England Vs Italy

[doodab]

I said it in the last game - Rooney unbalanced what looked like a promising new team. He was a complete passenger. As was Young.
Gerrard had a poor match. Defence was rock solid though, even that koont Terry.
If only we still had someone to distribute the ball like Scholes, or even Becks FFS.
But the result is the correct result for England.
Quarter-finals is where we're at till some youngsters come through with better skills - when is that Youth academy starting again?

I'd agree with that. I think Gerrard was sitting far too deep and never got the opportunity to hurt them. Young had an awful tournament. Milner actually had quite a good game last night in patches. I thought Carroll looked decent as well. The main problem is that we gave the ball away too easily, too often. On the few occasions we managed to keep it and knock it about we worked some good openings and could have had a few goals ourselves. We do seem to have a problem with the front line rushing in a bit prematurely so that when the ball comes into the box it's behind literally everyone.

A fair result IMO.

[BoredBloke]

I couldn't watch the game as I had to drive back down south and so had to make do with 5Live. They all roundly slated England, their tactics and their ability. Chris Waddle was the best. Why can england not hold the ball? This lot all play in the premiership and all can hold the ball for their respective teams, but as soon as they play for England that abilty seems to go as they pull on the shirt. Against the Ukraine our collection of 'world class' show ponies were generally outplayed by players nobody has heard of.

Nothing has changed over the past 2 years. We are as bad now as we were then. We finished last night with stats that were worse than what Greece managed, playing a side which isn't as good as the Gemans. Had the Italians actually taken some of their chances then the scorline might have reflected this. Over the 120 minutes the Italians completed over 800 passes. England managed about 350. We are shockingly bad! Commentators were ridiculing Greece for their negative style of play and then appllauding England when they do exactly the same. Personally I'm glad they are out. We were dominated in all 3 of our group games but squeaked through each one and then found wanting when we played the first quality team we met!

[psychocandy]

Bit gutted England lost...

Was looking forward to the media ramming it down our throats at every opportunity when England won the tournament.

[pacharan]

Well what do you expect from playing this rigid 442 system.

We needed more in midfield to be able to get more of a grip on the game and string some decent sequences of passes together.

That said, Lord knows where we're going to find a player with even a fraction of the quality of Pirlo among the emerging group of players. Jack Wilshere and Tom Cleverly perhaps?

[BoredBloke]

Well what do you expect from playing this rigid 442 system.

We needed more in midfield to be able to get more of a grip on the game and string some decent sequences of passes together.

That said, Lord knows where we're going to find a player with even a fraction of the quality of Pirlo among the emerging group of players. Jack Wilshere and Tom Cleverly perhaps?

The problem with England is not the system, it's the quality and mindset of the players. The insistance that it has to be played quick and relying on the long ball. How many passes do we string together before somebody punts it down the pitch. You don't see Spain or the Germans punting hopeful balls out towards their forwards. These players play often in the champoins league and know that this particular style simply doesn't work.

[NorthWestPerm2Contr]

The problem with England is not the system, it's the quality and mindset of the players. The insistance that it has to be played quick and relying on the long ball. How many passes do we string together before somebody punts it down the pitch. You don't see Spain or the Germans punting hopeful balls out towards their forwards. These players play often in the champoins league and know that this particular style simply doesn't work.

The thing is really sad is this happens with the poorer teams as well as Italy, Spain etc....

I just don't get why they don't stop for a bit and try passing it? They have to just hoof it up towards Carroll/Welbeck. It's a complete and utter joke. They need to invest in the youth system and bring over some Spanish and Brazilian coaches - in 10-15 years you will start to see a different England.

[SimonMac]

Where is the guy from the Mars advert when England need him!

[Bunk]

England played a very innovative football last night in the second part of the game. I'd use a new word for that, "catenaccio". Oh wait...

Except that wasn't catenaccio. Nothing like it.

[Scoobos]

Once again we squander our already slim chances by insisting on playing a "hero" that if anything, has only proved that hes a club player only.

Rooney == John Barnes on the international stage ; we are a better team without him.

[adubya]

The thing is really sad is this happens with the poorer teams as well as Italy, Spain etc....

I just don't get why they don't stop for a bit and try passing it? They have to just hoof it up towards Carroll/Welbeck. It's a complete and utter joke. They need to invest in the youth system and bring over some Spanish and Brazilian coaches - in 10-15 years you will start to see a different England.

A post from a mate on another forum:-

"I was talking to the head coach of the local kids team yesterday. The FA is handing down edicts about the structure of kids football - and at young age groups (up to 11yo I think he said) the FA want kids to play small sided games - 5v5, then 7v7, then 9v9 through the age groups - all with the intent that players get more ball time and become comfortable passing and controlling the thing. The parents hate it because they don't understand it, they just want to see 22 7 year olds on a full sized pitch chasing the same ball around. It's not the fault of the 14 that represented England tonight, or the current management structure, this goes back 20-odd years, and will take another 3 or 4 world cup cycles to work through."