Group D - CRC, ENG, ITA, URU

Let's face it, neither team are going to win the World Cup, are they?

 

I think we played quite well. It is difficult to judge how good Italy is but they had very few clear chances. Their first goal was a 30 yard shot through 4 defenders, the second was bad defending, but they did very little apart from that. We created most up front and it was great to see a bit of imagination and flair up front without the predictability of the past England teams.

 

Must have watched a different game to you.

I thought they did pretty well by England's normal standards - the final ball is still an issue, but at least they tried going forward and didn't sit back. Could have been a different story if we sorted the left side issue earlier and we may have been able to sneak a draw.

Sterling was awesome. By far our best player. Rooney and Johnson - S**t, utter s**t. If we play like that against Uruguay and Costa Rica then think we have a good chance of 2nd place. After that we probably won't go much further, but I found that much more entertaining than your normal England performance.

 

Snap!

Despite those final 20 minutes, may I say it's fantastic to finally see an England side going for it in a major tournament. It didn't help that Italy had the world and its nan behind the ball towards the end (and the heat in Manaus looked like it was draining the players' energy) but there were plenty of positives to take from tonight.

I felt Gerrard should have appealed for the penalty, and Sturridge and Sterling were fantastic. Rooney was poor unfortunately, how many chances did he waste? His run into the box and subsequent fluff was the chance of the game, a goal there would have done his confidence the world of good.

I can't believe I'm reading this. I really couldn't agree with you any less.

 

From an neutral point of view I thought it was a good game and perhaps Italy were a little better. I thought Rooney, Johnson and Gerrard were poor, but Sterling, Sturidge and Wellbeck were good as was Barkley when he came on. I would give even more kids a go. Think you will qualify and we should sign Pirlo.

 

I thought we were actually quite decent in the first half. Italy were better, but not by much.

Second half was a different story...we were quite woeful. I accept the conditions must have been draining beyond all belief, and that would have impacted our speed and power game more than Italy's passing game, but the gulf between the sides in the second 45 was quite apparent.

Still, the team looked like they gave a **** today, which is a massive improvement over previous tournaments. In fact, this whole World Cup has been thoroughly (and somewhat surprisingly) entertaining so far!

 

Happy with the overall performance, very promising start from our younger players and we should get more chances against Uruguay and Costa Rica. Not too fussed about Suarez coming back for Uruguay as I dont think he will be anywhere near full fitness. I will be very suprised if we dont get second place in this group.

 

England was surprisingly lively in the first half, but the second half required Pirlo's free kick from putting me into a coma.

Costa Rica was excellent today. Well done.

 

Athlete, who is very well paid and trained to kick a ball in "Not able to kick ball shocka!".

 

I really could not believe that when I saw it, that wouldn't happen at a game between....

Wheel Tappers & Shunters Club 3rd 11 V British Legion Veterans Reserves :doh:

 

I wake up feeling content with our performance. Sterling was excellent. The second half performance was quite disappointing, we couldn't keep that slick passing going.

I think against Uruguay we should drop Rooney, Tonight showed that he doesnt deserve to start.

I would play Lambert, Barkley, Sterling, Lallana/Ox.

We need to play on the counter against Uruguay. We need to utilise the pace more.

 

Sterling was so so good. A shame we didn't take a couple of good chances.

Had a dream last night that we had a bad redding decision putting us down to ten men in the next game, and ten a minute later Rooney flew into a tackle and got a straight red and complained about it. Not exactly beyond the realms of possibility knowing England.

We weren't too bad at all, a positive performance, especially at the start. We are lacking defensively though, and Balotelli's goal showed that.

 

Uruguay losing that first game might make them an even tougher opponent...

Bit of pessimism to balance out a pretty positive review of a loss.

 

I was gutted that Sterlings first attempt hit the side netting, even the BBC thought it was in at first! I was watching this at a hospital due to having to see an out of hours doctor so only had a small phone screen (If any of you are in a situation where your not by a TV make sure you download the CatchUpTV app, works great!!) and when I saw that shot hit the side netting - I stood up celebrating in front of the waiting room. Was rather embarrassing.

 

Hope you are OK mate, nothing too serious I hope?

Probably too much of this :drinking: knowing you

 

Yeah all fine thanks mate, just a prescription mess up from my surgery meant I had to see an out of hours GP - wasn't happy with the timing of it!

Haha, I don't drink now VoR, unless you're referring to drinking to much pepsi

 

I know that, but the amount you used to put away probably means the alcohol is still in your system

 

Just watched the game again this morning and every time we attacked we looked like causing problems. They rarely got out of their half in the second period which was good to see and going forward was the best I've seen in a while which means defensively we'll probably suffer because of it but I know I'd prefer us to try and attack rather than the usual pass around the back before trying the killer long ball, which is what we have been used to watching.
If we do the same again against Uruguay then we'll have a great chance of winning that game, and if it goes **** up then at least we wont be heading out on those dreaded penalties again.

 

We (watford) could do with learning from Italy on how to defend a lead. Once they went 2-1 up they were never going to concede in a million years.

 

Still better than MCGugans

 

They did a right job on us didn't they. Not sure why everyone is saying sterling was excellent, he was good for 20 mins in the first half but apart from that they had 2 men on him everytime he got the ball, our wingers had no chances to be excellent. Everyone was talking about a young england side with pace and flair and they sat deep and neutralised it very well. Can't get round the back of them or use pace if they're so deep. They man marked sturridge and rooney out the game as well. As cliched as it is Roy had no plan B for how to play when they sat back. We didn't switch it from wing to wing quick enough or find the gaps to slot it through. I did think the referee was decent, and Italy didn't roll around and dive as much as they did in the Euros. They just did a right job on us and we were powerless to counter their deep defensive line.

 

Decent enough performance from England. Quite frankly, they played the best that they could.

Defensively we have an absolute bang average back line. Cahill is a decent enough defender playing next to Terry, but next to Jagielka, who is an average Premier League defender at best, we are always going to be shaky. Baines probably showed that his best level is one or two below and Johnson is decent enough going forward but defensively a shambles.

Rooney is not an England player anymore. I hope he retires from England after the tournament, but I'd imagine the arrogant little **** wants Charltons record. Probably breaking it in a friendly against Andorra. I don't even know what it is. He just doesn't have the mentality for the big tournaments. I'm not sure it's a case of he doesn't give a **** and he's only there for the sponsorship money (seriously, how many ads has this most average of players been in?), but it's a dilemma. He must be dropped. At least for Uruguay.

Rest of the team played alright and we had lots of decent chances. But realistically, a marginal defeat to a far superior Italy team isn't a bad result.

 

It's because teams identify him as England's main threat and always mark him out of the game or wind him up. Constantly has a man on him and has to work really hard to find space and even then he was closed down quickly. He'll be better against Uruguay when they wont sit back and mark him out the game.

 

Nah. There didn't appear to be anything more on Rooney marking wise then any other player last night. Also, felt it was the 'fairest' game of the tournament so far in terms of player behaviour and gamesmanship.

The shot that was harder to miss than score, the corner kick, the free kick. I don't doubt his work rate, but the problem appears to be in the mind. If he doesn't believe he can cut it at this level, and it doesn't matter as he's got it all at club level, then that's what is showing. The difference is that in 2010, we had a squad of these players. Now we only have one or two.

 

When Rooney retires his greatest achievement will have been mugging ridiculous wages out of Manchester United.

He's nowhere near as good as English people like to think he is.

 

Called it!

 

Going Down makes a great point about the fairness of play. I always expect England to be fair, and expect Italy to 'maximize' any chances to get a whistle, but both teams were eminently fair, and the ref had little to do but let the players play. Finally, a well played and well officiated game at the 2014 World Cup.

 

I thought we played quite well. You knew that they'd punish us for not taking the opportunities created on the break in the first half. Despite the loss, I enjoyed the game far more than any of the games in the last World Cup or Euro 2012. I don't think Rooney was as bad as some have made out, lovely cross for the first goal. He's just not the star that we hoped he'd be when burst onto the scene.

Pirlo is majestic.

 

Good man, I've been saying this all bloody day! Even if we do lose, we can take pride in the fact that we actually gave it a go for once. (Are you reading this Sven/Fabio?)

 

He's nowhere near as good as the English press think he is

There has been a fixation on Rooney by the media since he burst on the scene. Built up as a world beater, clearly not and now in danger of being again the scapegoat.

 

TBF, Rooney is a highly effective player when he's used in a strategy (same can be said of Gerrard who I hate with a passion). When he sees red and starts doing everything, every- and anywhere on the pitch he becomes useless: such as against Germany in the previous World Cup and in the last 15 minutes of this game with Italy. Unfortunately this isn't how Ingerlund expect or want him to play "...that Rooney what a grafter...he gave 110% effort...he was everywhere - all over the pitch..." Something that still hasn't been fixed is "our" skills level. Virtually every set piece the Italians had near our box looked dangerous (and also they scored from one) - we didn't.

 

Blatantly stolen from another parish I frequent:

NB: Clip contains adult language that has no place on these fora. Words such as "****ing".

[video=youtube;7bZwr2FeC_Q]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bZwr2FeC_Q[/video]