England v Wales

[John in Louisiana]

Full time. Imagine what England could have done had they had a little pride and passion.

[MeeTa]

Full time. Imagine what England could have done had they had a little pride and passion.

Thought they did show some pride and passion in the second half, completely different intensity level on them.

[John in Louisiana]

Thought they did show some pride and passion in the second half, completely different intensity level on them.

I was making a snide comment about Gareth Bale's pre-game remarks.

[Norm]

John in Louisiana wrote:

I was making a snide comment about Gareth Bale's pre-game remarks.

Had to laugh at that.

Vardy and Sturridge - never say never

[danhirons]

feel bad for defending hart before - absolute clanger today.

sterling shouldn't play again this tournament - kane should be dropped as well.

too much standing about today - countless times passing the ball around in their half with the front five not moving at all.

only when sturridge started passing and moving and changing it about did things happen.

nevertheless great win, great spirit shown at the end and am sure that will do wonders for our morale

[Oscar]

A much better performance overall today, first half below par second half much better.
Player Ratings
Hart 5- Was at fault for the goal.
Walker 9- Man Of The Match defensively Walker was exceptional and created a lot of chances. Has been excellent so far at the tournament.
Smalling 6- Made 2 errors which could have led to goals, had an ok game overall.
Cahill 7- Wasn't tested often, however, had a good game.
Rose 7- Defensively excellent, however, his passing was poor.
Dier 8- Another excellent performance won his battle vs Gareth Bale.
Alli 6- Created the winning goal, however, a quiet performance.
Rooney 7- Some great passes, excellent during the second half.
Lallana 5- Created one chance, another poor game.
Kane 5- Very quiet game.
Sterling 5- Missed a good chance.
Substitutions:
Vardy 7- Had one chance to score and took his chance very well, had a good impact.
Sturridge 8- Changed the game and his link up play was excellent as well.
Rashford 6- Had a quiet game.

[Norm]

danhirons wrote:

feel bad for defending hart before - absolute clanger today.

sterling shouldn't play again this tournament - kane should be dropped as well.

too much standing about today - countless times passing the ball around in their half with the front five not moving at all.

only when sturridge started passing and moving and changing it about did things happen.

nevertheless great win, great spirit shown at the end and am sure that will do wonders for our morale

Dan, you don't need to feel bad. We all have opinions and sometimes they change with circumstances - it's the human condition!

[woodfordwhites]

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[gessa]

Roy saying this morning that Vardy and Sturridge scoring has given him a selection headache, absolute crap Roy, it's as easy a decision any manager could make. Sreling shouldn't even be considered.

[mav]

no comments on the "goal" that was offside then?

[barryanorak]

no comments on the "goal" that was offside then?

If you're talking about Vardy's goal, it was one of the best pieces of refereeing seen in recent times.

The ball came to Vardy off the head of a Welsh player...




If only certain referees knew the rules - like those who rule out own gaols for offside...

[mav]

If you're talking about Vardy's goal, it was one of the best pieces of refereeing seen in recent times.

The ball came to Vardy off the head of a Welsh player...




If only certain referees knew the rules - like those who rule out own gaols for offside...

So you don't think Vardy was interfering with play then?

[barryanorak]

Well, he was on the pitch.

In the context of the offside law, 'Interfering with play' means playing or touching the ball passed or played by a teammate.

If Williams was deemed to have intentionally played the ball (he went up for a header), then Vardy was no longer offside.

[1964white]

Roy saying this morning that Vardy and Sturridge scoring has given him a selection headache, absolute crap Roy, it's as easy a decision any manager could make. Sreling shouldn't even be considered.

Hodgson is unbelievable

The whole nation could pick the forwards we should be playing & he makes a big issue out of it. He must realised he cocked up for the first 135 minutes of England tournament

[1964white]

If you're talking about Vardy's goal, it was one of the best pieces of refereeing seen in recent times.

The ball came to Vardy off the head of a Welsh player...




If only certain referees knew the rules - like those who rule out own gaols for offside...

Referee was spot on welcome back again

[weasel]

Hodgson is unbelievable

The whole nation could pick the forwards we should be playing & he makes a big issue out of it. He must realised he cocked up for the first 135 minutes of England tournament

Just like with every Leeds manager we all know better than the person in the job - can't believe we aren't all highly successful managers. I will agree Sterling was awful but if he gets a better connection and scores then suddenly it would have been an excellent decision. Tiny margins. Kane has been poor this tournament but he deserved another chance after playing poorly in the opening game but Hodgson made a brave decision to bring him off - he also had ensured he had fresh options on the bench that could be brought on to change things.

[weasel]

Referee was spot on welcome back again

Yes indeed the ref was 100% correct. As the ball came in Vardy made no attempt to go for the ball and was also not in the line of flight of the ball. He only became active when the welsh defender headed it to him.

The referee was right but in my opinion the rule is wrong as all players should be deemed active simply by being on the pitch.

[1964white]

Just like with every Leeds manager we all know better than the person in the job - can't believe we aren't all highly successful managers. I will agree Sterling was awful but if he gets a better connection and scores then suddenly it would have been an excellent decision. Tiny margins. Kane has been poor this tournament but he deserved another chance after playing poorly in the opening game but Hodgson made a brave decision to bring him off - he also had ensured he had fresh options on the bench that could be brought on to change things.

Trust you to disagree with me Weasel when every man, woman & his dog know Vardy is currently our best striker, he has more to his game than Harry Kane. Both Sterling & Kane's form had fizzled out towards the end of the premiership season.
Where were Vardy, Sturridge & Rashford in the second-half v the Russians ? unfortunately getting splinters on their bums as Hodgson's masterstroke was to use other substitutes. Fresh options or not a manager should play his best in-form players, sadly not the case. As soon i saw his team selection i knew we would struggle, my optimism totally change once the changes were made, there was only one winner !

[weasel]

Don't get me wrong 64 I wouldn't have had Sterling in the squad let alone starting. Personally wouldn't have Rooney starting either even though he has done reasonably well. It is a squad game though and having potent options on the bench is a good strategy as if plan A is going wrong then you can improve the team rather than if your best 11 are on the pitch you are then weakening your team by making substitutions.
Harry Kane has been excellent this season, as has Vardy,and personally I would like to see them both play. Kane was up against 3 centrebacks so it wasn't a surprise he didn't do anything, by bringing more attackers on in the second half it stretched Wales's park the bus strategy and eventually it got so stretched it split. Kane may well have had more joy second half when we had more attackers playing. Kane for me is also suffering because of the inclusion of Rooney as it means that Alli is no longer playing behind him and as such he and Rooney are having to form a partnership and it hasn't worked yet.
That said though Roy Hodgson has a lot of tough decisions to make and everybody will feel they know better than him even if England win the tournament!

[gessa]

The referee was right but in my opinion the rule is wrong as all players should be deemed active simply by being on the pitch.

Exactly, if you're not interfering with play , what you doing on the pitch.