The Three Lions

The Franchise wrote:

rincon wrote:

The Franchise wrote:As for the game.

England obviously had that super fast start and goal. But looking at it critically, I dont think Italy started bad at all either, in fact the goal aside I felt Italy were fine and were doing what they wanted and actually settled better. They were reaching the England third easily and already started to find passing patterns.

England were doing well still, Kane started quite sharply to his credit and I thought both wingbacks were doing well. Plus Sterling was causing havoc, him and Mount were playing in Jorginho's zone and with Veratti/Barella tied up with Rice/Phillips and the fullbacks tied up by the Tripps and Shaw, Sterling was finding time to turn and run. Or Sterling could start wide with Emerson marking him, but then run inside and drag him to create space which Trips found if Insigne was slow to defend.

But about 25 minutes in, it really turned and was very one sided and Italy adapted. Chiesa and Insigne defended earlier on the wingbacks and got in position early, thus allowing the Italy fullbacks to help more and defend more collectively. Also Cheillini was aggressive enough to step out and take Sterling down if needed.

England already got into the mode you see from teams when there is 20 minutes on the clock. No ball pressure, sitting off and deep and only looking to counter attack of a mistake.

England I notice are too man orientated. Veratti was dropping into the leftback zone and Emerson was acting basically as a winger. But as England were so man focused, Henderson followed Veratti all the way out, and Saka was dropping with Emerson, so it seemed as if Saka was an extra rightback and Henderson a right sided midfielder. But Henderson cannot actually do anything to Veratti and is reluctant to follow to the extreme left so he found time on the ball over and over again.

Goal was coming, even if from a set peice, Italy were pushing for it strongly.

Extra time was a dud really. Italy subs had no impact, Berardi especially was quite and they missed Insigne and then Chiesa. While England, simply didnt give enough time for the likes of Grealish, Sancho or Rash to do anything and Saka who did come in early enough, was as I said, occupied defensively by Emerson and often too far away to actually impact the game.

Penalties, its a lottery and Italy have the better goalie (despite Pickford doing great in the pens) while Mancini had good takers while England f'ed around with teenage children and subs who had no time to warm into the game.

The first thing was crucial indeed, Verratti dropped way back and controlled the game from there. It made marking Jorginho a bit pointless since Verratti was back there too waiting to distribute the ball if Jorginho was under pressure. Verratti himself I think was out best player of the night after Bonucci (excluding the penalties).

On the second thing, Berardi was very impactful. After taking out Immobile we gained more control with 3 trequartisti. But more impactful than him was Cristante. He won more duels (and aerial duels) and gave the team more energy. He is by far out best player in winning headers and it wasn't a coincidence that he won the header for the goal. Berardi and Cristante coming on were a lot of the reason why the 2nd half was so dominant.

Then the team shape started to fall apart with Chiesa going off, the Insigne, then Verratti, at that point all the usual control was lost.

TBH I should have been more specific. I meant offensive, attacking impact. Cristante did a very good job.

Berardi was a good sub tactically, because it brought Chiesa inside while still maintaining width on the right. Something I think Italy lacked before these changes, as Chiesa was coming inside regardless and Di Lorenzo having a different role to Emerson wasnt going to advance without the ball on the right and therefore leaving Italy playing more on one side, which defensively is the stronger one for England. Brining Berardi on adressed this imbalance, but what I should have been more specific on is Berardi's performance with the ball. It is true, Italy gradually lost control with the subs of Chiesa and Verrati, but Berardi for me had a very quite game considering the time he had out there.

So yeah, tactically, good choices but individual offensive impact wasnt there and without Chiesa, Insigne and Barella (who wasnt good, but obviously usually is) out and the forwards featuring Bernedesci, Berardi and Belloti posed far less an individual threat.

Three lads who were brilliant all summer had the courage to step up & take a pen when the stakes were high. They deserve support & backing not the vile racist abuse they’ve had since last night. If you abuse anyone on social media you’re not an @England fan and we don’t want you. pic.twitter.com/PgskPAXgxV

— Harry Kane (@HKane) July 12, 2021