How non-bettors observe sports betting ?

On today's article, we will discover the preconceptions about bettors and sports betting through the eyes of a non-bettors. I invited Pierre, a neophyte who is passionate about sports he doesn't usually bet.

Sports betting and betting as seen by a non-bettor
N: - Hello Pierre, can you introduce yourself to our readers?
P: - Good morning, everyone. I am a host on Radio Évasion and I present three programs a week. On Wednesdays I talk to you about the sport, on Thursdays, I talk about the environment... we have to talk about something other than football and sport in life! (laughs)

N: - And what is your favourite sport?
P: - Football, with a love for French teams

N: - Let's say it was a bit like the branch or training centre of the PSG! I invited you to the show today to see how you look at the world of sports betting. You're not a gambler at all, are you?
P: - I don't bet at all. I tend to see it as a parallel world, focused on this passion for the sport, but with a different way of looking at it. You can follow the sport in different ways: you can focus on a club, on a specific sport. And the world of sports betting leads you to consider sport from many different angles. What is very interesting is the excessive use of statistics. I find it exciting.

N: - It's true, it's part of sports betting. What many people don't understand is that there is what you see in the field, but there is also the whole analysis upstream. There are mathematics, probabilities that come into play. And if we don't understand that, we consider sports betting as the National Lottery or a scratch-off game - by chance.
P: - Before I knew you, to see also that you had developed an atypical project - I don't know anyone else who lives from sports betting, no pro bettor - sports betting, for me. And then there's also a business with a few big structures that oversee all this and an ecosystem in which you wouldn't think people could live off it.

N: - That's right. Actually, it's unknown and the unknown is scary. That's why some people put barriers in the way of sports betting, simply because they don't know the subject and the environment. It should be noted that sports betting is an institution for our Anglo-Saxon friends. With us Latin people, it's different but it's starting to come. We see it through television commercials. It is nevertheless a bit of a social phenomenon that is gaining momentum. What do you think of that?
P: - Yes, but not from your angle. Your project needs to be better known, more valued. More than the major brands as is currently the case

N: - We can mention several sportsbooks: Pinnacle, SBObet, MAXbet But do these companies like winning bettors?
P: - Yes they do.

N: - That's it! And not necessarily with the winners. That's what's a little ambiguous: they talk to you about sports betting but they never put the bettors first. In their ads, someone gets up because there is a purpose but that's all. But we don't see the real winners (obviously, we don't see the losers either because that would be counterproductive) but that's what's crazy anyway! These companies prefer losing bettors to winners because it's simply their business. This is the ambiguity that exists in sports betting today. That's what I'm fighting against, by explaining that you can make money. You saw it with my guests on previous shows. Little by little, by bringing testimonies from people who manage to live off them, I hope that it is making its way. For example, did it surprise you when you were told that it was possible to earn money from sports betting?
P: - At first, yes, clearly. To generate income, it still requires relatively balanced and sound financial management. And when you think about sports betting, the notion of financial balance is not necessarily what comes to mind!

N: - And what are you thinking about?
P: - More like people who are going to put a lot of money into something completely crazy all at once. Weekend gamblers. Not to something healthy.

N: - That is why I wanted to have this debate. I always invite people who are in the business, who succeed in living off their passion, but I have never invited anyone who is not in the business. And I find that very interesting. If you had to make a sports bet, which sport would you choose?
P: - A sport for which you could have a lot of indicators and statistics. I'm thinking about basketball. The stats are something very revealing in basketball. When you follow a game or basketball season, you necessarily follow individual and collective stats. It is in the culture of sport itself. I am also thinking of ice hockey, where some terms have become expressions of everyday languages, such as "clean sheet". This is indicative of the importance of stats.

N: - The two sports you mention are two of the big American sports (with American football and baseball). All these sports have a lot of statistics. In basketball, for example, we give a lot of importance to the number of ball possessions because it has a direct impact on the number of points you can score. And it's part of the bookmakers' algorithm to establish their basketball scores. But stat is king in all sports. You were telling me earlier about Opta you're watching. I think you're a subscriber.
P: - I am the Twitter account. It's often stats that are crispy!

N: - Opta is a company that provides statistics. When I was invited to BeIn Sports before the Euro, the journalist asked me if I was working with Opta and I told him no. It costs thousands of euros every month to subscribe to Opta and I manage otherwise. But they and all the big clubs work with Opta - and to ensure that clubs have really accurate data, they have developed small sensors that each player wears during matches. Football is also a sector where there are a lot of stats today. I don't know if you remember, but there wasn't any of that before when we were watching a football game. Canal+ started with that and now there are stats everywhere. Statistics are an integral part of sports betting. A good bettor necessarily relies on statistics in addition to team composition, players, calendar. In fact, a member of my club shared a file in which they analyzed 25,000 games from the five largest leagues when one of the two teams had one or two more days off than the other. And it's impressive to see how fatigue affects a team's results! It's pretty amazing! When one team has two days off and the other four days off, the number of wins away falls by half compared to the norm. I'll talk to you about it again because I think there's really something to be gained for the bettors. I had already mentioned it: all the clubs that play in the Champions League or Europa League are a little tired the following weekend but this study really shows it.
P: - You are right.

N: - Another question for you. In Europe, there are many Regulatory Authority for Online Games. Do you know anything about it?
P: - Vaguely. I heard about it recently because of some cases (laughs)

N: - That's right, with a sport that is played by hand, with brothers
P: - whose name begins with "K" and ends with "ic"

N: - I think we guessed it. To come back to the authorities, have you heard any good, any bad things?
P: - I can only give you a global answer but I don't think it contributes to the development of sports betting. In terms of communication anyway, it doesn't convey the appeal of sports betting. It sends back something dark when you see court, match-fixing, it's not very positive, it doesn't sell dreams.

N: - It's obvious that it didn't advertise for bookmakers. You have to know that there are bound to be matches rigged. I don't think this is the case in the big leagues but in the lower divisions and that's why they ban betting on the lower divisions a lot, whether in tennis or in many sports.
P: - That's why we can't bet on Ligue 2...

N: - For example (laughs)! But that's it, it's more like semi-amateur sport so it's easier to corrupt people. But it is a current concern in all areas... when you see what is happening in politics... I will not name anyone but...
P: - Is there a Penelope file?

N: - And when you look in the mirror at the word "Penelope" written in a script I think, it sounds like "volunteer"! But yes, it affects all areas of society and so there has probably been and will be corruption in sport. But we must not generalize as some people tell me that everything in sport is rotten. We have to stop. There are also those who sell fixed. You may not know it, but people contact you and tell you that a friend's brother knows a player on a team and that they will drop the game... They sell it to you as safe for $100 or $200. Generally, the team that was supposed to lose wins!
P: - Do these practices really exist?

N: - I promise you, it's something crazy. I have warned my Club members about this and everyone in the sports betting business knows it: it's bullshit if you don't mind my saying so. We must absolutely avoid this kind of thing.
P: - Some years on the Italian championship, it must have been really interesting to have this kind of information though!

N: - All because it was convenient for both teams to draw and there was a rumour going around. Well, even then, there wasn't always a draw all the time! That is what we can say today about sports betting. So, are you going to get started?
P: - Uh...

N: - What would stop you?
P: - It's complicated. I want to follow the sport in a fun way. Maybe on some competitions like the World Cup or Euro, fun stuff between friends, without pretence. I don't want to get involved. What you do and build, it's a bit of a statistical!
 

N: - We gamblers are a little on the margins of society, the club of the misunderstood sometimes. But little by little, I see through social networks that people are starting to realize that there is something to do in this environment. To conclude, sports betting is for me an investment product. And the investment product of tomorrow because it is the only one that is not influenced by external events - there may be a war, economic problems, sports betting will always remain stable. Whereas, for example, you have invested in real estate, there is the sub-prime crisis and everything is going badly, you take shares but there is a war and the price is falling, etc. Do you know what I mean?
P: - Interesting, this story of a stable investment product. But it's about the sport, it's fun above all, right?

N: - For you and many people, it's fun. I see it as an investment product. I can understand very well that my vision seems particular, but it is my niche today. That's why more and more people are talking about sport investing. In the USA, it's been part of the culture for some time, with people like Billy Walters for example.

Deep inside the NBA free sports info

On this article will watch deep in the NAB basketball. 

NBA and Draft
A- We're going to take a little tour and see what's coming up for this end of the NBA season, in the heights as well as in the depths of the ranking. Another interesting thing is the Cleveland 5 major, which has been completely redesigned. Is it still the big hill to the east?
We start with the Bulls and Mavericks who are quietly preparing for the next draft round. The team with the worst record in the league with a 25% chance of winning the first choice in the NBA draft. The next NBA vintage 2019 promises to be rather uplifting and interesting. There will be several teams competing for this first round of the draft. To name a few, there are Michael Porter Jr, Marvin Bagley, DeAndre Ayton or Mohamed Bamba and a Slovenian nugget: Luka Dončić, 18, the European champion and already starting starter at Real Madrid. We are therefore already planning for 2020. There may be a future team that can turn its record of defeats into a free bet record of victories for the next year. But we're not there yet. They are not the only teams but the Bulls and Mavericks will be the ones to make it to the end of the NBA championship. This is the case every year - the Spurs are remembered for a year when Robinson was injured and they dragged Tim Duncan and went into the NBA for some very good years. It doesn't make us any younger.
B- First of all, talk about Robinson

A-Yes, the admiral. Passed through the US Navy. No kidding! No kidding!
B-That's why he had this nickname

A- For the Bulls and Mavericks, do we have to watch them closely?
B- Actually, they're going to do tanking. In the NBA, it means dropping the matches to get a first draft round. It should not be said too much, even though Mark Cuban, the owner of the Dallas Mavericks, admitted it openly.

A- It's terrible for the German Dirk Nowitzki. Is this his last season?
B- I think he might do another one.

A- It's a sad outing anyway
B- Yes. He was a great player but it's always like that. So we're talking about Chicago and Dallas. Chicago is going to put five young people in the middle five, they explained it. What will it generate? They need to have the worst place to try to get a higher percentage and therefore a better chance of getting a good first draft round. Then you can bounce back. I already know who I'd take if I had a good draft trick.

A- Who?
B- Dončić. Not because he's European, but because he's seen him play a few games. I think he's going to become a very great player given what he's already doing at his age. After that, I'm not an NBA team manager so my opinion doesn't matter. But it is important for us bettors to know this because it will inevitably have an influence on the results of these teams. Chicago's big five is about to change completely. With five young people, we will say that it is potentially less good so it will lead to differences in the rating. The bookmakers will take a few games to readjust. They will rate a little better afterward but there will probably be little things to do at first free bet.

A- NBA observers, feel free to react in comments. If it's something you're interested in for the end of this season. To conclude on this draft story, it's difficult to bet on the draft in France, but in the United States, they can have fun on it?
B- Oh yes, they necessarily like it!

A- Who will be the first choice, who will be the second choice?

B- Yes, yes, it's a bet that exists. Here, no, but there, yes. That's the big difference between them and us.

LeBron, the player, and the coach
A- Second topic on the NBA: LeBron James is satisfied after the wave of transfers to Cleveland. Was it on the controls? It seems completely unimaginable that a player should be a coach, doesn't it?
B- When it comes to LeBron James, no. You would have told me about Joakim Noah, I would have thought it strange, but LeBron James has power in his club. And it still feels good in Cleveland.

A- Four players arrived, six left. LeBron James is not at all worried and said: "My job is to make sure that these guys integrate as quickly as possible".
B- The latest results speak for themselves.

A- So his job is also to train. The craziest exchange was with the Los Angeles Lakers. Isaiah Thomas, who arrived in Cleveland between seasons, left to join the Californian franchise with Channing Frye. Jordan Clarkson and Larry Nance Jr. have arrived. We specify Larry Nance Junior, because his father, Larry Nance Senior, can no longer play free bet.
B- No. But Larry Nance Junior's grandfather won the dunk contest a few years ago.

A- Wasn't it, his father in 1984, in one of the first dunk competitions? Has to be checked.
B- Maybe his father... I actually saw him in the contest and it seems to me that the first Junior dunk was the same as the one his father had made, to pay tribute to him.

A- For a few years now, the dunk contest has been a bit like a tribute contest.
B- Yes,  you are the absolute right

A- Between Dwight Howard and Superman... Just wear a Vince Carter jersey to the Raptors and go!
B- He always dunks the ball

A- Yes. Vince Carter's not far from his 40s, or even a little more, is he?
B- That's right! But to come back to Isaiah Thomas, he hadn't been able to find his place in Cleveland, so at some point, you traded it. For Cleveland, this deal worked out pretty well. They got Rodney Hood too.

A- And George Hill, the Sacramento leader
B- The mayonnaise can take, knowing that Kevin Love is on the side.

Rankings 
A- Cleveland is still the big side in the East?
B- The favorite? Yes. I'm staying in Houston for the NBA championship, but... Houston is still the two-headed beast today with James Harden and Chris Paul. They have managed to complement each other, which is still magnificent.

A- It's going to get into a fight for the last places too. The Detroit Pistons
B- Teams will be fighting for the last seats, that's obvious. But there is a great battle for first place between Golden State and Houston.

A- That's right.
B- They're making a big deal out of it and it's not bad to follow!

A- For once there's a little suspense in the West.
B- The last seats will be played between two or three teams

A- In the East, it's always the fight between the Sixers, the Heat and the Pistons. The Hornets are starting to be a little behind. They are 10th with 24 wins and 33 losses
B- The Batum team

A- The Pistons with Blake Griffin can return to the eighth place in this race. There are also the Sixers of Joel Embiid, who made a very nice All Stars Game with 19 points and a nice counter on Russell Westbrook!
B- He's a monster!

A- I don't know where I saw that anymore but I saw that he could choose the French team!
B- Your info is a little old. Today, no, it is not possible. He won't be French.

A- But it's good for Cameroon!
B- It's clear! A hello to Brice Vounang, former captain of the Cameroon team. He could have played with Joel Embiid if he was younger.

A- If he were younger
B- But that's not the case!

A- In the West, the battle for the eighth place could also be pretty close as the Jazz, currently 10th with 30 wins and 28 losses, can still qualify.

B- You have to be positive to be in 10th place, that's huge!
A- Yes. Positive results and 10th place! Behind the Clippers who are 9th

B- I don't really believe in it
A- The Jazz remain on an impressive series of 11 wins in a row!

B- They're making us a Miami from last year! I hope it lasts for them. In New Orleans, however, since DeMarcus Cousins injured himself, Anthony Davis has been carrying the house by himself and it's a little complicated.

A- Finally, the Trail Blazers remain in the 7th place free bets with 32 wins and 26 losses...
B- With Andre Miller, yes. You have to see... But it's interesting. There are 25 games left, there are still things to do.

A- More generally, you've already mentioned it in some of your videos, but the issue of travel in the NBA has changed.
B- Yes. I did an analysis last year on this subject but they changed the rules this year!

A- So you make a little fix to one of your famous videos.
B- Yes, that's right. Studies showed that when teams changed time zones between games, the players' bodies were completely out of control. At that time, we could see the teams' poor performance. And we could detect them. This is less the case now because the NBA is taking care to preserve a little more players and avoid them having to go back and forth all over the country. So it was a good free bet idea at the beginning, but they changed the rule. There are always little things to do!

A- A little combo with the tanking and you find the wacko betting ticket!
B- I have already said it: watch out for the handsets. A lightweight combination of two bets, three maximum if you want and not yet at odds of 3 or 4. And it becomes more complicated to gain in betting probability.

Why not Investing in Sports Betting: ?

Do you want to invest your capital and consider different options but none of them completely meet your needs? What if you were to consider investing in sports betting? The main difficulty consists in finding a secure and lucrative investment:
 

Today we invest in the stock market. Okay, but is the world stable? 

Today we invest in virtual currencies. Okay, but doesn't that sound like some well-known financial bubbles that have already burst in the past? 

Today, people leave their money in the bank at ridiculous but secure rates. Okay, but who do you think benefits from that?
Today we invest in stone, real estate. Okay, but what if a tenant doesn't pay and stays in your apartment all winter at the princess' expense because it is forbidden to evict him? If there is a real estate crisis?
And I could give you many more examples!

Why invest in sports betting? Sports betting has been around for centuries and is not about to stop. It's pretty good news already. The losers are not about to disappear either. This will feed the bookmakers and therefore, through the communicating vases, the books will have money to pay the winning bettors. Because for each winning bettor, how many losers are there? A good package! Most bettors play for fun, without analysis, with their favorite team or sensational odds. Moreover, sports betting is not affected by anything. Not by finance, not by wars, not by the bad mood. None of this will impact sports betting.

So why not invest and diversify through sports betting? All financiers will tell you that it is necessary to diversify. And some have understood this and today, instead of a poor 0.75% on their A passbook, they are 50% or even 100% increasing their capital per year thanks to their investment in sports betting. Yes, it is possible! Just don't do anything crazy and take a step back.

It's up to you! If you want to start off on the right foot, train yourself in sports betting. This will prevent you from rushing headlong and losing your money for sure. As with the stock market, there are rules to follow in order to gamble wisely. You have to know how to manage your money, put your heart aside, respect criteria for the choice of predictions or tipsters. These are basic rules to know. After that, it is not at all mandatory to know anything about sports betting in order to make money. It is then enough to follow the predictions given by serious tipsters. I tell you more about all this in my training: how to bet and manage your capital, how to choose a prognostic, how to choose a good tipster?

See you soon!

Comparing rugby players from England & Scotland

England seemed to start the game with the mentality 'we must not lose by 8 points or more'. Compare how they started & used ball against Georgia. The conditions didn't dictate not passing the odds to each other. Am I the only one to wonder why Tindall is even in the team. He has no pace, cannot pass the ball properly, has no inventiveness or spark. One of Johnsons dinosaurs whom should have been dropped an age ago! Only hope after RWC 2011 we have a new centre pairing. I don't pretend to know whether he should be or not. However, from the evidence against Scotland where he caught up and made important tackles on a couple of Scottish backs in full flight, I'd say that his pace isn't lacking. Perhaps it's just his quickness off the mark or speed of change of direction which is lacking, but his pace looked to me to be pretty impressive.

I was interested to note how often Youngs got caught out or something echoed in Ryan's article. I also noted how Wigglesworth (for all his detractors) whipped the ball straight out the base of the scrum without 1-2 steps. I couldn't work out if this was because Flood was closer or whether he is just faster and more confident than Youngs who always stepped once or twice allowing the defence to close him down. Youngs had his worst game in an Eng shirt. Wiggy was much better, but I'd read the riot act to Youngs and keep him at 9. Much more of a problem is Wilko. His total reluctance to provide any go-forward by either releasing his backs or kicking for goal from anywhere instead of putting the ball into the corner is killing England. Flood came on and, lo and behold, look what happened! Youngs is a bit of a mystery isn't he? Looked amazing prior to Ireland in the 6N, thought he'd come back after he scored the odds against Argentina, but woeful yesterday. Poor passing and very slow resulting in getting scragged a couple of times. Would drop him so he is forced to realise that he's not all that - especially after the rubbish he was spouting in the press in the build up. I disagree on Jonny though - couple of times he showed he had great hands yesterday, kicked for territory and was there to save the try if DeLuca had managed to pick up that ball. The kicks at the start he missed were too far out. So he missed one normally easy one and rushed a drop goal. My thinking was that the odds England were trying to change it up to create space so that the Scots wouldn't know how to defend and open up gaps. Having seen Flood play full games I don't think he's the automatic choice though, it still seems that he needs the competition of Jonny to bring out the best from him. Maybe as Mike Catt suggests play them both against France - start Flood against Ireland with Jonny to manage the latter game and then if we get to the final that competition is still pushing the two of them on what do you reckon?

He has the worst hands of any international back rower I can think of (his awful drop catch cost us points) and no rugby brain whatsoever. He's the rugby equivalent of a "flat track bully". Easter is far more intelligent, good hands and solid but badly lacking pace. Having witnessed Wales and Ireland's back rows and Pocock, McCaw and Brussow, England's Backrow is my main area of concern. Otherwise - cheer up folks, we were decent at 12-3 down! We dominated the second half and they only ventured into the 22 after an interception and charged down drop goal. I am an England fan but these ratings the odds are way too high. five 7s for a pack that was outplayed for an hour? Knock two points off each. also i think you should rate the coaches. ford would get a 9 for another excellent defensive effort. England have been good all tournament. Rowntree would get a 5 for the poor first half scrummage. wells would as usual get a 3. the problems with the way the English forwards play are now institutionalised. it is the same every time; lethargic, static, poor clearing out, non existent counter rucking, players clogging up the mid field. nothing ever gets sorted. how many years has wells been there now? as forJohnson the team selection is down to him so he gets 4. palmer, flood, corbs all looked better than those who started. changing young with 5 minutes left seemed frankly nonsensical. The general consensus, regarding Youngs, is absolutely bang on. Ben Youngs has built a reputation for scaring the opposition defence with his running game; now he seems to be intent on building one for scaring his own supporters with his lackadaisical, and nervous, passing game. There's no way he deserved anything higher than a 5, and probably warrens something lower. Of course, Youngs always has the potential to make a break, but it seems far more likely, based on this WC, that he'll lose us a game than win it. It's clear that Wilkinson didn't have a good game, but the passes he received from Youngs looked nothing short of amateur, so it's virtually impossible to judge him fully. Having said that, Flood has looked so composed, both with the ball in hand and from tee, that surely he deserves to start. i wonder what flood's leadership qualities are like. he always seems to be in charge when he is on the field, he seems cool and reading his newspaper articles he comes across as a sensible feet on the floor kind of guy. in one or two matches' time a bunch of these England guys' careers will be over: Easter, Tindall, Moody, possibly Thompson and Wilko. Who will lead the youngsters? Hartley? he seems too combustible. Excellent use of the bench ?...not quite sure what your priorities of team selection are Brendan but mine would be to select the strongest team from the outset. As for Mr Lard steadying the ship, might I suggest that as ballast he'd steady any ship, except perhaps The Titanic and we all know where that ended up. The appearance of his 'stern' wallowing on to the field of play made me sea-sick. How Wood never made the bench is quite beyond me. As for your match ratings, how you rated Tindalls performance on a par with Tuilagi suggests your eyesight is suspect as well as your judgement. As a Saints supporter I also thought Lawes all round game was disappointing and Palmer added far more in both tight and loose play. Now that England have reached the 1/4's and Les Frogs I believe there is some merit in selecting their nemesis Wilko ( especially if its a next score wins it at the end) but Floods all round game is by far the better common-sense ought to over-ride sentiment.

Clearly the Youngs/Wilkinson pairing did not work. Scotland did not need to slow the ball down - England did it themselves. There were times both in the loose and in the tight when it looked we were holding it in to give time for Youngs to read to Playbook again before playing the ball. Wigglesworth is not the answer because neither he nor Youngs can't or won't pass the ball straight off the ground, also Wigglesworth would not have scored the try Youngs did to keep us in the Cup. Therefore Wilko must go to the bench. England have only looked dangerous with Flood there. Assuming he will be fit - if you are in a really tight game. 0ne score in it, with 20 mins to go who would you least like to see come off the bench - Wilko! How Youngs got a 7 is outrageous as already mentioned! He's becoming a bit of a Danny Care. I think its al very well having a scrum half with the pace of a winger but if he cant get the ball away. The wiggler showed how effective a quick pass is, he pretty much made the try and got a bit of pace in the game. On form Flood should start, Wilkos main attribute is his experience defence and kicking. However Flood is kicking better, both at the posts and out of hand. He's also pretty solid in defence and then on top of that is far superior to Wilko in terms of firing the back line. I think people also forget he's been around for a while, hes played in a WC final so he's not too far behind Wilko on the experience front. I think its a bit pointless when people like Dallaglio say "you have to play Wilko, his name alone strikes fear in to the opposition" Well that's all well and good but if hes not going to nail his conversions it doesnt matter how terrified they are! Rob Howard- I couldn’t agree more with your comment about Lawrence Rent-a-Gob Dallaglio. This isn't 2003, and even the French would be able to see that JW is way past his best. Also, back in 2003, we dominated teams and JW had a privileged position behind a formidable pack. Many no.10's would have looked good in that team. He also trusted the centres outside him. That doesn't seem to be the case now. Wilkinson's the odds defense was magnificent all night. Unfortunately, he was getting slow ball from the scrums and breakdowns which put him under pressure allowing him no time to spread the ball wide. The real problem lies with the 8/9s. As for the kicking - well it was very windy in Eden park and Wilkinson was taking difficult shots from angle and distance to try and stay in touch with a rampant Scotland playing at their best. England came through well in the end. IF England can sort out the 8/9 problem they can win this tournament. good point about 8 Wolfie. mj has put all his eggs into the Easter basket (nice pun, eh?) without lining up a replacement. very rash considering Easter's age and form. the pie eater gets injured and suddenly there is no one to play there except Haskell who hasn't played much at 8 in recent times. tho he is strong going forward Haskell's control at the scrum base is terrible. Youngs seemed not to know when the ball would be released, he also seemed not to know where Wilko would be standing. you saw him time and again looking for someone to pass to and in the end taking the ball himself into the traffic. If Easter is not going to play it has to be Thomas the tank. Youngs has to play with flood and needs reminding that his primary job is to get the ball as fast as possible to his outside half. he was also near to losing his rag at one point. he is just a kid still. someone needed to have a word with him. moody doesn't seem to be that kind of captain unfortunately. Wolfe, you make a good point- I think Haskell is good in many areas, but a canny operator he ain’t. He's just not quite clever enough as a test-match number 8. I will say however, that watching JW today was like watching the last 10 minutes of the film 'Tin Cup'- a man who was determined to (re)discover the 'magic' despite the potential cost. It was like JW was obsessed with getting his kicks right. Unfortunately, the spectators to this were England's 3/4 line. I think Stevens is a very good player but I think you may be right that like in most other positions it makes sense to play the natural loose and have Stevens as an impact player who can cover both sides from the bench.

Palmer has consistently delivered. For me Lawes gets dropped. Palmer starts with Deacon and Shaw is on the bench. I'd also say the Haskell at 8 experiment is over. Easter had no impact worth speaking about so time for to start and for pities sake find space on the bench for Wood. I think Youngs is a good player too but much too used to an armchair ride at Leicester. He was robbed of quality ball today and compounded the problem with his halting delivery. If Wriggly had had more game-time we'd know if he could step up as it is to make that call now you'd have to gamble on a largely untested player (at International lvl) in a knock out competition (much the same is true about Corbs). I have not always been a huge fan of Easter, however on this case I thought he came on and did everything right - his involvement coincided with more structure in our play. He carried well and presented the ball better than most of the forwards in the game. I felt he had a good impact. Youngs was fantastic last year and shows he can play to a high standard. He was very very poor today, but unfortunately you are right it is not worth the risk to drop him, perhaps replace him again if his form continues next game. As long as England start with Wilkinson at 10 they're going to struggle, it's far too conservative. Flood is playing the odds superbly kicking well, links well with Youngs, carries far better tyhan Wilkinson and gets the line moving forward - if Wilkinson instead of Flood had received the ball today after 77 minutes there's no way he would have thrown the long pass to set up the try and England would would looking at best at a quarter final against the All Blacks.

Moral support for England football players

Capello constantly witters on about mental strength as if something psychological were the problem. It isn't. The problem is that football players who aren't good enough and a manager who is clueless. All England football fans want to see is some drive and passion. Have a go, play without chains, direct, quick. If they lose but have a good go, much better than watching the past 2 international campaigns. Spain Vs Lichenstein are similar placed teams and Spain were thrilling with their football. England, drab and hard to watch.

The best solution to this problem that most have heard anywhere is to pick a squad consisting mostly of ManU players and then fill in the gaps with a few others. Result, quite a young side. Everyone knows one another and gets along. More understanding on the pitch. Greater chance of picking a team that plays as a unit. However, over the past few years no other side in the Premiership has turned as many games around in the last five minutes. At least that's a sort of mental strength. When England play badly the fotball players and manager must assume responsibility. The problem with blaming the media and pinning the reason for their poor performances on media expectations is a pretty miserable side step that avoids the fact that the other team have played better.

One thing they might dispense with is the equally disingenuous they pay you six million a year to get results line, since they know perfectly well they are part of an unacknowledged campaign against the country and its institutions. Journalists who say anyone desperately wants England to do well are so transparent they'd blush if they weren't devoid of any conscience. Consider however the account of former Blackpool and England star Jimmy Armfield. In his autobiography Armfield relates how players actually had to make their own way back from the 1962 World Cup in Chile because the FA couldn't afford to get them all on one of the rare flights to Europe via the U.S. and elsewhere out of a then comparatively isolated South America. See you back in London was the cheery farewell. Armfield's is a measured account of a life in the game. One thing only makes him angry he saysthe sight of the England captain's armband tossed casually to the ground, during player substitutions. Symbols that are as vital to everyone as the air they breathe. They speak to anyone. They invest life with meaning. Symbols stand for things like institutions, nations, kinship, belonging for who everyone is. It isn't enough to regard playing for England as a source of professional rather than personal satisfaction. The norm among black footballers unfortunately it is increasingly the attitude among English football players as well, and they cannot be surprised if even their own choose money and adoration over personal abuse, albeit abuse of a fairly polite sort, orchestrated by nice public school types who light the blue touch paper before standing well back and disclaiming all responsibility for what follows. It must be hard to focus on the game when they have to worry about all that money, women and whether their status as a football star will be enhanced by buying the McClarren or the Aston Martin. Football is a business and it should be regarded as such. They are selling a product and if some don't like the product then they shouldn't buy it. But don't force the rest of the people to lament this. And in that regard, the England side clearly aren't as good as the competition. The problem is simple to analyse and will afflict all international football where clubs pay players massive sums of money. They are under strict orders from their club managers not to take physical risks which would injure themselves. The clubs have too much cash invested in them and the players main source of income and fame comes from club football. Years ago to play for your country brought prestige and a cash bonus from the fame that could ensue. The money sloshing around football and the way it is packaged, sold, delivered and reported on is out of all proportion to its actual merit. It must put incredible pressure on the players. The media doesn't help in fact the media are most of the problem. Wholesale redundancies across large swathes of the media would be no bad thing, but that's for another time. From what most have heard the North Korean coach was forced to public humiliation and hard labor. That is just sad to see maybe North Koreas most football, smart coach being a nobody slave worker at a random field or somewhere like that.

Also the common people could never believe that Capello earned 5,000,000 more, in US Dollars, more than the second highest paid coach. Wembley doesn't help. Great stadium but dreadful atmosphere. Full of corporates. England were great when they went on the road around the country and real fans could watch them. Many football supporters would be interested to see the viewing figures for this match. It is very feeble minded to blame the medias reactions for a teams failure. It is up to the manager and the team to build a winning football mentality, if they are more interested in what the media will report then they got the mindset wrong and have failed in delivering the potential of the team. This kind of weakness of narcissism is precisely what stops the manager and players assuming responsibility for their performance. The media create the fantasy, it is up to the manager and the football players to see beyond the fickle fantasy creations of the reactionary media.