World Cup Hippo compiled ratings for four of the five matches that featured England at this year’s tournament. Featured below are the England players’ average ratings. I’ve only included those who received ratings for two or more matches. I didn’t report on the Trinidad and Tobago fixture, so Aaron Lennon doesn’t qualify for a rating […]

This could be Herr Hippo’s last throw of the tactical dice for World Cup 2006! Before the tournament we suggested that the adoption of a 4-5-1 formation could maximise the potential of England’s midfield. However, although this configuration was in place for the last game, the midfield still failed to deliver.
The only thing that can […]

The popular reality TV show Big Brother has inspired the BBC to incorporate a new feature into their World Cup coverage.  When Big Brother is beamed out live on E4 there are periods when the sound is muted, and at other times the camera also pans away from the action to focus on a kitchen appliance like the oven. […]

The negative post-match reaction to England’s World Cup warm-up fixture against Hungary was highly predictable. But somewhat paradoxically, it’s still amazing that a 3-1 victory can be portrayed as a shambolic tragedy. Whatever Sven Goran Eriksson does he is lambasted for it, with The Independent’s James ‘You don’t wanna do it like that’ Lawton leading the way!
But […]

Tony Cascarino presents a radical perspective on how England should organise their midfield this summer. He argues that the team should be built around England’s most important player Steven Gerrard. This is sensible enough comment, but Cascarino’s proposed method for achieving this aim is rather ill-formulated. He states that Gerrard must be positioned at the […]

Hopefully for your sake you haven’t encountered our rival website World Cup Hare (hosted by Herr Hare – pictured). If you’re one of the lucky ones, here are some of the clangers you’ve “missed”.
World Cup Hare: Sol Campbell should go to Germany. He’s only had a couple of bad games.
We say: Leave Sol at home. […]

World Cup Hippo is excited to offer you the opportunity to win in our Picture the Wirtschaftswunder competition.
It’s easy to enter - all you need to do is have a think about the economic miracle that happened in Germany after the Second World War, and then render those ideas and feelings in a piece of […]

World Cup Hippo can reveal the real reason behind England defender Sol Campbell’s recent erratic behaviour and dramatic dip in form. Our source has informed us that Sol has suffered a deep existential crisis as a result of plying his trade as a robust defender for too many years.
The defender’s existence is defined, not by productivity, […]

Herr Hippo has shown his rivals a clean quartet of heels yet again. Please compare and contrast the following sentences: the first is written by World Cup Hippo’s Herr Ed; the second by Columnist of the Year, The Independent’s James Lawton. 
“…Carrick has all of the requisite attributes. He should play behind Lampard with Steven Gerrard on the right, and Joe Cole […]