England

Didn't he have something like 4 strikers and 2 wingers in that starting 11? I have vague memories.

 

Good win, Bellingham different gravy, Philips no where near good enough, Italy, a poor side imo

 

Like a poor man's Gattuso

 

Can only beat what's in front of you.

 

I wish WE could get a penalty anytime soon, iam sure Reds fans wouldn't mind one/ some,we live in hope.

 

I wonder if we bother to practice taking penalties. If we are what a complete waste of time

 

Absolutely, a good win, over the moon, but regardless of winning what's in front of you I thought the Italians were very poor

 

Maybe, just maybe, we made them look poor?

 

Or maybe, just maybe, they are poor. Zola summed them up. He said they got by in the last Euros on team spirit alone. Not much flair and only one or two outstanding players. Fact that we sat back after scoring opened the door for them. He said this new crop have even less ability and not the same team spirit. They were in transition and rebuilding. Still a good win but let's not kid ourselves we'd do the same to Argentina or France.

 

Ahh, but if we did, it would surely be that they had an off day....

 

We pretty much did match France

 

They were extremely well-organised, but overall quite limited. I think that the current England side would give much better incarnations of Italy a good run for their money though.

 

Or maybe, just maybe, they are poor. Zola summed them up. He said they got by in the last Euros on team spirit alone. Not much flair and only one or two outstanding players. Fact that we sat back after scoring opened the door for them. He said this new crop have even less ability and not the same team spirit. They were in transition and rebuilding.

England building up expectations in the qualifiers again. Two wins against the Euro champions is good but Zola gave his views on Italy before the kick off which said to me that they were a poor team. Hence, I was honestly expecting us to win with the outstanding squad we have. We needed a point to qualify so Southgate set us up to get a point. With Italy scoring first we changed tack for the better and got stuck into them 2nd half. Italy will probably fail to qualify for the 2nd tournament in a row so as Zola implied, they're not a world force anymore. All England fans want is for this squad of players to realise their full potential which they haven't done at the moment due to negative tactics..

 

I agree, Southgate as a squad now that appears to be chomping at the bit but he also appears to keep them on a lead

 

I assume you're both referring to playing two holding midfielders and to a point I agree. But our defence is nowhere near as good as our attack. If Southgate gambled and it went pear shape I'd guess you'd both be giving him pelters. Poor bloke can't win....

 

It’s always hilarious reading a match thread the day after. Nowt like being a bit dramatic in the first half.

 

I said to the wife in 1st half that you can see why Italy are struggling to qualify for tournaments recently. Looking through their squad they really do only have a couple of proper world class players. Worst Italy side in years.

 

Not in the first half, they could have had three from where I was sitting.