England V Italy

[Manwell Pablo]

Hangover.

 

Baines is still at fault for the goal and I dislike Danny Wellbeck but when your playing 4-3-3 you'll always get limited cover from your forwards.

 

Still if that performance was as good as some are making out I guess we have nothing to worry about.

[Brooksy]

Did anyone else celebrate thinking that Sterling shot in the first five minutes had gone in?

 

Genuinely thought the keeper had pushed it into the top corner.

[Bugg]

Did anyone else celebrate thinking that Sterling shot in the first five minutes had gone in?

 

Genuinely thought the keeper had pushed it into the top corner.

 

Yep I did too

[purpleronnie]

We still look slow in midfield, still lack movement, still lack intelligence, sorry but I just don't see any real improvement.

[StanSP]

Did anyone else celebrate thinking that Sterling shot in the first five minutes had gone in?

 

Genuinely thought the keeper had pushed it into the top corner.

 

I'd be surprised if anyone didn't think it was in! You don't realise the players aren't celebrating soon enough . Too busy thinking Sterling has smashed in.

[Buzzell]

Did anyone else celebrate thinking that Sterling shot in the first five minutes had gone in?

Genuinely thought the keeper had pushed it into the top corner.

I think at that moment the whole nation thought it was in.

[foxes_rule1978]

We still look slow in midfield, still lack movement, still lack intelligence, sorry but I just don't see any real improvement.

Compared to two years ago, are you having a laugh... You must be...

[Guest kristianity77]

I still cant believe that Sterlings shot at the start didn't go in!  The pub erupted and at no point for maybe 30 seconds did anyone realise we hadn't scored!  I'm pretty sure I saw the screen flash up goal in the top left corner as well, but that could have been the beer....

[HEGGSY]

Yep. Work in a pub and the whole place erupted

Only to realise it had hit the side netting

And the score at the top definitely said GOAL!

And then 1-0, before reverting back to 0-0

[Buzzell]

I still cant believe that Sterlings shot at the start didn't go in! The pub erupted and at no point for maybe 30 seconds did anyone realise we hadn't scored! I'm pretty sure I saw the screen flash up goal in the top left corner as well, but that could have been the beer....

Yeah the goal message did come up after the shot and the score line changed to 1-0 for a few seconds before being reverted back to 0-0 after it was realised it didn't go in.

[ScouseFox]

If the bbc say G O A L it counts in my book 2-2 draw onto the next good strike Raheem

[Craig]

There were scenes when Sterling 'scored'. Beer and bodies everywhere, only for us to then look up at the screen and see the score as 0-0

[ScouseFox]

All I really remember is thinking fücking hell Raheem playing it cool with his celebration thought he'd have taken all his clothes off an done a lap bollocko

[Buzzell]

All I really remember is thinking fücking hell Raheem playing it cool with his celebration thought he'd have taken all his clothes off an done a lap bollocko

I was the same. The whole pub erupted into celebration and I just sat there thinking 'that's the coolest celebration I've ever seen!'

[Stadt]

WHY ISN'T HE CELEBRATING?

WH.. WHY?

CELEBRATE!

...oh

[ScouseFox]

Just seen Gary lewen celebrating what a hero

[Bert]

Did anyone else celebrate thinking that Sterling shot in the first five minutes had gone in?

Genuinely thought the keeper had pushed it into the top corner.

Even the BBC flashed it up as a goal!

[Tielemans63]

Sobered up considerably since last night but even now I'm struggling to see how that was anything more than a decent performance. I'm totally perplexed by claims that it was an 'excellent' performance. For what it's worth, this is how I saw it:

Positives:

Sterling was a great pick and had a brilliant game - it's just a shame that we overused him, we were almost completely reliant on him beating his man in the last 20 mins. No wonder he was cramping up.

Sturridge had a good game at CF. He's a bit greedy at times but will only get better imho.

Cahill and Jagielka looked pretty good. For the most part they marshalled Balotelli well. Shame for Cahill that he made one little error and we're behind again.

Hodgsons decision to attack Italy was brave, I just think his approach was wrong.

Negatives:

I said before the game that Rooney on the left was a poor selection a) because he naturally drifts in field and b) Baines, who is a bit suspect defensively, would be left exposed - and that's exactly what happened. Imho Lallana would have been a much smarter pick: he plays in that position for Southampton and he does a great job of covering for Shaw there - I'm convinced we'd have been much more solid down that side with him in there and wouldn't have lost anything offensively.

Rooney - if you're not going to play him through the middle then don't play him at all. I actually think he's a cracking player but he is in horrible form for England and is fast becoming a liability. His unwillingness / inability to track their right back left us exposed over and over again. If it's for Man U in a prem game you'll prob get away with it but not at the highest level. Imho if we keep waiting for this Lazarus-style return to form then we'll be out pretty soon. Yes he provided a beautiful assist but for 99% of the game he was poor.

Gerrard and Henderson. Didn't think they were terrible, just largely ineffectual. If Henderson was supposed to be tracking Pirlo then he didn't. If wasn't told to track him then maybe he should have been.

Hodgson. Fair play to him for picking Sterling and for trying to attack them. What I don't get was the selection of Rooney as a left sided forward. I also think it's fair to question why he didn't change things to protect the full backs - that was glaring in my opinion. Lastly, his subs were wasteful as he didn't try to change a system that Italy were dealing with easily. Why he didn't try something different I'm not sure. He made Prandelli look good!

I know I'm being negative but England just frustrate the **** out of me. Even when we're doing well it's the same old bad habits that undo our good work.

[foxes_rule1978]

The bbc certainly thought it was in, 30 seconds of share delight followed by the biggest come down once I realised and everyone else realised it didn't actually go in

[Eddie Big Balls]

Half the problem is that 3 of our best 6 front players are strikers, and there's no way we'll play a flat out 4-3-3 (as opposed to a 4-5-1), so Hodgson clearly feels the need to fit them all into the system together somehow. And it's a pretty tricky puzzle to solve. I think I'd look at a kind of 4-4-2 with maybe Oxlade Chamberlain and Sterling on the wings, with Rooney and one of Sturridge and Welbeck up front. I know Rooney can play pretty much anywhere in the front 6 in theory, but I really think that by far his best role is as a second striker in a standard 4-4-2.

[foxfanazer]

Baines and Johnson were the weak links imo

[Stevosevic]

A draw with Uruguay and beat Costa Rica will do if Italy win all their games.

Still hopeful.

[Stadt]

Sobered up considerably since last night but even now I'm struggling to see how that was anything more than a decent performance. I'm totally perplexed by claims that it was an 'excellent' performance. For what it's worth, this is how I saw it:

Positives:

Sterling was a great pick and had a brilliant game - it's just a shame that we overused him, we were almost completely reliant on him beating his man in the last 20 mins. No wonder he was cramping up.

Sturridge had a good game at CF. He's a bit greedy at times but will only get better imho.

Cahill and Jagielka looked pretty good. For the most part they marshalled Balotelli well. Shame for Cahill that he made one little error and we're behind again.

Hodgsons decision to attack Italy was brave, I just think his approach was wrong.

Negatives:

I said before the game that Rooney on the left was a poor selection a) because he naturally drifts in field and b) Baines, who is a bit suspect defensively, would be left exposed - and that's exactly what happened. Imho Lallana would have been a much smarter pick: he plays in that position for Southampton and he does a great job of covering for Shaw there - I'm convinced we'd have been much more solid down that side with him in there and wouldn't have lost anything offensively.

Rooney - if you're not going to play him through the middle then don't play him at all. I actually think he's a cracking player but he is in horrible form for England and is fast becoming a liability. His unwillingness / inability to track their right back left us exposed over and over again. If it's for Man U in a prem game you'll prob get away with it but not at the highest level. Imho if we keep waiting for this Lazarus-style return to form then we'll be out pretty soon. Yes he provided a beautiful assist but for 99% of the game he was poor.

Gerrard and Henderson. Didn't think they were terrible, just largely ineffectual. If Henderson was supposed to be tracking Pirlo then he didn't. If wasn't told to track him then maybe he should have been.

Hodgson. Fair play to him for picking Sterling and for trying to attack them. What I don't get was the selection of Rooney as a left sided forward. I also think it's fair to question why he didn't change things to protect the full backs - that was glaring in my opinion. Lastly, his subs were wasteful as he didn't try to change a system that Italy were dealing with easily. Why he didn't try something different I'm not sure. He made Prandelli look good!

I know I'm being negative but England just frustrate the **** out of me. Even when we're doing well it's the same old bad habits that undo our good work.

Best post of the thread, I agree with every word.

[foxes_rule1978]

A draw with Uruguay and beat Costa Rica will do if Italy win all their games.

Still hopeful.

A draw against Uruguay and beat Costa Rica will be enough, better GD than Uruguay and beating Costa Rica, as long as Italy beat them, we will make it.

[bovril]

I'm not going to trawl through the whole thread so I imagine my opinions have probably already been posted.

It was a pretty decent performance but we lack a playmaker in the Pirlo mould. We seem to worship box to box midfielders in the Premiership, players like Gerrard and Scholes who cover a lot of ground and can ping the ball in from 25 yards. But they can't unlock defences like a Pirlo or Modric of Xavi. It was quite symbolic that Hodgson bought on Wilshire who once upon a time was supposed to be that guy for us and he was completely ineffectual. Italy played cute balls through our midfield and we just seemed to knock the ball out wide to Sterling. Italy looked comfortable in all honesty.

Still, they should get through the group and then you never know. Eternally hopeful......