Nope neither The Ox nor Townsend are in the squad, which makes playing with wingers all that more daft, as not bringing back up now just looks very strange indeed.


Why? What for??

I'd have more respect for Roy if he simply admitted that he got the substitutions wrong, as was clear from the way the pattern of play changed after them.

I saw nothing in the Wales v Slovakia and England v Russia matches to persuade me England cannot not beat Wales and Slovakia and end up top of their group. I admit I have no agenda about Hodgson, Rooney or Sterling, so it may be I have a completely skewed view of England.

same old england we wither win ugly or not win gloriously.

and we have a same old turnip manager too.

init marvelous

How about the singular inability to score from the many chances in open play?

It's all very well controlling the ball and doing all the razzle-dazzle passing, but if you don't put the ball in the net, it means nowt.

I do not accept it is an inability to score: last night was one match when lots of chances were not taken. To suggest Kane or Rooney, for instance, are unable to score from chances in open play on the basis of one match is, frankly, nonsense. Had England not created any chances in open play I would have a very different view.
.

You're right we need to convert some of our chances but for me the signs are there that we can do.

Yes I believe we could beat Germany in a tournament. And we're sure as hell more likely to do it if we try to encourage our team rather than going in to every match with a negative attitude.

Comparisons with Arsenal are strong

Another tournament, same old story. Yes England played well, were unlucky and should've won but the bottom line is we didn't. So once again we can't win the opening game of a tournament, once again massive pressure on the second game which might not be a must win but is certainly a must not lose. It wont be easy either, Wales will be flying after their win and will be fired up to do to us what their rugby team did to England in the RWC. Slovakia don't look pushovers either.

We couldn't beat Russia though, and Wales and Slovakia look better teams.

Of course we haven't yet see Germany play in this tournament yet, but generally speaking they are a very different beast at major tournaments when compared to just qualifying for them, so I am very doubtful that we could beat them when it mattered most.

Well the only thing that stopped us winning was the lack of finishing and as a lot of us feared some poor defending at the end...

Certainly we ought to pick up points if we can play like that again minus the late goal.

A lucky 1-0 win will do the job!

We created many chances against Russia and I expect us to do the same against Wales and Slovakia; the main difference being I expect us to convert several of those chances in each match. I thought Wales and Slovakia were evenly matched, mediocre teams - I think Russia could do well against both of them having secured the result they played for against England..

Hardly surprising given that you have virtually written off the prospect of beating Wales.

That was yesterday. Today is a new day and a new opinion.

The England defence still seems to be on completely different wavelengths.

When that ball was going in, Smalling pretty much just completely blocked off the area and Hart just stood there like a lemon as if the ball was going wide.

Hart just doesn't seem to have much authority in his penalty area, can't see Guardiola wanting him as his number 1.

What could possible sanctions against Russia do to the group standings. Could Russia lose points, or even be expelled from the tournament. The later probably wouldn't help England as Wales and Slovakia would end up with 3-0 victories by default I imagine.

They might give them a suspended points deduction so if the Russian loons kick off again they lose say 6 points which should be enough to stop them progressing in the tournament.

It'll just be a fine.

Apart from the last minute goal Why were the pundits acting like England put in some great performance against a top team.

Russia are bang average at best.

I agree. Russia have served up another poor tournament team although I sense they were holding back a bit. These guys from Spartak, CSKA and Zenit are Champions League players and can play a bit. They probably figured that they had no need to go all out against England when there were 'weaker' teams like Wales and Slovakia to come. Problem is that the latter two are clearly not pushovers and will be a handful for England and Russia.

Russia are an AWFUL team just like they were 2 years ago. Not to win against them was a terrible result for England. It's not like they drew 1-1 with Germany, France or Spain. I'd be surprised if there were many/any weaker teams than Russia at this tournament.

P.S. I've asked this before, but can people who defend Hodgson please explain to me why Kane is taking set pieces?!????? Wtf is that all about?! Not only is he terrible at them, surely it reduces England's chances to score if their main striker is not in the box! Also, why was Vardy not playing?

Kane taking corners just takes the biscuit. It's infuriating. Do Roy and the coaches have any sense whatsoever? He's the PL top scorer and clearly our best chance of scoring a goal. Not just that but isn't it blatantly obvious that they will come under huge criticism from the media/fans etc and just pile the pressure on themselves when they make such bizarre choices such as this. I wouldn't mind if his set piece delivery was any good but it was dire in the friendly and again last night.

It will be an almighty task to beat Wales, as not only isn't a local derby, they are top and we are playing catch-up to them, but they have a genuine world class player, we don't have anyone as good as Bale.



What are you on about, my opinion has not changed.

WTF was Roy doing making Kane take corners?