The Football Addick

GK: Joe Hart - 6 Did absolutely nothing wrong. Could do nothing about the goals, sadly he came up against an in form and hungry Luis Suarez. RB: Glen Johnson - 6 Probably one of England's better performers. Dangerous going forward but shaky in defence. Created Rooney's goal brilliantly. CB: Gary Cahill - 6 On the most part dealt with Luis Suarez well. Dominant in the air against Cavani, but switched off fatally for Suarez's last winner. CB: Phil Jagielka - 5 Did not cover himself in glory. Didn't look comfortable on the ball, and was not tight enough to Suarez for his 2 goals. Endured a tough night. LB: Leighton Baines - 6 Defensive work was better under a lot less pressure and final ball was slightly better. Still rather have Ashley Cole. CM: Steven Gerrard - 5 Little came off for him on the night. Will be remembered for the mistake which allowed Suarez to score. CM: Jordan Henderson - 6 Another energetic performance by the Liverp...

*Written before Italy vs Costa Rica. Since the draw was made months ago, it was always going to be tough to get through the 'Group of death'. We were the third highest ranked team in the group behind Uruguay and Italy, who lay 7th and 9th in the world rankings respectively. We all knew what Italy could do; they had most recently inflicted penalty heart break on England in their Euro 2012 quarter final clash. Having lost to Italy last Friday, we desperately needed to get a result against Uruguay or we would all but be knocked out. But they always looked a tough opponent due to one man. Luis Suarez.  The whole of England has become accustomed to watching him in week in week out in the Premier League. This season he notched 31 goals in 33 games to propel his club side Liverpool into the title race, where they were narrowly outlasted by Manchester City. Many have said he's indisputably the best player in the Premier League. Some have said he's ...

The first game week has flown by. Since Brazil's controversial 3-1 win over Croatia in last Saturdays curtain raiser, the football on display has been terrific. We've just about had it all. Goals, goalkeeping howlers, upsets, red cards, controversy and debatable refereeing decisions. Virtually every game has had a talking point. It has been truly entertaining. But who will win it? Since the 2002 World Cup, I would say this years edition has to be the most open. Anyone can win it. For me, there are no clear favourites; no one team that stands out head and shoulders above the rest. But there have been those that have impressed me in their opening games, and those teams are listed below as my 'teams of the round'. Germany 4-0 Portugal I think everyone probably expected Germany to win, but not in the manner they did. Germany looked weak at the back early on as Portugal threatened a number of times on the break, and it looked as if Germany would have to fight har...

GK: Joe Hart - 6 Solid display. Little to do but came for crosses with great assurance. Left flat footed for Pirlo's stunning late free kick. Could do nothing about goals. LB: Leighton Baines - 4 Terrorised by Candreva and Darmian. Delivery extremely poor by his high standards. Multiple corners wasted by poor delivery. Anyone miss Ashley Cole? CB: Gary Cahill - 7 Kept Balotelli quiet for most of the game. Dominant in the air, and great tackle at the death to prevent Italy scoring a late 3rd. CB: Phil Jagielka - 6 Solid at the back. Had little to do due to lack of attacking threat from Italy RB: Glen Johnson - 5 All to predictable coming forward, yet did try and come forward at every given opportunity. Out of position for Balotelli's goal. CM: Steven Gerrard - 6 Like Baines, struggled with set pieces. Fired late set piece over the bar. Work cut out against brilliance if Italian midfield trio in Marchisio, De Rossi and Pirlo. CM: Jordan Hende...

Proud. Proud that I watched us put in a performance worthy of 3 points last night against a resolute Italian side; but sadly it was not to be.  I woke up this morning still in utter disbelief to how we did not win last night. We were by far the better team last night, and with a bit more luck in and around the penalty area we may well have been celebrating a crucial 3 points. Sadly it was not to be, but I for one am hugely optimistic going into our next 2 games against Uruguay and Costa Rica.   We played the best I've seen us play for a number of years; I can't remember the last time we played with such flair and attacking threat. It was extremely refreshing to see Sterling threatening the Italian defence with his electrifying pace, and I also thought Sturridge put in a top class performance up front.  Player Performance I just want to take a moment to reflect on how good Sterling was last night. Talented and fearless; he often had the beating of the Italia...