England-2014 World Cup.

[VantaaVale]

I feel the players and manager tried their best against two good sides and had no luck which could have made the difference. That said, in a big competition, when it's back to the wall time with 20 mins to go, the guy to bring on is Frank Lampard.

 

Against Italy I might have agreed with you. Last night, however, we saw the typical rabbits in headlights England performance in a major tournament that was lacking ideas, being too deliberate in their play, giving the ball away under no pressure, panicking at the back, and being scared to attack a very average team. All the classic virtues of an English club team went missing again in the national team. It's fear.

 

I think Hodgson has done ok overall, but he fell foul of something that seems to plague England managers, which is playing players out of position in an unfamiliar system. Imo, Danny Welbeck did nothing last night, but there is no blame attached. He is a centre forward and iirc he was complaining about David Moyes playing him on the wing at United. We had other players available that could have done better in that position such as Wilshere, Lallana, Oxlade-Chamberlain and Shaw.

 

Barkley also was not used enough and against Uruguay I would rather have seen him start than Henderson. After all, Hodgson said we were going to attack Uruguay. Rooney, for a supposedly world class player, missed two sitters which was ultimately the difference between the two sides, and was otherwise more guilty than most of giving the ball away cheaply and being caught in possession. I feel Suarez would have converted both of those excellent chances.

 

To sum up. I don't think Uruguay deserved to win. But I definitely think England deserved to lose.

[fairportnick]

Quick! Set up a league that will allow Hull City reserves play Mansfield and will be good in time for Russia 2018.

 

That was like a bad Vale match - soft defending gifts opposition soft goal - we score scrappy equaliser - we have lions share of the possesion and shots with no end product - we switch off at the back and they score a winner

 

Wingers that don't cross, and going back to Gannons day , no striker/target man.

[matt 381]

I can't stand it when people say we're crap because the players are overplayed and don't care or have any passion

 

Passion has got **** all to do with it we didn't take our chances and we defended poorly the two most important things in football we didn't do simple as that

 

I think we were too lightweight with Sturridge sterling and welbeck and I definitely think having 3 players in the middle would have helped us control the game it was basically Uruguay v our back four Henderson and Gerard with the 4 attackers waiting for the ball

 

Suarez is on a fortune and he scored two goals so that completely invalidates the overpaid argument

[EricHamesis]

I thought we were good against Italy, tonight we were bad, really bad against a poor side with one brilliant player. Steven Gerrard is ridiculously overrated for England. I honestly can't remember often saying that he had a good game and tonight he was awful. We lost this game and the Italy one because of no cover for the defence, IMO Cahill and jagielka are good enough but don't have any support as Johnson and Baines bomb forward and the midfield provides no cover. I also though sterling, welbeck and Sturridge were poor, not even half as good as last week. Rooney was much improved and that was nice to see. We're basically out and deserve to be, Hodgson will be sacked and England will start again.

 

Why will Hodgson be sacked and who will replace him?

[Bernie's evil]

It wont be long before the F.A. are scratching their head's trying to figure out what went wrong, well lets start with the players being '' overpaid & overated '' start with that and it might give them a clue !

[Trampilot]

It wont be long before the F.A. are scratching their head's trying to figure out what went wrong' date=' well lets start with the players being '' overpaid & overated '' start with that and it might give them a clue ! [/quote']

 

Let's start by stopping the Premiership failing to do what it was supposed to do and support the development of the national team. Since 1990 there has been a steady downward curve which coincided with the influx and money and foreigners to the game. Young players are swallowed up by massive academies and never play a top level game. They get loaned out and then stay at a lower level or drift away when the contract runs out. There's no actual development plan to the first team. Better for young players to go with their local side, play 100 or so games, get to know the professional game, and if good enough they progress to top flight with good experience to back them up. They should also scrap parachute payments and spread the TV money throughout the professional game to help with development teams. Bit like a grant.

 

Newcastle, Man Yoo and Citeh used to have fantastic development squads. Alan Hanson once said "you can't win anything with kids".... all gone in preference to buying in foreign talent.

 

As for last night... I didn't realise Henderson was playing, Johnson should read a book about "how to be a full back" especially the chapter about "stopping crosses"... and so on. KEvin Keegan once said the England manager of the future would be picking from the Championship. I doubt they would have done any worse.

 

On a brighter note, I thought Cahill was very good and the glass of wine I had during the match was delicious.

[valiant_593]

Why will Hodgson be sacked and who will replace him?

 

Why shouldn't he be sacked? We've been embarrassing again. I don't know who'd replace him though.

[VantaaVale]

It wont be long before the F.A. are scratching their head's trying to figure out what went wrong' date=' well lets start with the players being '' overpaid & overated '' start with that and it might give them a clue ! [/quote']

 

The solution they will most likely come up with is to sack the manager. There has to be a fall guy somewhere, right?

[cheshirevaliant]

I'm tempted to say anyone, but being realistic I'd take someone like Michael Laudrup in a heartbeat over Hodgson.....

 

What's he doing now, TP? Why does nobody want him after he got sacked by Swansea?

[For Us All]

The 'Special One' says he would like the job eventually.

[valiant_593]

Probably sitting in his Copenhagen mansion with his supermodel wife contemplating his next move.

 

Who says nobody wants him? He's been linked with jobs but maybe he's taking a break before his next job. When you look at his Swansea sacking I don't think it was the performance on the pitch that drove it reading between the lines. He'd be an upgrade on Hodgson that's for sure....

 

Anyone is an upgrade over Woy.

[cheshirevaliant]

Probably sitting in his Copenhagen mansion with his supermodel wife contemplating his next move.

 

Who says nobody wants him? He's been linked with jobs but maybe he's taking a break before his next job. When you look at his Swansea sacking I don't think it was the performance on the pitch that drove it reading between the lines. He'd be an upgrade on Hodgson that's for sure....

 

You can't make a silk's purse out of a sow's ear. We gave Hodgson a 4 year contract with a view to challenging for Euro 2016. We are a better side than we were 2/4/6/8 years ago. Why change something when the alternative doesn't have any more chance of success than the incumbent?

[cheshirevaliant]

Anyone is an upgrade over Woy.

 

Harry Redknapp? Steve McClaren? Fabio Cappello? Kevin Keegan? Don't be daft.

[valiant_593]

Harry Redknapp? Steve McClaren? Fabio Cappello? Kevin Keegan? Don't be daft.

 

This is the worst start for an england side to a world cup.. ever... Stats dont lie.

[kevin_struggles]

You've hit the nail on the head there. If you look at teams that win tournaments like these, they play without fear. Once again tonight, England played like a team that was afraid to lose. Too slow and too many unforced errors.

 

Probably because they know they will be slated by the press and us fans when they lose. Perhaps its time for the people to concentrate on the positives instead of the customary forensic examination of our bad points.

 

I'm as guilty as anyone but I'm sure it doesnt help.

 

I see Lambert getting stick on here and he played what 15 minutes of our two games? thats a joke it really is.

 

Sturridge was a constant threat and with encouragment he could do well for us in the future, likewise Sterling who was terrific in the middle, perhaps not quite as effective on the right but hes young and the signs are he is a genuine talent. Johnson was great going forward. Welbeck has been consistent and worked hard for the team. Henderson was disciplined and stuck to the role given to him by his manager. lallana looked a decent prospect when used, Barkley is definately one for the future and has gained useful experience.

 

Baines showed improvment in the second game and shows signs that he may continue to improve with more international experience.

 

Gerard has been a loyal servant and deserves recognition for the skill and work rate he has shown time and again for his country.

 

Oxlade-chamberlain was unfortunate to get injured when he did but he will certainly be in future England sides and is a real threat. Walcot and Walker are also waiting in the wings.

 

Lambert has never let us down, when he gets the chance its normally despatched into the back of the net so he could still have a role to play.

 

In two years time we could ahve a decent team, all we need to do is play with more confidence and watch the yopung lions go.

 

Now lads, lets see costa rica off and give us some goals to cheer.