What would you have done different?

[Starfish]

-ly.

[From Despair To Where?]

Probably change the entire footballing culture among English players and coaching staff from the year dot. Train in technical ability, stop shutting down schools' 'green spaces', ideally try and hope ridiculously remunerated English players realise that they aren't as good as they think they are (don't blame the players for this actually - in fact I don't really blame the players for England's performances hardly at all to be honest). Probably, above all, learn from the gifts and talents of teams such as Italy, Spain, The Netherlands, Germany both in terms of playing and coaching ability and humbly appreciate why they succeed when England don't.
All really been said before and I don't think for a minute any of this will happen.

This, really although I do blame the players. England lost both games because of defensive lapses, not because of a lack of technique. I'm not sure Terry or Cole would have made a difference either. Whilst their reading of the game would, have been better, Terry's lack of pace would have been exposed.

I just don;t believe English players are intellegent enough to read the game and stick to a game plan.

[soggy biscuit]

Nothing really. Apart from burned down fleet street a day before the WC started to make the whole WC experience more enjoyable

[Ian Royal]

Started rooney in the middle, lallana left and stirling right. Brought on wilshire for gerrard before Ht v uruguay.

dont think roy got much wrong just little things.

Lament the fact that all young english centrebacks are ropey or not playing in their position enough. Or that cole barely played a game all season. Or that wingers are few and far between. Ox and walcott getting injured.

[tulip]

Nothing really. Apart from burned down fleet street a day before the WC started to make the whole WC experience more enjoyable

I don't think the media attention is any worse in England than in other countries tbh. Don't think that's to blame.

[soggy biscuit]

Nothing really. Apart from burned down fleet street a day before the WC started to make the whole WC experience more enjoyable

I don't think the media attention is any worse in England than in other countries tbh. Don't think that's to blame.

I just hate the written press anyway. The WC was just an excuse to burn down Fleet Street

[tulip]

Nothing really. Apart from burned down fleet street a day before the WC started to make the whole WC experience more enjoyable

I don't think the media attention is any worse in England than in other countries tbh. Don't think that's to blame.

I just hate the written press anyway. The WC was just an excuse to burn down Fleet Street

Me too, never buy newspapers.

[tulip]

Question, and I don't have the answer. Why is it a player like Joel Campbell, who is not considered good enough to merit a place in Arsenal's squad, looks like a world-beater while with CR, while (for example) Jack Wilshire (who is considered to be vital to Arsenal's future) is not good enough to start with England?

This may say more about Arsenal than about England, but .... I thought I'd ask.

This is a very good question for which I have no answer.

[harry]

One alternative option would have been to keep the old blokes (Gerrard, Lampard, Terry, Cole) in for one last go. Experience suggests they would have at very best managed to reach a QF before going out on pens. And there are no guarantees they would have done any better.

Personally I thought the approach against Italy was encouraging. They just didn't get the result but they were exciting to watch and it was like a breath of fresh air.
Against Uruguay despite not playing well they created enough chances to win it. 63% possession & more shots. The difference in the game was a world class striker.

Going forward they have plenty of flair & pace which is something that used to be lacking. Many of the squad are young and likely to improve and learn from this.
Defence is worrying. Can't remember Cahill doing too much wrong, Jagielka was caught out for both Uruguay goals, Johnson looked ok, Baines was exposed v Italy. Hart could have done better for Uruguay's 2nd. Are they collectively good enough for top class international football and if not is there any alternative?

[John Madejski's Wallet]

Bollox to the Cole & Terry debate.

They're the past, and a very sh*t and unsuccessful one at that.

Not really

Baines has shown these past 2 games how good Cole actually is. Same with Jag and Terry

But tell me how glorious and successful England were with Terry & Cole in?
Cole was about the only truly world class player we've had in the last couple of tourneys, but we didn't exactly set them alight....

If Roy had picked two old defenders, one of whom had hardly kicked a ball all season, he's have been destroyed by the fans and press who are desperate for a change from the same underperforming old guard.

Chuckled at a bit the radio where they were chatting to some foreign commentators, and the question of our old players (terry, Cole etc) cam up and especially Ferdinand. He'd apparently been very critical of our CBs, yet one of the foreign journalists off the top of his head reeled off some of the howlers Rio had made on tournaments over the years and how he went goes missing in big games for England.

Guess I'm just saying we shouldn't have been thinking of relaying on old players from a failed team

[tulip]

Find a world class striker and convince him to become British?

[ZacNaloen]

Question, and I don't have the answer. Why is it a player like Joel Campbell, who is not considered good enough to merit a place in Arsenal's squad, looks like a world-beater while with CR, while (for example) Jack Wilshire (who is considered to be vital to Arsenal's future) is not good enough to start with England?

This may say more about Arsenal than about England, but .... I thought I'd ask.

This is a very good question for which I have no answer.

Joel Campbell doesn't play for Arsenal because he's been unable to get work permit, this World Cup should sort that issue out.

[tmesis]

I'd have tried for a lighter mood. The England team always seems very tense and joyless. Understandable with all of the media pressure/expectation, but it would be the mental stuff for me.
.

It's hardly the entirety of the problem, but there does always seem to be a preoccupation with the England team with how they'll be slated by the media when they lose.

Gerrard and Lampard were supposed to have given a speech after the Italy game to the younger players, telling them how terrible going out early will be. It doesn't sound like the ideal thing to inspire players. They should be thinking about the rewards of winning, not the penalty for failure.

[LWJ]

I think Johnson had a very poor tournament. I personally think he was at fault for the 1st Uruguay goal. Why the oxf*rd you give Cavanni 3m of room outside the box is beyond me. But then who do we have to replace him?

Though Cahill was probably our best player this tourney, I think he has the ability to become a world class CB

[Royal Ginger]

Jordan Henderson wasn't nearly as crap as I'd expected.

[Royalclapper]

Think the only thing overlooked in some ways was that somewhere along the line in tournaments you're going to encounter a physically tough side which requires a different approach.

Can't really knock the Italy game and it was a good watch, Uruguay were always going to be the uncompromising opposition of the group whose tactics are 9 of them hack, push and kick until you win it then just give it to Suarez or Cavani. England badly missed a real ugly physical presence up front and in midfield. Sterling just got eaten alive by them, one of Sterling/Gerrard/Henderson and Rooney/Sturridge needed to be a big horrible oaf who could win the ball and grind them down physically and give the better players some breathing space.

[double d]

a BIG thing I would have done differently in the Italy game was not give Pirlo as much space as he had. Ridiculous how we got done (again) by an aging 35 year old CM. I was watching him for most of the game, just to see if Hodgson would man mark with 2 like he said, and alas what happened? Most of the game he was strolling round in the middle of the pitch by himself with nobody near him! He did not have the ball most of the time, but when he did he broke the play up, passed it around and for the first goal dummied the hell out of our entire defence. He controlled the tempo, and is what Gerrard should aspire to be. Same position, completely different styles of play. Pirlo just strolls around in a 15 yard radius and control the entire game, Gerrard is all over the place like a headless chicken. I have never rated him, Liverpool fans love him and his odd wonder goal a year saves the fact for his mistakes and constant sh1te he does. Costa Rica had 2 on Pirlo yesterday and restricted him completely, therefore not allowing him to control the tempo of the midfield and the game, like we hadn't figured out how to do in the last 2 tournaments.

[double d]

Question, and I don't have the answer. Why is it a player like Joel Campbell, who is not considered good enough to merit a place in Arsenal's squad, looks like a world-beater while with CR, while (for example) Jack Wilshire (who is considered to be vital to Arsenal's future) is not good enough to start with England?

This may say more about Arsenal than about England, but .... I thought I'd ask.

This is a very good question for which I have no answer.

Joel Campbell doesn't play for Arsenal because he's been unable to get work permit, this World Cup should sort that issue out.

Wenger said himself he will feature next season. Can see him being one to watch in the PL.

[Victor Meldrew]

Have watched most of the games in Portugal with only smatterings of English commentary where the deluded Tyldesley, Townsend et al seemed to think thatin England's games we were unlucky and this came through in so many of the postings in other threads from people on here.
I didn't think we were "unlucky" against an average (for them) Italian side nor against a Uruguay side that is nowhere near as good as last time around.

There is this delusion about the Premier League being the "best in the world" when in fact we have some good foreigners plus a load of journeymen English players made to look better by having those foreigners in their teams.
Imagine Liverpool without Suarez, City without Toure, Aguero, Kompany and Silva or Chelsea without Ivanovic and Hazard-these are our 3 best teams but if packed with English players how good would they be?

There is much said about young English players not getting their chance at club level but I don't buy into the theory that they would suddenly become world-beaters if we dumbed down the Premier League by excluding foreign players.
It is a very big subject but linked IMHO to the lack of desire and drive and the easy money and rewards available to moderate players-we have millionaires at our club who are distinctly second rate and our players as a whole in England are just too comfortable.
How often do they go abroad to develop their football education?
Brazilians, Argentinians, Mexicans etc. go to far flung places to earn a living and so many have this inherent drive to succeed even if it is money-led.

As an oldie I just get the feeling that life for our players now is just so easy that there is no need for them to push themselves harder-there are exceptions where players of moderate ability such as Neville and Beckham worked so hard to make the best of that moderate ability and enjoyed some success for all that hard work but I don't get the feeling that players like Johnson, Welbeck have this inner drive and the likes of Barkley and Wilshere lack the concentration and application to go with their obvious basic ability.

I have no answers to the "what would you have done different?" other than to suggest that the management focused far too much on whether the players ate properly, had enough rest, had comfortable surroundings etc. when the emphasis could have been on going out there and make things happen in their play (which the so-called lesser nations do) rather than just waiting for things to happen.
Gerrard may not have been at his best but at least he tried with tackles and headers and showed himself but what was everybody else doing?-waiting for Gerrard to create an opening or one of the strikers to perform a bit of individual magic.
It was the same with the earlier golden era.
I think the players are mentally lazy in most areas of the pitch and in particular amongst the back 5 who, despite being the choice of most people (posters and pundits alike) as a starting 5 are just not very good.

That, I feel,, is the case-our players are ridiculously overhyped and although the same happens everywhere in the world of football elsewhere the hype may be more justified and we are seeing those hyped players generally doing quite well at this World Cup but interestingly the likes of Robben, Van Persie,Neymar, Messi etc.have moved from the comfort of their own country to far-flung places and cultures and in doing so their game has improved whereas ours just stay at home and wallow in the adulation that is so often unfounded.
Work harder, go abroad and learn how other countries' football is built around holding the ball and pass and move (our players tend to pass and not move as somebody else takes on the responsibility).

Sorry this has been just a moan and not very constructive but I can't see the wood for the trees in the English game and I am a bit pissed off at the view that (once again) we were just unlucky and with a bit of luck we would be World Cup winners.

[Tails]

Friendlies. Employ a similar mentality as the Swiss and only play European/local friendlies at times that suit us. Use them to improve ranking and and improve the likelihood of being seeded as much as being money orientated/style of play.

As much as I think the Hodgson era will take time to bed in (and even then I don't know if it will be as revolutionary as the French/Spanish/German footballing ethos) - we were given as tough an opening two matches as we could have got. We have played two very organised team with some excellent strikers - playing Brazil would have been easier given their defensive frailties.



I'm not convinced we would have been better/content with performance with Lampard and Cole, it was clear as day that this squad was all about identifying who may or may not have it 4/8 years down the line.