Have some balls Roy - Drop Gerrard

[shoreham seagull 1973]

I think that Rooney should drop back to where Henderson was playing and Henderson should be replaced by Milner. This will stop the onslaught of players down our left. However, if Uruguay start playing down our right then we could be overrun as Johnson will struggle.

 

[BensGrandad]

Our side was heavily loaded down our right side and lightweight down the left.

 

[Skaville]

This whole Rooney scapegoating malarkey is really getting my goat. Yes, he and Gerrard were culpable of not protecting Baines enough in the first half but he switched with Wellbeck at half time. It was Wellbeck who failed Baines for the second goal.

 

[Commander]

Disappeared last night when the team needed a captains performance to get hold of the game, dictate and control and inspire similar to Beckham against Greece.

Get Rooney back in the middle behind Sturridge in place of Wellbeck even though he played well needs must for the team he can come on if Rooney fails to deliver. Replace Gerrard with Barclay. Llalana and Sterling on the wings and attack, attack attack.

Yes, that's what we should do, after one defeat against one of the best teams in the tournament which we could have easily won on another day, drop the captain. That would really pick up a disappointed squad and get then firing again.

Have you ever played football before?

 

[The Camel]

Er, What about Dunga and Makelele? And that is off of the top of my head. Dunga was playing in the 80s!
I think what you mean is that the English have only just started to get to grips with the idea over the last 10 years and even then those players get described as useless by the British press and fans.

I'm talking about in England.

When I grew up playing and watching football, it was always 4 4 2.

Meanwhile in Europe and South America they tinkered with other formations which only really started to become popular here in the 10 to 15 years.

 

[Westdene Wonder]

Few thought we would beat Italy in Brazil,if Rooneys shot had gone in we would have shared the points,Impressed we took the game to them with our young side,if we make the same efforts in our next two games I will be
quite happy.

 

[dejavuatbtn]

Surprised he didn't bring Milner on in the second half - I thought that this was the sort of role he was taken out there for - doubling up to defend the wing when required.

 

[HastingsSeagull]

mental can only assume

 

[Soulman]

Disappeared last night when the team needed a captains performance to get hold of the game, dictate and control and inspire similar to Beckham against Greece.

Get Rooney back in the middle behind Sturridge in place of Wellbeck even though he played well needs must for the team he can come on if Rooney fails to deliver. Replace Gerrard with Barclay. Llalana and Sterling on the wings and attack, attack attack.

Drop Gerrard You are either fishing, drunk, or know very little about football.....or perhaps all three.
Beckham scored a wonder goal, from a free kick against a lowly Greece, on home soil. Hardly comparable to playing against one of the worlds best team in the heat of Brazil.

 

[West Hoathly Seagull]

The thing that worried me was that, amid all the debate on here about whether Spanish football should be ditched, there has been very little mention of the fact that England were undone by a classic "English centre forward" goal: cross from the right wing, centre forward times his jump better than the centre half, header, goal. Sure, Rooney should be looking at his performance, but the basic point is that Baines and Cahill failed to do their jobs on that occasion. As per the threads after the game, I am not having a go at these players - players make mistakes as these two did last night, but I don't think the problem lies with Gerrard.

 

[Biscuit]

Ridiculous. He was one of our best players.

Quit talking about football, you haven't got a clue.

This.

 

[Goring Gull]

Carping on

 

[West Hoathly Seagull]

Er, What about Dunga and Makelele? And that is off of the top of my head. Dunga was playing in the 80s!
I think what you mean is that the English have only just started to get to grips with the idea over the last 10 years and even then those players get described as useless by the British press and fans.

Another example was Demetrio Albertini from the great AC Milan side of the early 1990s. He wore the Number 4 shirt in the days before squad numbers. Not much got past him; mind you, if an attacker did, he was then confronted with Franco Baresi.

 

[banjo]

Youth = good oldies = dodgy.

 

[jackanada]

Gerrards legs seemed to have pretty much gone after 20 minutes
Did very little that I could see. That said you cant judge anyone playing as a defensive midfielder watching the tellybox.

 

[BadFish]

Er, What about Dunga and Makelele? And that is off of the top of my head. Dunga was playing in the 80s!
I think what you mean is that the English have only just started to get to grips with the idea over the last 10 years and even then those players get described as useless by the British press and fans.

Are we talking about defensive midfielders? What about Batty and Ince?

I can't agree that we have only just got to grips with this position, we have had defensive midfielders for a long time. Batty, Ince, keane (not English i know) off the top of my head.

 

[BadFish]

This whole Rooney scapegoating malarkey is really getting my goat. Yes, he and Gerrard were culpable of not protecting Baines enough in the first half but he switched with Wellbeck at half time. It was Wellbeck who failed Baines for the second goal.

The common thread here is that we played strikers out wide. Surely we need the cover of a midfielder who will drop back and help out when needed and/or put pressure on their right back to take them out of the equation. Sterling, Milner or Lallana make sense to me.

 

[keaton]

The common thread here is that we played strikers out wide. Surely we need the cover of a midfielder who will drop back and help out when needed and/or put pressure on their right back to take them out of the equation. Sterling, Milner or Lallana make sense to me.

I think it would be pretty impossible to have a team and formation that will control the centre of midfield and the flanks while also remaining an attacking force against a team like Italy.

 

[BadFish]

I think it would be pretty impossible to have a team and formation that will control the centre of midfield and the flanks while also remaining an attacking force against a team like Italy.

Fair point, I think we are picking holes here, we lost the game but played well. I am confident about the next two games and think we looked decent.

 

[keaton]

Fair point, I think we are picking holes here, we lost the game but played well. I am confident about the next two games and think we looked decent.

I think it was the best we've played in a Finals since 2004. We lost because we've not great players especially in defence, bit i'm confident we can do enough in our next two games and at least it's exciting if not