Italy v England

[Whitechapel]

2/10.

Player rating is a bit harsh!

 

[Jamie_SFC]

Player rating is a bit harsh!

 

[This Charming Mike]

Andros Townsend could be the first player to retire from club football to focus on his international career.

 

[Jockney]

Same old negative bollocks... from certain posters.

Thought it was an encouraging performance, myself. We certainly looked a lot better once Hodgson stopped being a div and moved Rooney back up top. Impressed with the fluidity Barkley and Townsend brought to the midfield. Kane quieter than usual but whenever he got the ball in or around the area something always happened for us. Really looking forward to seeing how his partnership with Rooney develops over the next year or two.

Still Sterling, Sturridge and Wilshere to come back, too.

 

[AFCB_Mark]

Welbeck could join him.

 

[Ebeneezer Goode]

Hard to complain about Townsend getting picked when he keeps delivering.

 

[Ebeneezer Goode]

 

[HarvSFC]

His what?

 

[Ligue 1 fan]

I thought England played well. Tried to keep the ball and remain patient. Created opportunities but the lack of quality isn't ideal.
Defence and midfield is poor. But good attacking options.

 

[AFCB_Mark]

Some encouraging glimpses second half. I just wish we'd stop trying to be clever and kept it simple. We haven't got a world beating squad, so make the best of what we have by putting them in their best positions.

And find a central defender or two from somewhere, for the love of God. Stones is probably going to be in there long term although he may not quite be there yet. Clyne looks to be struggling a touch but he's likely to be our full back long term so may as well play him through it.

I hope things can stay calm and level headed regarding Kane. Give him time before cranking up the hype machine.

A long term deep playmaker for Carrick is one concern. Maybe Wilshire, certainly not going to be Delph or Henderson for example. And Jones, laughable. Hughes and Pritchard in the U21 are very exciting but not going to be that type of player. They'll be more challenging Barkley. And Chalobah doesn't convince me. My two cents worth.

 

[WAP]

I must be easily pleased because I thought we were decent tonight. Yes Italy had chances but probably about the same amount as we did?

Gibbs did well (should have done better with the shot but thats not his main duty), Delph wasn't too bad and in the second half we caused them alot of problems. I'll take that.

 

[Shotsfan1993]

First half we werent good enough, but for me Carrick coming on changed the game. He's the kind of player that you notice more when he isn't on the pitch and is about the only midfielder capable of controlling the tempo of the game. Barkley and Townsend made good impacts, Kane and Rooney linked up well and I though Jagielka had a very good game. Delph and Henderson struggled, and Walcott was played out of position - he was ineffective down the middle but that wasn't really his fault. Jones played better when he played at centre back but he isnt and will never be a midfielder at the top level.

 

[Mustard]

Some encouraging glimpses second half. I just wish we'd stop trying to be clever and kept it simple. We haven't got a world beating squad, so make the best of what we have by putting them in their best positions.

And find a central defender or two from somewhere, for the love of God. Stones is probably going to be in there long term although he may not quite be there yet. Clyne looks to be struggling a touch but he's likely to be our full back long term so may as well play him through it.

I hope things can stay calm and level headed regarding Kane. Give him time before cranking up the hype machine.

A long term deep playmaker for Carrick is one concern. Maybe Wilshire, certainly not going to be Delph or Henderson for example. And Jones, laughable. Hughes and Pritchard in the U21 are very exciting but not going to be that type of player. They'll be more challenging Barkley. And Chalobah doesn't convince me. My two cents worth.

Wilshere has excelled for England in the last few games he's played deep, but obviously it's hard to rely on him with his fitness issues. Lack of a proper defensive DM is a concern though, Henderson is more box-to-box and I think Delph looked a little out of his depth today.

 

[S2_Blade]

A fair result 1-1 for me, both created chances throughout.

Would be great if we attacked a lot more because when we did towards end we caused Italy problems and was a very good finish by Townsend. I was also impressed with Barkley who made some good attacking runs through middle.

Onto my main problem with defence and that has to be Phil Jones, he is poor and should not even make bench or squad ! Surely we have better ?

 

[TheArtfulDodger]

Is Phil Jones in midfield as imaginative as Hodgson gets?

Italy looked boss I thought, some lovely passages of play.

 

[Nath]

Carrick made the difference for England. Best midfielder you have.

 

[Tilbury]

Same old negative bollocks... from certain posters.

Awful, puts me off trying to follow England.

 

[mistermagic]

Any news from our lads who went?

 

[Madejski]

A long term deep playmaker for Carrick is one concern............. And Chalobah doesn't convince me.

Having seen more of him this season now he's played a few games for Reading I still think theres a good chance of Chalobah being a very useful player for England in the future.

He's still very raw but has great positional sense, can read the game well, and when he gets his passes completed (which is the main area of doubt) he controls the game extremely well. I think that Defensive midfield / Deep lying playmaker role is something which takes a lot of experience to build. I think Carrick missed out on more England games because he was put into the England team young when everyone thought of him as this finished player that he has only been in more recent times. He then wasn't picked by managers based on his performances in the past rather than the better player he is now. Chalobah still has plenty of time, he only turned 20 in December, has 70 Championship games worth of experience, over 20 games for the England U21s.

And some at Chelsea reckon Loftus-Cheek who is only a year younger is the better prospect anyway, and he's in and around the Chelsea first team already.

Midfield is the most concerning area for me, I would say at first choice we should have Carrick, Wilshere, Henderson/Milner but that isn't that strong on an international level, and as you say Carrick will need replacing soon and Wilshere's fitness is unreliable.

 

[SF_]

Midfield is the most concerning area for me, I would say at first choice we should have Carrick, Wilshere, Henderson/Milner but that isn't that strong on an international level, and as you say Carrick will need replacing soon and Wilshere's fitness is unreliable.

The complete donkeys we have in defence worry me more than our midfield.

 

[Ebeneezer Goode]

I still think there's no reason why Wilshere can't become a top holding midfielder with the right coaching. He's apparently asked to play there for Arsenal but Wenger isn't having any of it. Says he likes him further up the pitch running and people and 'drawing fouls'.

 

[ArmchairDiehard]

A fair result 1-1 for me, both created chances throughout.

Would be great if we attacked a lot more because when we did towards end we caused Italy problems and was a very good finish by Townsend. I was also impressed with Barkley who made some good attacking runs through middle.

Onto my main problem with defence and that has to be Phil Jones, he is poor and should not even make bench or squad ! Surely we have better ?

I like Phil Jones, but he hasn't really been allowed to nail down a position has he? If he's given regular games at CB, I think he'll turn out to be a quality defender.

 

[AFCB_Mark]

I reckon there is a really decent centre back in Jones somewhere, but he's gone through two relatively awful seasons at Man United where there's been so much going on, and he's often been left so exposed in whatever position he's been played in. It's not exactly been an environment conducive to building up his experience and confidence.

 

[Redas32]

what a match!! long time ago I didn´t see England playing well