Posted June 23, 201411 yr So a dead ringer of a game. Anybody at all interested? Seeing the team we're going to put out, I think Costa Rica are good value for the win.
June 23, 201411 yr Typical that the first England game I'll be around to watch is pointless. I dunno if I'll bother with this, Italy/Uruguay looks far more uncertain, slightly annoying that it's not being shown on the main channel...
June 23, 201411 yr Author Is England playing to win or just playing for the sake of playing? The latter, although we're giving it the 'no bit part players in our squad'. One last hurrah for Lampard.
June 23, 201411 yr Looks a balanced team, albeit with a slightly weaker back four. Depends entirely on how Costa Rica play. If it's more of the same then we might struggle to break them down, if they open up a bit we should get a few chances.
June 24, 201411 yr Author Not even seen the game but wow. Everything sounded so uninspiring from Twitter. Honestly it's not the players, it's the manager and the system. I just don't see how that many players who are in good club form can be so turgid in an England shirt.
June 24, 201411 yr I wish I hadn't seen the match. Absolute waste of time. Hodgson needs to be axed and he can take half the team with him.
June 24, 201411 yr Author I wish I hadn't seen the match. Absolute waste of time. Hodgson needs to be axed and he can take half the team with him. It was out 'B team' though :D But agree, Hodgson just has to go. He doesn't the awareness to bring the best out of this group of players. He's really lucky the media are focusing on Suarez. Funny how both the Spainish and Italian managers have offered their resignation, but Hodgson's standing strong still.
June 25, 201411 yr Author Are you really attempting to compare the situation to Del Bosque's? No, but both those managers have a had a torrid World Cup and have offered their resignation. So have we, yet everyone is adamant Hodgson stays. Even though it was a tough group, a single point is absolutely dire. Hodgson is really lucky the focus from the media is on the Suarez incident rather than the England team.
June 25, 201411 yr Narrowly losing to two teams ahead of you in the world rankings and then getting a point against the tournament's shock team. Expectations were low for a reason, and I don't know who else we'd get in. I'm assuming Neville will get it after 2016.
June 25, 201411 yr It wasn't hugely inspiring, no, but I don't think we played badly at all and showed promise for what our younger players could do. I liked that Sturridge and the likes weren't afraid to go for some more 'daring' shots, as I feel we've looked more cagey than that in the first 2 matches. Costa Rica are a good side, we did pretty well to reduce them to no goals. I'm not trying to say we were great but I don't think it was a disaster or embarassing or any of those over dramatised descriptions of the match at all.
June 25, 201411 yr It was hard to judge as both sides treated it more like a friendly than a competitive match but England's performance certainly wasn't as woeful as some people are trying to claim. It wasn't great but then what do you expect when fielding the second XI? A lot of the problem stems from the amount of money in the Premier League. It means that the league attracts the best players from all over the world. It also means that there is no real financial incentive for English players to play abroad where they might learn something new.
June 25, 201411 yr It was hard to judge as both sides treated it more like a friendly than a competitive match but England's performance certainly wasn't as woeful as some people are trying to claim. It wasn't great but then what do you expect when fielding the second XI? A lot of the problem stems from the amount of money in the Premier League. It means that the league attracts the best players from all over the world. It also means that there is no real financial incentive for English players to play abroad where they might learn something new. I think the latter is really important. Only the really big guns across Europe match up wage-wise to their Premier League equivalents and why would Real or Barcelona buy an English player and pay him the same wages as a French, Swiss or Portuguese player with a more balanced skill set? A top 10 team in La Liga or the Bundesliga won't have the same wage budget as Stoke or Everton.
June 25, 201411 yr Author Narrowly losing to two teams ahead of you in the world rankings and then getting a point against the tournament's shock team. Expectations were low for a reason, and I don't know who else we'd get in. I'm assuming Neville will get it after 2016. They were low, and I'm not saying we shouldn't have qualified, but on the whole we were poor against Costa Rica and Uruguay. We have the players, like I said, a lot of our players were coming off from the back of excellent club form. I just don't think Hodgson has the tactical know-how and flexibility to take this group of players to the next level, which we are capable. Is Hodgson was in charge of Costa Rica, do you think they would have qualified? Probably not.
June 25, 201411 yr They were low, and I'm not saying we shouldn't have qualified, but on the whole we were poor against Costa Rica and Uruguay. We have the players, like I said, a lot of our players were coming off from the back of excellent club form. I just don't think Hodgson has the tactical know-how and flexibility to take this group of players to the next level, which we are capable. Is Hodgson was in charge of Costa Rica, do you think they would have qualified? Probably not. Did you see us in 2012? They'd have probably won all three games.
Create an account or sign in to comment