England v Uruguay

[shackattack]

England in football terms are one of the poorest teams in the tournament. No fluidity or cohesion throughout the team and its almost difficult to believe these players have trained together. Once again they depend on other teams to progress. No passion or commitment in general and sooner they and phil neville come home the better.

 

[Danamy]

Too cautious for me

Henderson and Gerrard are both shielding the back four so when we attack there's lack of support in the middle, they're not box to box players, also when we lose the ball the opposition always pick it up with there being such a hole in the middle, Pirlo couldn't believe his luck in the first game with the space he was allowed.

Let Gerrard shield and drop Henderson for Barkley and let's have a fucking go for a change, it's so frustrating watching the game pass us by without having a go?

It's also frustrating to see Lallana being our best player leading up to the tournament only to be dropped when we get there?

 

[blueinsa]

It's also frustrating to see Lallana being our best player leading up to the tournament only to be dropped when we get there?

fear not, he will sign for Liverpool or the Rags this summer and he will be a shoe in after that pmsl.

 

[supercity88]

It's a case of the same old issues. Poor defending. Not taking chances.

I respect Ashley Cole for taking being dropped so well. He should have gone and played in the World Cup. He is our best left back. Baines hasn't been tested at the highest level and now we know he isn't good enough. What has Shaw taken from this? Fuck all. He should have been left until he is ready to challenge. We always go so extreme. It's never a balance with England. We put our faith in younger players because we have fuck all else. We have some exciting attacking talent but they all want to play in the same central role. Lallana should have played over Welbeck simply because he is more used to that wider role than Welbeck who did well but isn't naturally a wide player.

Gerrard has been woeful and Wilshere isn't trusted yet in that role it seems. The fact is we need to replace Baines, Jagielka, Johnson and Gerrard before we are a quality side. On paper the names look good but most are in unusual roles. Uruguay played the best players for each position and were hard to break down. Italy did so as well. But it boils down to poor defending. Allowing Italy two easy goals, allowing Uruguay countless opportunities and meanwhile not taking ours.

Funnily enough I still think that we will go through. I think Italy will win both games and we will beat Costa Rica. Had the same feeling when City were beat by Liverpool. It doesn't feel like it is over.

 

[inbetween]

It's a case of the same old issues. Poor defending. Not taking chances.

I respect Ashley Cole for taking being dropped so well. He should have gone and played in the World Cup. He is our best left back. Baines hasn't been tested at the highest level and now we know he isn't good enough. What has Shaw taken from this? Fuck all. He should have been left until he is ready to challenge. We always go so extreme. It's never a balance with England. We put our faith in younger players because we have fuck all else. We have some exciting attacking talent but they all want to play in the same central role. Lallana should have played over Welbeck simply because he is more used to that wider role than Welbeck who did well but isn't naturally a wide player.

Gerrard has been woeful and Wilshere isn't trusted yet in that role it seems. The fact is we need to replace Baines, Jagielka, Johnson and Gerrard before we are a quality side. On paper the names look good but most are in unusual roles. Uruguay played the best players for each position and were hard to break down. Italy did so as well. But it boils down to poor defending. Allowing Italy two easy goals, allowing Uruguay countless opportunities and meanwhile not taking ours.

Funnily enough I still think that we will go through. I think Italy will win both games and we will beat Costa Rica. Had the same feeling when City were beat by Liverpool. It doesn't feel like it is over.

I think Baines has done alright, he has done alright at the back and supported the team well going forward. The biggest problem is that area in front of the back 4, Gerrard and Henderson. A couple of years ago Henderson was playing for Liverpool as a right winger. He's like a taller yet completely inferior Jimmy Milner really. Milner has only less honours medals than Rooney yet can't even get a game. If England had a truly great player (hate saying this) like Scholes there and a Gerrard with a Yaya Toure footballing brain, we'd probably be challenging for the World Cup this year.

Our only chance to go through now is if Italy win today, Uruguay get beat by Italy in the last game and we beat Costa Rica on GD which could get reduced a bit today by Italy. Knowing football though, Italy will draw today and that's that for us.

 

[chris85mcfc]

Too cautious for me

Henderson and Gerrard are both shielding the back four so when we attack there's lack of support in the middle, they're not box to box players, also when we lose the ball the opposition always pick it up with there being such a hole in the middle, Pirlo couldn't believe his luck in the first game with the space he was allowed.

Let Gerrard shield and drop Henderson for Barkley and let's have a fucking go for a change, it's so frustrating watching the game pass us by without having a go?

It's also frustrating to see Lallana being our best player leading up to the tournament only to be dropped when we get there?

I actually thought Henderson was the better out of the two.

Gerrard didn't get a touch in the Italy game and last night his only contribution was a late tackle on one of their lads to 'get everyone going'

Typical English mentality, passion and aggression before skill and technique

 

[Chippy_boy]

I am only marginally disappointed in the result. A bit like I am only marginally disappointed I don't win the lottery every week. I am not remotely expecting it win it, so when I don't it's not a big deal.

I fully expected us to lose against Italy and I thought we would probably lose against Uruguay. They have two world class strikers and we have none. And we can't defend very well. We have some quite good players, some OK players and some rank average players. And a mediocre at best, manager. There was only ever going to be one result when you think about it.

Bothered.

 

[nijinsky's fetlocks]

So much bullshit and in depth nonsense written on here every time we lose. It's a lucky dip.

Complete crap Mark, and you know it.
Luck clearly plays a part, but a pretty small one - more important factors like having a half decent defence, keeping the ball, scoring goals and all that other stuff you probably never see at Upton Park are the ones that determine success or failure.
The best team in the competition invariably win it, which basically destroys your bonkers 'lucky dip' theory.
England were beaten by a team with a population of three million people, or a third of London.
We are simply not good enough, and sticking our collective heads up our arses and telling ourselves that we were unlucky is part of the problem.

 

[Uncle Wally One Ball]

I am only marginally disappointed in the result. A bit like I am only marginally disappointed I don't win the lottery every week. I am not remotely expecting it win it, so when I don't it's not a big deal.

I fully expected us to lose against Italy and I thought we would probably lose against Uruguay. They have two world class strikers and we have none. And we can't defend very well. We have some quite good players, some OK players and some rank average players. And a mediocre at best, manager. There was only ever going to be one result when you think about it.

Bothered.

Good post, sums up exactly how I feel about it too.

 

[Blue Is the Opposite of Blue]

I don't wish to sound arrogant, but watching Manchester City over the past 5 years has helped me identify when teams don't have a clue what they're doing. City are so organised, so ruthless and so good in possession that when I see a team which is none of those things they stick out like a sore thumb right in my eye.

I saw it with United last season under Moyes, I've seen it with various lower league sides who lack that final punch up front because they've got no quality, and this tournament I've seen it with England. Watching England play Italy and Uruguay was like watching Liverpool lose to Chelsea back in April, they were completely undone by organisation because they had no clue what to do. And what beats a well organised defence? Intelligence. Most team's idea of a Plan B is to throw on a target man and then throw on a winger 5 minutes later. Considering Uruguay had been dealing with high crosses all game I don't think the sight of big Rickie Lambert scared them. I think they were fairly relaxed when they realised England couldn't keep the ball either.

Intelligence and composure entered the field of play when Barkley and Lallana came on. Both are technically gifted players who've shown their skill and technical ability. I've completely changed my mind on Barkley these last few days at the World Cup purely because he looks like a game could run through him. He looks like he could control a game with intelligence, composure and organisation. I see in Barkley the boy who could become the next best thing about English football and could change it for the future, but I know that before long he'll be dubbed "the next Steven Gerrard" and told to use his physical attributes rather than the intelligence he clearly displays.

I think England's biggest problem is personalities. Everyone in England wants to be the hero. Not part of a winning team, but a hero, the winner. Paul Scholes is the best midfielder England have produced for 20 years - he could pass a ball brilliantly, he could score goals for fun, and best of all he did his job quietly. If you hadn't heard his name you'd know he'd had a good game. But what happened? He was shoehorned out to the right-hand-side by Sven to accommodate "Mr. Liverpool" (Gerrard) and "Mr. Chelsea" (Lampard), the egotistical, popular choices who would rather England go out of the tournament than have someone else other than themselves score a last minute winner to save their country.

Gerrard and Lampard are both fine players and have achieved a lot at club level with their skill and leadership qualities. But every single time they came up against Brazil, or Portugal, or Portugal again, or Germany, they came unstuck because they were up against an organised, well-drilled, composed, intelligent side and didn't know what to do. In an international setting they didn't have Suarez, and they didn't have Drogba, and they didn't have Hyypia - there were no foreign names to call on. Instead, a bunch of other players who had the quality but lacked the composure and intelligence.

Paul Scholes, England's best player since Paul Gascoigne - a player with intelligence, technical nous and composure - shoehorned before the Golden Generation even got going. Why? Because he wasn't a Big I Am and he wasn't a star. If Scholes had been Brazilian or Spanish he'd have a World Cup next to his name, he was that good. It's the reason Fernandinho hasn't been recognized in this country, it's the reason Gareth Barry isn't appreciated in this country, it's the reason thousands of quiet, understated technical players aren't ever going to make it. It's that big English attitude.