England v Italy match thread

[Chris]

The World Cup is going to be great. Hope Jack Wilshere has always wanted to be a defensive midfielder!

[Chazza]

IMO Italy were beatable. Hodgson does have the excuse of having a depleted squad, but even with the players we had out there we still had enough to beat Italy.



Hodgson has no plan b though. It's the usual rigid 442, hold back, hoof it long, uninspiring line-ups and questionable subs. I think Capello would've shaken it up a bit more and out-witted Italy.



I think I was being harsh by saying that he could've "easily" got us into the SF.



Can't you just join me in laying the boot into the fossil?

Oh don't get me wrong the tactics of Hodgson are completely outdated and he has no idea of what to do when a change of formation and style is called for.

I just think that the squad assembled for this tournament was bang average barring a few players.

Gerrard looked ****ed as did Parker. Rooney Young and Milner were ****e. I thought Johnson was great and Terry (apart from playing everyone on from RB) was also good.

Walcott barely got a kick

[el matador]

Oh don't get me wrong the tactics of Hodgson are completely outdated and he has no idea of what to do when a change of formation and style is called for.

I just think that the squad assembled for this tournament was bang average barring a few players.

Gerrard looked ****ed as did Parker. Rooney Young and Milner were ****e. I thought Johnson was great and Terry (apart from playing everyone on from RB) was also good.

Walcott barely got a kick

the walcott sub didnt make sense. england didnt have the ball and they couldnt get into the game. hows technically one of the worst players in the squad going to help you get possession back in middle of the pitch.

im sure hodgson put him on with the intention of using his pace on the counter but england didnt have enough time on the transitions to get the ball to him.

should have brought downing on instead because at least he can help keep the ball when england did get it and is defensively disciplined enough to track back.

[Lee]

Oh don't get me wrong the tactics of Hodgson are completely outdated and he has no idea of what to do when a change of formation and style is called for.

I just think that the squad assembled for this tournament was bang average barring a few players.

Gerrard looked ****ed as did Parker. Rooney Young and Milner were ****e. I thought Johnson was great and Terry (apart from playing everyone on from RB) was also good.

Walcott barely got a kick

It's incredible how light we were in the middle of the park. Gerrard and Parker - two players in their early 30's - having to carry us through a tournament. Big ask that and I do appreciate that Hodgson didn't have a massive pool of players to choose from.

At least Hodgson kept Downing away from the team, so he's got a bit more sense than I first thought.

[Gibbo]

Apparently Ballotelli went straight to Hart and consoled him after Italy's last penno went in. Fair play if true.

[Chazza]

It's incredible how light we were in the middle of the park. Gerrard and Parker - two players in their early 30's - having to carry us through a tournament. Big ask that and I do appreciate that Hodgson didn't have a massive pool of players to choose from.



At least Hodgson kept Downing away from the team, so he's got a bit more sense than I first thought.

Still put him in the squad though over Adam Johnson or Lennon

The injuries can't be helped but the squad was well short in CM.

I think he realised that Jones wasn't a CM and it was too late then to get anyone else in.

I say anyone it would have probably been Leon Osman, or Danny Murphy

[SimonNo7]

Ashley Young is the most pointless footballer of all time. He is **** and would be best suited lining up with Tom daley.

He isn't really, is he? It's just that he's like most English footballers in that he really doesn't give a **** about the national team because certain managers have done their best to destroy International football where as it should actually be the pinnacle of a footballers career.

[Imy]

The played like you expect a team like Greece too.

If they would have got at the Italians I think they would have won, instead they tried to play the masters at their own game, that has significantly better passing and movement. And thats why they lost.

Roy should have had the bollocks to take Rooney and Young off too. Both where dire.

Spain apart they are probably the highest paid team in the tournament, a real indictment of how poor English football is.

[McDermotX]

Fair enough. I think doing 'jelly legs' suggesting that the player taking the penalty is ****ting himself (well that's the way I saw it all those years ago) is just as bad as roaring at a player, but hey, each to their own...

I get you mean mate, but I just think there is a line that puts somethings keepers (and kickers) can do in those situations, and somethings they can't do.
We've seen the jelly legs, keepers wandering up and down their line etc etc, but I think Hart was bordering on an unacceptable level of sportsmanship.
Trying to stare them out etc was fair enough, but when you could see him actually roaring out as the player was doing his run-up in an effort to put him off, puts him on the ball_bag list.
Made him look a right tool as well. Good keeper but he's fast becoming an A1 ******.

[JohnDoe]

I fell asleep early in the 2nd half (game went to ****). Woke up now, looked at the result, couldn't give a ****.

A bit gutted it went to pens because The Bodge will be excused from failure. Happy Gerrard nailed his.

[Exiled_red]

People are saying that the Netherlands played similar tactics to those Hodgson adopted there is a difference though IMO. The Netherlands were playing against the best team in the world. England have been playing against decent teams but teams that are of similar quality to them and not giving them a game.

[Muddled]

Were a man light in midfield in a 442 formation. You cannot press in midfield against their players because they will play around you.

Now if we played one striker and an attacking midfield player deeper then you can press but roy didnt do that. england lined up 442.

Again wrong formation against a team that will not give you the ball to build any sort of momentum.

How can we be a man light? We matched them across midfield, man-for-man on paper?

If they'd played five across the middle, you may have a point, but they didn't. The Italians allowed Pirlo to drop off - this is not about one of the front two picking him up, because Rooney was quite clearly dropping deep himself - this was an English midfield axis that played in a straight horizontal line, five yards apart. When we had some joy going forward, it was because Parker started supporting the attack (however ineffective he was, but that's another chat).

A 4-4-2 (or 1-1) formation was more than capable of nullifying Pirlo, but we didn't want them getting behind us down the flanks, so we doubled up and let our wide midfielders fill the full back position, thus allowing their full backs to play as wing backs, out-numbering our midfield. That's why we looked like they would pass around us, it was because we had two in midfield to the Italians' six.

Far from the perfect tournament tactics.

[Bender]

Ashley Young worst player of the tournament...... absolutely rubbish

[dom9]

I don't buy this bollocks that England players are technically and tactically inferior. I counted 4 champions league winners in the starting line up, and most of the rest have won the league.

I do buy into the theory that the manager is technically and tactically inferior though.

[Alex]

Can it be called a theory if its true?