[Archived] European Championship France 2016

[DE.]

Did anyone else think Sterling was bobbins? crying out for townsend in the second half. Really poor decision to leave him at home.

A lot of speed, no end product. His confidence has been shot since he joined City and he shouldn't be in the England team based on his name alone.

Roy's safety first subs really stalled our momentum. We needed a second and he settled for 1-0. Sums him up I'm afraid.

[wolfie]

At least it might prevent the Russian ultras killing a few more of our fans.

Tell that to the Russians chasing England fans out of the stadium.

[Tom]

Only yourself to blame when the opposition are on the back foot and you make changes to invite them on

[Jock]

What was Hart thinking of??

Spit-roasting, fast cars, shampoo adverts, who knows. Likes someone else said he's always got a feck up in him. As has Smalling

[Mr. E]

I think I might actually prefer Steve Kean and Gary Bowyer to Roy Hogdson.

[DE.]

Tell that to the Russians chasing England fans out of the stadium.

I'll leave them to it.

[Stuart]

I'd like to say that was unbelievable but unfortunately it's extremely believable.

Did anyone else think Sterling was bobbins? crying out for townsend in the second half. Really poor decision to leave him at home.

Harry kane looked knackered. But if we go one up top then the other options seem to be a bad fit.

That said it was a decent performance. But you just always feel we're always a step away from meltdown.

I agree that Sterling wasn't great but if we had won that Woy would have been rightly taking the plaudits. We played very well and bossed the Russians apart from 5-10 mins after half time.

As it is, we've thrown all that away and it looks like the wrong subs if anything. We should have been positive and sacrificed Sterling or even Rooney for Vardy and kept up the goal threat. Instead we took off players who were taking the ball to Russia and let them come on to us.

The manager has to take the blame for this one.

Not a loss but it feels like one.

[Proudtobeblue&white]

1-0 up, failed to press, Vardy on, Sterling off, Milner shouldn't be anywhere near the team and cost the goal. Need to beat Bale, perhaps someone should discretely take him out? Milner obviously.

[RibbleValleyRover]

I thought they played well overall but you just have to take those chances at this level, against the better teams in the tournament they will have their chances so you have to take yours when they come.

I didn't expect Russia to play as poorly in the second half and whilst they didn't exactly look like a transformed team they did look better. They don't have much pace but they have some big units so a 1-0 lead was always going to be nervy time especially against set pieces and crosses.

Wales could be a much tougher game than people think, Bale is better than anyone on that Russian team and he can create something from nothing. That team spirit by Wales today was really noticeable as well, they will be really fired up going into the game.

Hope the fans especially some of the Rovers fans who have made the trip stay safe tonight, lie low and keep your head down.

[roverandout]

Hodgson was why we never won, bringing on your most limited player instead of a match winner is the reason why England will never win a tournament under this chump

[Mike Graham]

Sounds like horrendous attacks by Russians on England fans in the stadium (men, women and children).

Is it worth it? What a sad World.

[Salgado Is Still A Hero]

Wounder that, got to bring Vardy on for his pace to counter attack. Sterling has pace but has been terrible for a while now.

Taking Rashford instead of Townsend seems even more stupid now. There's no way Vardy, Sturridge and Rashford are all going to be subbed on.

Still a winnable group but a loss to Wales would be no good at all. Think they could be dangerous on the counter if the full backs push forward as much as they did tonight.

[DE.]

The worrying thing is, Russia were pretty awful tonight. We won't face many teams with such low energy and lack of creativity - yet we only managed one set piece goal and the one time they put some pressure on, we buckled.

Walker, Alli, Rose, Rooney and Dier were all fantastic. The likes of Sterling, Kane, and Hart didn't cover themselves in glory and need to remember tournament football can potentially only last for three games. Top class players on the international stage have to perform when called upon, especially against teams with less quality. It's a challenge Gerrard, Lampard and the rest of the so called "golden generation" were never able to meet.

Sounds like horrendous attacks by Russians on England fans in the stadium (men, women and children).

Is it worth it? What a sad World.

Damning that they were deemed an acceptable choice as world cup hosts. As a country, they're as backwards as the Middle East. Racism, homophobia, corruption, violence and Vladimir Putin. A good thing they had a lot of spare money to throw at the FIFA delegates.

[joey_big_nose]

I though woy set us up exceptionally well and we totally dominated, far more than France did yesterday for example.

We need to persevere with the shape now

It looks well balanced and creative. No point messing around with it.

[patrickvalery]

Sounds like horrendous attacks by Russians on England fans in the stadium (men, women and children).

Is it worth it? What a sad World.

Yet it's the English getting a bad press again. Easy target I guess.

The bloody Russian fans need reigning in. But what else can you expect when their government can do as they wish without repercussions?

[joey_big_nose]

Hodgson was why we never won, bringing on your most limited player instead of a match winner is the reason why England will never win a tournament under this chump

I think the reason we wont win a tournament is because we're nowhere near the best in the competition. I cant really see why woy deserves criticism. Hes doing an okay job with an okay squad

[roverandout]

Were good enough for a semi final place with the right coach in charge, aside from Germany, Spain and France everyone else is pretty mediocre, Hodgson tactics will cost us progress

[patrickvalery]

I think the reason we wont win a tournament is because we're nowhere near the best in the competition. I cant really see why woy deserves criticism. Hes doing an okay job with an okay squad

You say that. But if you can take a step back and view it objectively and impartially, you'd probably say our two fullbacks looked brilliant, Rooney would have been described as a rolls Royce in that midfield, Lallana would be classed as a very intelligent player and Dier acclaimed as a under appreciated destroyer.

For me the centre halves undermine the whole side. And Hart exudes a confidence which is totally unwarranted and not infectious. This side would look a whole lot better with John Terry. If I see Cahil puff his cheeks and make a pointless 20 yard dash out of defence for no good reason I'm gonna burst a blood vessel. Football doesn't have to be complicated. Do what your good at and avoid doing things you're not good at. If we want to play out from the back why don't we play the one player who can do it? For Christ sake we've got a centre half in midfield who can drop in.

[DE.]

I think the reason we wont win a tournament is because we're nowhere near the best in the competition. I cant really see why woy deserves criticism. Hes doing an okay job with an okay squad

Our team has to be attacking minded, that's how we're set up and where our strengths lie. The problem is, Roy has an over-cautious nature, as evidenced tonight by selecting the likes of Sterling who hasn't been any good for months, and then playing for a 1-0 at the end when we desperately needed a second goal. As soon as we gave the initiative to Russia we were massively increasing the likelihood of getting punished. We need a manager with a lot more guts than Roy, I'm afraid.

They had two centre backs with a combined age of something like 70, and we never even tried to bring Vardy on to run behind them. Instead we brought on James @#/? Milner. Until this attitude changes we are going nowhere and we will indeed be nothing more than "okay". We should at least try to be ambitious, the first half showed we have the ability to put on a show. We just need a manager who won't put the shackles on three quarters of the way through a match.

[Stuart]

You say that. But if you can take a step back and view it objectively and impartially, you'd probably say our two fullbacks looked brilliant, Rooney would have been described as a rolls Royce in that midfield, Lallana would be classed as a very intelligent player and Dier acclaimed as a under appreciated destroyer.

For me the centre halves undermine the whole side. And Hart exudes a confidence which is totally unwarranted and not infectious. This side would look a whole lot better with John Terry. If I see Cahil puff his cheeks and make a pointless 20 yard dash out of defence for no good reason I'm gonna burst a blood vessel. Football doesn't have to be complicated. Do what your good at and avoid doing things you're not good at. If we want to play out from the back why don't we play the one player who can do it? For Christ sake we've got a centre half in midfield who can drop in.

Agree with that. There's a real dearth of talent at CB. Phil Jones should have been an option there but is nowhere near. Could Dier not play there given our better midfield options?

[LewisF]

We deserved what we got, not being able to see a game out will cost us more often than not at this level. Also Sterling is a liability, he has zero end product and every time he's on the ball I'm prepared for him to give it away

Not confident at all for the Wales match

[4000Holes]

I think the reason we wont win a tournament is because we're nowhere near the best in the competition. I cant really see why woy deserves criticism. Hes doing an okay job with an okay squad

He deserves criticism because of his awful choice of subs.. Rooney was controlling the game when he took him off. Stirling while not having a great game had the Rusians frightened to death with his pace. It was like saying to the Russian manager, come on attack us! and they did. His fault, awful decision making

[joey_big_nose]

He deserves criticism because of his awful choice of subs.. Rooney was controlling the game when he took him off. Stirling while not having a great game had the Rusians frightened to death with his pace. It was like saying to the Russian manager, come on attack us! and they did. His fault, awful decision making

Dont buy all of that. Sterling was the weakest link and deserved to be hooked. Rooney was more debatable, but hardly outrageous. It was a very strong performance alround.

[Salgado Is Still A Hero]

Agree with that. There's a real dearth of talent at CB. Phil Jones should have been an option there but is nowhere near. Could Dier not play there given our better midfield options?

Dier 100% has to play defensive mid as he's the only one who can. Such a shame what happened with Jones, he was meant to be quality.

Kicking off between Polish and Northern Irish fans now.

[roverandout]

So what's your pont? Milner was a defensive minded substitute and he's a particularly bad player