Quote Originally Posted by IainR View Post
I thought Rooney had a good game.. 39 goals in 93 games.. well 40 in 94 now.. better than most international strikers.

Englands most dangerous player.

We lost to Italy just, and outplayed Uruguay for much of the game but defended badly.. we were ranked 11th, them 6th in the world.. only the english would be so appalled and be talking of sacking the manager..

We've made huge strides, we look a far better team, much younger age. We defended badly, that needs sorting, we need Johnson out or change our game so he plays as a wing back… otherwise lets just keep building..

Rooney and Barkley when we came on tried to make things happen.. Welbeck, Sturridge and Sterling were anonymous, Sterling is young enough that these things happen. But Baines needs to have more spine and attack more.. thats why he's in the squad.. we played as a back 4 and we can't do that with those players.. especially with two sitting midfielders.

I hope we stick with Hodgson and build for 2016..
So, bearing all that in mind, it's strange that you don't make the final step to seeing what the problem was last night.

First game against Italy - formation set up with Sterling in the hole, free to run at opponents, go either way with the ball and generally cause mayhem. Linked up with Sturridge well,brought Welbeck into play. Generally a threatening performance, let down only by ineffectiveness on the left-wing.

Solution? Common sense would say change the left-winger. Stick Lallana in and we'd have balance.

Instead, we changed the whole formation to accommodate the left midfielder from the first game, sticking him in the hole and moving the dangerous player out onto the right wing, where Uruguay were able to pin him to the touchline and reduce his effectiveness. Welbeck was anonymous out left and Sturridge hadn't got the link with Sterling that worked so well in the first game.

Whether Rooney played well or not (and I think he was ok, which isn't a ringing endorsement), last night proved the old rule that it's usually better to build a team of reasonable ability that works as a unit than build a team around one (supposedly) star individual. Yes blame defenders, yes blame the referee for not sending their man off, but last night was a game lost by the manager.