Well my impression is that Phil Neville would have done better on the pitch and Rooney would have made for a more interesting commentator. Other than that I thought they played some positive football. Nice passing no real wasteful Hollywood balls controlled and patient but that one side looked weak with Wayne there. Johnson did well defensively which was my major concern - Baines was just overloaded. Rooney has to be dropped now - his touch has gone, his desire has gone but more importantly his interest has gone all he seems to do is get frustrated. Fitness levels were worrying too - our players cramping up early.
FIFA World Cup 2014 - GROUP D [Uruguay, Costa Rica, England, Italy - 14/19/20/24 June] **spoilers**
- Thread starter Cosimo
- Start date
Can't see Rooney being there next time, there's enough talent coming through there should be no good reason for him to be there.Someone said earlier Rooney will only be 32 in 4 years
I did think we started well with some good technical football for a bit but it quickly fell apart.
Sturridge was a ******* hero to turn that desperate, out of options, bang it somewhere in the direction of the goal mouth cross into a goal.
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Exactly why I think we'll win.
We put in a decent performance generally against the strongest side in the group. Uruguay are hopeless defensively and will rely on Suarez, so weirdly it's CR that could hamper us if anyone
Caporegime
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Sterling being on the pitch is enough, he plays wide for Liverpool more than central and he's just as good there. Running at defences, in behind, he's got the pace and movement that he can drift in and run at goal anyway. I wouldn't ever push him wide to put Rooney in the middle, Rooney would be better off in the centre aisle of the plane home than in the centre of the pitch trying to run the show. But we'd likely be better with Sterling wide and Barkley/Lallana/Wilshire central than any of those three wide and Sterling in the middle.
Baines had two against him and he went for the ball...the wrong thing to do...it's his error no one else's.
Soldato
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Rooney is getting a lot of stick but Gerrard was terrible as well. Didn't see much of him at all tbh.
Uruaguy didn't look burned out at the end of their game, I would have my doubts that England will be able to recover 100% by the next game and keep enough tempo for the full duration to win it.Exactly why I think we'll win.
We put in a decent performance generally against the strongest side in the group. Uruguay are hopeless defensively and will rely on Suarez, so weirdly it's CR that could hamper us if anyone
That was a mixed bag. Not terrible and the youngsters did pretty well on the whole. Rooney is a complete waste of space in an England shirt and Gerrard needs to step up and lead by example a LOT more. I think really Italy were just too experienced and canny, especially in the conditions. Men against boys, etc, etc, etc.
Gerrard wasn't terrible at all. He played a controlled game and did it well.
That doesn't mean he won't be!
He gave the ball away with an awful pass 1 minute before the end of the first half and Italy had 2 good chances.
Exactly why I think we'll win.
We put in a decent performance generally against the strongest side in the group. Uruguay are hopeless defensively and will rely on Suarez, so weirdly it's CR that could hamper us if anyone
On ratings Uruguay are the strongest side in the group
