World Cup Group D - Uruguay, Costa Rica, England, Italy

[Craig_J]

England to finish bottom anyone?

 

[Huddy]

Wouldve been better off bringing on Lampard rather than Wheelchair

100%. Frank would have offered far more to the game at that stage.

 

[scaramanga]

Didn't think Pirlo was all that to be honest. A dummy and a free kick and lots of side way passes.

Are all sideways passes bad?

Also, I think you need to look at some passing maps of last night - Pirlo completed a large proportion of his passes in all directions. He was good defensively too.

 

[billyiddo]

England to finish bottom anyone?

nah we'll win our two remaining games quite comfortably i reckon

 

[Baleforce]

England to finish bottom anyone?

going solely on the first games Uruguay look the worst team by far

 

[wiziwig]

I felt the team did well but it were let down by two of our senior players. It seems that some substitutions just cannot be made.

Rickie Lambert on for Rooney.


Henderson were miles better than Gerrard and he gets taken off. Gerrard should've been replaced by either Lampard, Wheelchair or Lallana.

 

[jurgen lineker]

Rooney should have and should always be played as a no.9. When he first broke onto the scene all those years ago he was lethal in that position, and 2 or 3 years ago at Utd when Ferguson deployed him once again as a no.9 he had his best season since his breakthrough years. When played in any other position he does not look half as effective, and that's including the no.10 role.

Rooney was never as good as many hyped him out to be, but still i feel Ferguson ruined his development phase to a degree by essentially using him as a utility player on many occasions. If he was given the opportunity to settle in one position and therefore in-turn be allowed to develop his performances in said position he would have turned out a lot closer to the hype than he has done.

 

[SpurMeUp]

I actually cannot get over Italy having 93% pass completion. That is UNREAL.

Potential winners?

Its due to the conditions. Same with England's high passing success. Both teams had to sit back and defend with two tight lines. In that heat and humidity, neither could push on and close the ball down leaving lots of space at the back to play the ball around.

 

[elltrev]

Are all sideways passes bad?

Also, I think you need to look at some passing maps of last night - Pirlo completed a large proportion of his passes in all directions. He was good defensively too.

Seriously?! He completed one tackle all game didn't intercept it once, and frequently couldn't be arsed to defend at all.

 

[scaramanga]

Seriously?! He completed one tackle all game didn't intercept it once, and frequently couldn't be arsed to defend at all.

I saw 4 possession retrievals in someone's stats on here - that's average for a DM like Sandro. Pretty good for a playmaker.

 

[Superted]

Wouldve been better off bringing on Lampard rather than Wheelchair

Would have been better off Woy putting on a pair of boots and having a run than Wil****e.

 

[Neymar]

Didn't think Pirlo was all that to be honest. A dummy and a free kick and lots of side way passes.

pirlo is massively overatted, but theres often nothing wrong with sideays passes. its much better than forcing forward balls that dont exist a la gerrard. i think in england, there is generally too much emphasis on players playing forward passes (that are often not on). all this does is get the team chasing the ball after they have lost it, and getting tired.

 

[Neymar]

Wouldve been better off bringing on Lampard rather than Wheelchair

i am probably one of Wheelchair's biggest "fans" on this forum. but even i would agree that he was rubbish last night. his decision making was very poor. but i'm not so sure that we shouldve brought on lampard. have we already forgotten the utter staleness of the lampard/gerrard axis over the past decade?

 

[markysimmo]

i am probably one of Wheelchair's biggest "fans" on this forum. but even i would agree that he was rubbish last night. his decision making was very poor. but i'm not so sure that we shouldve brought on lampard. have we already forgotten the utter staleness of the lampard/gerrard axis over the past decade?

Lampard has scored important goals throughout the whole of his career, with a goal needed and 20 mins to go he wouldve been a better option than Wheelchair

 

[Mumorn]

pirlo is massively overatted, but theres often nothing wrong with sideays passes. its much better than forcing forward balls that dont exist a la gerrard. i think in england, there is generally too much emphasis on players playing forward passes (that are often not on). all this does is get the team chasing the ball after they have lost it, and getting tired.

Do you think Xavi is overrated?

 

[Eriktheviking]

Same old England, we never learn. square pegs in round holes; Rooney. Glad to see he again played well in a big game, he just never shows up.

Unfortunately, even if we sort rooney out, we will not be going far with the CB pairing we have. They played well but they are limited, its not their fault they are the best we have at the moment.

Probably the best ive seen England play for 10 years.

 

[indianspur]

pirlo is massively overatted, but theres often nothing wrong with sideays passes. its much better than forcing forward balls that dont exist a la gerrard. i think in england, there is generally too much emphasis on players playing forward passes (that are often not on). all this does is get the team chasing the ball after they have lost it, and getting tired.

Massively overrated? Oh dear

Yes he plays plenty of simple balls in order to retain possession, but he also plays the dangerous incisive forward balls, long or short, plus he is devastating at set pieces.

If only every team had a player with only half of Pirlo's ability to dictate the play, would make football much more enjoyable

Massively overatted

 

[milo]

yeah that's it, Wellbeck was playing well, defending from the front and creating chances/linking up well with the midfield - was a very strange choice of player to take off. should have taken Gerrard off for Barkley at that point as he had become a passenger.

Sturridge took a bit of a knock so can understand that, although id have brought Lallana on for Rooney much earlier.

Wheelchair was totally un needed on the pitch and never should have came on

I think that Welbeck was tiring and could see the sense in bringing him off but I would have looked at bringing Rooney off first. if England make it out of the group, I could see Rooney having lost his starting place by the knock out stage.

I would have taken of Gerrard for Lampard but I suspect that part of the reason for bringing on Wheelchair was to increase his match fitness.

 

[milo]

Rooney should have and should always be played as a no.9. When he first broke onto the scene all those years ago he was lethal in that position, and 2 or 3 years ago at Utd when Ferguson deployed him once again as a no.9 he had his best season since his breakthrough years. When played in any other position he does not look half as effective, and that's including the no.10 role.

Rooney was never as good as many hyped him out to be, but still i feel Ferguson ruined his development phase to a degree by essentially using him as a utility player on many occasions. If he was given the opportunity to settle in one position and therefore in-turn be allowed to develop his performances in said position he would have turned out a lot closer to the hype than he has done.

Even when the person playing in that position was our best player?

 

[Neymar]

Do you think Xavi is overrated?

no. i think xavi is/was genuinely a great. i don't think pirlo is overrated because of his passing ability (or sidewards passes). its more to do with the fact that i think he gets overrun too easily. i also happen to think that xavi is better at retaining the ball than pirlo is, and uses the ball better. fwiw, i do think pirlo is a good player. but just one that is overrated by some.