Woy's final message to his lads.........

Danger ... Italian footballers at large!
Do NOT in any circumstances approach them!

I thought it was woy's tactics to stand off and try and keep a strict shape, but then pick moments to pounce on them, win the ball and attacks fast when they are out of shape.

The problem was as soon as italy went 2-1 they could just sit back and england simply didn't have the technical ability to pick the lock. In the first half they were able to reply almost instantly without italy having a chance to settle on the lead, otherwise the result would have probably been 1-0 to italy.

Barkley lallana and wilshire all came on for a reasonable amount of time and couldn't make any impact and pick that lock, despite being some of the more technically gifted players in the team.

The thing is that Italy are a really difficult team to beat in tournament football. They are never talked about much or hugely rated but they are always defensively solid and tactically aware, with technically gifted players and a top striker or 2, so more often than not they do well, by hook or crook.

Expect goals against uruguay. Both teams have to win. Both teams are defensively vulnerable. For me uruguay have the bigger weapons up top. Cavani and suarez are world class strikers. England don't have one. Uruguay will win, 3-2 or something like that.

England will go out of this tournament bottom of the group, yet the reaction will be the opposite of previous tournaments.

It'll be :

''at least we had a go''
''inexperience cost us, great positives for the future''
''just wait until the next tournment, our young stars will have matured and be ready to win!!''

Why all the negativity?? ..... We all said that we expected very little from England and that is probably what we will get.

Personally, I thought we did ok.... The criticism of Baines is a bit unfair. Anybody who watches him regularly knows full well that he is at his best when attacking and hitting the byline. Last night, he wasn't given a chance simply because England's midfield was obsessed with holding onto the ball for too long, allowing the Italians to cover any overlapping runs - Sterling, for all his positivity with the ball and general decent play, seemed oblivious to the option of using any overlapping runners.

Rooney is also bound to be on the end of some unfair criticism - Why play your so called talisman out of position??.... Will Argentina play Messi out on the wing, in some role that involves tracking back?

If you aren't going to play Rooney in a central attacking role, then you may as well drop him, instead of wasting him in a position he is obviously pretty poor in - I honestly think we have to go with a 4-1-2-1-2 diamond formation if we are to get the best from our players...Same back 4, Gerrard holding, Milner and Lallana getting up and down the flanks, Sterling floating in a free role, and Rooney and Sturridge in a partnership.

As for our prospects?..... I reckon its England/Uruguay draw, with Italy beating Costa Rica, then it will be upto us to beat Costa Rica, whilst hoping Uruguay don't perform a Houdini act against the Italians.

I thought most of his comments were reasonably astute. The problem was his low monotone delivery. Ted Lowe is alive and kicking

[size=85For a start. There is the question. Of why. He was given. The job in the first place. He has no. Pundit experience. Last season he was part. Of the coaching. Team of death. Under David. Moyes.[/size

I'm stopping with that because it is fricking annoying. Which was the major problem with Phil Neville last night. I can't actually remember being angered by anything he said, but the first 20 minutes of a decent match were spoiled for me because I couldn't believe the BBC would foist Phil Neville on us in his first commentary job for such a big match.

I get it that Man United are a big draw and have lots of fans. I can kind of accept Ferdinand straight into a pundits job, even in spite of the fact that he screwed England over. But Phil Neville doing the commentary last night was taking the pi55 nearly as much as the ridiculous Life of Ryan documentary about Giggs 4 matches in charge.

Pirlo once again, ran the show and showed Slippy G, what a real world class midfielder looks like.

How on earth does Leighton Baines get a game for England??????

Regards

King James

...... Because he is the best left back we have available??

Yeah, and Bobby Charlton was certain that David Moyes was the right appointment.

Who else then?..... The Ashley Cole omission was criticised, but it would have been brave to pick a player who has hardly played all season ahead of the most in-form left back in the league.

Baines isn't world level, but that says more about the state of the English game and where we are actually at, with regards to our prospects in tournaments like this.

Baines is the better attacking left back. Cole is clearly the better defensive left back.

Seeing as this was England v Italy the player needed is a defensive left back.

I don't actually have any problem with Baines being promoted to first choice left back, but taking along Luke Shaw as back up is the decision of an incompetent fool. Ashley Cole would have seen the problems with Baines being exposed and could have warmed up and sorted Rooney out. Luke Shaw, 45 minutes of international football, wouldn't. Hodgson didn't.

A major problem with Baines at Everton is the same as Moyes at Everton. Moyes did a good job at Everton. So some people thought he could do a job at Man United. He simply couldn't. Everyone raves about Baines but the same applies. He's playing attacking left back for a side that plays greatly towards him, but teams don't set up against Everton like they do about big teams. Apart from the FA Cup final has Baines ever even played in a genuinely big game? I don't think so.

Just look at how highly Fellaini was rated at Everton and how utterly dreadful he's been at United. I personally think that Fellaini is more of a victim than villain and think anyone would have struggled in his position, but the simple fact is that starring at a mid-table side is no guarantee that you can make the step up.

I agree that Baines is probably over-rated, but the truth is, any left back in the world would have been hung out to dry playing in that line-up and that system that Hodgson employed on Saturday night.

Baines's strength at Everton has that he has always had a left midfielder who he could work in tandem with - On Saturday night, Rooney showed, to put it politely, that left midfield isn't his position.

As for Ashley Cole, yes, in his day he was a very good left back, but the fact that he lost his club spot to a player who is actually a right back, shows that his powers have waned massively and even he would have been exposed against Italy.

Surreal to see Jo coming on for Brazil. One of the worst players to wear a City shirt, and that's saying a lot. When he played for City it seemed his sole role in the team was to try and win throw ins from hoofed clearances. And he wasn't much good at that.

Incredibly, he was actually better than the Brazilian he replaced