Need to get the balance of the side right. As soon as Italy got the second goal they just sat back and defended well. England need teams to come at them so they counter attack and use our pace.
I commented on Rooney earlier in the thread, he provided an assist tonight but when you really need him he's not there, a classic flat-track bully. Not sure if Barkley is ready to take his place yet though but got to be worth a try. It's a shame our defence is such a weak point but then Hodgson did insist on taking the likes of Smalling and Johnsons deficiencies were pointed out by Scholes and even tin-man voiced Phil Neville in the commentary. Cheers Woy. We will still beat Uruguay but Costa Rica are the ones to worry about now especially Campbell who was sensational today.
we last lost our opening game in 1986, we then went out due to Gods interference and giving Maradonna a helping hand, back then we got to the semis
Has Danny Murphy really just said that young players get tired and that's understandable Shouldn't that be the other way round Italy didn't get cramp
englands last three games were against world cup teams 0 wins ecudaor honduras italy england just ain't a top tier international side i'd say at the level of croatia/belgium/columbia/ecuador level
My thoughts; Must have heard Gerrard's name 3 or 4 times the whole game, did nothing. Sterling, Welbeck, Sturridge were all excellent and their pace will give any side problems, throw in Ox for Rooney and I really like that front 4. Rooney was average at best and should get dropped. He gave Baines no cover at all. Johnson was **** second half. How can every pundit watching recognise and comment that it's on our left that we were getting hammered in the first half, yet 4 minutes into the second half, we're undone exactly the same way. Knockout game against Uruguay.
What does Rooney offer in an England shirt? I'm intrigued as to why he continually gets picked, honestly, he's garbage. He's supposed to be 'World Class' - 'World Class' players help deliver victories for the team they play for (Neymar, Pirlo) you know when they are on the pitch. Rooney, apart from the assist, could have been replaced by a cardboard cut out, that would probably have been as useful.
We showed promise but Roy still needs to be braver. Rooney has to be dropped and Barkley needs opportunities when the other team has not already shut down. With 1 up front the wide players need to commit to the box when Sturridge is pulled wide. I would play with a front four of Sturridge, Sterling, Barkley, Ox, with Barkley starting at no. 10. With coaching on total football the four could interchange and cause so many problems for the opposition trying to mark them as all of them can play at no.10, wing or up front. I also thought that Baines was very poor tonight, there were so many times when he should have committed forwards but didn't have the bravery. For the last 20 minutes especially we had no options down the left and he has been the same in the warmup games. I would put Shaw in to offer a much greater overlapping threat. Our holding mids were very weak. Henderson was invisible and Gerrard very average. Pirlo was allowed to control everything. We miss a midfield hardman like De rossi/Motta/De Jong to give us bite and defensive protection. Unfortunately this generation does not have many options in this regard and Barry is probably our best choice.
http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/27855323 Hodgson said: "I thought Wayne Rooney did very well. We know he can play in different positions and he can be satisfied with his performance."
We were knocked out in the 1/4's by Argentina in '86, only semi we've been in since was Italia '90. Not counting Euro96 obviously!
Italy's second goal: Baines dived in and was beaten easily, then the cross came in and Cahill was surprised to find Ballotelli was behind him for the headed goal. Really poor defending.
Unfortunately there isn't much we can do in changing our back 4 (possibly shaw for baines but I'd keep the same defence for Uruguay) IMO we should drop Gerrard and Rooney and bring in Barkley and Oxlade-chamberlain - obviously we won't as Stevie G is capt However dropping Rooney should be a formality - I bet woy picks him though...
