ponsaelius

No chance for the reason you stated plus Gerrard would throw his toys. Aye but that's the thing, he can still influence and run the game from that position. His whole career Gerrard seems to have had this picture in his mind of him being a central midfield general, but his best form for Liverpool came off the striker and he aint ever done it in the centre for England.

Don't think Simpson is much of a backup/squad player in that he is only effective in one position.

The thing with Gerrrard so far is that his direct impact on matches has come from the wide areas. Makes you wonder if it wouldn't be worth moving Milner into a shuffling, central midfield water carrier (his best club form in his whole career for me was there) and play Gerrard as a narrow wide midfielder. The only problem with that is it could lead Johnson exposed, but personally I feel Milner's defensive impact has been massively overplayed.

Harsh albeit historically correct, I'd say Gerrard has been spot on this tournament tactically. Absolutely the opposite from what I've seen at club level, Abate in particular. Abate has done a complete switcharoo the last year or two. He has improved massively defensive to the point where he actually looks a Milan standard player, but his attacking qualities have deminished. Very bizarre.

Harsh albeit historically correct, I'd say Gerrard has been spot on this tournament tactically. I agree and said as much, he's been far better in that sense than he usually is - but he's still had moments like against Sweden where he just went wandering as much as he liked. Italy are likely to play with essentially 4 CMs, all are good on the ball which could be a nightmare against our pairing.

I wonder if he's got a plan for Pirlo. They've got us outnumbered in midfield especially with Gerrard's indiscipline.

Aye fair point. Think there's reasons to go with either.

Spot on.

Thing is I reckon Italian defenders will just have a laugh against Welbeck, as much as I rate him I think he'll be easily delt with. Carroll may be limited and predictable but might just surprise them and bully them, as cliche as it is.

Wasn't it he who dropped a ricket against Croatia? Twas. Probs his only real mistake all tournament and cost them that win.

I think you called it before the tournament about them needing to play 4-4-2. Not having a genuine #10 for the first time in forever seemed to be a massive burden. Benzema, Nasri, Ribery all had tentative goes at being the team's natural playmaker but just got in each others way. Against in England in particular they were all in the same area of the pitch. Thing is ironically after the commentator's comment in the first game Giroud (in his brief cameos) has been like what I'd expect Grant Holt to be at international level, a free-kick conceding machine.

Not the best but play together at club level and at the end of the day are Italian.

Barzagli.

Your mam's a tense 0-0.

You'd rather Germany or Portugal win it before England? And you call me anti-English...

Interesting that Trez has now played for two giant clubs in their only ever seasons in the second tier.

not really, Rooney basically played as a midfielder this season, way different to 2010 when he was a lone striker feeding off crosses from the likes of Valencia and sacrificed his all round game to be more of a machine. he's maybe not captured the headlines, or even dominated with assists, but he had much more influence on the flow of the game than usual playing deeper. Agreed, apart from the odd barren patch (Rooney seems to always be like this) I thought he was excellent last season. Seemed to go a bit under the radar just how good he was too.

Trezeguet got both goals? That's just fucking awesome tbh.

Llorente! Del Bosque screwing him over has made me forgot him too.

Falcao good shout, done really well considering the pressure of the fee. Cavani too actually, especially considering he really turned up in the CL with the exception of the 2nd leg against Chelsea. Maybe there's more top class forwards in Europe atm than I give credit for. Especially now is gonna have a full season.

Tbf I'll even find that exciting since I've grown some emotional attachment as the tournament has gone on. Tight, cagey draw followed by penalty defeat

I didn't watch Gomez enough either, probably once or twice in the league plus the CL games. I don't think he's aplayer you need to watch though, his sole function is scoring goals and you can see whether he's doing that by looking at the stats. I don't particularly like him as a player but for efficiency there are few better and there is something quite impressive about such a shit touch/link-up/everything player to have the ability to be effective at the highest level. He doesn't even have particularly good movement or mobility. Just great poaching skills. Maybe doing him a disservice with the movement bit but you get my drift.

Top 3 striker in Europe this season in club football for me from what I've watched. He's made Higuain (who is one of my favourite players) look poor in comparison which is some feat. RvP, Rooney, Zlatan all had good seasons. Gomez too even though in terms of all-round game he isn't in the same league as the others. I'd be tempted to say Aguero but he had a poor patch mid-season and was very iffy away from home. Higuain tends to look that way when he's playing fits and starts though. Mint forward but Benzema has more to his game.

fucking come on. Actually excited for this game.

You couldn't have watched Real Madrid at all last season then. Which is fair enough, not everybody wants to watch those cunts - but you're in no position to comment on whether fuss is justified. Benzema was electric for Lyon in the champas league way back when too, struggling to see how you could have never seen him play well.