Me too, a simple solution to a common problem of player's nudging the ball forward and the wall creeping towards the ball.
Though one of the commentators called it an "imaginary" line. It's neither imaginary nor invisible, the whole point is that it is physically there on the pitch even if only for a minute or so, it's not a computer generated graphic just for tv. I suppose the correct word is to call it an ephemeral or evenascent line. That would teach 99% of football fans and commentators a new word.
The defending for the first Italian goal was very poor and part of the blame for that lies in the formation.
The 4-2-3-1 formation looks good in attack mode, but in defence it becomes 6-0-3-1, meaning we have to be able to hold up play long enough for the 3 attacking midfielders to track back, when they bother to do so, which isn't often. For the first Italian goal we were left with 1 defensive midfield player trying to mark 2 Italian midfielders, and inevitably it failed. With any formation you have to have a certain degree of fluidity, so defenders have to be prepared also to step out to block distance strikes.
The formation was to blame for their second goal as well. Although this time (and for much of the first half) because the 4-2-3-1 is so narrow it left acres of space for the Italian right back to run into.
Similar to the first goal, the attacking midfielders have defensive duties to do as well as attacking duties. They can't all be goal poachers.
As for Rooney, he can't be kept in the side on the grounds of a single cross that led to a goal. That just isn't nearly enough. His goal miss was shocking at this level. Given that ManUre are prepared to pay him £300k a week (which is disgusting in my view) he must be a talented player. So there has to be an argument that playing him wide left is not getting the most out of him. I would suggest he should get the first 45 minutes against Uruguay in the central #10 role. If he still doesn't perform, then that must surely be it for him at International level. Arguments about his scoring record ignore who the opposition have been.
So if Rooney goes in at #10, assuming Sturridge keeps #9 (and Radio 5 Live is reporting he may have taken a knock which would resolve the issue pushing Rooney to #9) then where does Sterling play. He was our key man against Italy. I would play Sterling and Wellbeck left and/or right depending on their preference, but all three being played behind Sturridge must have their defensive obligations emphasised.
Gerrard was poor in my view. He no longer has international capability and I would prefer Lampard in that role.
Baines too looked very poor and I've not rated him at all in the England games I've seen. Ditto Glen Johnson. Milner gives the ball away too much. So we are stuck with a weak defensive line up. In the centre, Cahill is too slow and was caught out of position for the second goal, albeit that the cross was delivered quite literally to the space that would be occupied by a sixpence for Italy. For me, Jagielka is the only international standard defender that we've got.
Barkley did OK without ever really threatening. I can't see what the fuss is about with Henderson and Wilshere, neither of whom look good enough. I prefer Oxlade-Chamberlain although I guess he is still recovering from the injury in the Honduras game (and what a bunch of thugs they are).
I was disappointed that we didn't end the Italy game with 2 up top. I think Lambert might have caused the tiring Italian defence some different problems.
Overall, it was the performance of a team that won't get past the quarter finals. We look good going forwards, but frail when we defend.
As dull as Neville came across in his delivery, I did laugh when the commentator was trying to make a big thing of Rooney being played 'out of position', only to be told in no uncertain terms that Rooney had played in said position many times for ManUre. Which, I guess, simply means he was not very good...
For me the biggest problem England had defensively (and surely a manifestation of the weaknesses the rest of you have identified) was how Italy so often (and certainly for both their goals) managed to find a player in space. It was as if they always had a man over when and where it was needed. maybe England players have had a basic formation drilled into them so effectively, they either cannot or are not allowed to break that rigid formation.
Italy managed to find a player in space because Pirlo was able to play one-touch passes that could cut out four English midfielders in half a second. Funnily enough, that would have been one solution to where to play Rooney - he could have man-marked Pirlo out of the game with instructions to ditch him and add to the rush when a break was on.
Gerrard and Henderson could have been a bit more adventurous between them, but they did most of their job well. If the wide left player is completely unable to spot a wingback running up the line, then it's not their fault.
At the end of the day Engerland are better off in terms of getting out of the group (according to the bookies) thanks to the Costa Rica result after Round 1 of 3, though Mr. Suarez awaits on Thursday. I’d feel sorry for Rooney being managed by Uncle Roy if it were not for the fact that he’s on about a third of a million quid a week.
It just had to be him didn't it? Just too much bite up front I guess..... Now I dislike Liverpool even more on top of them stopping Us getting into Europe in 1986.
"Shock as England lose to teams ranked higher than them". Close, but just not quite as good as their opposition. Some of the FIFA rankings are curious (Switzerland at 6 in the world anyone?), but the rankings of Italy, Uruguay and England were confirmed by these results so far, despite England's performances overall being so much better than anything seen in South Africa. Does pushing better teams close but just coming up short, having qualified for the World Cup reasonably well, constitute "competitive national team"? Would anything more require "upsets"?
As for "successful Premiership", presumably that is defined by some as meaning "raking in as much money as possible" whilst, for others, success will be seen only when the whole edifice collapses into a very large black hole. The structure is so inward-looking that I would suggest that a successful premiership is indeed mutually incompatible with a competitive national team. Why do so many people make so much noise about Southampton's youth setup? Because it is the exception rather than the rule.
You can't have a competitive national team when you play two people in one position.
We tried it for over a decade with Gerrard and Lampard, and it didn't work. Lampard at his peak was a world-class player, and would easily get into any side in the world except one which already had Gerrard in it. This time it was Rooney and Stirling - I'm sure the debate could rage for years over youth versus experience but you can't play two number-tens.
I'm not convinced it's a particularly English disease, otherwise why would it have happened under Ericsson and Capello? I suspect that either the FA or the PL or both, put pressure on the manager behind closed doors, and dictate that a few 'stars' who are good for the PL brand must be included on the teamsheet. It would help explain why we keep taking injured players to tournaments as well.
GodalmingYellow wrote:I don't think you can blame Roy Hodgson for the Premier League restricting English player development.
Blame those who support Premier League clubs who in effect support the denegration of the England team and lower league football.
Ooops!
Taxi for Mr Snake!
I’d order a taxi if I thought it would make any difference, but since 1930 England have only made it to one final of the Euros or World Cup and my ST costs a lot less than a Sky subscription. And if people don’t watch the Prem vie their expensive set top boxes and subsides the wages of the likes of Rooney then how can they be even qualified to comment on players at such length in this thread?
GodalmingYellow wrote:I don't think you can blame Roy Hodgson for the Premier League restricting English player development.
I don't think you can blame him when pivotal players just don't turn up either. Gerrard was well below par all night, and he wasn't the only one. As a team we played well for about 15 minutes - apart from that we just weren't sharp enough, and looked like we wanted too long on the ball most of the time. And at the start of the second half we were all over the place and lucky not to concede a couple more. Generally we were just playing a better team - one with more technical ability on the ball, who looked hungrier in the tackle, and with a more clinical striker of course.
Having seen our warm-up games my prediction for this tournament was defeat to Italy and Uruguay, and a draw against Costa Rica. I'm now thinking that was optimistic! What price Italy joining us on the plane home on Tuesday?
