*** Official Match Thread England v Italy ***

[algie]

Err I got an "infraction" for calling someone a dick.


So Bozza is calling someone cock ok?

No one likes a grasser

 

[Yoda]

Michael Owen disagrees with you:

How odd of him to say something as stupid as that when he hasn't WORKED with Pirlo.

 

[maltaseagull]

No one likes a grasser

Fair enough but consistency should apply?

 

[chesneyhawkes]

Gerrard was awful, as were Rooney and Baines. Why play Gerrard and Henderson when they are both doing the same job? Gerrard should have gone off, and Welbeck should have stayed on. I know people knock Welbeck, but he always puts in a decent shift for England,

 

[Ex-Staffs Gull]

Thought we allowed them too much space (may have been the conditions). Thought Gerrard gave excellent distribution playing deeper. Neivity from young front players showed at times and this was what let us down. All in all italy - pirlo very average. Engalnd 2 years too early.

 

[dougdeep]

I'm surprised that we did that well to be honest.

 

[W.C.]

Just read the match report in Marca. It's a shitty paper but has no bias towards England or Italy.

They described the game as the best of the tournament so far.

 

[Guy Crouchback]

England played surprisingly well yesterday. If you keep playing like this, you should qualify from the 2nd place in your group. Then all you have to do is beat Colombia in the second round, Brazil in the QF, Germany in the SF, and in the great final take revenge on Italy for yesterday's defeat. Easy peasy.

 

[BensGrandad]

From early on it was most obvious Italy had time and space on their right side so should have closed that avenue and taken Henderson off and replaced him with Lallana or Wiltshire.

 

[One Teddy Maybank]

I was really encouraged. I feel a bit sorry for Rooney, he just can't play out wide, he cannot keep the shape of the team and keeps drifting inside, of course leaving a hole.

I also feel defensively Johnson and Baines are our weak links, and I am convinced Ashley Cole would not have let that cross in quite so easily, Johnson should have slotted in behind Jagielka, but got pulled in by the runner, when he should have been communicating.

Still got a chance of getting through and all looks promising for the future.

 

[Guinness Boy]

We played well. Italy were better and we lost to a better team. Rooney doesn't fit the system. The full backs are awful. That was simply a realistic assessment of where we are rather than anything to get annoyed over.

 

[Acker79]

Fair enough but consistency should apply?

A) how do you know it hasn't? Infractions aren't made public
B) generally, posts have to be reported for infractions to be applied (unless a mod happens upon them), have you reported it?

 

[Westdene Seagull]

England played surprisingly well yesterday. If you keep playing like this, you should qualify from the 2nd place in your group. Then all you have to do is beat Colombia in the second round, Brazil in the QF, Germany in the SF, and in the great final take revenge on Italy for yesterday's defeat. Easy peasy.

Well you've balls that up for us now haven't you ( given your Uruguay bet proclamation )

 

[del strangefish]

Rooney is utter gash, and the less said about his stupid hair weave the better.

Bobby Charlton would have been less effective with a weave in '66

 

[Bwian]

Plastic LOL. Ok

I guess Brighton don't need to worry about the premiership.

You're right - we have no interest in playing in Scotland.

 

[Guy Crouchback]

Well you've balls that up for us now haven't you ( given your Uruguay bet proclamation )

That was just an accident. My current position in the NSC World Cup League will tell you more about my admirable prediction skills than that unfortunate single game you mentioned...

... so, in my humble (but nearly always correct) opinion we will have Italy-England final.

 

[ken tiler]

Every time I see us play someone like Italy or Spain all their players just look technically much better. More precision, more poise, more intelligence. Why the hell can't we produce players like that?

 

[Mo Gosfield]

Every time I see us play someone like Italy or Spain all their players just look technically much better. More precision, more poise, more intelligence. Why the hell can't we produce players like that?

I've been asking the same question for 40 years.

 

[Psychobilly freakout]

We've got to fancy this side to win 4 points in the next two, and that will probably be enough.

You might want to re think that reply