Euro: Group B: England vs. Wales, 6/16/2016

[Deficient Mode]

Hodgson has done a decent job for the constraints of the job and I can understand most of his decisions.

 

[Wee Baby Seamus]

I stand corrected on Rashford, who was definitely very solid once he came on. Made a few excellent runs, to the point where I was expecting to have to eat crow.

Great play from Sturridge for the goal, I honestly have no idea how he squeaked it in. I still wouldn't put him in the XI for next match; the only real change I would make is Vardy in for Sterling. I continue to have faith in Sir Harold. Should he crap it against Slovakia, then swap him out. Sturridge works great as a super sub.

No surprise whatsoever that it was Vardy who pulled through with the equaliser.

To the above, I thought Rooney was terrific today. Play was very clearly going through him, he had some excellent touches, and was a constant threat. Man of the match for me.

Hart needs to do FAR better on that Bale free kick. I get that Bale's shots have a gratuitous amount of pace on them, but if you get your hands to the position, as Hart did, you really have to fully clear it. Likewise, Hennessy needed to do better on Sturridge's goal. Not a goal keeping battle by any stretch of the imagination.

Gareth Bale continues to impress me. I really thought he had that equaliser in stoppage time when he appeared virtually out of nowhere to steal a header. Obviously, in a defensive team he's not getting a lot of touches in, but he makes the most out of every one.

Ramsey's hair is a calamity.

 

[Siamese Dream]

Seething.

See, the arrogance has started already

I don't even like football and if Wales weren't in the same group as England I wouldn't have bothered watching. England football fans are absolutely insufferable in every major tournament and living in England I can't escape from that culture, so I look forward to when they are inevitably knocked out in a spectacular glorious fashion.

The bit I'm most looking forward to is when the subject of too many foreign players in the Premiership comes up again in reaction to England's failure, and will get forgotten about a month later.

 

[Satan]

Yea, apparently I can typo stuff. Shocking.

You can cry on my shoulder

 

[Shrimper]

See, the arrogance has started already

I don't even like football and if Wales weren't in the same group as England I wouldn't have bothered watching. England football fans are absolutely insufferable in every major tournament and living in England I can't escape from that culture, so I look forward to when they are inevitably knocked out in a spectacular glorious fashion.

The bit I'm most looking forward to is when the subject of too many foreign players in the Premiership comes up again in reaction to England's failure, and will get forgotten about a month later.

Arrogance, how is that being arrogant?

We all know we will fail but forgive us for celebrating a 90th minute winner in a must win game against a rival

 

[YNWA14]

All joking aside this is probably the best English team I've seen in a tournament. Some weird starting XI choices, but there's quite a bit of talent on the team. Vardy over Sterling, Clyne over Rose and probably Wilshere over Rooney would be my choices to start. Bring on guys like Sturridge, Rashford and whoever else to run at teams late in the game if necessary.

They could go far if things click.

 

[Blender]

Hodgson has done a decent job for the constraints of the job and I can understand most of his decisions.

His choice starting 11 has been less than ideal based on the other options they have on the bench. His formation and game plan have been mediocre at best. His decisions for set pieces have been poor, such as Kane taking most of the corners in the first game. His subs in the first game were poor choices, at least they were better today.

 

[maclean]

All joking aside this is probably the best English team I've seen in a tournament. Some weird starting XI choices, but there's quite a bit of talent on the team. Vardy over Sterling, Clyne over Rose and probably Wilshere over Rooney would be my choices to start. Bring on guys like Sturridge, Rashford and whoever else to run at teams late in the game if necessary.

They could go far if things click.

im not going to claim to be an expert on anything, but the idea of hodgson not starting rooney strikes me as ridiculous, whatever your opinion on that choice as such

 

[Burner Account]

Wheelchair over Rooney?

 

[Deebo]

Just happy to be there

Nation of 53 million beats nation of 3 million. What a shocker. England fans are far happier than they should be about this result, I bet they're all convinced they can go all the way now as well.

Late winning goals in big tournaments are exciting, no matter who the opponent is.

 

[Venkman]

Very satisfying win. Great subs who should start next game.

 

[Deficient Mode]

His choice starting 11 has been less than ideal based on the other options they have on the bench. His formation and game plan have been mediocre at best. His decisions for set pieces have been poor, such as Kane taking most of the corners in the first game. His subs in the first game were poor choices, at least they were better today.

His choice starting 11 makes sense. Sterling has been **** but they also don't have another player like him. I can understand why Hodgson wanted to give him another chance. Vardy, Rashford, and even Sturridge don't have Lallana's combination ability. You don't just throw your three best goal scorers up front and hope it works out; the forward line has to be balanced. Hodgson is just an ok coach, but at least he understands that, unlike most English supporters. Formation is fine and quite standard. There were some structural problems in the first two matches but that's to be expected in international play where players aren't nearly as synchronized.

im not going to claim to be an expert on anything, but the idea of hodgson not starting rooney strikes me as ridiculous, whatever your opinion on that choice as such

Yep. English fans and media have trashed their most talented player for years now though. I don't like Wilshere more than Rooney there. Maybe Wilshere over Alli.

 

[Jussi]

I'd say he was good but not great. Not really noticeable in a positive or negative way. England was playing too thin for his long passing game to really develop.

He did give away the free kick that led to Bale's goal, but it was far enough out it's hard to call it a bad foul to give.

Had one really good turn on goal that led to a solid shot, although it was blocked.

Aki Riihilahti brought up on Finnish tv (complete with clips), how Wales forced him to play much lower in the first half and made him fetch the ball because there was no space for him in the middle.

Rooney had the second highest rating at whoscored with 7.8, behind Alli's 7.9.

 

[East Coast Bias]

His choice starting 11 makes sense. Sterling has been **** but they also don't have another player like him. I can understand why Hodgson wanted to give him another chance. Vardy, Rashford, and even Sturridge don't have Lallana's combination ability. You don't just throw your three best goal scorers up front and hope it works out; the forward line has to be balanced. Hodgson is just an ok coach, but at least he understands that, unlike most English supporters. Formation is fine and quite standard. There were some structural problems in the first two matches but that's to be expected in international play where players aren't nearly as synchronized.

Sterling is the only one I can't justify running out there again.

He's been horrific.

The rest is just what they have. Not like they're playing Rooney over peak Scholes here.

 

[YNWA14]

im not going to claim to be an expert on anything, but the idea of hodgson not starting rooney strikes me as ridiculous, whatever your opinion on that choice as such

No that's why I said they would be my choice. Rooney will likely be a mainstay until he can't walk anymore. Not that he's a bad player, but I think that England will see more of a difference between him and Wilshere in the midfield once they start facing better teams. If Rooney were to stay on for anyone (for me) it would be Kane who has been a bit underwhelming so far this tournament.

 

[hatterson]

Aki Riihilahti brought up on Finnish tv (complete with clips), how Wales forced him to play much lower in the first half and made him fetch the ball because there was no space for him in the middle.

I'd say part of that was Wales and part of that was how England kept cramming players into the middle in the first half which let Wales stay compact.

You had Rose and Walker out wide, but basically all of the front players were going mid. The three midfielders and three attackers were almost always in the middle 1/3 of the field (width wise) and that let Wales just stay tight.

Putting some overlapping runs out wide would have forced Wales to pull another defender over and open up some of that space either by forcing one of the three central defenders to help cover or forcing a guy like Ramsey or Allen to come out.

Granted Lallana and Sterling aren't the greatest options for those wide runs, so their personnel weren't the best choice for that type of game.

 

[cgf]

Sterling has been **** but they also don't have another player like him.

They have plenty of other options who are completely inept in the final third. None who are as spectacularly useless as Sterling, but still pretty useless.

 

[Suiteness]

All joking aside this is probably the best English team I've seen in a tournament.

Their team at the 2002 WC was WAAYYYYY better than this one. Not even close.

 

[Deficient Mode]

They have plenty of other options who are completely inept in the final third. None who are as spectacularly useless as Sterling, but still pretty useless.

They don't have another dribbling wide striker who in theory should be a creative player. I'm not advocating playing him again; I just understand why Hodgson wanted him to work

 

[Suiteness]

The issue with Sterling is that he's completely off form at the moment. He was beyond putrid all year, to have him in there is wishful thinking at best.

 

[Ivan13]

Their team at the 2002 WC was WAAYYYYY better than this one. Not even close.

Maybe he's 14 years old?

 

[Suiteness]

Maybe he's 14 years old?

lol, I think he's in his early 20's.

 

[Blender]

His choice starting 11 makes sense. Sterling has been **** but they also don't have another player like him. I can understand why Hodgson wanted to give him another chance. Vardy, Rashford, and even Sturridge don't have Lallana's combination ability. You don't just throw your three best goal scorers up front and hope it works out; the forward line has to be balanced. Hodgson is just an ok coach, but at least he understands that, unlike most English supporters. Formation is fine and quite standard. There were some structural problems in the first two matches but that's to be expected in international play where players aren't nearly as synchronized.



Yep. English fans and media have trashed their most talented player for years now though. I don't like Wilshere more than Rooney there. Maybe Wilshere over Alli.

He has them trying to play a slow passing game, when based on their squad they should be playing a more direct attacking style. Both Sturridge and Vardy are very quick and can dominate physically, and look what happens when they came on. Kane has played poorly and has never been great at taking corners or free kicks, yet he was the go to guy for them to start. Stirling has been awful for months, and his selection was solely based on wishful thinking instead of practicality. Milner has been vastly superior over the last 6 months and would be better in that spot. Walker and Rose both do well when the team is aggressive, but they haven't been utilizing that as much as they should.

There are always going to be growing pains, but instead of selecting a style of play based off the available squad, he has tried to force the players into his preferred system.

 

[ghostnights]

I'm really hoping Wales makes it to the round of 16. How is Russia's form? I've only watched the Wales games from this group.

 

[Theon]

I'm really hoping Wales makes it to the round of 16. How is Russia's form? I've only watched the Wales games from this group.

Russia's pretty bad. They offer nothing in attack. Tied with Northern Ireland as the worst teams in the tournament IMO.