Reply With QuoteOnce we had scored we were far too negative and defensive. In truth, we didn't deserve to win, Italy were far the better side.Originally Posted by i961pie
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How ironic the 2 players we bought on in the last minute to take penalties both missed.
Sterling tonight was so frustrating, he got himself into great positions but the final touch just let him down tonight. But he's had an excellent tournament.
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Once we had scored we were far too negative and defensive. In truth, we didn't deserve to win, Italy were far the better side.
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I don't think we lost this game on penalties, I think we lost it at half time. We looked a class above in the first half and a one goal lead was the least we deserved. Second half we opted to play Ardleyball, where the focus was on stopping the opposition scoring rather than scoring ourselves. Gareth Southgate's cautious tactics got us a long way, but ultimately I think they proved to be our downfall.
The upside is that we have an extremely talented group of young players who should be competitive at the very top end of world football for the next few years, but I think tonight was a chance missed.
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Not much to disagree with eLite. We failed to have a single shot on target after the early goal other than Pens and we did our best to not get those on target as well. Can't win tournaments with that mind set in my opinion.
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Very optimistic with this group of players. If you'd have offered me a final going to penalties, I'm sure the vast majority would have snapped your hand off for it. Looking at teams like Italy who have an ageing back line, I'm extremely happy with the progress made.
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A lot of the focus will be on the missed penalties but it was the second half that cost us as you say. Too passive and defensive, standing off Italy rather than pressing them, and you just knew the equalising goal was coming.
Italy are indeed a good side and deserving champions for their surprisingly enterprising football and typical resilience throughout the tournament, but the door was open for England to walk through. If they had been more assertive in the second half they could have won it in normal time, but it wasn't to be. On the plus side, the squad is young enough to learn that lesson and take it into the World Cup in only 18 months' time. There's certainly no lack of talent in the squad and this needn't be the end of the story.
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Agree with what others have said about bringing on players just to take a penalty, always asking for trouble.
Southgate has done wonders to turn the way people feel about the national team around but he did make a mistake in waiting way to long to try & change the game today. Even before half time the Italians were getting on top and we just could not get out at all & everyone could see what was coming.
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Absolutely. Watching that 2nd half was soul destroying. Ardleyball on steroids.
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Atleast with Ardleyball we had the ball for a bit and then just did nothing with it. We just could not get on the ball tonight.
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Kane was ineffective again, just like the group games. Mount did nothing and nor did Saka or Henderson when they came on. We needed Grealish and Sancho much earlier.
Pros: the emergence of Kalvin Phillips as one of the finest holding midfielders in the world, Luke Shaw turning world class and the Yorkshire wall.
I knew Italy would win tonight after the anthems.
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