Popular Post villa4europe Posted June 15, 2014 Popular Post Share Posted June 15, 2014 I actually thought for once for the 1st time in a long time England played quite well, no drama, no dodgy red card, no disallowed goal, no penalties as lost, the ball in for the winning goal is as good as it gets, sublime, but over 90 mins we maybe edged it, think we'll be ok vs Uruguay and Costa Rica and even the 2nd round based on that performance We lost but played well 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ponky Posted June 15, 2014 Share Posted June 15, 2014 I thought England were the better team first half up until their goal but after that the game just lost tempo and that handed the initiative back to the Italians. Even so I thought they deserved at least one of those penalties - compared to the ones Brazil and Uruguay got those two were stone wallers. Unfortunately though Gerrard and Henderson were the weak link throughout and really conceded the Centre of the pitch to Italy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rugeley Villa Posted June 15, 2014 Share Posted June 15, 2014 I said before it kicked off that we will lose two and draw one, will obviously not get out the group and world cup fever will fade very quickly. Did not watch last nights game as I could not be arsed to stay up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post ozvillafan Posted June 15, 2014 VT Supporter Popular Post Share Posted June 15, 2014 Am I the only one happy to see dirty Uruguay (deservedly) lose? 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smetrov Posted June 15, 2014 Share Posted June 15, 2014 I actually thought for once for the 1st time in a long time England played quite well, no drama, no dodgy red card, no disallowed goal, no penalties as lost, the ball in for the winning goal is as good as it gets, sublime, but over 90 mins we maybe edged it, think we'll be ok vs Uruguay and Costa Rica and even the 2nd round based on that performance We lost but played well we did play reasonably well. But thought Italy won without getting out of 2nd gear - easily the better side - don't forget its not italy's style to go on and get 4 or 5 - they get the goals they need - then close the game down. Thought they did that with ease last night Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theboyangel Posted June 15, 2014 Share Posted June 15, 2014 Thought we played ok - nothing more than that. We still lack the ability to unlock stubborn deep lying defences. Rooney for me should be dropped to the bench. Didn't really impose himself on the match and fluffed his lines at the crucial time. Hats off to Sterling and Henderson who I thought had good games. Thursday's match is vital now - the loser is out of the tournament (as good as, anyway!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drat01 Posted June 15, 2014 Share Posted June 15, 2014 Worst player by a country mile was Gerrard. Did nothing whatsoever, failed in his positional role, his tactical role and his role as captain 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyh29 Posted June 15, 2014 Share Posted June 15, 2014 Worst player by a country mile was Gerrard. Did nothing whatsoever, failed in his positional role, his tactical role and his role as captain Baines says hello But other than that I kinda agree with you ... Gerrard at times looked the weak link out there but as captain he is probably also un-droppable sadly 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theboyangel Posted June 15, 2014 Share Posted June 15, 2014 Just remembered Jack Wilshere came on as sub...... think that's as much as anyone can say about his effect on the match Totally over-rated player IMO - obviously talented but nowhere near as good as people make out. For me, he's not ready for International football. Agree with the posts about Gerrard not taking control of the match, especially when you compare him with Pirlo (similar age, position, standing within the team) who yet again was allowed to control the match. As for Baines, neither he or Johnson got forward so looked pretty mundane. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sonic_bouma Posted June 15, 2014 Share Posted June 15, 2014 Hodgeson lost us that match He sets us up to play on the counter attack and then puts Rooney and Welbeck out wide when we have pace on the bench. We sat off Italy so much it was ridiculous. They had acres of space to play their football. Rooney is not a natural at covering the full back so Baines was **** from the off. Baines didn't play that bad he just had no support. If Rooney isn't going to play in the middle then our manager should have the bottle to bench him. Sturridge was outstanding and is the better player up top. The way we shift our team around just to accommodate Rooney is pathetic. Italy are a bang average team and Prandelli said it himself we had much more power than them. We could have won this game if it wasn't for our managers dark ages philosophy. A missed opportunity. I think we will draw against U r Gay and go home. Which is a massive shame coz for the first time in ages we are a better team than that. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deeps Posted June 15, 2014 Share Posted June 15, 2014 (edited) Barkley and the Ox in for me next game. Edited June 15, 2014 by deeps 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr_Pangloss Posted June 15, 2014 Share Posted June 15, 2014 Worst player by a country mile was Gerrard. Did nothing whatsoever, failed in his positional role, his tactical role and his role as captain Gerrard is almost completely shot as an athlete, his legs have gone and you can see that by how his pace just isn't there and how his balance is often off, he shouldn't be anywhere near that first team. Italy aren't a very good side and England well, showed they don't have end product and that they can't defend. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drat01 Posted June 15, 2014 Share Posted June 15, 2014 Worst player by a country mile was Gerrard. Did nothing whatsoever, failed in his positional role, his tactical role and his role as captain Gerrard is almost completely shot as an athlete, his legs have gone and you can see that by how his pace just isn't there and how his balance is often off, he shouldn't be anywhere near that first team. Italy aren't a very good side and England well, showed they don't have end product and that they can't defend. The media bias towards Liverpool help Gerrard out enormously. A quick read through various forums, twitter, facebook etc show that the majority of fans clearly see what a bad game Gerrard had, but in the media nothing. The BBC - who have put a great performance so far - really did let themselves down with total avoidance of mentioning Gerrard - the captain and so called midfield general - but preferred to concentrate on Rooney As much as I dislike the bloke I could not have seen Terry performing the captain role in such a way as we saw from Gerrard last night 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NurembergVillan Posted June 15, 2014 Moderator Share Posted June 15, 2014 We'd have been stronger with Terry and Cole in defence, we'd have been better with Sterling and Welbeck on the flanks with Rooney behind Sturridge, when Gerrard wasn't working out in his role we needed to bring on Barry to hold the fort and move Gerrard further forward. Sadly the squad selection rendered some of that impossible. We should've taken Cole instead of Shaw, Terry instead of Smalling, Barry (or even Delph) instead of Wilshere, and I'd possibly have been tempted to have a look at Huddlestone a few months ago too. Sadly our manager lacks the balls for the big decisions. Picking Sterling wasn't brave, it was bloody obvious. He's been on fire the last few months. Rooney still has a role in the side, but not as a left winger. It was madness. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Steve Posted June 15, 2014 Share Posted June 15, 2014 Rooney holds the team back, outside of the assist he was awful. Johnson and Cahill's lack of positioning/communication allowed Italy to score. Play Lallana out on the wing instead of Rooney and we've got a more balanced side. I'd like to see Sterling/Ox out on the other wing with Barkley sitting behind Sturridge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hogso Posted June 15, 2014 Share Posted June 15, 2014 Agree with all calls to give Barkley a starting place in the next game (and beyond). Genuine threat from the middle of the park, wonderful passer of the football, confident, chalk and cheese if you look at what he can do and what Gerrard did do last night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dakid007 Posted June 15, 2014 Share Posted June 15, 2014 Team for Uruguay game should be Hart Johnson Cahill jag Shaw Barkley Henderson Milner Welbeck Sturridge sterling With this team we will have energy and pace. Players who are comfortable on the ball. Henderson can do the gerrard role Pirlo made gerrard look like kea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardCanning Posted June 15, 2014 Share Posted June 15, 2014 The part that is frustrating is whenever Gerrard has come up against Pirlo at any level he has been shown to not be in the same league (Benitez moved Gerrard to RB in Istanbul as he realised that he was easily being outperformed!). Good old Woy blindly said you do your best Stevie and lo an behold Pirlo runs the game. FWIW I think Woy can and probably will name the same XI v Uruguay particularly given his comments last night. If Suarez doesn't play they are shit, if he does then we should get at least a draw with a win against Costa Rica most likely sending us through on 4 points. I just hope last night made even the most optimistic person realise that England will not be winning this tournament Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted June 15, 2014 VT Supporter Share Posted June 15, 2014 I actually thought for once for the 1st time in a long time England played quite well, no drama, no dodgy red card, no disallowed goal, no penalties as lost, the ball in for the winning goal is as good as it gets, sublime, but over 90 mins we maybe edged it, think we'll be ok vs Uruguay and Costa Rica and even the 2nd round based on that performance We lost but played well Me too. In fact I'd argue we were the better team on the night. Just not very clinical and lacking a bit of cutting edge in the final third. If we play like that against the other 2 teams then we still have a good chance if getting out of the group. Big if though. I was happy with the team selection too. I'm surprised at some of the angry reactions on here. Sterling g behind the striker is a good way to go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
omariqy Posted June 15, 2014 Share Posted June 15, 2014 I really enjoyed the game and our performance. Yeah we could improve in certain areas but lets focus on the positives and take that forward. Play like that and we will beat Uruguay and Costa Rica. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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