The Football Thread - Season 2013/2014 & World Cup

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dinners said:
Really enjoyed watching Spain get a spanking tonight.

Good to see RVP looking like himself again too.
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It was absolutely brilliant! We had one noisy orange house :)
 
So here we go then folks - England time :nailbiting:
 
Well the Costa Rica / Uruguay result is a bit of a shocker too !!
 
Well interesting selection from Roy, feeling positive. I've never really understood Welbeck being selected for England, but there you go, hopefully he will make me eat my words. We've got room for some positives substitutions that's for sure.

Got my 2 kids to bed, what money one wakes up 1 minute before KO!?
 
Pretty open, both teams like they can score, we look a bit weak defensively. Looking forward to the second half.
 
Unfair to lose IMO. Certainly one of the better performance in competitive games against a good side for a while. Unlucky not to get at least a point.

Remember Spain lost the first game in SA but won the tournament!!!

Big pluses - sterling and Sturrridge were excellent. Barklay looked good too.

Negatives - Baines was weak IMO, and Cahill was poor. Rooney (assist aside) was pants.

Roy MUST replace Rooney next game and personally would rather see Barkley and lambert/lallana come in for Rooney and welbeck. Think dropping cole was a bad move.
 
On another note, anyone else fed up with commentators having a wa@k every time pirlo made a pass. Decent player, yes, but they were creaming their pants over passes that Gerard, Henderson and sterling were making all game.
 
[/quote]Roy MUST replace Rooney next game and personally would rather see Barkley and lambert/lallana come in for Rooney and welbeck. Think dropping cole was a bad move.[/quote]

Think your right there
 
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Derek Rixon said:
Commentators blaming the pitch ffs
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Both teams have to endure the conditions so it's not an excuse.

Personally, I was quite impressed with England, even if they did lose. Lots of teams have lost the first game and gone on, to do good things, so England can stay positive.
 
Lots of positives in defeat. As an attacking force we created chances. No one seemed to be hiding, and everyone was wanting the ball.

I don't think Rooney can play on the left if the opposition have a winger and right back being positive going forward. :(

Can't wait for the next game. :)
 
I'm no Welbeck fan, but he had a good game. Imho he plays better for England than he does for Utd.

Against a less attacking side that starting team could be pretty good because Rooney would be able to get more involved up front. However, if we had a left winger, or someone used to working up and down the wing, we may have been a more attacking threat forcing Italy to to defend and not being able to attack as much. Lots for Hodgson to think about.
 
redhed17 said:
I'm no Welbeck fan, but he had a good game. Imho he plays better for England than he does for Utd.
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agreed.

best ive seen them play for a long while, but.....besdies the goal and near miss, Rooney was s""t. Set pieces...dire and SG had an awful game...easy to forget he was on the pitch.
 
All a bit expected really.

I thought Sterling was a shining light even if it resulted in nothing.

Sad to see Wayne (scapegoat) Rooney pushed out on the left but he played a peach for the goal.

Sturridge needs to stop that stupid dance.
 
dinners said:
All a bit expected really.

I thought Sterling was a shining light even if it resulted in nothing.

Sad to see Wayne (scapegoat) Rooney pushed out on the left but he played a peach for the goal.

Sturridge needs to stop that stupid dance.
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Dunno. I'd happily see that dance at least another 6 or 7 times .......
 
Great performance by England, imo they should have won the game.... But Rooney was dire,Yeh he played a great ball for the goal but that was all he contributed imo...
 
Some positives, but no complaints when the best team won.

Our tactics were based on high energy, so no surprise it went flat once the players tired.

Italy were more economic with their effort, weathered the early storm and were clinical when it mattered
 
Playing Rooney out of position, imo may as well play someone else, he just doesn't look happy, unlike me i'm over the moon with Italy's win, must say though, England were unlucky and look decent when attacking, their defence looks very poor though.
 
Thierry Henry hit the nail on the head, "if he's not good enough to play in his best position, then why play him at all?". Let's hope Ox will be ready for the next game, and say what you will about Cahill, but it was great defending to get back and clear that shot off of the line. I have to agree about Ashley Cole too, we could have done with him last night.

What I find really annoying about most forwards is their bloody ego. When Rooney pulled that shot wide, Gerard was open in the middle of the box with a simple shot either side of the keeper. He just doesn't think about "the team". A true "world class" forward would have made the pass - Henry, Shearer, Linaker, all would have seen that Gerard had a much better opportunity.
 
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Jelster said:
What I find really annoying about most forwards is their bloody ego. When Rooney pulled that shot wide, Gerard was open in the middle of the box with a simple shot either side of the keeper. He just doesn't think about "the team". A true "world class" forward would have made the pass - Henry, Shearer, Linaker, all would have seen that Gerard had a much better opportunity.
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Regarding 'forwards' - it's not so much an ego thing - more what forwards do.

To say Rooney doesn't think about the team is a fairly sweeping statement based on one moment in a game. He's spent half his career pushed here there and everywhere and if anything his game is more about being unselfish and hard working than it is about being a goal scorer.

Strangely - the two examples you've given (Shearer and Lineker) were great players but possibly the most single minded goal getters there were.
 
dinners said:
Sad to see Wayne (scapegoat) Rooney pushed out on the left but he played a peach for the goal.
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I don't see Rooney as a Scapegoat, just the most obvious mistake Hodgson made, and it was obvious from very early on. That they didn't seem to be able to do anything about it was worrying. I saw Rooney getting told many times to get into position, and to watch the man he was covering. Maybe he didn't want to to do it, maybe he is just such a forward looking player he couldn't do it, either way, the problem should have been addressed quicker. If that means moving players about, the do it. If it means substitutions, then do it. But do something quickly.

Overall I think it was a good display, and very positive about the younger players coming in an taking their chance to play their normal game.


I read on the news round up on the BBC text that Roy Keane has criticised Hodgson for using a Sports Psychologist. :eek: I wouldn't be taking management advice from Roy Keane looking at his hugely successful management career so far. And I certainly would be taking advice from him about team spirit during tournament football. :rolleyes: Great player, average (at best) manager.

If the Psychologist Steve Peters has helped anyone it was worth him being involved. Only the players and staff will be able to say after the tournament is over whether it was beneficial.
 
That was probably the most direct, entertaining display of competition football I have seen from England in years. The younger players - Sterling, Welbeck and Sturridge in particular all played really well and with purpose.
I would not have brought Rooney to the World Cup because he has NEVER performed well for us in competitive games. I thought that Gerrard looked out of sorts, and that the back four has to be sharper and more in tune with each other.
For the next game, I would play Lambert instead of Rooney, and play him with Sturridge in a flexible 4 4 2 formation. Maybe use Sterling and Welbeck/Lallana wide and use Wilshere and Lampard/Barclay inside midfield.
 
andy700 said:
I would not have brought Rooney to the World Cup because he has NEVER performed well for us in competitive games.
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Not sure what you're classing as 'competitive' ?

6 goals in 5 qualification games for this world cup pretty much got us to Brazil.

Performances have been OK but people tend to judge him by his goals. I still think that's a little unfair as he isn't really an out and out goal scorer.

That said, his goal record isn't too bad.

16 goals in 22 World Cup qualifiers
7 goals in 19 Euro qualifiers
5 goals in 6 Euro Finals
0 goals in 9 World Cup finals is the obvious shortfall but he's gone into every world cup so far injured or not match fit following injury.

Competitive record - 30 goals in 58 games
Friendly record - 9 goals in 35 games

I'm not here to defend him but he does seem to be the one England player that is judged differently to all others.
 
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