Come on England

[gillsfan1066]

When was the World Cup Draw,December last year ?? Didn't anyone tell the England manager that we were playing Italy ,one of the most boring defensive teams that throw 9 men into the box as soon as you cross into their half of the pitch and kick and rush football wouldn't work, we would have to have to do something" special" like kick the dam ball at the goal and run at the defense inside the box and earn penalty's Oh and by the way they have a guy called Balotelli who does just that, and heads it at the goal so it might be useful to NOT let him score easy goals.
Young players looked pretty good, defense poor, just don't think we have that killer attitude we need to go much further in the competition.
Oh well on to Sao Paulo on Thursday to take on a Uruguay team that were made to look like Fulham by Costa Rica which is somewhere in who knows, hope they don't take it out on England come Thursday or else it will be one short trip for lads to South America.

[Rimshot]

Can't see us getting better than draws in the two remaining games, we just lack top quality strikers. Thought we were a bit unfortunate against Italy but I don't see them as likely winners of the trophy.
Decent performances from many of the youngsters, one great contribution from Rooney, nothing from Gerrard though.

[Elgrande]

Shush; you mustn't say anything nasty about St Stevie. Totally agree though; for some reason every hack wants to jump on Rooney, but fails to notice that the 35 year old Pirlo totally outplayed the younger Gerrard. I though both full backs struggled and playing Rooney on the left and Sterling in the No 10 was a bit of a sop to the "Liverpool were great" brigade.

[Garawa]

I think we had the chances to win the game. Not sure if the Costa Rica win was good or bad? Good that it brought one of the 3 teams many thought it would be between back into the equation with us but they will now be even more desperate to beat us and I bet Suarez comes to haunt us.

As goal difference is used this year we could end up qualifying with only 3 points providing Italy win all their 3 games. If we lose to Uruguay by a goal and Italy beat Costa Rica by 2 goals, Uruguay would have 3 points (-1 goal difference), CR would have 3 (0) and we would have 0 (-2). Italy winning the final match automatically puts Uruguay bottom (unless England win heavily) and we only need to win by 1 goal to have a goal difference level with CR!!!

Of course the likelyhood of this is small however it not only highlights just how significant the third goal for Costa Rica could be but also how it still may not be over if we don't win tomorrow. Come on England!

[gillsfan1066]

I have the feeling it's going to play out with Italy beating Costa Rica quite handily, and England drawing with Uruguay,then it will come down to England having to thump Costa Rica (who are not that good ),yes,yes I know, and hope Italy fields a strong team against Uruguay and beats them.
Hopefully we can beat Uruguay on Thursday, then we can beat C R, no problem and go through on goal difference to play who, Brazil, ??, lol.

[Garawa]

I think you're right, and I have it down as a 1-1 as well. Had we lost 2-0 to Italy I think we would be out even with a draw tomorrow but 2-1 and I think we have the advantage just!!!! Italy just needs to not relax too much if they win their second match!

[Rimshot]

It's crap though isn't it ? Every four years we sweat over the other results instead of celebrating our wins. I just hope that after this Hodgson goes the whole nine yards in dispensing with the remnants of the old guard. Oh, and Johnson is just not a good enough defender for international football. Tackling is still quite an important thing for a fullback !

[Garawa]

I've never been a fan of Johnson anywhere. The entire defence doesn't seem to be the standard of pretty much most of the previous major tournaments but this World seems to be simply about outscoring the opposition as their haven't been many clean sheet wins. For that reason Rooney needs to start scoring at this level. Italy was a disciplined side and we had decent chances to score perhaps 3 so I don't see why we can't outscore our opponents. Suarez might have a field day against our defence if he plays provided their midfield can play to his strength.

[CadburyMan]

Defending is still quite an important thing for a defender - as good as he is going forward Johnson needs to remember his prime duty is to defend

[Kent_UckyFriedGills]

I thought we looked really good attacking wise against Italy,but defensively we looked suspect down the left hand side.My heart says a win for us Tonight,my head says a draw.We need a big performance and for Rooney to have a great game.

[Rimshot]

Well its all over bar the praying…so what do we know ?
Gerrard is past it, Johnson is too weak defensively, Jagielka is no more an international footballer than I am, Henderson likewise.
Baines; let's try Shaw instead, Hart ; we have no-one better, Welbeck; I don't think so
Positives..Sturridge particularly if he can learn to choose when to pass . Sterling has lots of potential. Lallana and Berkeley we didn't see much of but I think they will both make international footballers. I thought Cahill was pretty good , particularly as he was carrying the other central defender.
Rooney will be too old next time out.

I make that about half a decent side.

[gillsfan1066]

I agree 100%, I think the best player on the pitch yesterday was Sturridge, running rings round the defenders ,running rings round the defender,running ,ball out of bound, throw or goal kick to Uruguay , and I think he should have scored when he kicked that weak left footer straight into the keepers arms just before Rooney scored.
Oh well here we go again, Hodgson does the right thing and resigns when he gets home doesn't he ???

[Kent_UckyFriedGills]

I was disappointed with our performance last night against Uruguay,it was nowhere near as good as the performance against Italy.Defensively we were poor again,and you cannot give a 70% fit or 100% fit Suarez two chances like that.Rooney equalising gave us some joy,but the defending especially for their winner was criminal.A long kick from their keeper which Gerrard heads towards Suarez and he finished it.Why were our defenders not expecting this,but Suarez was? With Costa Rica beating Italy that's that then,we only had a 10% chance of getting through but the Italians didn`t turn up tonight.Being truthful we didn't deserve to go through if we cannot do it off our own backs.Now we`re out I hope Roy plays the younger players from the start against Costa Rica like Shaw,Barkley,Forster,Lallana and give them some World Cup experience.It wont be an easy game,Costa Rica are already through but they will want to carry on the momentum.They have been excellent in both games,and have proven people wrong who thought they would be the whipping boys of the Group.If we lose then that will have been us.

[Kent_UckyFriedGills]

I thought the Costa Rica game was a poor game, and played like a pre-season Friendly.We hardly tested their keeper and I thought the biggest positives were Barkley and Shaw`s performances.I thought we would just scrape through our Group,but it has been a disappointing World Cup for us.The Italy game was the biggest positive as we played really well,but we never kicked on from that point.I thought the Uruguay and Costa Rica games were played quite safe.We keep saying the same things after every Tournament,but we need to build our Team around the Younger Players coming through like Lallana,Shaw,Barkley,Chamberlain,Sterling,Henderson etc with a few older heads in there and try and kick on ready for the Euro`s in 2016.Our Group looks easy,and with more Teams now able to Qualify it is unlikely we would not Qualify.

[gillsfan1066]

Has Hodgeson resigned yet, with him in charge we have as much chance as making it to the quarter finals of Euro '16 as I have of of crossing Niagara Falls on a tight rope, and I am scared of heights.