England 1-2 Italy - My thoughts

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 Italian defence and created a number of opportunities for his team mates. His confidence was emphasised by rifling a shot at goal in the 3rd minute of his World Cup debut, (which I and the other 300 or so people in the pub thought was in) and he also put in an exquisite through ball to Rooney which led to our opening goal.



At 19 years of age he showed maturity way beyond his teenage years, and in my belief if he replicates his form going back to the start of this year and continues to develop; we really could have a world beater on our hands.

Sterling ran the Italy back line ragged

I also thought Henderson was superb last night. A calming presence in the middle of the park, he put in an assured display beside Steven Gerrard. Let's not forget he was up against possibly the best midfield in International football in the shape of Marchisio, Pirlo and De Rossi, but he stood up to the challenge valiantly. His energy in the middle of the pitch was vital, and when he was replaced by Wilshere our intensity and work rate immediately dropped. 'Hendo' is a must start against Uruguay and Costa Rica.

I also can't believe the criticism directed at Danny Welbeck for his performance last night. In my belief he put in a great shift; he was threatening on the break and he also put in great effort defensively. He and Johnson nullified the Italian threat down England's right, and it was clearly the left side which was extremely problematic last night.  Baines cannot defend. I'm sorry, but if we had Ashley Cole playing last night we would not have conceded the 2nd goal. Baines was beaten way too easily, and that was not the only time whereby Candreva had the beating of him. Fair play to Candreva, the Lazio forward was by far Italy's most dangerous player last night, but would he have had the beating of indisputably England's greatest ever left back? I highly doubt it.

 

I may be being a little critical of Baines, and fair enough to him he did not have too much help. Constantly Italy were doubling up on him, and he often found himself in 2 vs 1 situations. Therefore, some of the blame must be laid on the hands of Wayne Rooney.

Rooney - A problem?

I'm a big fan of Rooney, he had a great first half and put in a great ball for Sturridge's goal. He put in an extreme amount of effort, but he clearly tired as the game went on and his defensive capabilities wavered as the game went on. I believe he should have been taken off for someone like Milner some time in the second half, England were being opened up time and time again on their left hand side and Milner would've undoubtedly quashed that threat.
 



Balotelli's 50th minute header sunk a plucky England side

Nevertheless, I still can't understand the criticism directed at Rooney. He had a decent game. Not a great game, but a decent one. He put in a lot of effort, despite being played out of position on the left wing. I think some of the abuse directed towards him have been disgusting, all it has done is knock his confidence and he looks like he's playing devoid of it as a result. Leave the man alone and he will do the talking on the pitch. Just give him a break.

Although we did play well, the left hand side of the pitch is still a huge problem. The return of Oxlade-Chamberlain for the next game will be in my belief crucial; as we are lacking a quality left winger at the moment. He will put in a shift both in defence and attack, and will offer similar traits to Sterling. Let's hope he's fit enough to play; or we may be heading out.
 

Roy Hodgson

I was confused by Hodgson's subs last night. After Italy scored the second they shut up shop, and often had all 11 men in their 1/3 of the pitch. So what does Hodgson do? He puts on Wilshere, (who in my eyes is extremely overrated) as well as taking off Welbeck and Sturridge for Lallana and Barkley. Welbeck should have stayed on; the subs meant we had no width what so ever, and with Sturridge off the pitch we lacked threat up top.

I think the game was crying out for Rickie Lambert with half an hour to go. Maybe Hodgson overlooked him because he's not a household name? I don't know. But he would have added a different dimension to England up front. He's good in the air, technically superb and give him half a chance and he will bury it. When needing a goal we could not break down Italy by passing through them, so we needed a different option. Lambert would've provided that different option.
 

However that is my only criticism of Hodgson. He set the team up immaculately last night, although he should've identified that the problem position was down the left hand side and he should have made a change early on to eradicate this problem. Despite this he was bold in his selection of Sterling, which turned out to be a brilliant one. He also made the right decision of picking Welbeck, he certainly proved me wrong last night and although he received criticism, he put in a great shift.
 

Overview

I'm not bitter or anything, but I believe we should have had a stone wall penalty when Gerrard was body checked in the box, and we also had half hearted appeals when Welbeck was tugged down in the first half. I'm not saying the officials are biased or anything; but if we had been Brazil we would've had 2 penalties last night. Controversial? Yes. But sadly it's the undeniable truth.

We must put the disappointment behind us. We played well, but we must re-focus and prepare both mentally and physically for the tough challenge of Uruguay. The 7th best team in the world based on FIFA rankings were shocked 3-1 by a Joel Campbell inspired side, but despite this they pose a very difficult challenge. They very much rely on their front two: Suarez and Cavani. Contain those two, and I believe we will comfortably win. Step forward Phil Jagielka and Gary Cahill.

Last thoughts

We may not have got a result, but we deserved one. Although there are flaws in England's team, it was an extremely promising performance. We may have lost, but this is a distinct improvement on 4 years ago. Remember scraping through a group consisting of Algeria, Slovenia and USA? I remember all too well. Italy are a side who can go very far in this competition and we gave them a run for their money. We need at least a draw against Uruguay and a win against Costa Rica, but I don't think that will be too much of an issue given our performance last night.

Have faith. We WILL GO THROUGH. But how far can we go after that? Who knows.....