England v Italy

[Bomber]

Not a bad game. On another day Stevie G would have got a pen. Italy were just a bit "smarter" on the day.

[God is an Englishman]

Thought Gerrard's was clear cut and 2 other possible ones. That's football, 3 good goals in the game and some hope for England's young players.

3 points could well be enough to get out of his group for England.

[adelaidebloke]

England wont get 3 points

[Derek]

Was a decent game, dissaponting result. Agree with Bomber that Italy were a little bit smarter
On the day.


adelaidebloke =

[El Pibe D'Oro]

What about England's handball ?? People conveniently forget.

Anyway after half time Italy looked very comfortable, the Uruguay result will see England get thru I think

Balotelli could have had a couple

Pirlo absolutely faultless

[LFTWNG11]

Thought Gerrard's was clear cut and 2 other possible ones.

Typical whinging pom

[El Pibe D'Oro]

Thought Gerrard's was clear cut and 2 other possible ones.

Typical whinging pom

Not so much whinging, more so deluded.

Back to reality, if Hodgson continues to persist with Rooney wide he will have to address the fact that they will get carved up when they don't have the ball

He simply refuses to defend and left Baines, who struggles defensively anyway, exposed.

Candreva had an absolute field day

I'll say it again, Pirlo is just an absolute star, eloquent effortless and in a class of his own. Completed 103 of 108 passes. shiraz me, that is an outstanding stat.

Italy completed 92.2% of their passes! no team has done that since 1966

[God is an Englishman]

What about England's handball ?? People conveniently forget.

Anyway after half time Italy looked very comfortable, the Uruguay result will see England get thru I think

Balotelli could have had a couple

Pirlo absolutely faultless

What, the one that hit his leg when if not hand to the side of his leg and ball to hand.

[God is an Englishman]

Thought Gerrard's was clear cut and 2 other possible ones.

Typical whinging pom

Typical idiotic wog

[God is an Englishman]

Thought Gerrard's was clear cut and 2 other possible ones.

Typical whinging pom

Not so much whinging, more so deluded.

Back to reality, if Hodgson continues to persist with Rooney wide he will have to address the fact that they will get carved up when they don't have the ball

He simply refuses to defend and left Baines, who struggles defensively anyway, exposed.

Candreva had an absolute field day

I'll say it again, Pirlo is just an absolute star, eloquent effortless and in a class of his own. Completed 103 of 108 passes. shiraz me, that is an outstanding stat.

Italy completed 92.2% of their passes! no team has done that since 1966

So you didn't think Gerrard's was a penalty. Really? Come on take your red white and green glasses off.

[Bomber]

I didn't think Gerrard's was at first, but on replay, I had little doubt it probably should have been.

Agree about Pirlo though, virtually faultless.

[Juventino]

What about England's handball ?? People conveniently forget.

Anyway after half time Italy looked very comfortable, the Uruguay result will see England get thru I think

Balotelli could have had a couple

Pirlo absolutely faultless

Wouldn't have given that a penalty. Nor any of the other 'contentious' decisions.

Great win for Italy. For all the talk of no win since last September, well, Italy knows how to play at these tournaments. Happy for Marchisio and Balotelli, while I thought Darmian was great in just his second match for Italy. Hopefully Buffon and De Sciglio are back for Costa Rica. If the latter returns then Chiellini can go back into the centre in place of Paletta. England exploited this area with their pace a lot.

[ozzie owl]

Thought Gerrard's was clear cut and 2 other possible ones.

Typical whinging pom

Not so much whinging, more so deluded.

Back to reality, if Hodgson continues to persist with Rooney wide he will have to address the fact that they will get carved up when they don't have the ball

He simply refuses to defend and left Baines, who struggles defensively anyway, exposed.

Candreva had an absolute field day

I'll say it again, Pirlo is just an absolute star, eloquent effortless and in a class of his own. Completed 103 of 108 passes. shiraz me, that is an outstanding stat.

Italy completed 92.2% of their passes! no team has done that since 1966

Given the 4231 system that Hodgson plays bad with Sturridge as the central striker, for me Rooney should start on bench and come on for last 20 minutes against tiring players.

Sterling had a great game, but surely Pirlo should have been man marked .

[Rookie]

Pirlo absolute class.

The ref should have let Wayne Wooney take that corner again coz I don't think it actually went in

[Ofor Fuxake]

I didn't see it, but if it doesn't go in then it goes out for a goal kick (or a throw in if you really shiraz it up).

[BTAC]

Rooney

Pirlo is different class. It's fucking cringe worthy when people compare Gerrard to him.

[El Pibe D'Oro]

Never a penalty. Ball going out of play. Paletta stepping in front of Gerrard. Not even Gerrard thought it was a penalty.

[Rookie]

I didn't see it, but if it doesn't go in then it goes out for a goal kick (or a throw in if you really shiraz it up).

Yeh I know I was just being a smart árse coz how the fuûck can a player of shreks ability butcher a corner that badly

[God is an Englishman]

Never a penalty. Ball going out of play. Paletta stepping in front of Gerrard. Not even Gerrard thought it was a penalty.

It's irrelevant that the ball was going out of play.

[Nice One Cyril]

Never a penalty. Ball going out of play. Paletta stepping in front of Gerrard. Not even Gerrard thought it was a penalty.

Anywhere else on the pitch and it might have been given as obstruction, but certainly not a pen. I thought the officials had an excellent game overall.

Still don't see why we're picking Henderson and Welbeck, bench warmers IMO.

[Black_Panther]

Never a penalty. Ball going out of play. Paletta stepping in front of Gerrard. Not even Gerrard thought it was a penalty.

Anywhere else on the pitch and it might have been given as obstruction, but certainly not a pen. I thought the officials had an excellent game overall.

Still don't see why we're picking Henderson and Welbeck, bench warmers IMO.

Who would you suggest as an alternative to Henderson that is better?

[El Pibe D'Oro]

Never a penalty. Ball going out of play. Paletta stepping in front of Gerrard. Not even Gerrard thought it was a penalty.

Anywhere else on the pitch and it might have been given as obstruction, but certainly not a pen. I thought the officials had an excellent game overall.

Still don't see why we're picking Henderson and Welbeck, bench warmers IMO.

Agree with this, spot on.

[N5 1BH]

Thought Gerrard's was clear cut and 2 other possible ones. That's football, 3 good goals in the game and some hope for England's young players. 3 points could well be enough to get out of his group for England.

Typical whinging pom

Nice bit of selective editing to invent a view, do you work for fox news ?

[N5 1BH]

Never a penalty. Ball going out of play. Paletta stepping in front of Gerrard. Not even Gerrard thought it was a penalty.

Anywhere else on the pitch and it might have been given as obstruction, but certainly not a pen. I thought the officials had an excellent game overall.

Still don't see why we're picking Henderson and Welbeck, bench warmers IMO.

Agree with this, spot on.

Could have been seen as a body check but ref must have seen it as a fair shoulder, fair enough. The officials did have a good game but the players made it easy for them, a great game played in a great spirit.

Henderson will be taking over Gerrards role soon I presume so he needs to play for experience. If Walcott or Townsend were fit Wellbeck probably would have been a sub, but he did do some good work this game

[Con M]

surely Pirlo should have been man marked .

Very hard to man-mark a midfielder.

Most defences don't man-mark forwards much any more, and it's even easier to assign a centre-back to mark an outstanding forward. They nearly all play more zonal now .

And anyhow Pirlo would have the smarts to lose a marker and turn him inside out. What range of passing and accuracy - the guy's incredible!

[God is an Englishman]

It's easy to man mark a midfielder, you simply man mark, give him a shadow. Easy.

[Con M]

It's easy to man mark a midfielder, you simply man mark, give him a shadow. Easy.

Nope, seen it fail plenty of times in the past. One example was the West Germans allocating a big fit burly guy to shadow Maradona in the 1986 Final, but he still got away and played the pass for the winning goal. IMO the marker can't seem to sustain shadowing a midfielder all over the park, compared to a defender just marking a forward in that zone.

Maybe if one marker was given the job in the first half, then when his concentration waned, allocate another marker to keep up the pressure...

[Russki Claw]

Best team won, even most of my English friends agreed that that the result was fair. England played well, but Italy controlled the ball and midfield. Also hit the post, cross bar and had a certain goal saved on the line.
Meanwhile, GIAE is clutching at straws at penalties that were 50/50 at best.

for me, Darmian was excellent and continued his fine form from Torino, Pirlo was unreal, but Palleta was rubbish and needs to be replaced.

i think England and Italy will get through the group at the end.

[ozzie owl]

Best team won, even most of my English friends agreed that that the result was fair. England played well, but Italy controlled the ball and midfield. Also hit the post, cross bar and had a certain goal saved on the line.
Meanwhile, GIAE is clutching at straws at penalties that were 50/50 at best.

for me, Darmian was excellent and continued his fine form from Torino, Pirlo was unreal, but Palleta was rubbish and needs to be replaced.

i think England and Italy will get through the group at the end.

Englands problems are in the defensive side of the game and ball retention. IMO as long as Sturridge players as the focal point in the 4-2-3-1 then Rooney is almost surplus and should start on the bench.

[El Pibe D'Oro]

It's easy to man mark a midfielder, you simply man mark, give him a shadow. Easy.

If it's that simple how do you explain the pure dominance of individuals and their influence in games