WCF: Group D: Costa Rica-England-Italy-Uruguay

[Nero]

wth is going on with England? 3 of the worst passes following the worst corner of 2014. Has to be fatigue

probably the same things for the last 40.years or so. Big egos all.wanting to be the hero tryinv to do what will.make them great and not the team

[Admin]

Getting embarrassing now, being jeered by the crowd, Wiltshire trying to dribble past 3 players when the Italians have flooded the box, to many players trying to be hero's out there rather than team players. We don't have the balls, or quality to get out o this group, sorry.

[RidgeRider]

Experience won the day today.

Pluses for England:

Uruguay lost to the weakest team in the Group
Costa Rica have confidence now going against Italy
Some promising play around the goal
Young side with a lot of pace
Sturridge was really dangerous

Minuses:

They lost
They are inexperienced
Italians controlled the middle of the pitch, which is worrying to me
Heat seemed to get to the English players (won't be as big an issue in next game though as their bodies will be used to it now)
Weak defense upfront by Welback and Sturridge

[Wingnut]

too many players trying to be hero's out there rather than team players.

Totally agree with this. No sense of team at all. Italy were far superior when it came to keeping the ball too. Some awful wasteful play towards the end of the game. I think it'll be 1-1 against Uruguay.

[YankeeJim]

At the half I thought you lot had a good shot at it but they adjusted and took away the Sterling threat in the second half. As often happens, the team chasing the game runs out of gas plus that clinical knee to the back of Sturridge 's thigh took him out. He pretty much was off the pace after that and then taken off. None of the subs contributed much. Get by Uruguay and you still have a chance to get out of group.  Italy will beat CR and than park the bus against Uruguay to take the group. Second? Pick one.

[Admin]

too many players trying to be hero's out there rather than team players.

Totally agree with this. No sense of team at all. Italy were far superior when it came to keeping the ball too. Some awful wasteful play towards the end of the game. I think it'll be 1-1 against Uruguay.

We had every opportunity to beat the aging Italians today if we played as a unit. To many England players wanting to take on the world for my liking, either our left or right backs were bombing down the wings leaving us defensively vulnerable, or our younger players fancies a bit of lime light by taking on 20 Italians before finally losing the ball, leaving our midfield totally over run. If we had slowed things down a little and played their game, we'd have got a draw, or even nicked it. No excuses for Rooney missing that chance at this level, but wrong for Roy to play him where he did over golden child Welbeck, who can't even trap a pony.      

[Humbled]

Poor Italian side.
We were the better team, Rooney playing at all costs is a hindrance for us.
Welbeck again was IMO an unsung hero, doing all the donkey work for the so called "stars"
When he went off our movement up too was non-exsistant.
Really annoys me when we get in good crossing  positions and put it out for a goal kick.

Edit - Roy just said Rooney did very well out on the left. Is he sure???
We were leaving Baines open every single time. Rooney was rarely in the correct position the likes of Sanchez at Chile would kill us (again) if Rooney played wide.

[Nero]

Poor Italian side.
We were the better team, Rooney playing at all costs is a hindrance for us.
Welbeck again was IMO an unsung hero, doing all the donkey work for the so called "stars"
When he went off our movement up too was non-exsistant.
Really annoys me when we get in good crossing  positions and put it out for a goal kick.

Edit - Roy just said Rooney did very well out on the left. Is he sure???
We were leaving Baines open every single time. Rooney was rarely in the correct position the likes of Sanchez at Chile would kill us (again) if Rooney played wide.

Poor Italian side.
We were the better team, Rooney playing at all costs is a hindrance for us.
Welbeck again was IMO an unsung hero, doing all the donkey work for the so called "stars"
When he went off our movement up too was non-exsistant.
Really annoys me when we get in good crossing  positions and put it out for a goal kick.

Edit - Roy just said Rooney did very well out on the left. Is he sure???
We were leaving Baines open every single time. Rooney was rarely in the correct position the likes of Sanchez at Chile would kill us (again) if Rooney played wide.

he was.doing that well he moved him to the right. Dont think he would come and say anything negative about gbe players

[Blanco]

Italy weren't amazing but they got the job done. When they put up that defensive wall after the second goal we were never going to score. And for all the Rooney lovers, that's why he is not world class. He should have scored that chance. That's what a class player does. I know he made the first goal but I think he could do with a rest and let others have a crack. Sterling obviously was incredible. Play like that against the other two teams and we can get through.

[Humbled]

Rooney requires very specific types of players around him to get the best out of him.
He isn't like a Suarez or Tevez who can play and link well with any style of player.
I just hope Welbeck isn't the scapegoat again cos he did really well. Great movement and regains possession very well. He is the easy sub every game but he shouldn't be, people need to start realising he may not look pretty all the time but what he does is very affective.
Stirling was very good in the 1st half as was Welbeck but 2nd half once Welbwck went off we had little movement and Stirling seemed to struggle running the ball into a solid back 4 constantly.
I honestly thought Welbeck was our best player but Stirling got the praise (and rightly so) as he had more "stand out moments"

[Forever Fulham]

I wonder if the weather had more of an impact on England than it had on Italy...  Pirlo's game is soooooo slow, though the passing is sublime.  Why didn't England stand him up early, shut down his forward progress?!!!!!  Wilshere isn't that good of a player.  Welbeck is not where near the quality of Sturridge.  Rooney should have put that one in the goal.  And didn't you just know Balotelli would be the difference?  Such a boring game over all.  Slow motion, most of it.  A Roy snoozefest.  Don't think England got outplayed.  Italy capitalized on the few opportunities it got, and England didn't.  That's how I saw it anyway.

Costa Rica!  Should have died a horrible death to Uruguay, but, no!  Pulled out a shocker.  Bryan Ruiz played a solid game.  Joel Campbell was great.  Good team football.  Most dangerous when they kept moving quickly. 

Missed the Columbia game.  How did Hugo do?

[Burt]

Well even in the aftermath of defeat I feel more positive than not... Although the team faded and even though the defence creaked at times there were passages of play that showed a cutting edge to England that I haven't seen for a long time. We have the basis of an exciting team.

[jarv]

England were good for an hour, then faded  badly (probably the heat). Gerrard did not affect the game very much and Rooney was average (imho).  Not sure where Roy goes from here because after losing the first game the players have a mountain to climb and will be nervous.
However, Roy is the best man to get something out of this team and punch above their weight.

[Fernhurst]

Given anyone more confidence in unleashing our own "young lions" next season.


Has me!

COME ON YOU YOUNG WHITES  049:gif

[Jack Fulham]

I think we may of been better off taking Ashley Cole instead of Baines, defending was poor for the second goal. Thought we looked good though, still plenty of chance to qualify. Was always going to be hard to get a grip on midfield against Pirlo, De Rossi and Marchisio but we countered well and with speed. Sterling is going to hurt teams with his running.

[One Martin Thomas]

I think it has and if anyone let England down last night, it was the older / more seasoned players.  Roberts and Williams certainly resemble the way Sterling plays !!!!

A couple of (quite a few) nice signings are still required though.

[Lighthouse]

Slow build up despite fast paced forwards. Defending too deep. Having a tactical problem that is never solved. Couldn't cross the ball accurately. In many ways the England game did remind me of a Fulham future.

[Burt]

It was a "new look" England and particularly in the first half of the first half I had to pinch myself that I was actually watching England! It bodes well for the future. Unfortunately the result didn't go our way, and it makes the Uruguay match a "winner takes all" game. I just hope Roy will keep the faith with what he has started.

[Forever Fulham]

If Suarez is back in the lineup by then, along with Cavani and Forlan, it will be a long 90 minutes...  Still reeling from Costa Rica's unexpected win.  I hope people got to see the quality of Bryan Ruiz when he's used properly (and not isolated).

[Peabody]

I thought there were plenty of positives and unlike some, a few negatives, the main one being that we allowed Italy to much time on the ball, which allowed them to not use up as much energy as the English players and that showed near the end when there was quite a lot who went down with cramp.

Over all, we lost but were not disgraced and even our harshest critic would surely agree that we deserved a draw.