Graffito

I don't read the Sun but point taken. He went on to do rather well 2 years later but it's not particularly instructive to make glib comparisons across time. Drawing a friendly with Saudi Arabia is hardly comparable with a WC.

I'll answer each of your points in turn. Do we sack a Manager every time he loses? Of course not. The team showed promise against Italy but it was the manner of the next two performances which bothered me. No discernible pattern or tactics that I could see. Granted, individual performances were below par but I saw a lot of tension in the players who appeared inhibited, at a WC where for the first time that I can remember there were realistic expectations from media and fans. Hodgson is presiding over a period of change. He's been in post for 2 years. Change is a constant. Tough Group? Agreed. It was tough for all the teams. Two went through, including the unfancied CR and two didn't go through including England. There are other tough groups. Better teams than England are going home. So what? Who should we have instead, Redknapp etc? As I said, there's no obvious alternative to Roy. If there were, I believe the FA would have been much less inclined to keep him. That squad was good enough to get out of the group. It didn't and I think that was down in large part to team selection, tactics, and lack of motivation. Think Suarez. How much did he want to beat England? Then there are Roy's comments after last nights match...I'll stop there.

He's a nice intelligent man and a good ambassador for England but at the end of the day he's a loser. There's one compelling reason for keeping him. There's no obvious alternative.

No we won't see him in our first game. This will hasten his departure.

If he's going to make substitutions based on sentiment then why not Lambert.

Ah yes. The one who used to bang his head against the dressing room wall to get in the mood.

Which expert cracked that one?

Behrami or Pjanic would be good replacements for Lallana. Not that we have any hope of getting one of them.

Inside the tent p*ss*ng out rather than outside the tent p*ss*ng in. Trouble was he was p*ss*ng inside the tent.

He'll give him another chance to **** off back to Italy.

Thanks for that. First laugh since last night.

So can anybody tell me what the game plan was last night.....anybody that reads a game better than I, because fck knows what the strategy and tactics were. Please don't say they are based around picking Gerrard because that's not so.

It wasn't just the Sun. Virtually everyone wanted England to go for it.

I saw no evidence that Pirlo's legs have gone. He's always left the leg work to others.

Gerrard and Henderson did well for Liverpool this season. Not good tonight for England. Who would you replace Gerrard with for England?

Transition was indeed disjointed and far too slow. This is where Lallana playing in a central role would have made a difference, being strong off left and right he is a pivot and can switch play in an instant.

I agree with this. There's a good player in the making but he's not there yet at international level. Quite why he gets on ahead of Lallana beats me.

I've been watching England for more years than I care to admit and nothing much has changed in all that time. Whenever they start by taking two touches and then passing painstakingly slowly across the back four my heart sinks and I know exactly what's coming..... a totally sh1te performance. As an indicator of how the match will go it never fails.

3 million.

What a mess of a performance. A lot of tension in the legs but that aside what on earth did Hodgson send them out to do. Just one big mess.

Sleep walking to elimination. Must move the ball quicker second half.

The history of England and epic World Cup failure is littered with excuses. England are better than Uruguay and Costa Rica. If we don't go through it's our own fault.

Give you that one. It's Johnnycake.

Alan T1tchmarsh.

Don't know what the average age of the teams was but there's not much between the squads; England 26 and Italy 27. Pirlo was peerless at 35. Gerrard arguably past his best at 34. Maybe Hart's got that wrong.