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Before the tournament started many were saying that England would struggle because they gave away possession too easily. My view was that it's what you do with the ball when you have it rather than how long you have it for. Against Italy we had 44% possession and managed 13 shots. Against Uruguay it was 63% possession and just 12 shots. Not good enough.
Gerrard did ok as the fulcrum for moving the ball across the field and put through a number of telling long balls but he simply isn't a defensive midfielder. Apart from his passing, his main strengths have always been the surging runs towards goal and the shots from outside the box. These days he hasn't the legs to do that and get back to defend. Sadly, I think it's time for him to go. I think he'll retire from international football after the tournament anyway but Hodgson should pre-empt that for Costa Rica. Replacing him with Lampard would simply be reproducing the problem so I would go for Jones and Milner to replace Gerrard and Henderson. Both have more pace and are better able to protect the full-backs. I like Baines and think he's been badly let down by the midfield cover but he's also not played well and I'd be inclined to give Shaw a go. Lallana is a more organised player than Welbeck and Barkley deserves a start, probably at the expense of Sterling who could be used as a sub for the last half hour or so as could Oxlade-Chamberlain if he's fit.
My team:
Hart
Johnson Cahill Jagielka Shaw
Milner Lallana Jones
Sturridge Rooney Barkley

<blockquote data-quote="archie" data-source="post: 2487278" data-attributes="member: 64935">Before the tournament started many were saying that England would struggle because they gave away possession too easily. My view was that it&#039;s what you do with the ball when you have it rather than how long you have it for. Against Italy we had 44% possession and managed 13 shots. Against Uruguay it was 63% possession and just 12 shots. Not good enough.Gerrard did ok as the fulcrum for moving the ball across the field and put through a number of telling long balls but he simply isn&#039;t a defensive midfielder. Apart from his passing, his main strengths have always been the surging runs towards goal and the shots from outside the box. These days he hasn&#039;t the legs to do that and get back to defend. Sadly, I think it&#039;s time for him to go. I think he&#039;ll retire from international football after the tournament anyway but Hodgson should pre-empt that for Costa Rica. Replacing him with Lampard would simply be reproducing the problem so I would go for Jones and Milner to replace Gerrard and Henderson. Both have more pace and are better able to protect the full-backs. I like Baines and think he&#039;s been badly let down by the midfield cover but he&#039;s also not played well and I&#039;d be inclined to give Shaw a go. Lallana is a more organised player than Welbeck and Barkley deserves a start, probably at the expense of Sterling who could be used as a sub for the last half hour or so as could Oxlade-Chamberlain if he&#039;s fit.My team:HartJohnson Cahill Jagielka ShawMilner Lallana JonesSturridge Rooney Barkley</blockquote>

[QUOTE="archie, post: 2487278, member: 64935"] Before the tournament started many were saying that England would struggle because they gave away possession too easily. My view was that it's what you do with the ball when you have it rather than how long you have it for. Against Italy we had 44% possession and managed 13 shots. Against Uruguay it was 63% possession and just 12 shots. Not good enough. Gerrard did ok as the fulcrum for moving the ball across the field and put through a number of telling long balls but he simply isn't a defensive midfielder. Apart from his passing, his main strengths have always been the surging runs towards goal and the shots from outside the box. These days he hasn't the legs to do that and get back to defend. Sadly, I think it's time for him to go. I think he'll retire from international football after the tournament anyway but Hodgson should pre-empt that for Costa Rica. Replacing him with Lampard would simply be reproducing the problem so I would go for Jones and Milner to replace Gerrard and Henderson. Both have more pace and are better able to protect the full-backs. I like Baines and think he's been badly let down by the midfield cover but he's also not played well and I'd be inclined to give Shaw a go. Lallana is a more organised player than Welbeck and Barkley deserves a start, probably at the expense of Sterling who could be used as a sub for the last half hour or so as could Oxlade-Chamberlain if he's fit. My team: Hart Johnson Cahill Jagielka Shaw Milner Lallana Jones Sturridge Rooney Barkley [/QUOTE]

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