WC 2014 - Match 7 - England vs Italy

[Sutekh]

Not too bad a performance overall really. A draw would have been a fair result. One thing though I am still totally failing to understand, and I think the main reason for our defeat, is why on earth did we spend an hour or so with Rooney "wide" on the left? Is it just me or is Hodgson competing in the "plank of the year" competition?

[Franchise FC]

Not too bad a performance overall really. A draw would have been a fair result. One thing though I am still totally failing to understand, and I think the main reason for our defeat, is why on earth did we spend an hour or so with Rooney "wide" on the left? Is it just me or is Hodgson competing in the "plank of the year" competition?

The problem is that, if we assume that Sterling's performance is enough to keep his place, where does Rooney get a game if not on the left ?

my view is that Rooney should be left out (well, not so much of a shock, really)

[soggy biscuit]

Good performance as far as England are concerned. Sterling great, poor from Rooney and poor 2nd half from Johnson.

Drop Rooney to the bench

[winchester_royal]

People keep saying that we need to beat Uruguay. Not sure that's true tbh. If we get a draw on Thursday and Italy as expected beat Costa Rica then we'll go into the final set of games needing to beat Costa Rica by the same/greater margin as Uruguay beat Italy. Hardly an improbable scenario.

Think we'll get a win on Thursday though. We were really rather good, and on the balance of play I don't think we deserved to lose.

Sterling, Welbeck, and Jagielka the star men for me. Barkley made a decent impact coming on, especially when you consider the extent to which Italy dropped deep to shut down any space in midfield.

There'll be plenty talking about how gr8 the Italians were in possession and all that, but I found their brand of football pretty negative tbh, pass the ball around the back with absolutely no tempo for a few minutes to then lump it long to Balotelli, and it's not the way I'd want to see an England team play.

[Royal Rother]

**escapegoat time**

Rooney was shit.

No he wasn't! He had a perfectly reasonable game.

He was poor. No energy, made little effort to close Italy down at any stage, seemed to have no idea how to carry out his defensive duties. Hapless.

Dropping him and adding Lallana would really loosen the last shackles of what is developing into a rather promising young team.

Do it Roy.

[brighton_royal]

Agreed. Rooney on the bench please.

Sterling was our MOTM. The defence looked a lot better than everyone said they would. Sturridge bright. Nice to see Gerrard linking well with his teammates.

[Royal Rother]

Gerard's long passing last night was as good as I've ever seen from him.

Ping, and it almost always landed on a plate for the wide man 60 mtrs away.

[PieEater]

It was disappointing to lose but I have to wonder about Roys tactics. Rooney on the left and then subbing injured Sturridge for Lallana. Then Barklay, Lallana, Wilshere all wanting to play in the same place. It was crying out for Ricky Lambert rather than chasing a game without a recognised striker.

I'm also wondering where Hart was for the cross that Balotelli scored from, maybe Cahill shouldn't of been beaten but it looked to be in an area where you'd usually expect the keeper to come and get it.

[soggy biscuit]

Wouldn't be a massive surprise if Rooney retired from international football after this WC

[Royal Rother]

Agreed. I said same thing last week.

He hasn't got long left and may want to retire first before getting benched.

[soggy biscuit]

[soggy biscuit]

Agreed. I said same thing last week.

He hasn't got long left and may want to retire first before getting benched.

I just think that, rightly or wrongly, the criticism he gets cant be much fun and he might just think f*ck it, would rather be at home withthe family and have a few nice breaks a season instead of this regular head ache

[Mr Angry]

As Winchester Royal posted earlier, we don't HAVE to beat Uruguay, merely not lose.

Therefore, I could see Milner coming in for Rooney in a 433;

Hart

Johnson Cahill Jagielka Baines

Henderson Gerrard Milner

Sterling Sturridge Welbeck

[Whatevs]

every time he has played in tournaments he's been returning from injury and plays badly. Saw a few United games earlier in the season when he was immense. Played like Gerrard did when Liverpool were shit i.e literally having to do everything

Not sure about dropping him in the next two games but there should be a clearer plan about what to do if he's playing badly. Is Sturridge going to be fit for the next game?

Sterling was immense, was being double teamed by the Italians in the end.

[winchester_royal]

Ox should be back for the Uruguay game. We know Hodgson likes him, and after his performance a couple of weeks ago he'll be in with a decent shout of starting. Obviously/hopefully Roy won't be dumb enough to drop Sterling, so it's then between Welbeck and Rooney. On last night's performance that's an absolute no brainer of a decision.

Just can't see it happening though.

[tulip]

Evenly matched in the first half I thought. Second half England seemed to tire faster than Italy. Some awful corners from England. Liked the ref, he gave nothing either way.

[Ouroboros]

People keep saying that we need to beat Uruguay. Not sure that's true tbh. If we get a draw on Thursday and Italy as expected beat Costa Rica then we'll go into the final set of games needing to beat Costa Rica by the same/greater margin as Uruguay beat Italy. Hardly an improbable scenario.

In fact there's a considerable chance that three points will be enough from this group.

[Handsome Man]

We played well and passed beautifully at times - 91% pass completion is way above anything I can remember. You could credit Rodgers for part of that, but overall it is a very healthy sign. We also attacked for lots of the game and got the ball back quite quickly. With a bit of luck, we might have got one of the penalties or Rooney could have take his chance for a draw. Italy were better though.

Rooney on the left isn't working, and he is not as good as Sterling or Sturridge in the middle. He wasn't good for much of yesterday's game and I would drop him.

[Royal Rother]

Yes re the passing but also the control. We looked far better at receiving the ball and controlling it (even when the pass was hammered at the receiving player) than any England team I can remember which was very pleasing.

[Millsy]

People keep saying that we need to beat Uruguay. Not sure that's true tbh. If we get a draw on Thursday and Italy as expected beat Costa Rica then we'll go into the final set of games needing to beat Costa Rica by the same/greater margin as Uruguay beat Italy. Hardly an improbable scenario.

Think we'll get a win on Thursday though. We were really rather good, and on the balance of play I don't think we deserved to lose.

Sterling, Welbeck, and Jagielka the star men for me. Barkley made a decent impact coming on, especially when you consider the extent to which Italy dropped deep to shut down any space in midfield.

There'll be plenty talking about how gr8 the Italians were in possession and all that, but I found their brand of football pretty negative tbh, pass the ball around the back with absolutely no tempo for a few minutes to then lump it long to Balotelli, and it's not the way I'd want to see an England team play.

Good post.

Italians booooring and negative, as ever. Few shots on goal, lucky to win it as stats prove an England win would be less shocking. Amazing how we continued to get shots at goal when they camped out in their half since the winning goal.

Despite the defeat I'm not upset. A great performance.