This World Cup is becoming something of a goal fest. I am only watching the highlights and it's great to see plenty of goals Shame England lost but at least losing to Italy is not really a disgrace. (I have only seen the goals and no more)
I watched most of the second half and feel Rooney should definitely have equalised, he was too slow to turn and shoot - unlike Robben the previous evening!! I see Man Utd are hopeful of luring him away from Bayern and if so, what then for Rooney with Robben and Van Persie in the squad. From what I saw, England played well and they suffered the same fate as Norwich last season - ie plenty of attacking, but the 'quality of the final ball left a lot to be desired!!'
Until England learn to pick a TEAM rather than a collection of has beans, continual under achievers & the latest new thing we will always struggle.
Agreed. The problem we seem to have is trying to cram all our supposedly best players into the starting 11. Welbeck and Rooney were brought to play as strikers et they are playing out wide. I'd rather see us go 2 up top and play the Diamond than continue to force players in to positions just so they are on the pitch. What I would like to see from England is the 4-1-2-3. We have talented, pacey wide players who can provide and score. You put Sturridge through the middle, Sterling and Welbeck/Rooney/Ox either side and you let them go and attack the other team. Then you have Barkley/Henderson/Lallana/Wilshere to play as the 2 attacking midfielders with Gerrard holding. That'd allow Baines and Johnson to get forward more which is the game they play for their clubs so they should be able to do it for England!
Johnson and Baines last night were dreadful defensively simply allowing the Italians to much width. The defending at the end of the second half was the worst defending I have seen in years. We looked pretty good going forward but again not clinical in front of goal. Rooney played out of position and massively overrated in my opinion.
If Rooney is going to be played wide-ish left, he has to provide defensive cover for Baines when England lose possession. Maybe he doesn't have the legs anymore, but Baines was left hopelessly exposed every time Italy got the ball wide on their right. Not totally Baines fault.
Noticed several players with a different coloured boot on one foot to the other. Not sure why, I wonder if its so they know their left from their right.
It was alway clear we were going to try and add attacking width from the full backs, both struggled and Bains was exposed on the left. Johnson was simply never in position. Rooney struggled to know when to come of the wing which is understandable as he is not a winger, for example sterlings cross which looped up just over Sturridge's head were Rooney playing as a number 10 he would probably have been on the back post the same when the ball flashed across the goal mouth and Sturridge couldn't get there. I didn't think he was terrible, excellent assist but should have scored so a mixed bag. Whilst Welbeck put in a hard working shift I felt he could be the one who is replaced to allow for some changes. if we moved to a front 4 of Sterling Rooney Ox Sturridge In the next game we're no longer playing anyone out of position but retain the pace and creativity we enjoyed at times, Sterling will be equally as direct and creative from wider out but Rooney move in to a position where he is far more comfortable. Ox is easily the most comfortable wide left player we have and was having an excellent game against Ecuador until he was injured. If we could go back in time id have played Milner in front of Bains to cover the left, but there's little point doing that against Uruguay. There was definitely the kernel of a good exciting attacking team there, it might be it takes another 2 or 4 years for it to develop but there were moments that I thought we looked exciting and didn't end the game as discouraged as I felt so regularly last world cup.
Football Stuff ‏@FootbalIStuff Japanese fans stayed behind after the game last night to clean their section of the stadium. Class act. please log in to view this image
Who'd have thought it! http://itv.co/1uxyd6r Doesn't tell us how many people just hit the mute button, so only half the story, really
well despite the disappointment of the england result i think its been a fabulous world cup so far. goals galore, controversy, great football, ludicrous defending, crazy tackles. loving it! even england played pretty well and rather than resort to throwing the ball forward when chasing the game, decided to play neat, attacking football, even if they failed to get the desired result. the complete opposite to the previous world cup. lets hope it continues...
