Dr Gloom

"get it in the mixer" was another classic

what do you put that down to? has he lost a yard of pace, or was it a purple patch when he was young, more athletic and a bit more naive? the players around him definitely aren't as good as they are at club level - he still looks a lot better playing for man u than he ever seems to in an england shirt. still goes through long periods when he's out of nick at club level too like but he never seems to be able to do it when it matters for his country, that first major tournament aside.

As a big lad in my school team I was groomed only to ever play at centre half or centre forward. Instructions bellowed from a parent coach on the sidelines usually included. "hit the big man" "if in doubt, hit it out" "go long" "battle for the second phase ball" "scraps!" ....got to wonder if things have moved on at all on last night's evidence.

i don't think you can compare rooney to gazza. gazza in his prime was a genuine world class talent. rooney falls a fair bit short of that. he's a good player but over hyped for sure.

yet again rooney failed to reproduce his club form in an international shirt. he's had a fairly underwhelming international career since euro 2004, an exciting debut international tournament that promised a great future. i'd argue he's a good rather than a great player. not quite the talent we all hoped he could be. we really needed him to grab the game by the scruff of the neck yesterday. he wasn't able to. looked unfit to me too, as he has in previous tournaments.

thing about the germans though is they always do well in tournaments. i disagree about this current batch - they've got some quality players - but even when they look average they still usually progress to the latter stages of the tournament.

they generally prefer cricket. there's some good british asian cricketers that have come through recently

they're ten times better than england right now. sad, but true. i'd put spain as slight favourites for the tournament but wouldn't expect them to hump the germans if they meet in the final.

as far as hodgson goes, we were organised and difficult to beat but he didn't do himself any favours with the squad he selected. lennon, adam johnson and carrick should have all made the squad ahead of downing, milner and henderson. there was also a complete lack of pressure on the ball last night. i lost count of the amoutn of times pirlo was able to collect the ball in space, turn and face no pressure at all. you expect an england side to be poorer than an italian side in terms of technique. but we usually make up for that by playing a high tempo pressing game. i think that's a better tactic than defending in your own penalty box. we were way too deep in every game.

i wasn't surprised by the italian's superior technical ability on the ball or them being able to retain possession in a way the england team can only dream of. i was surprised by how unfit our lads looked compared to them. we seemed to run out of steam shortly into the second half - gerrard getting cramp at 60 odd minutes, rooney and parker looking like they were running through mud. i do kind of see what stevie's saying as this group of players never look so shite playing for their clubs but then they're all playing alongside better quality foreign players who know the value off ball retention. i think the big issue for the national team is the premier league - the most exciting to watch in the world with some of the globe's top players but it seems incompatible with a national football devlopment strategy. nothing will change as long as long as english players make up less than half of the top flight pool. at least we weren't over-hyped as usual this time. that made it more enjoyable when we put in some battling performances. and the lads seemed to care a bit more than in previous tournaments. some positives to take forward.

a victory for football. same old england. still to learn about the value of retaining the ball.

could the fact woy's english have anything to do with it? the football's generally been quite dire but the players at least look like they give a shit, which wasn't often the case under capello and sven.

Seinfeld is quality but Curb is genius.

acorn

jugs

Tommy Tank

pretty good actually. got a three day weekend lined up. booooooom

just started watching the big bang theory. quite funny.

bravado Dave

step forward JORDAN HENDERSON

good pro; can't fault his attitude but ultimately not good enough for where we want to be. good luck to him. seems a lower league premiership club or a championship side is the right level for him.

England far from convincing again but it doesn't matter. Qualification as group leaders is huge. Anything can happen now.

good... or great?

so walcott in for milner and rooney in for....? young? be tough on carroll or welbeck after both of them scoring

aye, him and milner.