So happy we got the draw, I am happy with that, shame we could not get a winner, but can't have everything, we should win the group though.
Didn't think that went to badly considering the referee was against us too. My only complaint is we gave the ball away cheaply sometimes. I'll take a draw against the French though.
I nearly stupidly said I doubt if that referee is given any more games, but bearing in mind what Platini thinks of us, we'll probably get the same ref for our next two matches!
He was awful, double standards it seemed we got given cards and had fouls ignored whilst the French could do whatever they wanted to, how the hell Cabaye didn't end up with a card was beyond me, he made no overly harsh challenges but just the frequency of fouls he committed.
That wasn't bad, there's actually some glimmers of hope coming out of that! I'm shocked! Soooo glad downing didn't get on, send the twat home! Though they all put a great shift in, you could see from how soaked their shirts were that conditions weren't exactly ideal!
Agree there are glimmers of hope and, yes, everyone tried but don't think sweat and endeavour compensates for and disguises the inherent problems. First, though, the positives 1) Thought Welbeck played really well given the challenges of no support and no service, meaning he constantly had to 'drop back' in search of the ball - thought he was the pick of all the England team. 2)Gerard was much more disciplined than he normally is - probably a consequnce of losing his pace (or the heat) to bomb forward - but that in itself creates a problem of both he and Parker being way to deep to provide support to Young and Welbeck. However: 1) The centre backs don't have enough pace - though difficult to see how this can be changed 2) Parker constantly gives away the ball 3) Oxlade Chamberlain should be at best a sub - did very little and is unlikely to in this formation. 4) Milner is not a winger - if he plays to compensate for Johnson's defensive frailties, well, frankly, a damning indictment of the management; saying that Johnson did ok. 5) If Young plays it shouldn't be in the 'number 10' role as he has insufficient vision 6) 4-4-2 provides 'shape' but fosters inflexibility. 7) Ridiculous bringing on Walcott just for injury time - Evra is susceptible to pace and often leaves space behind him, England was unable to exploit that at all with Milner. 8) Desperate need for midfield creativity well, any somewhere! More than demonstrates the folly of not taking Sturridge and/or Adam Johnson and how much England miss Wilshere and even Cleverley. If retaining 4-4-2, I would like to see Milner replacing Parker, Walcott playing on the right, Young on the left with Defoe behind Welbeck - with Rooney than replacing Defoe. However, would prefer moving to 4-3-3 (or what would really be a 4-3-2-1) with Young and Walcott behind Welbeck and Milner alongside Gerard and Parker but obviously that's not going to happen...so move rigidity and inflexibility to look forward to...
Always have done, just disapproved of some of Hodgson's selections which I still do and there is nothing wrong with that.
I hear the England Band had their instruments confiscated before they were allowed into the ground despite assurances from the FA and UEFA and there was a bit of a ruck with Russian Fans before the game.
Excellent analysis davrid, pretty much agree although I didn't watch all the game as I was with family celebrating a relative's birthday - apparantly the worst comment ever according to a guy on twitter (how rude of me for putting my family before england, although I did find it quite funny).
Probably been taken to the Ukrainian version of cash converters. I saw something on youtube but it looked like pissed up Ukrainians or Eastern Europeans falling over one guy was on the deck though looked hurt.
I do find it strange that we are all fairly happy with the result, and thats what it was in reality because neither side really were prepared to risk everything for a win, based on the fact that France were the favourites and yet England are 6th in the rankings and France 14th. The paradox to me is that the most fancied teams have produced the least attacking football so far. I hope this isn't where international football is going. We've seen Chelsea win the top European club tournament by defending and I hope that hasn't set a precedent. I really hope we show more attacking endeavour against Sweden and stop believing the statistics. The front three if you can call them that showed they have enough between them to worry defences. So its up to the rest to support them. I don't think we will need two covering the back four against the Swedes. I suggest Gerard should leave that role to Parker and play furher up the pitch. When he did burst into their defence in the second half he was unlucky not to get a free kick.
Best thing about the match, which increased my enjoyment of it massively: NO FECKING SHEF WED BRASS BAND, THANK GOD. NO GREAT ESCAPE THEME TUNE. ah bliss
Now we just have to have a different tune at Carrow Road when we score. Any suggestions? Sabre Dance?
ha ha heard this on the radio this morning, the fans interviewed said it was brilliant without the band, great atmosphere. they are very annoying
No point in over-analysing this game IMO. There was only ever one objective, and that was not to lose it, which is what was achieved. We've now seen two games in this first round of matches in which a single lapse of defensive concentration was the difference between winning and drawing -- Italy/Spain and England/France. Regarding the rankings (England v France), being "historical" they don't much matter in a tournament like this; not a question of how easily you qualify, it's all about how you play the tournament.
good result i thought. was disappointed more by france who lacked ideas despite having the better, more creative players. i think we all knew england would lack ideas - we just don't have the quality players to create loads of chances so we set up to be solid and not gift goals. credit to hodgson, he's made us hard to beat. i'd really fear for us though if we were to fall behind in a match - that will be a big test.
Greece won the 2004 tournament by basically scoring from set pieces. It doesn't matter how you score if its legal so I would hope we are practising corners and free kicks.
I thought, all in all, it was a pretty decent performance yesterday. Twenty four hours ago I didn't think we'd get out of the group, now I'm sure we will. We're not going to go very far in the competition, we simply don't have the quality, but it was a solid foundation on which to build. With better understanding between central defence and central midfield, we may well have come away with a win. A sparkling display of attacking, passing football? No. But there were green shoots there, and if training can bring a bit more cohesiveness to the spine and understanding between the forwards, you never know. Perhaps it's not going to be as miserable an experience as I feared.
