But when Ian Rush played in Italy, his wife said the bread tasted funny.Last season Pirlo completed more passes than any other player in the history of Italian football
Well, partly. Actually I think England's possession issues is more related to how they set themselves up on the pitch. Yes, there were a 12 dozen or so brainless concessions of possession under no pressure whatsoever. But for me the main issue is that if you set yourselves up as two rigid banks of four, defending the 18 yard line, firstly the other team has a lot of space to keep the ball in, and secondly, even if you do get it back, the person getting the ball back has no obvious, easy out ball and the out that he does have is likely to be heavily marked.
There were times when England showed that they could pass the ball higher up the pitch, in fact for the first 15 minutes England pressed higher up the pitch, forced the Italians to make a few errors, and were able to keep the ball for sustained periods as a result. Then they ceded possession and territory, set themselves up to win on the counter or from a set-pieces and looked rubbish as a result.
Will John Terry turn up at the semis in his England kit?
It was like living in a foreign countryBut when Ian Rush played in Italy, his wife said the bread tasted funny.
Yeah the flatness of the midfield really does mean the only ball is to the flanks and as England dropped deeper, Young and Milner got forced back by Italy's wing backs.
Bringing on Carroll for Welbeck suggested that Roy was happy enough with that and try and steal a goal.
Shameful way for a nation that hosts one of the best leagues in the world to be playing.
Yep, England are rubbish. But I didn't really choose to support them, I got ambushed by Euro '96 as a 13 year old
I was thinking about the extra-time against Germany in that tournament. Maybe my mind is playing tricks on me, but I remember us being all over them, and really going for it (that famous Gascoigne chance is in extra-time). A long way from this evening...omg tell me about it!! I didn't realise until recently how strange it was that I can still name the entire team of the Euro 96 squad, but only half of 98 and barely any of 00, 02, 04, 06 etcetc.
Yes. It's a difficult job though.To be fair to Roy he got England out of the group and realistically that was all that was asked for and expected,he'll be given some leyway for the simple fact that he's only been in the job for 2 months,once the WC qualifiers start the honeymoon period will be over.
I was thinking about the extra-time against Germany in that tournament. Maybe my mind is playing tricks on me, but I remember us being all over them, and really going for it (that famous Gascoigne chance is in extra-time). A long way from this evening...
In my memory, it was fairly end to end. Unlike tonight, especially the last 15 minutes.I was thinking about the extra-time against Germany in that tournament. Maybe my mind is playing tricks on me, but I remember us being all over them, and really going for it (that famous Gascoigne chance is in extra-time). A long way from this evening...
Germany had Kuntz up frontYeah I don't remember much of the tournament but I'm sure you're right (I was a bit younger than you)
Will John Terry turn up at the semis in his England kit?
Germany had Kuntz up front
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stefan_Kuntz
Apparently Joe Hart made the most completed passes for England tonight.
According to uefa's castrol index he has been our best all tournament.Terry was outstanding tonight
England's best player
Deeply mediocre player, amazing really that he finished up on the winning team that night, considering England's strike force was Shearer and Sheringham.Germany had Kuntz up front
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stefan_Kuntz
Only memorable for his surname reallyDeeply mediocre player, amazing really that he finished up on the winning team that night, considering England's strike force was Shearer and Sheringham.
I was 13, I remember him wellOnly memorable for his surname really
Amazing given the amount of money in the English game.Again, based on twitter so don't know the veracity of it, but someone posted about the number of qualified coaches in some countries. Said something like Germany 35,000, Italy 29,000; Spain 24,000; England 3,000.
The shame is that most of the money is in the premier league and most of it goes to the players. Whilst they deserve the lion's share, I don't think enough goes to the grassroots game in the country.Amazing given the amount of money in the English game.
I think the way we were set up, we were always going to end up camped in our half, watching the Italians pass it in front of us. We didn't use the ball very well on the counter-attack but I don't think Defoe rather than Carroll would've made the difference.I wonder what defoe's thinking tonight.
I'm not sure trying to use Carroll to batter his way through was the right tactic here, whereas an attacking formation on the break of Defoe, Rooney, young and boy wonder plus Gerrard would have been a pretty scary prospect on the break an hour into the game.