England Thread

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RE: Johnson... Idk why we didn't include another RB in the squad like Nathaniel Clyne.... at least give him some competition. I genuinely think Clyne would be better anyway.. but still.
 
If we; played Wing Backs, Johnson and Baines would be ideal, but as a FB, never a fan of Johnson myself.
 
LFCMarshall said:
Falcao is a big loss, but in Bacca, Adrian Ramos Jackson Martinez they still have some good firepower



Friendlies not been the best to go on but Italy and Uruguay have both struggled in friendlies as well so i wouldn't worry too much, the whole mentality of sides will change for the World Cup

As for Sturridge it seems to be an overreaction from most because he had a bad game. He used to need plenty of chances to score before but that is something that has improved massively this year, the goals speak for themselves
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I like Sturridge a lot and was one of the minority of Chelsea fans who said we would regret selling him at the time. Its not really criticism but he does get more chances for Liverpool, out of Sturridge and Rooney if i wanted one of them to only have 2 chances a game i'd back Rooney 99% of the time. And i agree Italy have been poor, no win since September but don't they always do this? They are a good tournament side and always seem to turn up when they need to.

alicwkd said:
Agree with a lot of what you say but I would point out that Honduras basically parked the bus, which Italy and Uruguay won't do. They will be more adventurous which leaves more space to for us to attack into. We looked pretty good when we won the ball back and moved it forward quickly. Didn't see the Ecuador game so I can't comment. The stop-start nature of the game and the fact it's the last friendly also mean the team weren't at their best.

Other big nations have also looked far from convincing in these warm-up games. I really could see our group stage going either way. We desperately need Sturridge (and whoever else chances fall to) to be less profligate though.
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They did park the bus agreed and i actually think like you say Italy will have more possession but this country (minus Chelsea fans) despise the sit back deep, give up possession, win the ball and hit on the counter at pace because it's "boring". I personally would love England to play that way vs Italy, if its one thing they would struggle with it would be pace on the break they aren't the quickest.

LFCMarshall said:
Really like Barkley but he wont play. There is competition for places out wide but in the centre it seems Rooney behind Sturridge is what Roy is going for.
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I was thinking at work (dangerous) about the whole Pirlo thing, if he gets space he will ping balls in behind our fullbacks and we will get hammered. So do you get someone lively to sit on him. Then i was thinking everyone goes on about doing this but how many are successful and i can remember 1 occasion where Pirlo was not only nullified he was out played for 90 minutes and that was last season funny enough vs Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. Game ended 2-2 (2 sloppy defensive errors cost us) but we stuck Oscar on him and he ran rings around what is a very old and slow moving footballer. Scored two absolute world class goals (remember the flick, turn and smash into the corner) and in my opinion Barkley reminds me a little of Oscar. Just food for thought lol.
 
Yeah Pirlo will need to be occupied and closed down constantly, which is another reason why I worry about starting Rooney. Welbeck did a great job on Alonso in similar circumstances.
 
alicwkd said:
Yeah Pirlo will need to be occupied and closed down constantly, which is another reason why I worry about starting Rooney. Welbeck did a great job on Alonso in similar circumstances.
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Pirlo is **** of a lot harder to shut down though. If you just mark Alonso he always struggles. Pirlo is usually unphased by it. He just keeps doing his little turns then plays 50 meter pass with laser precision. And rest of the Italian team is very well drilled to deal with it too. If someone sits on Pirlo the other guys immediately know they have to be available for a pass. He has 2 options available at any given time, 3 if you count a long ball.

Although I agree Roy needs to put CAM on him. The worst thing you can do is try and pressure Pirlo with deeper midfielders. Germans tried it at Euro and they got murdered. He kept pulling Schweiny and Khdedira (i think) out of position, the entire German team losing shape, and he would always find a way to play forward pass anyway.
 
Tyton said:
Pirlo is **** of a lot harder to shut down though. If you just mark Alonso he always struggles. Pirlo is usually unphased by it. He just keeps doing his little turns then plays 50 meter pass with laser precision. And rest of the Italian team is very well drilled to deal with it too. If someone sits on Pirlo the other guys immediately know they have to be available for a pass. He has 2 options available at any given time, 3 if you count a long ball.

Although I agree Roy needs to put CAM on him. The worst thing you can do is try and pressure Pirlo with deeper midfielders. Germans tried it at Euro and they got murdered. He kept pulling Schweiny and Khdedira (i think) out of position, the entire German team losing shape, and he would always find a way to play forward pass anyway.
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Yeah, if Pirlo is shut down they have De Rossi who is excellent player. Also they Verratti who has got very good passing skills.

Pirlo, De Rossi and Marchisio midfield 3 is very very hard to shut down IMO.
 
CJACKO11 said:
I like Sturridge a lot and was one of the minority of Chelsea fans who said we would regret selling him at the time. Its not really criticism but he does get more chances for Liverpool, out of Sturridge and Rooney if i wanted one of them to only have 2 chances a game i'd back Rooney 99% of the time. And i agree Italy have been poor, no win since September but don't they always do this? They are a good tournament side and always seem to turn up when they need to.



They did park the bus agreed and i actually think like you say Italy will have more possession but this country (minus Chelsea fans) despise the sit back deep, give up possession, win the ball and hit on the counter at pace because it's "boring". I personally would love England to play that way vs Italy, if its one thing they would struggle with it would be pace on the break they aren't the quickest.



I was thinking at work (dangerous) about the whole Pirlo thing, if he gets space he will ping balls in behind our fullbacks and we will get hammered. So do you get someone lively to sit on him. Then i was thinking everyone goes on about doing this but how many are successful and i can remember 1 occasion where Pirlo was not only nullified he was out played for 90 minutes and that was last season funny enough vs Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. Game ended 2-2 (2 sloppy defensive errors cost us) but we stuck Oscar on him and he ran rings around what is a very old and slow moving footballer. Scored two absolute world class goals (remember the flick, turn and smash into the corner) and in my opinion Barkley reminds me a little of Oscar. Just food for thought lol.
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I would also choose Rooney if a chance came his way, but he doesn't seem to be getting in the positions he used to for some reason, which is a shame for England

I agree with the Barkley thing. Whoever plays there needs to watch Pirlo.

sunilvk7 said:
Yeah, if Pirlo is shut down they have De Rossi who is excellent player. Also they Verratti who has got very good passing skills.

Pirlo, De Rossi and Marchisio midfield 3 is very very hard to shut down IMO.
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As good a footballer as the other two are they are not Pirlo. He controls the game with his passing and composure. The other two have fantastic qualities but i don't think they could replicate Pirlo's role should he be marked out the game
 
LFCMarshall said:
As good a footballer as the other two are they are not Pirlo. He controls the game with his passing and composure. The other two have fantastic qualities but i don't think they could replicate Pirlo's role should he be marked out the game
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Yes they are not as good as Pirlo but are comfortable better than English midfield to control the game.
 
LFCMarshall said:
As good a footballer as the other two are they are not Pirlo. He controls the game with his passing and composure. The other two have fantastic qualities but i don't think they could replicate Pirlo's role should he be marked out the game
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All 3 can run the game and will rip you apart with pinpoint longballs if kept unchecked.
 
"One of our plans this time is to make certain we do a lot more attacking and that Italy find themselves wondering what they’re going to do about people like Steven Gerrard or Wayne Rooney."
​
Roy Hodgson

Interesting.... I mean for Roy's standards he has actually been quite fluid in his approach with England thus far.... obviously not sure whether he's bluffing here but I'd like to think the best way to get the result we want against the Italians is definitely by causing them problems rather than us trying to prevent them.
 
Rooney is undroppable, if only because if he was to be left out people would go mental if we lost. As such, if I were Hodgson I'd seriously think about playing Welbeck in behind Rooney. If he can do a job on Xabi Alonso - and he can, as evidenced by that CL tie a year ago - then he can do a job on Pirlo, who shares Alonso's shortcomings despite being a better player altogether. Welbeck off Rooney might nullify Pirlo, which would allow us to put our strengths in our wingers against their weaknesses at full back, or if they play wingbacks then it would be even better.
 
GodCubed said:
Rooney is undroppable, if only because if he was to be left out people would go mental if we lost. As such, if I were Hodgson I'd seriously think about playing Welbeck in behind Rooney. If he can do a job on Xabi Alonso - and he can, as evidenced by that CL tie a year ago - then he can do a job on Pirlo, who shares Alonso's shortcomings despite being a better player altogether. Welbeck off Rooney might nullify Pirlo, which would allow us to put our strengths in our wingers against their weaknesses at full back, or if they play wingbacks then it would be even better.
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So you'd play Sterling and Lallana on wings?
 
Actually Sturridge wouldn't be a bad option on one side... Rooney up top, Welbeck off him. Didn't think of that.
 
GodCubed said:
Yep.



Sturridge isn't a very good wide player though. Better off keeping him on the bench. We have plenty of wide options as it is.
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I'd rather have Welbeck behind Sturridge but like you say Rooney is near undroppable due to his name alone.
 
Sturridge cannot be played on the wings, it would be pointless... It is either up top or impact of the bench

Worrying thing is, no matter what the form of him or Rooney is, Rooney will always be picked ahead because Hodgson will not drop him
 
Why not a front four of:
Sturridge
Welbeck - Rooney - Sterling/Lallana

Sturridge and Sterling/Lallana would be deadly on the attack, while Welbeck and Rooney would do the work on the defensive end by pressing/marking the likes of Pirlo and De Rossi out of the game. You could play Gerrard and Wilshere behind them, with Gerrard holding and Wilshere playmaking.
 
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