What would you have done different?

[TBM]

Why did we struggle against Uruguay and Italy whereas a team from a country the size of London totally outclassed both...

What would you have done different, if you were in charge....style of play included

[LUX]

Er, Costa Rica has a larger population than Uruguay.

[seahawk10]

Convinced Gareth Bale that he is English.

[TBM]

Er, Costa Rica has a larger population than Uruguay.

I didn't say they hadn't

176,215 km²
Uruguay, Area

51,100 km²
Costa Rica, Area

[paultheroyal]

Er, Costa Rica has a larger population than Uruguay.

I didn't say they hadn't

176,215 km²
Uruguay, Area

51,100 km²
Costa Rica, Area

[TBM]

But anyway that's not the point. Why did we struggle?

[Mr.Swainey]

Ashley Cole should have started.

[MmmMonsterMunch]

Cole & Terry for Baines & Jagielka, Barkley instead of Henderson, Lallana for Welbeck.

Other than that, I would have done the same

[AthleticoSpizz]

Spent less time practising penalties

[Bandini]

Same formation-ie Sterling in the middle.
Terry in for Jags.
Punch Gerrard in the face until he smiled.

[Avon Royal]

Not taken a bunch of over-rated scouse wankers.

[Cripple Creek]

Probably change the entire footballing culture among English players and coaching staff from the year dot. Train in technical ability, stop shutting down schools' 'green spaces', ideally try and hope ridiculously remunerated English players realise that they aren't as good as they think they are (don't blame the players for this actually - in fact I don't really blame the players for England's performances hardly at all to be honest). Probably, above all, learn from the gifts and talents of teams such as Italy, Spain, The Netherlands, Germany both in terms of playing and coaching ability and humbly appreciate why they succeed when England don't.
All really been said before and I don't think for a minute any of this will happen.

[multisync1830]

got rid of Gerrard for starters. Whilst the Chelsea pensioners would have been an infinitely better option than what we had it's a dead end.There is no future in relying on fading stars.

However we need to be completely demolished before we can rebuild. The odd semi final is just papering over the cracks. I truly hope we lose our last game so everybody can talk a cold hard look and actually do something past pandering to the press to play their favourites when they are long past their best (Gerrard and Rooney now, Brian Robson, Gazza. Owen etc etc)

[melonhead]

Cole and Terry. That's it
I reckon that would have done it as well

[TBM]

Cole and Terry. That's it
I reckon that would have done it as well

I agree

Baines should have been back up - Shaw will still be here in 10 years.

Also we had too many "flair players" and not enough grafters

[John Madejski's Wallet]

Bollox to the Cole & Terry debate.

They're the past, and a very sh*t and unsuccessful one at that.

[TBM]

Bollox to the Cole & Terry debate.

They're the past, and a very sh*t and unsuccessful one at that.

Not really

Baines has shown these past 2 games how good Cole actually is. Same with Jag and Terry

[Royal Ginger]

I'd have tried for a lighter mood. The England team always seems very tense and joyless. Understandable with all of the media pressure/expectation, but it would be the mental stuff for me.

That and not playing people out of position.

Kids + Lampard and Lambert for the last game.

[Libertine]

I don't know what could have been done different to alter the results in this tournament but, maybe outside of Rooney, the only players being capped in the upcoming cycles should be under the age of 25. Decent young midfielders, developing young strikers, shaky at the back though...including in goal. Shaw could develop into a top flight international, but at his age that is far from certain. But the rest of the defense isn't up to world class standards needed to succeed in major international tournaments.

When was the last time England had a bona fide international "superstar" at the WC? Was it Gazza's brief moment in time, almost 20 years ago, before the injuries and his demons got the best of him? Beckham? One or two exceptional players don't make a great team on their own, but they can help make a good team great. Other countries who have world class football teams seem to be able to find and develop these kind of players. Why can't England do it? Or why haven't they been able to do it for the past 20 years? Until they can, and probably for the foreseeable future, the best England can hope for is to remain a "good" team.

[Starfish]

Question, and I don't have the answer. Why is it a player like Joel Campbell, who is not considered good enough to merit a place in Arsenal's squad, looks like a world-beater while with CR, while (for example) Jack Wilshire (who is considered to be vital to Arsenal's future) is not good enough to start with England?

This may say more about Arsenal than about England, but .... I thought I'd ask.