"A small place in England called Malmo" made by Roy Hodgson Before the Croatia v France match ITV did bit on Roy's time in Sweden. Here is the fuller BBC video - worth a look while the game is rained off even if it's just to hear him : http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/18456841 Not a bad tactition, eh what ?
Hmm... once Walcott came on and everything started to go through the wings rather than through Gerrard in the middle, England improved greatly. Gerrard just isn't as good as he was 5 years ago, but he's not adapted his game at all. Once Wilshere is back in for Parker and Gerrard is forcibly retired, there may be a future for this team. EDIT: I should mention, Roy should get alot of credit for the timing of the Walcott substitution. He saw Milner was struggling and made a bold change; Roy should take the credit that goes with being brave.
Agree with Surly, Gerrard was clearly the weak link tonight. His cross was fantastic but he has lost a lot of his ability. He shouldn't be captain, if Lampard was fit I would put him in ahead of Stevie G
Classic English performance. Score a great goal and rather than go for the jugular, sit back and protect the lead. We have the defenders who can defend well so I feel we can afford to push on in those sort of situations. That said some sloppy marking from set plays was the undoing. I feel Joe Hart is a world class keeper but the second goal, he should have come and collected the delivery. The ball was in the air for ages giving him plenty of time to leap for it. We showed amazing charcater though to come back and that will stand us in good stead for the remaining games. Welbeck,s goal was absolutely sublime, as was Carroll's ( who had a very good game ). I felt that although Gerrard had a quiet game, Ashley Young was barely in the game. When Walcott came on, pace won over, I would love to have seen Young doing the same on the left. If we are to progress much further we need creativity from the wings and pace, as unfortunately we do have a Danny Murphy in the middle who can create. Watching last night I did wonder if Murph's could have done a job for us in the middle.
I was in the pub watching the game last night, such a good atmosphere. They made us suffer but the win was brilliant. Still lots to work on but again, lots to take heart from. When we went 2-1 down I thought "game over", and in previous years it probably would've been, but credit to the players, they wanted it and pulled it back. Roy got all the big calls right too. He won't be happy with the two goals conceded, though, one of which Joe Hart should've gotten a hand to rather than just watching the ball bounce into his net.
Thinking about it I could see Hodgson putting Johnson on the bench for the next game, bringing in Jones at RB and playing Walcott on the right wing. Ashley Young looks like a fairly inconsistent player- he can be very good but also loses possession quite easily on occasion. I hadn't fully appreciated Welbeck's potential until last night.
How often does the media talk about the Respect campaign? Yet when a ref has the balls to stand up to abusive language from a player and books Keith Andrews, the pundits all say its harsh and disappointing. No wonder kids don't respect referees.
Going out on a limb here, I thought Glen Johnson has been better than Ashley Cole so far in the tournament (something I never imagined would be the case). Someone better versed in the defensive arts than me could say whether the first Swedish goal was just unlucky, or a deflection caused by Johnson being in the wrong place and getting in Hart's way. Other than that he made good saving tackles and on the ocassions he got himself out of position, he recovered the situation well. I think it would be harsh to drop him.
It's quite a decent limb, Captain, and Roy's not one for unforced changes. So Johnson will stay. Roy's dilema is in front of him; Milner will provide more defensive cover while Walcott is the offensive choice. The dilema may be resolved by his choice up front however - with Rooney being pretty much a 'forced' choice - and I see him playing the Manu 3 of Young (he's surely due a good game), Rooney and Wellbeck. In which case it will be the more defense minded Milner, at least to start.
Well done Roy and his "fledgling team". As the man says, "a good disciplined performance although we could have shown a little more composure". The really pleasing thing is that the number of times people (pundits) mention the word "team" because for the first time in a while that is what England are. And all credit to Roy.
I won't take credit for this but someone reminded me Roy beat the Ukraines Shaktar then the Italians Juventus Then the Germans Hamburg and Wolfsburg and then lost to the Spanish in the Final will history repeat itself ?
It's funny but I had been thinking how similar the run to the Europa final was to England in the Euros. I hadn't noticed the similarity with the countries but that feeling of approaching each game in hope as opposed to anticipation, but somehow feeling confident we would get through. England are playing like Roy's Fulham - Every time I look at the team in play I notice the organised 2 lines of 4 - it is just so similar. Like all Fulham supporters, Roy is always going to be special to us in that he gave us our greatest moment by creating a team that played as a team and against all odds got us to the final. I was worried that after Liverpool and the press's slaveish adulation of Harry that the media were going to roast Roy if England as much as slipped - it would have been like your favourite Uncle being humiliated in public - but, against the odds and despite injuries and a complete lack of time he has weved his magic and created an England team from the dispirate collection of players available. So - come on England - keep doing it for Roy - for all us loyal Fulham fans it is giving us a warm feeling of deja vu.
So, I see once England benefit from a dodgy decision, Blatter pops up and says goal-line technology is essential! The man is a disgrace, he didn't give two shiny ****s two years ago! One of the Ukrainians was offside in the build-up anyway, you don't hear that in the press! What about how on Earth Shevchenko stayed on the pitch after that 'tackle'? And I hear no end of England 'supporters' pissing and moaning about how we're not playing well - look at the facts; this is the worst England side for a number of years, no they haven't played well, yes we've got the results, yes we look like a team - people should be celebrating and enjoying the moment, not whinging about how we're not decimating every team we play! We've done nothing in international football for nearly FIFTY YEARS, we don't get to expect nothing but the best! Get behind the team, we've already done far better than anyone expected!* *Not aimed at anyone on here, just had to get that off my chest!
Oh do take the credit SBM. It's a great post which we'll have chance to reflect on at some point. COYW
And breathe. Feel better, Bidley? Didn't Blatter (who I have no wish to defend as a general rule) respond to the disallowed Lampard goal by finally conceding that goalline technology had to be looked into, having previously dismissed it out of hand? Not that that goes against the vast majority of your spot-on rant. Feel better soon, mate.
Oh I don't know, my rant worked better thinking he hadn't said anything. In any case, he's dragged it on too long anyway, and I find it inexplicable that everyone who has spoken about that 'goal' in the press hasn't even mentioned it shouldn't have stood due to the offside! I need to go and lie down before I start again...
