v Fulham

[Reading Rebel]

Good, now that's over can't wait to get back to some proper football.

 

 

[3spirit]

6 hours ago, Reading Rebel said:

Good, now that's over can't wait to get back to some proper football.

 

 

I take it you mean England.  Am I the only fan who thought England were absolutely dire[excluding the first 3 minutes and the glorious goal we scored]. Talk about anti-climax. I like Gareth Southgate as a bloke but he was clueless last night and undone all his good work from the previous rounds. Italy was wobbling when our goal went in,why we then decided to defend was ludicrous in my book.

Can't make the Fulham game but hope to make it to the Hayes and Yeading friendly. Be good just to escape the prison cell and meet up with some fellow inmates ! ha ha !  

[Shredding Green]

4 minutes ago, 3spirit said:

I take it you mean England.  Am I the only fan who thought England were absolutely dire[excluding the first 3 minutes and the glorious goal we scored]. Talk about anti-climax. I like Gareth Southgate as a bloke but he was clueless last night and undone all his good work from the previous rounds. Italy was wobbling when our goal went in,why we then decided to defend was ludicrous in my book.

Can't make the Fulham game but hope to make it to the Hayes and Yeading friendly. Be good just to escape the prison cell and meet up with some fellow inmates ! ha ha !  

Harry Maguire conceded a needless corner before England scored.

I think the referee must have had words before the kick off to say that he would not tolereate bad fouls, play-acting or time-wasting. Italy played a much better game than I had expected from them.

[Reading Rebel]

6 minutes ago, 3spirit said:

I take it you mean England.  Am I the only fan who thought England were absolutely dire[excluding the first 3 minutes and the glorious goal we scored]. Talk about anti-climax. I like Gareth Southgate as a bloke but he was clueless last night and undone all his good work from the previous rounds. Italy was wobbling when our goal went in,why we then decided to defend was ludicrous in my book.

Can't make the Fulham game but hope to make it to the Hayes and Yeading friendly. Be good just to escape the prison cell and meet up with some fellow inmates ! ha ha !  

It sounds ludicrous to say but scoring an early goal possibly didn't do us any favours as it seemed to be the catalyst for us to sit back and concede possession which the Italians took full advantage of.

The only real criticism I have of Southgate is his reluctance to make substitutions a lot earlier when to most people it was blindingly obvious that fresh legs were needed.

[Reading Rebel]

12 minutes ago, Shredding Green said:

Harry Maguire conceded a needless corner before England scored.

I think the referee must have had words before the kick off to say that he would not tolereate bad fouls, play-acting or time-wasting. Italy played a much better game than I had expected from them.

He certainly tolerated the one on Grealish which imo was a straight red card.

[3spirit]

1 minute ago, Shredding Green said:

Harry Maguire conceded a needless corner before England scored.

I think the referee must have had words before the kick off to say that he would not tolereate bad fouls, play-acting or time-wasting. Italy played a much better game than I had expected from them.

Yes I forgot about Harry Maguire abysmal back pass !

Italy certainly the better side on the night but I can't help thinking we let them off the hook, and as the game wore on, England were so negative and dull, that they really didn't do themselves justice.  I wasn't bothered about losing on penalties, I was pissed off that England had no attacking adventure in the game [after our initial goal]. Southgate's lack of nous on his substitutions were awful,too. Italy wasn't afraid to make a whole host of changes to their starting eleven, why were England?

[3spirit]

19 minutes ago, Reading Rebel said:

It sounds ludicrous to say but scoring an early goal possibly didn't do us any favours as it seemed to be the catalyst for us to sit back and concede possession which the Italians took full advantage of.

The only real criticism I have of Southgate is his reluctance to make substitutions a lot earlier when to most people it was blindingly obvious that fresh legs were needed.

I thought the early English goal was the best thing that could have happened, as that took the wind out of the Italians sails. I just wish Roberto Mancini had been the English manager, and not Gareth Southgate. As a man Gareth Southgate comes across as a diamond but as an adventurous attack minded football manager, he seems one dimensional and too stuck in sticking to his plan A and his previous successes on the pitch. Mancini made clever tactical substitutions.Spur of the moment decisions to change their style of play. Ours were so damn predictable and ours were too late anyway.  

[Reading Rebel]

1 hour ago, 3spirit said:

I thought the early English goal was the best thing that could have happened, as that took the wind out of the Italians sails. I just wish Roberto Mancini had been the English manager, and not Gareth Southgate. As a man Gareth Southgate comes across as a diamond but as an adventurous attack minded football manager, he seems one dimensional and too stuck in sticking to his plan A and his previous successes on the pitch. Mancini made clever tactical substitutions.Spur of the moment decisions to change their style of play. Ours were so damn predictable and ours were too late anyway.  

Of course in theory it should have been the best thing to happen, how could you not want to score a goal?

But unfortunately if your approach to the game changes from playing your natural game to defensive mode you are giving the initiative back to the opposition and that's exactly what happened.