IMO the worst players for England were Rooney, Gerrard, Cahill and Baines.

Gerrard got caught in possession too often and the 2 defenders were both very poor. Johnson played a bit better than he had in the warm-up games.

If I had to pick the worst though it would have to be Rooney for that corner and that miss. I'm not sure what excuses can be made for him this time round because he's not injured or unfit and he was still dire.

Baines... although Johnson's not far behind... the squad is missing a John Terry type to manage defence.

For me it was Gerrard, by a country mile.

Actually, if you just look at the stats, Gerrard had an okay game.

93% of passes were complete - 62 in total and he made 11 out of 13 long balls... not the worst performer IMO... Although Pirlo's outstanding 108 passes makes Gerrards efforts look 2nd rate

Hodgson

I'm unwilling to point the figure at any particular players because the balance of the way Hodgson set the team up was all wrong.

Rooney on the left meant Baines didn't get enough support when Italy doubled up on him down that flank, Gerrard and Henderson were essentially asked to try to cope with 3 Italians in central midfield and so were too often outnumbered and overrun.

Rooney.

But Gerrard was a bit poor too which is disappointing "as in not doing much", he was amazing this season for Liverpool and at his age too, but for England he should be attacking more at 34 you can still burst into a little run and shot we need this from Stevie.

Rooney but give him his due he was not in the right position

Maybe stevie g was struggling with the heat it isn't very warm in liverpool

Gerrard has been good for Liverpool because he plays in 3 man midfield with 2 runners on either side. Not only did Hodgson stick him a 2 man midfield he did it against a 4 man Italian midfield!

People quite rightly say Rooney was played out of position but so to varying degrees were Gerrard and Henderson

Even Jamie Redknapp could see we needed a 3 man midfield!

http://www1.skysports.com/football/n...jamie-redknapp

Gerard. He is way past his best. A virtual passenger in the second half. With players like him, they only get dropped when it is too late. Rooney was barely involved in the game but that was more tactical.

Gerrard for me too. I hope he proves me wrong but I don't see what he's adding at the moment. He doesn't control the game like Pirlo does and he isn't a box to box player anymore

Little things are often magnified when you look back on performances, that's how heroes and villains are made. Johnson was better than he's been recently, Baines was caught out several times but that wasn't entirely his own fault. Gerrard worked hard without being very creative, Rooney just didn't appear to have the same energy levels as he used to.
To be honest, I thought it was a decent performance by England. Italy were a lot better than I had expected, but we could easily have managed a draw.

That's a good point to be honest

Spot on Steve. The game was decided by tactics I think. It will be very interesting to see what Hodgson does now. Will he make changes tactically? I think he has to really. Has he got the cahoonies to drop big names?

Very interesting to see what he does now and whether he responds or just hopes it clicks better next match.

On marks out of 10, the four sixes I had were Hart, both full backs and Rooney. I didn't think Hart looked solid at all. Johnson I thought was very good in the first half but tailed off badly.

Although, I wouldn't necessarily say the subs were any better than 5/10. All three in the last 15 minutes struggled to make any impact and looked as short of pace as the starters. Wilshere looked especially off his game.

Probably edge for Hart overall though.

The manager made it hard for them I thought.

If you had been playing Nigel - it would have been you.

Glen Johnson. It was the same story as the last world cup with him. Gets into decent positions but then puts in an awful cross, and is a liability defensively. I'd actually prefer Milner at right-back, even though that's not his regular position.

Johnson was piss poor. He can beat people but his final ball and shooting is crap.

Imagine if Johnson could actually cross a football in to the box competently, though? He'd be a great player. He gets loads of opportunities to put a good ball in and keeps wasting them over and over again.

Rooney as usual does he know where goal is ?

It's tricky, but it was in now way Cahill. He did. Tackle that saved a certain goal, and was not at fault for the winning goal.

However, for all the noted problems of baines, gerrard and Rooney, I'm going to say hart.

He just isn't convincing in an England shirt. He is just as likely to produce a howler as David James ever was, and last night he got caught yet again charging out of his area.

It was only the skill of our cb that prevented hart being responsible for a goal.

He has no competition, or rather Hodgson failed to play other keepers in friendlies, and has started believing his own hype.

I think it's hard to single out a player as several let the side down.

Rooney did put the cross in for Surridge but he had a few comedy moments and should have made more impact.

They played as a team for a change, it was good to see.

Far too long it has been about individuals, not the team.