I think the Vardy, Kane partnership with Ronney in the no 10 position is worth sticking with - don't write it off after just one outing. But I would certainly play Wilshire ahead of Milner. He is much better than Milner both defensively and offensively.
I'm a very passionate England supporter and it pains me to say this. That performance was a disgrace. If Woy thinks that shower of sh*t will win the Euro's he must be smoking something very strong. I've never seen such a passionless performance from a so-called England team.
If you play Vardy, you have to play to his strengths, and you need opposition who are likely to attack, and thus leave some space. Against opponents who defend deep, you need players with more trickery.
Sterling, Lallana and Wilshere in this game looked more dangerous.
I was at Wembley and the atmosphere was so dead. Such a boring game. Freezing my bollocks off as well. Not sure what it looked like on TV but we looked so much more fluid once Rooney went off. Much quicker flowing attacking moves and intricate passing. Just more positive. Rooney (and probably Milner) seemed to just slow the play right down and the ball never went forwards
Still like Rooney. He's still got goals in him and goals win matches! However Wilshere over Milner all day. Milner just turns back all the time slowing the pace whereas Wilshere plays the ball forward with quick clever passes and also knows where the goal is. With Dier holding there is no need for another midfield destroyer
Three wins out of three and no injuries, not bad going. Won't be going into the tournament overconfident. The manner of the win in Germany is still fresh in the memory so they should have the belief that they turn it on.
Three wins out of three and no injuries, not bad going. Won't be going into the tournament overconfident. The manner of the win in Germany is still fresh in the memory so they should have the belief that they turn it on.
Germany lost 3-1 to Slovakia the other day - think we need to forget about our win over them, the Germans are always poor in friendlies, they just turn up when it matters.
Not a great performance but good that we have that winning habit going in to a tournament and even without Ronaldo Portugal are still a decent team.
Thought Walker was our best player, seemed to be everwhere when needed.
Vardy should be an impact sub based on his last two England performances but if we manage to play to his strengths still deadly.
Must add, I love Bruno Alves, a thug every tournament & like de Jong a player in the wrong era for his game, love it but a total nutcase and well played Kane for not making any more out of it, just tried to get on with the game, top lad.
Portugal are a force and add an extra player on the pitch and make that Ronaldo they really do have a chance of going far. I like the look of Renato Sanchez.
I was at Wembley and the atmosphere was so dead. Such a boring game. Freezing my bollocks off as well. Not sure what it looked like on TV but we looked so much more fluid once Rooney went off. Much quicker flowing attacking moves and intricate passing. Just more positive. Rooney (and probably Milner) seemed to just slow the play right down and the ball never went forwards
The atmosphere at New Wembley is always poor when England play. It was fantastic at old Wembley, although to be fair our squad was quite a lot better. The biggest cheers that seem to go up are for the Mexican waves - always a sure sign of an enthralling match. I went tonight and on Monday for the league two play-off final. Obviously a lot more riding on Monday so you would expect a better atmosphere but the new stadium has just killed it for England. I am out in Marseille for the England Russia game, can't wait to experience a decent atmosphere at an England game for the first time in a long time.
On the train back now. Saving grace was that I took my neice to her first ever game which made it exciting for me. Had superb £90 value half way line seats for £20 too thanks to the members deal.
Thought Walker was the standout and things certinally improved in the 2nd half but I think my rare early optimism has been completely rained in after attending this and the turkey friendly.
Comparing this to the send off games before WC 2006 and it seems such a damp squib all round.
Have tickets for all England's games so looking forward to some proper football - I think this was the calm before the Marseille storm!!!
More than a little concerned that Roy doesn't seem to have a clue about what his best team is, and the tournament starts next week!
Not convinced by Vardy at this level, too one dimensional as a starting striker, though as a sub he could prove useful.
The midfield is a mess, though as long as we leave out the woeful Milner and pedestrian Henderson, then I think that the following could do OK, as 4-1-3-1-1.
If ali is in the side then he needs to be able to make those runs from deep lying forward positions beyond the defence, using him wide or at the base of the midfield is a waste of his talents.
Seen a few comments here and other places to the effect that Hodgson doesn't know his best team/set-up but this is not necessarily the case at all. He could very well have set up in the formation he did tonight simply to see if the three up front system would work against decent sides - and can now conclude fairly safely, no it doesn't. I would much rather he tries formations that don't work now and can be discarded from consideration when results don't matter than pull that formation out of his backside completely untested in a crucial group game when it could really bite us on the bum.
Fair points, my own preference would have been to play the starting team against Russia tonight.
The front three idea sounded like a dog's breakfast, especially as the two playing wide (Kane and Vardy), are so obviously suited for going through the middle.
Thought that we looked a lot sharper when Lallana, Wilshere and Sterling came on, much better shape and passing.
Sure - and I am pretty confident Hodgson will probably have concluded something similar. I am pretty sure that the starting 11 is already pretty much set and this was simply testing out more options should we need them later on. Admittedly, it didn't work all that well but at least we KNOW it doesn't work instead of cobbling it together during the actual tournament and only then finding out it doesn't work.
One thing I am sure of, is that for once we will have some decent impact subs, in the likes of Sterling, Vardy and Rashford.
All of those three have pace and energy to burn, and in the last 20-30 minutes that can prove to be a real game changer.
Everyone gets obsessed with who is starting the game, and the first XI, but it is the team and players that finish the game, that is often more critical.
the Vardy Kane partnership reminds me of Gerrard and Lampard who were both very good footballers for their clubs or singularly for England but not together as they were too similar in their style of play which resulted in one of them playing out of their best position for England. So it is with Vardy and Kane and maybe the best solution is only play one and bring on thebother in the 2nd half,
Kane and Vardy worked well together against Germany and Turkey. Rooney is the conundrum here and unbalances the team. Hodgson will always start him though.
Kane and Vardy worked well together against Germany and Turkey. Rooney is the conundrum here and unbalances the team. Hodgson will always start him though.
Agree with this 100%. Rooney should be an impact sub, but as he is captain Hodgson won't drop him.
Fair points, my own preference would have been to play the starting team against Russia tonight.
The front three idea sounded like a dog's breakfast, especially as the two playing wide (Kane and Vardy), are so obviously suited for going through the middle.
Thought that we looked a lot sharper when Lallana, Wilshere and Sterling came on, much better shape and passing.
Trouble is the Russians / Welsh / Slovakians will have been watching last nights game.
If we field the exact same starting line-up from last night then the Russians have at least an hour before kick-off to adjust their tactics to match how Portugal played Defensively and work out how to break down our Defence.
That could still happen of course yet I doubt it and at the moment we need to keep our opponents guessing.
Its a shame we were always ahead in our friendlies recently because in a sense its told Hodgson nothing... i.e. what is his approach to a game if we're having to come behind which will most likely happen during the tournament at some stage.
All we know with this England side is that we have to score first!!
Why do players who pick the right pass, shoot at the right time, or weight the ball perfectly week in week out suddenly fail to do any of that when they put on an England shirt? Most people would have had most of that team as their starting 11, forget formations or patterns, how many individual errors were there from players who automatically get it right on any given Saturday? It's unique.
Seen a few comments here and other places to the effect that Hodgson doesn't know his best team/set-up but this is not necessarily the case at all. He could very well have set up in the formation he did tonight simply to see if the three up front system would work against decent sides - and can now conclude fairly safely, no it doesn't. I would much rather he tries formations that don't work now and can be discarded from consideration when results don't matter than pull that formation out of his backside completely untested in a crucial group game when it could really bite us on the bum.
It's the last match before a major tournament. He should have tried these months ago. This match should have been about letting your first 11 play in the correct system and letting them gel and create partnerships.
As it was this match threw up more questions than answers.
Roy needs to take a leaf out of Sir Alf's book. No England manager for 50 years has had the courage to make a 'team' decision. Might be time to drop Rooney ( I love him as a player ) the way Sir Alf dropped Jimmy Greaves.
Why do players who pick he right pass, shoot at the right time, or weight the ball perfectly week in week out suddenly fail to do any of that when they put on an England shirt? Most people would have had most of that team as their starting 11, forget formations or patterns, how many individual errors were there from players who automatically get it right on any given Saturday? It's unique.
Guess they know where their teammates will make runs etc, but I definitely agree players suddenly look worse - must be a confidence thing too.
Roy needs to take a leaf out of Sir Alf's book. No England manager for 50 years has had the courage to make a 'team' decision. Might be time to drop Rooney ( I love him as a player ) the way Sir Alf dropped Jimmy Greaves.
Comments
Hart
Walker, Cahill, Smalling, Rose
Dier, Wilshere
Lallana, Alli, Sterling
Kane
Vardy as the impact sub.
Sterling, Lallana and Wilshere in this game looked more dangerous.
Three wins out of three and no injuries, not bad going. Won't be going into the tournament overconfident. The manner of the win in Germany is still fresh in the memory so they should have the belief that they turn it on.
Thought Walker was our best player, seemed to be everwhere when needed.
Vardy should be an impact sub based on his last two England performances but if we manage to play to his strengths still deadly.
Must add, I love Bruno Alves, a thug every tournament & like de Jong a player in the wrong era for his game, love it but a total nutcase and well played Kane for not making any more out of it, just tried to get on with the game, top lad.
Thought Walker was the standout and things certinally improved in the 2nd half but I think my rare early optimism has been completely rained in after attending this and the turkey friendly.
Comparing this to the send off games before WC 2006 and it seems such a damp squib all round.
Have tickets for all England's games so looking forward to some proper football - I think this was the calm before the Marseille storm!!!
Not convinced by Vardy at this level, too one dimensional as a starting striker, though as a sub he could prove useful.
The midfield is a mess, though as long as we leave out the woeful Milner and pedestrian Henderson, then I think that the following could do OK, as 4-1-3-1-1.
If ali is in the side then he needs to be able to make those runs from deep lying forward positions beyond the defence, using him wide or at the base of the midfield is a waste of his talents.
Hart
Walker
Cahill
Smalling
Rose
Dier
Wilshere
Rooney
Lallana
Ali
Kane
The front three idea sounded like a dog's breakfast, especially as the two playing wide (Kane and Vardy), are so obviously suited for going through the middle.
Thought that we looked a lot sharper when Lallana, Wilshere and Sterling came on, much better shape and passing.
All of those three have pace and energy to burn, and in the last 20-30 minutes that can prove to be a real game changer.
Everyone gets obsessed with who is starting the game, and the first XI, but it is the team and players that finish the game, that is often more critical.
Kane on set pieces is a joke.
My 11.
Hart
Walker Cahill smalling rose
Dier Wilshere
Lallana alli Rooney
Kane
Alli and Rooney can interchange. Sterling and sturridge as impact sub's.
If we field the exact same starting line-up from last night then the Russians have at least an hour before kick-off to adjust their tactics to match how Portugal played Defensively and work out how to break down our Defence.
That could still happen of course yet I doubt it and at the moment we need to keep our opponents guessing.
Its a shame we were always ahead in our friendlies recently because in a sense its told Hodgson nothing... i.e. what is his approach to a game if we're having to come behind which will most likely happen during the tournament at some stage.
All we know with this England side is that we have to score first!!
As it was this match threw up more questions than answers.