Ivan Toney is a penalty specialist (tough to win a World Cup without needing ET/Pens at some stage), has been playing his football in a hot country and has worked really well in the past with one of the current England coaches. He’s the sensible 3rd choice option really. I’d have looked to take Welbeck before DCL.
I keep hearing loads say France will win it as their squad depth is outrageous. It’s a World Cup, the winners are gonna play 8 games total. There’s 1 game you may rest players in but France have the toughest group anyway. They’ll have 7+ players who don’t play a minute same as all the big nations. You’re realistically relying on the same 13/14 players to win the tournament, then it’s about getting the right mix between the training players that make up the rest of your squad. Have France got that? I’m not sure. There’s a lot of big names in that squad and probably a lot of ego. It’s gonna be tough for them to accept not playing. As is the nature of all top players.
I’m against France this tournament completely. They’re lucky 3 go through in most groups imo.
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I quite fancy Portugal this time. They have some great players, strength in depth, most won’t bothered by the heat and have been threatening to win this for a while. I actually think this time around that an aging Ronaldo is a weak link but play him sparingly and he can still do a job - a bit like Messi in the last World Cup.
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I quite fancy Portugal this time. They have some great players, strength in depth, most won’t bothered by the heat and have been threatening to win this for a while. I actually think this time around that an aging Ronaldo is a weak link but play him sparingly and he can still do a job - a bit like Messi in the last World Cup.
Unbelievable midfield. If they can negotiate the politics of dropping Ronaldo in the latter stages they'll stand a decent chance.
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I quite fancy Portugal this time. They have some great players, strength in depth, most won’t bothered by the heat and have been threatening to win this for a while. I actually think this time around that an aging Ronaldo is a weak link but play him sparingly and he can still do a job - a bit like Messi in the last World Cup.
Messi played every minute and was the player of the tournament and 2nd top goalscorer
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I quite fancy Portugal this time. They have some great players, strength in depth, most won’t bothered by the heat and have been threatening to win this for a while. I actually think this time around that an aging Ronaldo is a weak link but play him sparingly and he can still do a job - a bit like Messi in the last World Cup.
Unbelievable midfield. If they can negotiate the politics of dropping Ronaldo in the latter stages they'll stand a decent chance.
Absolutely, I think they’d have a much better chance if they’d have left Ronaldo at home.
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I didn't even know England played yesterday until just now.
I didn't even care! A non-event with overpaid individuals trying to increase their wages and transfer fees, not playing for their country.
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That’s obviously nonsense.
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Brazil are well under the radar at this World Cup than they normally are and that may not be no bad thing .
Tell you what this isn't a poor Brazil squad by any means ,
Alisson or Ederson in goal .
Centre back partnership of Marquinhos and Gabriel and so they aren't going to be easy to score against .
Midfield they have Bruno Guimares , Fabihno and the experience of Casemiro .
Up top Vinicus Junior , Raphinha plus Neymar and Martinelli .
The spine looks top notch , throw in the big game experience of HC Ancelotti and the heat and they'll not be too far away in my opinion .
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Brazil are well under the radar at this World Cup than they normally are and that may not be no bad thing .
Tell you what this isn't a poor Brazil squad by any means ,
Alisson or Ederson in goal .
Centre back partnership of Marquinhos and Gabriel and so they aren't going to be easy to score against .
Midfield they have Bruno Guimares , Fabihno and the experience of Casemiro .
Up top Vinicus Junior , Raphinha plus Neymar and Martinelli .
The spine looks top notch , throw in the big game experience of HC Ancelotti and the heat and they'll not be too far away in my opinion .
Agreed tyke, and they don’t have to travel far & wont be bothered by the temperatures. My 2nd choice & backed both Portugal and Brazil at 8/1 on bet365. Got to be better value than England at 13/2!!
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It is all that I despise about football these days and I only watch DRFC in my little world of values and interests ,Donald Trump land does not qualify for my little world and neither does FIFA .
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Brazil are well under the radar at this World Cup than they normally are and that may not be no bad thing .
Tell you what this isn't a poor Brazil squad by any means ,
Alisson or Ederson in goal .
Centre back partnership of Marquinhos and Gabriel and so they aren't going to be easy to score against .
Midfield they have Bruno Guimares , Fabihno and the experience of Casemiro .
Up top Vinicus Junior , Raphinha plus Neymar and Martinelli .
The spine looks top notch , throw in the big game experience of HC Ancelotti and the heat and they'll not be too far away in my opinion .
Agreed tyke, and they don’t have to travel far & wont be bothered by the temperatures. My 2nd choice & backed both Portugal and Brazil at 8/1 on bet365. Got to be better value than England at 13/2!!
As ever Lincs I'm pretty much convinced Tuchel doesn't know what his best side looks like , it's not the first time we've gone in to a major tournament under these circumstances and probably won't be the last .
The Brazil team pretty much picks itself give or take and there are other nations too where this is the case including Spain , France and your very good pick Portugal .
Argentina are in the conversation too and are always extremely difficult to overcome in knock out major tournament football , both Brazil and Argentina are going to be very well supported as they are no matter where the tournament is hosted .
Everyone thinks England have the top travelling fans in world football and it's a myth , Brazil and Argentina makes us look like Barrow fans at a midweek game at Exeter by comparison .
I can still remember the 82 world cup in Spain when the world was a much bigger place compared to today and the thousands upon thousands of Brazil fans in Seville and Barcelona was an extraordinary sight .
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Brazil are well under the radar at this World Cup than they normally are and that may not be no bad thing .
Tell you what this isn't a poor Brazil squad by any means ,
Alisson or Ederson in goal .
Centre back partnership of Marquinhos and Gabriel and so they aren't going to be easy to score against .
Midfield they have Bruno Guimares , Fabihno and the experience of Casemiro .
Up top Vinicus Junior , Raphinha plus Neymar and Martinelli .
The spine looks top notch , throw in the big game experience of HC Ancelotti and the heat and they'll not be too far away in my opinion .
I bet Brazil a while ago along with a couple of others.
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I didn't even know England played yesterday until just now.
I didn't even care! A non-event with overpaid individuals trying to increase their wages and transfer fees, not playing for their country.
Absolute nonsense.
Are Donny players over paid?
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Brazil are well under the radar at this World Cup than they normally are and that may not be no bad thing .
Tell you what this isn't a poor Brazil squad by any means ,
Alisson or Ederson in goal .
Centre back partnership of Marquinhos and Gabriel and so they aren't going to be easy to score against .
Midfield they have Bruno Guimares , Fabihno and the experience of Casemiro .
Up top Vinicus Junior , Raphinha plus Neymar and Martinelli .
The spine looks top notch , throw in the big game experience of HC Ancelotti and the heat and they'll not be too far away in my opinion .
I bet Brazil a while ago along with a couple of others.
Me too, much to amusement of some at my work. Can’t possibly win it according to them. It’s in North America, will be extra hard for an European side to win it and they’ve got arguably the greatest tournament manager of all time in charge. He will keep the players in check.
Experienced, elite level winning goalkeepers.
2 of the greatest centre backs in the game right now.
Casemiro on a bit of a swan song, had a great end to this Man Utd career. Guimaraes, Danilo and Paqueta will run all day long for him and Fabinho.
Vini Jr not had the best of times recently but stupidly good player who played his best stuff under Ancelotti. Elite. Raphina, 1 of the most prolific wide players over last few years. Cunha talented player coming off the back of a very decent season for him at Man Utd. Thiago had a huge season, very prolific.
Goff is very convincing when he speaks though so ive also had a smaller each way bet on Holland.
I think France blow it completely (possibly even just scraping through the group in 3rd) and I can see Spain being their usual breathtaking selves in the groups, then might get frustrated out of it by one of the ‘lesser’ nations in one of the knock-out surprises. Either that or they’ll win it with the same dry shirt they started the first game with.
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On the subject of the world cup this is a fantastic short documentary on some lads from the West Midlands who went to the 86 World Cup in Mexico and building a life over there and in nearby Texas and not returning to the UK .
Proper gem is this story .
https://youtu.be/vi_9kt-PYIU?si=8n8JwKrEmyUnFQPA
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I quite fancy Portugal this time. They have some great players, strength in depth, most won’t bothered by the heat and have been threatening to win this for a while. I actually think this time around that an aging Ronaldo is a weak link but play him sparingly and he can still do a job - a bit like Messi in the last World Cup.
Only if they drop Ronaldo
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Toney is there as a goal scorer to throw on if we need a late goal.
Would you rather a last minute chance fell to Dominic Calvert-Lewin to miss?
Who would you pick ?
Callum Wilson.
I wouldn’t dream of picking Calvert-Lewin.
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Toney is there as a goal scorer to throw on if we need a late goal.
Would you rather a last minute chance fell to Dominic Calvert-Lewin to miss?
Who would you pick ?
Callum Wilson.
I wouldn’t dream of picking Calvert-Lewin.
Callum Wilson? Christ.
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I have to say imho I’d have been looking at Harvey Barnes and Jarrod Bowen over Ivan Toney and Calvert Lewin. Even Danny Welbeck, at his age, would have been better. But let’s face it, if Harry Kane gets crocked we’re foooooked!! :police:
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Brazil are well under the radar at this World Cup than they normally are and that may not be no bad thing .
Tell you what this isn't a poor Brazil squad by any means ,
Alisson or Ederson in goal .
Centre back partnership of Marquinhos and Gabriel and so they aren't going to be easy to score against .
Midfield they have Bruno Guimares , Fabihno and the experience of Casemiro .
Up top Vinicus Junior , Raphinha plus Neymar and Martinelli .
The spine looks top notch , throw in the big game experience of HC Ancelotti and the heat and they'll not be too far away in my opinion .
Agreed tyke, and they don’t have to travel far & wont be bothered by the temperatures. My 2nd choice & backed both Portugal and Brazil at 8/1 on bet365. Got to be better value than England at 13/2!!
As ever Lincs I'm pretty much convinced Tuchel doesn't know what his best side looks like , it's not the first time we've gone in to a major tournament under these circumstances and probably won't be the last .
The Brazil team pretty much picks itself give or take and there are other nations too where this is the case including Spain , France and your very good pick Portugal .
Argentina are in the conversation too and are always extremely difficult to overcome in knock out major tournament football , both Brazil and Argentina are going to be very well supported as they are no matter where the tournament is hosted .
Everyone thinks England have the top travelling fans in world football and it's a myth , Brazil and Argentina makes us look like Barrow fans at a midweek game at Exeter by comparison .
I can still remember the 82 world cup in Spain when the world was a much bigger place compared to today and the thousands upon thousands of Brazil fans in Seville and Barcelona was an extraordinary sight .
I remember that 1982 world cup in Spain Tyke. We stayed in Lloret and I was privileged to attend probably the best match I have ever been to. Brazil v Argentina at the old Sarria stadium the former home of Espanyol. We went on the Brazil supporters coach and were the only ones not wearing yellow. The Brazilian fans were amazing with Samba music, singing and dancing from start to finish. To top it all off was seeing Maradona getting sent off right in front of us.
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Brazil are well under the radar at this World Cup than they normally are and that may not be no bad thing .
Tell you what this isn't a poor Brazil squad by any means ,
Alisson or Ederson in goal .
Centre back partnership of Marquinhos and Gabriel and so they aren't going to be easy to score against .
Midfield they have Bruno Guimares , Fabihno and the experience of Casemiro .
Up top Vinicus Junior , Raphinha plus Neymar and Martinelli .
The spine looks top notch , throw in the big game experience of HC Ancelotti and the heat and they'll not be too far away in my opinion .
Agreed tyke, and they don’t have to travel far & wont be bothered by the temperatures. My 2nd choice & backed both Portugal and Brazil at 8/1 on bet365. Got to be better value than England at 13/2!!
As ever Lincs I'm pretty much convinced Tuchel doesn't know what his best side looks like , it's not the first time we've gone in to a major tournament under these circumstances and probably won't be the last .
Disagree with this, I think he knows 100% what his best team is for how he wants to play. He's been clear all along he isn't picking the best players, he wants to build a team that can play to his system, hence Maguire, Foden, Palmer, Trent etc all left sat at home. He's treating it like a club game rather than the usual England problem of trying to fit all the star players into an unbalanced side.
Might still crash and burn of course, its tournament football and it only takes one bad performance to knock you out. But Tuchel has a clear plan, whether it's the right one we'll see.
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One of the NZ team yesterday was in the Peterborough side in both games against us last season.
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—————Pickford
James—Konsa/Guehi—O’Reilly
————Anderson/Rice
Saka——Bellingham——Rashford
—————Kane
I think that’s the 11 in mind, with potentially Stones in for Konsa & Rogers for Bellingham or Rashford.
Watkins is his back up to Kane, Gordon will be brought on towards the end of some games for his pace and he seems to trust Djed Spence. Mainoo probably gets some minutes. Toney is there for any knock out games that go to extra time.
The others are just fillers who offer versatility and/or are seen as experienced, good players to have around the place.
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—————Pickford
James—Konsa/Guehi—O’Reilly
————Anderson/Rice
Saka——Bellingham——Rashford
—————Kane
I think that’s the 11 in mind, with potentially Stones in for Konsa & Rogers for Bellingham or Rashford.
Watkins is his back up to Kane, Gordon will be brought on towards the end of some games for his pace and he seems to trust Djed Spence. Mainoo probably gets some minutes. Toney is there for any knock out games that go to extra time.
The others are just fillers who offer versatility and/or are seen as experienced, good players to have around the place.
Bellingham has to start. Class above Rodgers.
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England’s midfield is better than Brazil’s.
Tiago mentioned but Kane is better.
Martinelli and Neymar mentioned but they wouldn’t even get in our squad over Rashford, Gordon and Saka.
They are obviously a good team though. There’s a chance we could face them in the quarter finals in Miami - where they would be used to that sort of climate so would have an advantage on us.
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England fans just love a moan. Southgate got pelters for trying to shoehorn players in and now Tuchel’s getting pelters for having a clear approach and strategy which some players don’t fit into. There are several selections that I don’t agree with but at least every single pick has a rationale behind it (OK, Henderson over Wharton isn’t the most solid rationale!)
And if Callum Wilson is the answer then I don’t want to know the question!
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Brazil are well under the radar at this World Cup than they normally are and that may not be no bad thing .
Tell you what this isn't a poor Brazil squad by any means ,
Alisson or Ederson in goal .
Centre back partnership of Marquinhos and Gabriel and so they aren't going to be easy to score against .
Midfield they have Bruno Guimares , Fabihno and the experience of Casemiro .
Up top Vinicus Junior , Raphinha plus Neymar and Martinelli .
The spine looks top notch , throw in the big game experience of HC Ancelotti and the heat and they'll not be too far away in my opinion .
Agreed tyke, and they don’t have to travel far & wont be bothered by the temperatures. My 2nd choice & backed both Portugal and Brazil at 8/1 on bet365. Got to be better value than England at 13/2!!
As ever Lincs I'm pretty much convinced Tuchel doesn't know what his best side looks like , it's not the first time we've gone in to a major tournament under these circumstances and probably won't be the last .
The Brazil team pretty much picks itself give or take and there are other nations too where this is the case including Spain , France and your very good pick Portugal .
Argentina are in the conversation too and are always extremely difficult to overcome in knock out major tournament football , both Brazil and Argentina are going to be very well supported as they are no matter where the tournament is hosted .
Everyone thinks England have the top travelling fans in world football and it's a myth , Brazil and Argentina makes us look like Barrow fans at a midweek game at Exeter by comparison .
I can still remember the 82 world cup in Spain when the world was a much bigger place compared to today and the thousands upon thousands of Brazil fans in Seville and Barcelona was an extraordinary sight .
I remember that 1982 world cup in Spain Tyke. We stayed in Lloret and I was privileged to attend probably the best match I have ever been to. Brazil v Argentina at the old Sarria stadium the former home of Espanyol. We went on the Brazil supporters coach and were the only ones not wearing yellow. The Brazilian fans were amazing with Samba music, singing and dancing from start to finish. To top it all off was seeing Maradona getting sent off right in front of us.
I might be misremembering this, but didn’t he kick a Brazilian in the knackers.?
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If England don’t go deep into the tournament Tuchel wil be a hated figure, especially with the players at his disposal, Personally I’m not keen on a German being in charge
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If England don’t go deep into the tournament Tuchel wil be a hated figure, especially with the players at his disposal, Personally I’m not keen on a German being in charge
But if they win it he’ll be a hero!
Southgate did a magnificent job so he’s got big shoes to fill
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If England don’t go deep into the tournament Tuchel wil be a hated figure, especially with the players at his disposal, Personally I’m not keen on a German being in charge
Not this again…
If Brazil go out earlier than they would have liked, will it be because Ancelotti is Italian?
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All the English managers are dog shit. Until we get another Southgate who comes up through the ranks with the England age groups, then elite foreigners is the way to go.
Southgate did brilliantly at bringing everyone back as one and making us genuine contenders through mostly great man-management but isn’t an elite tactician on the level that your Tuchel’s are. International football management used to be for the mid-level managers but thats started to flip now and the elite are taking on the jobs. I think that trend will continue with Zidane, Klopp and Pep taking on jobs managing their country soon enough.
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England fans just love a moan. Southgate got pelters for trying to shoehorn players in and now Tuchel’s getting pelters for having a clear approach and strategy which some players don’t fit into. There are several selections that I don’t agree with but at least every single pick has a rationale behind it (OK, Henderson over Wharton isn’t the most solid rationale!)
And if Callum Wilson is the answer then I don’t want to know the question!
Well yeah, I was clutching at straws a bit with Callum Wilson!
But that kind of proves the point. For some years now we haven’t produced a striker who comes near to Harry Kane for goal scoring ability.
Ollie Watkins is the closest, but we are very reliant on Kane, as shown again in the match against New Zealand.
Hopefully goals can come from elsewhere across the team. Saka is important.
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I have to say imho I’d have been looking at Harvey Barnes and Jarrod Bowen over Ivan Toney and Calvert Lewin. Even Danny Welbeck, at his age, would have been better. But let’s face it, if Harry Kane gets crocked we’re foooooked!! :police:
I can’t believe Jarrod Bowen, Cole Palmer or Phil Foden didn’t get the nod over Toney & Wilson.
I can’t see past Spain as eventual winners of the tournament.
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I take it nobody watched on Wednesday (or perhaps didn’t know it was on)? Thought we looked very sharp. If we get that bit of luck that you need at a tournament and the weather doesn’t skew things too much then I think we’ve got as good a chance as any.