Been watching England since 1986 and should be used to this kind of thing but it is still like a kick to the guts.

My feelings haven't changed. Still want Costa Rica to knock Uruguay out. **** I hope they get the result they need against Italy (unlikely ) and then the Itallians can do the job of knocking Uruguay out for us.

Anyway my work trip in to the forests of SW Tasmania has gotten a whole lot easier since it doesn't look like I will be missing any England game afterall.

I wasn't all that much into football in 1986, was just 7 years old and growing up in Wakefield meant Rugby League was the game.  By 1990 I was an avid fan and remember as a 11 year old just distraught that we had got eliminated in the semi-final.

I couldn't care less now about watching the Costa Rica England game on Tuesday.  It falls within my work day and I may as well skive for a game which has something riding on it. Mind, Costa Rica getting a draw against Italy would mean they need to win that last game to progress. I'll see how they get on against the Italians tomorrow.

I will watch Italy v Costa Rica as that is a early Saturday morning here so no work issues the following day. Like you will see how that plays out before making a call on Costa Rica V England as that is 2am on a Wednesday morning here!

The only way I will say up for Costa Rica v England is if of course Italy win later on. It would need something riding on it for England still to get me up next Wednesday.

England's poor international record (and it is very poor if they want to be considerd in the top league as I pointed out earlier in this thread) can't all be down to a particular manager squandering opportunities. On the management side England have been very progressive, trying 2 foreigners and a range of Englishmen. The harsh reality is the players haven't performed in the Euros and World Cups. Whether that's because they aren't good enough or are more focused on the new domestic season is another question. 

We had a difficult job to qualify in the first place. Both Italy and Uruguay are considered better teams before we even start. You could argue that there wasn't too much in either game but you simply can't make that many defensive errors and not expect quality strikers to punish you. In the end, tournament football requires the team and its stars to deliver at that moment in time. It just hasn't happened despite some glimmers of hope for the future. I don't blame Woy either. I think he is a good manager and is respected by players, wherever he has gone unlike some of the imports we've had in recent years.

Doubtless we'll have the usual rubbiish from people saying that this or that should have happened wrt tactics but we aren't as good as some would have us believe, especially when faced with quality opposition.

As for the "we can still qualify" bollox I think that should be kept on the back burner as its like putting faith in GFS T384 charts. Mind you some idiots still will.

Wonder how much Woy will get paid if he waits to be sacked instead of resigning?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/27932352

For years, English players had a tendancy to develop, over years from childhood, a natural & instinctive playing style, which isn't particularly 'technical'. When English players played to their strengths (a high-tempo, gung-ho style), they've looked effective against opposition where the players have been far superior from a technical perspective. Look at the Bobby Robson/Venables era.

Eriksson tried to make England play in a more continental style and, whilst some players could adapt to that, others couldn't. The overall effect made us worse than we were, often playing anodine, negative football.

I'd say one massive problem the England football team has is that with only very rare exception, its players have only ever played in the Premier League. They've had no experience of playing in a different footballing style within a different footballing culture, missed the opportunity to become more rounded players. When the Premier League is the most lucrative league in the world (the wages paid to even distinctly average players is ridiculous), why should they care about footballing excellence, when they can have a new Ferrari every year, live in a mock-Tudor mansion, and spit-roast sluts?

As expected we went out due to a poor back four and the lack of someone in front of them to screen them. Gerrard was certainly not up to it and Henderson was simply anonymous.

I don't see these particular issues being resolved anytime soondue to our abject lack of depth in these departments.

Time to support Chile methinks. A wonderful team to watch when they're in full flow.

It ultimately comes down to having a plan B. Watching Uruguay last night was like watching Southampton (under Pooch) with its high tempo, pressing game. The England players should be used to these sort of tactics. It's hardly alien to the Premier League.

Poor old England.  Lack of finishing power finished them Off... No 10 shirt now off until 2016....For the Euro.... 

Gerrard doesn't play a simple DM role at Liverpool. He sits behind two high-energy midfielders, who do a lot of the DM work, just a bit higher up the pitch. Gerrard acts more as a sweeper/'quarterback'. Liverpool have tried playing Henderson as a straight DM, but it didn't really work. Under Hodgson's set-up, he played both Gerrard & Henderson deeper, with the midfielders (Welbeck, Rooney, Sterling) a bit further up. The result was that Gerrard & Henderson had too much ground/too many opposition midfielders to cover. Both looked well below their Liverpool performance levels in each game.

The tactic in the Italy game to put Sterling in a central role up against Pirlo had merit in theory. Not only will Sterling put in a stint when we don't have the ball (and can be a niggley player), but his movement & pace on the ball would occupy Pirlo, hopefully tiring him to nullify his attacking prowess. It didn't work. Pirlo just found space away from Sterling (and neither Rooney nor Welbeck really picked him up enough), whilst he just let a teammate do the defensive work on Sterling.

Hodgson's been unlucky in having the worst England back 4 I can remember. Cahill looked good in terms of defensive duties (from a 'all-hands-to-the-pumps-never-say-die perspective), but he was pants on the ball and often gave the ball right back to the opposition. But Jagielka, Baines and Johnson were poor against Italy and, for the beginning of each half, had nightmares against Uruguay, who gave them absolutely no time on the ball.

I thought Lallana helped change the game when he came on - he looks so comfortable on the ball. Of course, Uruguay's pressing wasn't as rabid by this time, but he did well. His introduction also seemed to coincide with Baines looking much better, too.

Overall scores out of 10 for the team last night (scores for the Italy game in brackets):

Hart - 6   (6)

Johnson - 6   (4)

Jagielka - 5   (5)

Cahill - 6.5   (5.5)

Baines - 5   (4.5)

Gerrard - 5   (5.5)

Henderson   - 5.5   (5)

Sterling   - 5.5    (8)

Rooney   - 6.5    (5)

Welbeck   - 4    (5.5)

And therein lies the problem.

One could argue that Walker (when fit, so it's a moot point at the moment) and Shaw offer better attacking options than Johnson and Baines. The problem then becomes more pressure being heaped upon Cahill and Jagielka when the gaps start opening up.

It is a searing indictment of our lack of depth at the back that Jones and Smalling are anywhere near the first XI.

But we all knew that anyway.

I agree that Gerrard isn't a DM, but he's the nearest (gawd help us) to one we have in the present set-up.

Speaking of Shaw he's the joint youngest player at the World Cup. I think the average age of the England squad has been skewed (or should that be screwed?) by those old duffers Gerrard and Lampard.

http://www.goal.com/en/news/1717/editorial/2014/06/07/4863989/argentina-the-oldest-ghana-the-youngest-the-average-age-of-every-

Be surprised if Suarez plays in a Liverpool shirt again, IMO he is off

Players miss headers all the time, ask the question WTF were laurel and Hardy doing behind him .

CAHILL................messed up against Italy

And yesterday both CB's handed Suraez his goals on a plate. If those two are our future we have no hope

In your opinion... or in your dreams?

Not saying you're wrong, but there's been nothing to suggest he wants to go. Liverpool have just shown him we have a team capable of competing for the title, are in the ECL proper for the coming season, and are investing heavily in the squad. I think only  RM or maybe Barca could tempt him away. And if RM came for him, they'd have to beat the Bale fee (and let us have some players, too!).

He only signed a new contract last season.

LOL, I think it's more like him showing Liverpool they have a team capable of winning the title.

 As you know that means nothing in this day and age. 

England seemed quite good against Italy going forward, last night was just back to the fearful, panicky days of old.  Still some positives with some of the younger players but we rightly had little expectation before the tournament so I'm not sure why some are surprised now.  England lost narrowly to two sides ranked above them in the FIFA rankings. 

Having got back to 1-1 (and it was a nicely worked equaliser watching it back again) they should have kept it tight at the back.  A draw would have been ok.

My gut feeling is that Italy will win against Costa Rica and then draw with Uruguay.  However, there is a scenario where Italy beat Costa Rica and Uruguay 1-0, and England win against Costa Rica but only by one goal and go out on goal difference.  That wouldn't surprise me either. 

He is off to Spain mate  and not for a holiday

I should add signing Lambert isnt investing heavily

Yep, he'd slot in very nicely at Madrid.

It means there's at least 2 years before his value starts to drop...

One paper today saying he's signing for Barca, with Sanchez coming the other way plus cash.

And we've signed Can, close to wrapping up Moreno, will likely sign Lallana & Lovren, possibly Shaqiri. That's about £80m worth.