That is the last time we will see an England team go into a tournament with this style that they have for a while now IMO, great news!
In 2 years, we will have players who are more able at keeping hold of the ball in midfield, hurrah! Plenty of young players coming up who instead of relying on their physical strength and tackling (like Gerrard, Lampard and Parker) to get through midfield, rely on technique, keeping hold of the ball, rather than ridiculous passes, shots and silly runs into a dead end. Hurray!
It won't have completely changed in the short space of 2 years, but the changes will surely be beginning to show. England need to get with the times, it is about the ability to keep possession, and we can't even do that against an ordinary Italy team (they do have Pirlo though I suppose).
No more will we see players in the middle of the park with very little technical ability, it can only get better from here on.
England deserved to go out, but they did well to get to the penalties. Like Shearer said, the style England employ can only get you so far, never to the upper reaches of tournaments.
This match tonight was surely the one which showed why we should have taken a player like Scholes to the tournament.
Everywhere on the pitch, England and Italy are very similar, wasteful strikers, average (with the exception to Young who was just rubbish) wingers, decent defenders. However, Italy had Pirlo.
The man is pure class, makes it look simple, keeps the ball ticking over, never makes a stray pass, he bossed the match, and easily MOTM for me.
Imagine if Scholes played tonight, granted he may not have played the full 120, but I'm sure it would have been so much more evenly contested if he was there. It would have been Pirlo against Scholes, as Italy had no other players like him, or England.
In two years England will surely be taking along more players like this.
It can only get better for England from here on. The last hurrah of the olden generation has been sung, it's time to move on.
I'm looking forward
England are free, finally!
posted on 24/6/12
http://www.ja606.co.uk/articles/viewArticle/129732
posted on 24/6/12
Hope your right; and i hope England stop taking unfit players and injured players to tournos, it never works.
posted on 24/6/12
How can it get better for england from here when we have garbage like henderson coming through and looking like hell be first choice?
Cleverly and wilshere already look like they have the next darren anderton tags placed on them and will more than likely spend more time on the treatment table than the field.
posted on 24/6/12
pretty sure we said this at world cup 2010.
i expect to see gerrard and lampard at world cup 2014 still, along with parker, terry, johnson, carroll, cole etc.
also, young was AWFUL!
rooney had nothing to go on so you cant really fault him to be fair.
walcott looked dangerous
posted on 24/6/12
comment by Who's Kissing Cameras? - Promoter of the ... (U1703)
posted 8 minutes ago
http://www.ja606.co.uk/articles/viewArticle/129732
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What's ya point?
posted on 24/6/12
Any chance of Ashley Cole attacking tonight.
posted on 24/6/12
I actually lol when the england squad was picked. It was as if its the same old crap that gets to play.
Carrick statistically the 2nd best midfielder behind yaya toure at passing and guess what he does not get a look in. Scott parker only players as a defender, has no technical ability but gets hailed. Gerrard by hansen said england best player, he should not even have made the squad. Kick and rush is all he knows when that doesn't work he is found wanting. Theres a reason why england were struggling even though he helped with the defending he didn't help at all.
Italy and france and sweden and ukraine all walked over us. You can do a chelsea so many times but playing as crap as we did it was embarrissing.
Theres a reason why scholes and giggs made the likes of henderson gerrard run rings around without even running as gerrard does not have any positional sense. Parker looked lost, in the end he was just being used as a body to block countless shots as he couldn't play as a midfielder more a defender.
Rooney wellbeck completely isolated nearly every game england manage 1 effort on target.
posted on 24/6/12
Terry did his best to play Balotelli on side
posted on 24/6/12
bossed by a pensioner with no knees
posted on 24/6/12
Apparently in the pre-tournament friendly against Belgium Belgium had 80% of the ball possession. Now that is ridiculous.